Sprinting vs. Weight Lifting

Sprinting vs. Weight Lifting

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Sprinters typically carry much more muscle on their frames than distance runners.

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Both sprinting and weight lifting are anaerobic training methods that recruit a high number of muscle fibers and push your body to produce more work than lighter aerobic or cardio workouts. Because of this, both exercises will allow you to burn a significant number of calories and build muscle, but both are intense in nature and may not be for everyone.

Sprinting to Get Ripped

If you've ever seen an elite sprinter, you've probably noticed that he or she carries quite a bit of rippling muscle fiber. Sprinting is such an intense exercise because it forces your body to recruit and contract muscle fibers with maximal power. Sprinting not only burns calories, but it also releases testosterone and growth hormones to allow for substantial muscle growth following your workout.

Pumping Some Iron

Lifting weights doesn't have much of a cardiovascular component, but you're still working in the anaerobic zone -- above 80 percent of your maximum heart rate -- to produce muscle contractions powerful enough to move a resisting force. The primary focus of weight lifting is to build muscle, but the breakdown of muscle tissue and the healing process that builds new tissue also burns a ton of calories. One benefit unique to weight lifting is that you can isolate specific muscle groups.

Weight Loss

If weight loss is the primary goal of your exercise routine, both sprinting and weight lifting can help you shed pounds of fat while giving you a more shapely appearance, as long as you're rounding out your workouts with a balanced diet. A 155-pound person can burn 223 calories in 30 minutes with vigorous weight lifting, according to Harvard Health Publications. As for sprinting, a 2012 study conducted by researchers at Colorado State University found that sprinting for only two-and-a-half minutes per day resulta in over 200 calories burned.

Anaerobic Disadvantages

The same components of anaerobic training that make sprinting and weight lifting so effective for improving fitness also make them intense on your body. Both exercises require extensive rest and recovery periods to allow your body to heal and new muscle to grow. Because of this, you shouldn't perform either type of exercise on consecutive days.