Sprint 8 Cardio Protocol

Let me distinguish between the book and the Sprint 8 program. The Sprint 8 program itself is amazing. Although only doing it for 3 weeks, I can already notice a huge difference physically. I have more energy and I have lost weight (down from 245 lbs. to 235 lbs.). I will give a little more detail on the program in a minute. Now, the book: it isn't long (only 163 pages before the glossary and index and it only takes a couple hours to read), but it still could have been a lot shorter. The author repeats himself incessantly as if to keep reminding you why you want - NEED - to do this program. To some extent it is understandable. How many people have ever really geared their training toward increasing Growth Hormone or increasing the activation of fast-twitch muscle fibers? And how many understand the benefits? The author will explain it all to you. And explain it again. And again. I felt like I was getting beaten over the head. The good news for the science geeks is that MANY studies are referenced over and over again if you really want to read the research on PubMed or something although I doubt anyone will. But the fact is that what you REALLY need to know could have been written in 20 or 30 pages.OK, now on to the program. It works. But the author isn't kidding - if you do it correctly, your lungs will be screaming for mercy. Same with your muscles. Sprinting 8 times for 30 seconds doesn't sound like much, does it? But one of the KEY points made by the author - and one that MUST be emphasized and followed - is for the program to work each sprint has to be done ALL OUT. As in, if you could sprint for 31 seconds instead of just 30, you aren't going hard enough. This is without a doubt the hardest part and it took me a week to really get the hang of it.For the first week I told myself I was sprinting -truly sprinting 100% - but after re-reading the part of the book about consciously trying to re-focus every 10 seconds of the 30 second sprint and REMIND yourself to keep going 100%, I realized I really was pacing myself to last 30 seconds instead of truly going ALL-OUT for the entire 30 seconds. This little trick really works wonders. Again, if you feel like you could NOT have gone 1 more second, you did it correctly. To push yourself this hard 8 times is REALLY, REALLY difficult. You have to consciously think about it and make sure you aren't slacking. This is the key and cannot be overstated.I am fortunate enough that my gym has Matrix elliptical machines, treadmills and bikes that are all equipped with the Sprint 8 program which takes all the guesswork out of it. Even if you do not have access to Matrix machines, this program should be fairly easy to implement. I have tried the bike, treadmill and elliptical and, like the author, have concluded that the elliptical is the best. You work your whole body and there isn't a risk of tweaking a hamstring like I did on the treadmill. The author talks a lot about sprinting outdoors and how you need to build up to it to not injure your hamstrings. I knew this would be the case but thought I could handle sprinting on the treadmill. Nope. Even though it is effective, my hammies just can't handle it right now since I haven't been sprinting in years. So unless you have been sprinting recently and your hamstrings can handle the severe punishment that sprinting will give them, I recommend the elliptical (or the bike).In any case, those 30 second sprints seem to last forever. But they don't. And at the end of 20 minutes, you will be sweating for a while. Your legs will be shaky and tired. It will feel great. And it only takes 20 minutes! It is way better than doing an hour of boring, repetitive and not-as-beneficial slow cardio.One final bit of advice from the author (which may be applicable to some): if you haven't been working out at all recently - or, in my estimation - if you haven't been doing any interval training or anything approximating going "all-out" for a while, it is best to ease into the program. The author suggests starting with 2 (instead of 8) sprints. I might recommend starting with 8 - but going 90% instead of 100% - on all but perhaps the final sprint. This will quickly build up your pain tolerance and within a week or two I think you will be able to go for 8 sprints at 100% intensity. But each person will have to find what works for them.I'd give the program 5 stars and the book 4 stars.

While this book includes a lot of interesting and scientifically-validated information, it is poorly written in spots and often difficult to read. The first section in particular is very repetitive and painful to get through. If I had a dime for every time the author wrote that the program only requires 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week, or that it increases HGH, I just might have recovered the cost of the book. In fairness I should add that the book gets easier to read in the middle and later sections.The system involves doing a series of eight 30-second all-out "sprints" on a piece of cardio equipment, with a 90 second active rest in between each sprint. A major issue is that the book does not provide a protocol for easing into the workout, which during the peak 30 second "sprint" periods can be extremely taxing on the body, if you go at full intensity like the author suggests (if you don't go at full intensity, you are "pacing" and that particular sprint doesn't count). Full intensity essentially means that you are exerting your body to such an extent that you could not have sprinted beyond the required 30 seconds. The suggestion is to start at 2 sprint cycles and gradually work your way up to 8 cycles. However, for many people even 2 cycles could be very strenuous and potentially harmful if done full-out from the very first workout. As for myself, I went full out on my first workout of 2 sprint cycles and developed quite a headache afterwards. The author says it is not supposed to feel good, but it felt much worse than I expected.If you are familiar with this type of training method and really know what you are doing, then you may find this book to be a good resource. Otherwise either hire a certified trainer to assist you or look elsewhere for a solution.

I'm pretty darn sure this didn't go through a professional editor. And I believe it sorely needed to in order to more effectively communicate the core ideas. If you can look past the repetitive and flowery writing, you'll be able to pick out the main bits of information it has. I like the studies it talks about with regard to HGH and the effects of this protocol on HGH levels. I like the detailed descriptions of how you know when you're doing it right, and I appreciate all the parts that basically sell you on why the method works. That's all needed to inspire action and results. I've been using this protocol myself and I've found it's effective for getting a very powerful punch of a workout in a short period of time. Even though I experience an extreme lactic acid build up that has me rolling around for a few minutes in pain, once the lactic acid clears away I can carry on with my day like normal. I can't speak to results yet since there are so many variables at play like diet and weight lifting, etc but I can definitely say I get a kind of 'high' after this workout where I feel very good after. I like to think this is the HGH but who really knows? I'd also strategically use the HGH build up as a bodybuilder if possible by timing when this workout happens and when a weight training workout happens in order to leverage the HGH benefits. What isn't included in this book as far as I could tell is an explanation as to why HGH burns fat. I haven't been able to find the scientific explanation, perhaps there isn't. But in any case, perhaps mixing this protocol with GBC for weight training to get the maximal HGH naturally is a good way to go. It appears the core principle is the same.

Excellent book using science to confirm results. I now incorporate this at my Golds gym which has the Matrix Elliptical trainer with the Sprint 8 app. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to up their game.

Great book. Lays it out clearly. With actual explanations of the entire process. I now row on my Concept 2, 2-3 times a week, using this protocol.

Very nice book with lots of justification for the proposed exercise program ... I do a modified version based on calisthenics.

wonderful protocol and well written and easy to understand book...AWESOME results.