How to do Sprint 8
Sprint 8 Cardio Protocol
Elementary Education Application
Executive Summary
Sprint 8 is a cardio exercise protocol created by Phil Campbell,
M.S., M.A., ACSM, FACHE to target and achieve the significant
benefits of a maximal release of exercise-induced growth hormone.
Unlike most forms of exercise that are based on exercising
slow-muscle fiber, aerobically for long time periods within
the endurance energy system in a calories-in and calories-out
measurement system, Sprint 8 incorporates numerous new studies
that achieves significantly greater benefits in 20 minutes
three days a week.
In a study conducted in a medical center in 2011, the Sprint
8 protocol reduced body fat by 31 percent in eight weeks without
any dieting for the study group of middle-aged healthcare
workers, average age 46.
Initially created to match the body changing benefits of
adults injecting growth hormone in anti-aging center and athletes
injecting growth hormone for performance improvement, which
is shown to reduce body fat by 14.4 percent, increase muscle
mass by 8.8 percent, and thicken skin by 7.1 percent. While
most understand the value of reducing body fat, the skin thickening
means that it fills in the wrinkles to give a much younger
appearance.
The research in 2011 shows that Sprint 8 increases growth
hormone naturally with exercise by 771 percent and the benefits
of the natural release of this powerful hormone is twice as
effective in body fat reduction as injecting growth hormone.
Sprint 8 is not a "Body by Phil, or Body by anyone famous
type program," says Sprint 8 creator Phil Campbell. He
states:
Sprint 8 is like interviewing the body and asking 'what kind
of exercise program should we be doing' and the body is screaming
at us through new research that when we do Sprint 8, the body
releases this hormone that is the same hormone that makes
us grow tall and once we reach our full height, Dr T.C. Welbourne
argues it should be called our "fitness hormone,' and
I agree. This is a very powerful hormone that stays significantly
elevated for two hours afterwards targeting body fat like
a heat-seeking missile, and there are estimates that over
5-million adults inject growth hormone for its anti-aging,
body fat reducing benefits. And you can all of this naturally
with the right kind of exercise in 20 minutes, three-times-a-week.
Sprint 8 targets all three muscle fiber types, slow, fast,
and super fast fiber. Fast fiber is approximately 50 percent
of muscle composition for most people, and it rarely gets
used during traditional long-slow cardio exercise. During
short burst of intense exercise lasting 30-seconds or less
is when the heart muscle works hard to provide oxygen to all
three muscle fiber types and this prepares and conditions
the heart muscle to meet the aerobic and the anaerobic demands
of life. This form of exercise also works and all three energy
systems and within this process, the body releases significant
amounts of growth hormone.
The 2011 Sprint 8 study surprised researchers when they discovered
that the results of the eight-week exercise protocol not only
bettered the results of injecting growth hormone, but it also
came very close to equaling the results of cholesterol-lowering
statin drugs for likely statin users in the study.
The Sprint 8 can be performed many different ways. While
Sprint 8 has been the featured cardio program in award-winning
Vision Fitness cardio equipment for several years, Sprint
8 can be performed in a classroom by students.
The 20-minute cardio protocol consists of a 3-minute walking
warm up and a 2-minute walking cool down. Sounds easy, right?
In fact, 16 minutes of the program is simply moderate to brisk
walking and this is what is done during the warm up, cool
down and during the 90 seconds of "active recovery"
walking in between eight hard and fast 30-second cardio sprints.
Sounds easy, right? The Sprint 8 creator says, "Sprint
8 only takes 20 minutes three-days-a-week and of the 20 minutes,
only four minutes is hard, but this is the toughest four minutes
of your life." In a week's time, this is one hour of
cardio exercise of which 12 minutes is hard and fast anaerobic
exercise (in 30-second increments).
To accomplish the 20-minute cardio protocol in the classroom,
4th grade educator, Holly Campbell, daughter of the Sprint
8 creator, uses high knee, standing-in-place plyometrics (running
in place with knees coming belt level) followed by walking
in a classroom circle for 90 seconds of "active recovery
before beginning the next cardio sprint. The 90-second active
recovery walking is a wonderful teaching opportunity as the
entire class is focused and listening.
Actually, there may be another beneficial hormone released
with Sprint 8 that assists with the learning process, dopamine.
This is a question Phil Campbell would like to answer in a
future study; the impact of Sprint 8 on dopamine release.
Dopamine is shown to be important in the regulation of mood.
A preliminary test run on a small number of test subjects
revealed that dopamine levels doubled immediately after Sprint
8. Phil Campbell says calls Sprint 8 may prove to be natural
Prozac.
Start with just two cardio sprints, and slowly build up to
all eight repetitions.
Like adults ordering cup of Joe at the local Starbucks to
get the day started or for enhanced focus, children request
Sprint 8, "Ms. Campbell, can we please do Sprint 8 today."
Like Phil Campbell says, if we interviewed the body, it's
screaming for us to do Sprint 8, perhaps Holly's Campbell's
students deserve to be heard, "Ms. Campbell, can we please
do Sprint 8 today?"