This is a common debate in the fitness world. When it comes to cardio, is it better to engage in long-distance, endurance running or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), like sprinting? The current “studies” seem to lean in favor of HIIT. Some new studies even say that too much long-distance cardio (such as marathon running) can be unhealthy.Well, too much of anything can be bad for you – even good things. You can sit around and think and argue about which one is better all you want, but it all boils down to which one works best for you. So which one should you be doing? Well, probably some of both. However, the one that is going to work best for you is the one that you do more, and the one that you do more should be the one that you enjoy more. Personally, I prefer sprinting. Here’s why.

Sprinting Is More Fun

Again, this is a personal issue. I personally get a lot more of a “runner’s high” from running flat-out as fast as possibly can for a few seconds or a minute, than I do from running at a moderate-to-slow pace, ranging across hours, during which time your mind begins to wander and you begin to feel like you’re starting to die. Endurance running is not very fun to me, because it gets boring. That doesn’t mean I can’t do it, and I can decently enjoy it in moderation (especially if the scenery that I’m running in is good). However, I actually do enjoy sprinting. I get a real high from it. You feel on top of the world! That’s not to say it’s easy – by the time you’ve completed four or five sets of 1-minute sprints, with jogs in between, you’ll hardly be able to stand (depending on your fitness level). The same thing is true of a good, long endurance run. But which one do you enjoy more? Only you can answer this.Read More