Try “Hurricane Sprints” For a Super Challenging Sprint Workout

Doing sprint intervals on a running track or the treadmill at the gym is a popular way to get an effective, short cardio workout. There’s one major gripe: you’re mainly working out your legs. With “hurricane sprints”, your upper body and core can actively join the fun.

Normally, in a high-intensity interval training (or HIIT, for short) sprint session, you’re gunning it like Usain Bolt for a set “work” period. Then you rest for a set time period before repeating. During a hurricane sprint, you would include a core (like a plank or bicycle crunches) or upper body movement (like a push-up or row) in place of your rest periods, as this article at Roman Fitness Systems writes:

If you’ve never done hurricane sprints before, here’s what I would start with:

A1) Sprint, 3 x 20 seconds

A2) Pushups, 3 x 20

Rest: 2 minutes

B1) Sprint, 3 x 20 seconds

B2) Dumbbell rows* (both arms at once), 3 x 15

Rest: 2 minutes

C1) Sprint, 3 x 20 seconds

C2) Plank, 3 x 30 seconds

My note here is that if you don’t have a dumbbell for rows, try doing inverted rows on a low-hanging bar at the park, or use a door.

As you get stronger, the article further outlines some details on how you could change your workouts in the weeks after—usually by making the workouts a bit longer. You should only do this workout once a week, and fair warning: it’s only 15-20 minutes, but the workout is going to suck. But hey, that’s what true HIIT is really about.

Keep in mind, too, that HIIT, and especially these hurricane sprints, are advanced. You really need to ease your body into them. Conversely, if the above example has gotten easy for you, the article goes over an even more advanced version and ways to cobble together your own hurricane sprints.