Welcome to SprintSF.com

We sprint in San Francisco every Saturday at 12pm

Moving your body very quickly is the best exercise you can do. It’s also the biggest hole in the modern fitness world.

There is a sad but true meme — 95% adults over the age of 30 will never sprint again for the rest of their lives.

This is a tragedy. If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

I’ve been synthesizing as much exercise and nutrition research and wisdom as I can with Pointman. I’ve been searching and searching for the most fundamental THING I can recommend to EVERYONE, regardless of ability or resources. Peeling back the layers of the onion, over and and over again.

Sprinting is the answer. In fact, my very first workout article from 4 years ago was the sprint. Sprinting is the ultimate form of physical fitness. It is the foundation of pretty much all sports. It puts your body under stress and thus forces adaptions that you can’t get elsewhere. Going faster makes you stronger, and getting stronger makes you faster.

Here is a quick read on my own sprint workout on the track. The beautiful fact about sprinting is you can do it anywhere (flying sprints on some pavement, power hiking up a mountain, hustling up a hill, running quickly up stairs). You can run barefoot on sand or grass if you like. You could even sprint naked, though perhaps that isn’t advised. Anyone can find a path and pace that works for them. Sprints are available to everyone.

I was a competitive sprinter in school. Despite my notable accomplishments well into my 30s (squat, deadlift), my best workouts through the years have been some form of sprinting. They still kick my ass all these years later. Fun fact: I ran my best 100 meter dash in May 2013 at Stanford, years after I stopped formally competing — which is also the exact same month I did my first elite 3x bodyweight deadlift, and is also the exact same month I jumped high enough to touch the basketball rim for my first time, and is also the exact same month I squatted 400 for the first time. This is not a coincidence.

We sprint in San Francisco every Saturday at 12pm

We are a group for sprinting, every week in real life. The vision of Sprint SF is to live in a world where adults sprint. San Francisco is my home, so this is where we shall train.

I will be writing here at SprintSF.com frequently to report on our schedule, workouts, and what we learn. No theory, just action. I’m already working with some sprinting coaches to make sure we have the best material available. I promise everything will be calibrated and adaptable for any fitness level. Sprint SF is free to join, now and forever. The goal is to open source everything so that hopefully Sprint SF can become a guide for adults to learn and relearn the beautiful practice of sprinting, no matter where they might be in the world. It would be an honor if you bring this to your community. Please do copy me.

Sign up here to join us, to get yourself moving, or to learn what we are doing. Please do send to a friend who might like to join. We sprint in San Francisco every Saturday at 12pm. Marina Green will be our home base unless I send an update otherwise. San Francisco is also full of hills, which are the greatest training tool of all time. Here is a great article to get you started. The Olympics are coming up, this is the perfect time to start sprinting.

What’s the deal with running clubs?

Running clubs are awesome and I’m very happy that they are having a moment right now. I’m a member of Marina Run Club and I recommend it. Any group that gets people moving more rather than less is by default a huge win.

They are just a bit imprecise. If distance running is your passion, or if that’s where you get your most effective workouts, or if you are training for an actual marathon, then go for it. But I don’t think that’s the case for many or most people. It’s not a risk free activity either. Distance running is shockingly injury prone due to the repetitive movements, especially for the untrained. It turns out running clubs aren’t exclusively about running anyways.

If you just want to optimize your health, then I recommend you equally consider workouts that give you a better return on your investment. 1) Lift weights 2) Sprint 3) As much Zone 2 cardio and sports as possible.

To be super clear, I’m not hating on running clubs. I’m saying that you are leaving gains on the table if you are just doing distance and not sprinting. I’m also saying that if you don’t like distance running, then don’t worry about it. It’s not your only option.

Sprinting is the perfect complement to distance training. Try it out. Thank you in advance for signing up.

Crawl, walk, run, sprint!

Nate

P.S. email me if you have questions or feedback - nate@svc.co