Dr. Tracy Sims on SIT training for women

Dr. Stacy Sims recommends sprint interval training (SIT) as short, genuinely all-out efforts within a polarized program for women.

• Sprint and recovery: Go all-out for up to 30 seconds at about 9–10/10 effort, then recover for roughly 2–3 minutes—long enough to be able to sprint all-out again. She distinguishes this from Tabata-style short-rest intervals. 1
• Weekly training: She describes one or two high-intensity sessions alongside three to four resistance-training days as a general approach; SIT can be one of those high-intensity sessions. 2
• Recover between efforts: Don’t shorten recovery just to fit in more sprints; the goal is to preserve maximal effort on each one. Her example is sprinting hard on an assault bike for 30 seconds, then recovering as needed before repeating. 3
• Balance intensity: Pair the high-intensity work with very low-intensity recovery, such as easy walking, rather than stacking frequent moderate-intensity sessions. Sims emphasizes allowing enough recovery to truly reach the intended intensity. 4