Chapter 10: Sprinted Away

"It's more of a gut feeling," Nagan grinned. "Do any of you know the animals native to Earth?"

"Nope!"

"Open the memory in your head, forehead."

"I only know monkeys!"

"I see, so there is an animal section over heeeeeeeeeeeee-"

"Seems like Clover has just simultaneously opened all of the eight million species' informational memories instead of following the memory tree's lines."

"Wait, we have a memory tree? Like a 'tech tree' tree??"

"Now that you mention it," Mako pondered, the same usalian who recommended every usalian to go on an expedition. "This beast reminded me of an elephant."

"The only thing that's similar is the average size. This is like saying a monkey is similar to a human!" Willow exclaimed.

"They are, though."

"They are."

"They are!"

"You all heard the Patriarch's order already," Hopscotch said as the two vanguards alongside Nagan were pushing the dead beast through the portal. "So use your hand and help us drag this hulk of a meat as you yap!"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

"What about clover?" asked Pippin, looking quite concerned.

"Don't worry." Nagan said to one of the usalian duo. "We can wait until she has processed all of those memories. Are you strong enough to carry her, Pippin?"

"Very much so!" Pippin exclaimed with enthusiasm as a question mark appeared on her head, wondering why the Patriarch questioned that.

"Patriarch, there is a large wave of movement rustling from that direction near the mountain," the Immortal Dragon Overlord pointed with a sweat.

"... There is one too from this direction. No, two, and three-"

Willow pointed her finger to the sky with great gusto, "I think I know why Patriarch told us to secure the dead beast's body in haste!"

"Nice catch, Captain Obvious."

"No kidding, Sherlock."

"Amazing display of inquisitiveness, Miss Willow."

"The meat is secured!" Hopscotch shouted, "What's your order, Patriarch??"

"So, did you all know that sprinting is more efficient than long distance running?" Nagan stated with a carefree, yet foreboding, empty, deadpan smile.

""Yes?""

Within any track and field event, one will often notice a profound difference in the body types of long distance runners versus those who only sprint short distances. While long distance runners are known for being thin and toned, sprinters present as muscular and ripped, almost looking like athletic, natural bodybuilders in many cases.

"AAAAAAAARRGHG! WHY IS THERE SO MANY OF THEM!??"

"We only killed one of them, yet a whole village of them is chasing us!"

"Keep running!! Don't look back!"

"Huft, huft, Where is the Patriarch!? Oh, hi Patriarch!"

"Just focus on running," Nagan said in a slow yet creepy cadence. With every usalian running in front of him, he was there to make sure that the last usalian became motivated to run faster, while also deterring any of the beasts away from the group. "All of you want experience, right? The faster you run, the longer you persevere, the stronger you will become than everyone in the logistics team!"

So, what's causing this extreme difference in human body composition among runners, and how can it be taken advantage of to create a more athletic and healthy body?

As opposed to long distance running and other forms of aerobic training which use slow twitch muscle fibers, sprinting utilizes almost exclusively fast twitch fibers.

These muscle fibers, which are also targeted in most strength training, are much larger than slow twitch fibers, especially when regularly trained. This alone will cause greater increases in muscle mass over endurance style training, but on top of this, higher intensity, fast twitch exercise produces more testosterone and growth hormone.

This is especially true of sprinting with increases of up to 2000% seen in growth hormone production. In fact, it was hard to find any other physical activity that altered growth hormone to this degree, as it also promotes longevity, injury healing and fat loss while helping to maintain muscle mass in the process.

"Huh!? Such a simple logic, is that the truth!??" Karasaki opened a wide smile of delight.

"Well, there is a study recorded within the informational memory," Hopscotch commented with a smirk, "Of course, you're too dumb to think of that."

"Ohoh? Unfortunately for you, my shovel says otherwise!"'

"Huwaa, they are exchanging blows while running…!" Willow exclaimed in exasperation.

Immortal Dragon Overlord could be seen being overwhelmed the most. "Are we really getting stronger by running like this!??"

Hoppington immediately turned her gaze towards Immortal Dragon Overlord. "Just for you to know, sprinting is also great for fat loss."

"Are you implying that this body of mine is fat!?"

In a meta analysis of other studies, sprint interval training was found to reduce body fat percentage 40% more than High Intensity Interval Training, which is itself known for its incredible fat loss potential.

The same meta analysis also found that compared to traditional long distance cardio, sprinting decreased body fat 92% more. Furthermore the sprint training took far less time to complete than the High Intensity Interval Training or steady state cardio training, making it possibly the best minimalist fat loss and body recomposition training tool available.

"I-I can't run anymore…!" Bluebell said in a weary tone.

"Bluebell, is there something you really want to have, or to do in the future?" Nagan prodded the surprisingly non-absentminded Bluebell with a question. "Just think of it, you can also try to open the memory boxes you find interesting if you didn't think of any."

"Uh, huh? I think, uhm." It took thirty seconds to come up with a sentence. Amidst that time, she seemed to forget about her complaints and exhaustion. "I want to be a dancer!"

"And you know, Bluebell? To be a dancer, you need to have a great endurance to pull all of those moves that you absorbed inside the informational memory that the Queen gave you."

"Woaah!"

"She forgot that she was exhausted."

"She just resetted."

"How to learn this great power?"

Another obvious benefit of sprinting is increased explosiveness and high intensity endurance, which translates very well to most other forms of athletics and is more likely to be needed in most life threatening situations than longer and slower paced endurance.

And finally, sprinting increases the strength and efficiency of the spinal engine, a complex system of kinetic energy transfer between the lower body and the spine which takes part in all other forms of athletic power generation, including upper body movements like throwing and punching. Making sprinting ideal for any individual who's sport requires power generation.