How to improve sprint performance?

[carmol]

One of my cycling problems is sprinting. I'm not satisfied with my sprint peformance. I weight around 72 kg and my height is 1.84 m. My peak power in sprints is 1100 w (5 seconds). This is anything but great; my power profile is up-sloping (15 w/kg for 5 s, 8.4 w/kg for 60 s, 5.1 w/kg for 5 minutes, ftp is not precisely tested yet, but I guess around 4.3 w/kg).

So I could say - well, I'm a typical time trialist (according to Allen/Coggan).

But there is still something to makes me think, I could rather easily improve my sprint performance:

• I do get my peak power readings a relativly low RPMs - a little below 100.
• But I'm able to turn the cranks (without resitance) quite fast. I get easily over 200 RPM, peak for 10 seconds has been 217 so far.

Is there a training technique or something that helps me making better use of my ability to spin the pedals fast and using (more) power at the same time?

 

[DennistheMennis]

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that high cadence, as it pertains to sprinting, is mostly an advantage in that you can achieve a higher top speed with a given gearing. So, if you develop your power enough you'll be able to completely spin out in your 54x11!

Lower cadence is where you get the highest force on the pedals, and is thus the best way to "jump" as you start your sprint.

p.s. 1100W seems super high to me. But I guess I don't know how that compares to your competitors.

 

[breesej]

I'm not a coach, but I would say intervals and practicing real sprinting should get you better. My brother used to race bikes in H.S. and college and he would sprint up and down the street with his friends as training.

 

[BullGod]

1100 is not that bad at all....There are plenty of really good top end racers who are around that mark (usually they are really hot at climbing and TTing though)

As regards to the "jump" in the sprint - make sure you don't get into too big a gear too early. This will spike your power but won't necessarily spike your speed - you can accelerate faster in a lighter gear and then once your speed is high - say above 50km/h you can drop the back down to 12 or 13....often after you actually start your sprint for the line.

seems to me that lots of guys go straight into 54/11 from at 40km/h and then crank out massive wattage whilst not going anything like top speed. When I started I was doing this and i seemed to be going backwards in the sprints whilst my legs hurt like hell.....it took me a while to notice that my competitors were all riding a much easier gear.

The average sprint speed at cat 1/2 in these parts is around 55 kph - you don't necessarily need to be on the 11 or 12 to hit that. I know the pros sprint in the 11 but they are freaks and also get a 60kph leadout.

 

[DennistheMennis]

1100 is not that bad at all....There are plenty of really good top end racers who are around that mark (usually they are really hot at climbing and TTing though)

As regards to the "jump" in the sprint - make sure you don't get into too big a gear too early. This will spike your power but won't necessarily spike your speed - you can accelerate faster in a lighter gear and then once your speed is high - say above 50km/h you can drop the back down to 12 or 13....often after you actually start your sprint for the line.

seems to me that lots of guys go straight into 54/11 from at 40km/h and then crank out massive wattage whilst not going anything like top speed. When I started I was doing this and i seemed to be going backwards in the sprints whilst my legs hurt like hell.....it took me a while to notice that my competitors were all riding a much easier gear.

The average sprint speed at cat 1/2 in these parts is around 55 kph - you don't necessarily need to be on the 11 or 12 to hit that. I know the pros sprint in the 11 but they are freaks and also get a 60kph leadout.

Really good point. I always used to spin a faster gear when sprinting, but when I started practicing jumps and sprints I used a higher gear. Maybe because I believed the extra force required to turn a taller gear helped train the muscles better. But even if that's true it would make sense to then use a lower gear during the actual race than you'd use in training. Does that make sense? Or use the lower gear for training too?

Also, what do the rest of you out there do to train for sprints? I do some plyomteric excercises (jumps and lunges with body weight only), plus the usual on-bike training. Including 10 sec jumps and 30 sec all-out sprints.

 

[TrekDedicated]

If you're near a city, ride the streets... Dangerous as hell, but you'll get the rush and the interval work outs..

 

[kopride]

Also, what do the rest of you out there do to train for sprints? I do some plyomteric excercises (jumps and lunges with body weight only), plus the usual on-bike training. Including 10 sec jumps and 30 sec all-out sprints.

I ride interval "telephone poles" Find a long staight rode with utility poles evenly distributed and then sprint one set and then spin the next two. And I mean sprint the poles. As soon as you hit the pole sprint out of the saddle as fast as you can to the next one. (I try and visualize riders trying to catch me. Also, do wind sprints on the track. I jog the curves and sprint the straights. Do a few miles that way every week, and you will see a huge difference in your body and sprinting ability. Weight work, 8 sets of 3 reps very heavy close to max at a fast lifting speed is also great for sprints.

I find sprint workouts to be brief very brutal workouts

 

[Billsworld]

My work right now is starts and jumps from low speed in gears larger than I would use to sprint. 53x16-17? For me, the power is lower than for a 5 sec test, but I am improving. I do them up an incline so that I never quite get on top of the gear and I save the extreme cadence work for the end of the workout. BTW I only ride track

 

[DennistheMennis]

My work right now is starts and jumps from low speed in gears larger than I would use to sprint. 53x16-17? For me, the power is lower than for a 5 sec test, but I am improving. I do them up an incline so that I never quite get on top of the gear and I save the extreme cadence work for the end of the workout. BTW I only ride track

This forum tends to be very endurance oriented, so it's nice to get some sprinter's threads in here.

Your training is similar to mine, it seems, except I only use a HRM. Yeah, not the best for high-intensity sprints, but all I can justify at the moment. I also prefer short hills that I can cover in 30 secs, with 5 min breaks in between. I do this once a week. Seems pretty standard. Sometimes I also/instead do 10 sec jumps.

Are you training primarily for 200m? I mostly just want to get a sprint for criterium finishes/attacks, so 200m matches that well.

Do you do any weights? I'm reluctant to start squats and such, but will do them if I get enough feedback saying I should. For now I'm sticking with my plyo jumps/lunges, plus the on-bike.

 

[Billsworld]

This forum tends to be very endurance oriented, so it's nice to get some sprinter's threads in here.

Your training is similar to mine, it seems, except I only use a HRM. Yeah, not the best for high-intensity sprints, but all I can justify at the moment. I also prefer short hills that I can cover in 30 secs, with 5 min breaks in between. I do this once a week. Seems pretty standard. Sometimes I also/instead do 10 sec jumps.

Are you training primarily for 200m? I mostly just want to get a sprint for criterium finishes/attacks, so 200m matches that well.

Do you do any weights? I'm reluctant to start squats and such, but will do them if I get enough feedback saying I should. For now I'm sticking with my plyo jumps/lunges, plus the on-bike.

I spent 22 years powerlifting and this is the end of my second season riding , first racing. At this point the riding with lifting puts too much demand on recovery, so I do mostly workouts like I descibed above. My lifting starts this week but is going to be very different than I did before. My weight has been 205-215 and now its 185-190. The focus will be low back and abs, some hamstring work, cleans and very easy upper body work.................. I got alot of advice early on and made the mistake of employing weight lifting principals to cycling. Had I been wiser I would have listened to the more experieced track riders instead of being a slave to peak power numbers and my own ideas . Your on the bike training sounds alot like mine . A good way to monitor your progress for sprints like this is to use the same road , hill ,distance etc.. and simply try to increase top speed . You will find that gear changes will only have a slight effect on speed unless you find more power . As your power increases so will your speed...........sort of............oops Mostly interested in sprints on he track, but mass start races are fun too. Most of them are basicly mini crits on an oval. It sounds like your ready to come over to the dark side

 

[DennistheMennis]

...snip... Mostly interested in sprints on he track, but mass start races are fun too. Most of them are basicly mini crits on an oval. It sounds like your ready to come over to the dark side

Yeah, done lots of crits and roads, but my first track event will be on the 30th! Not looking to set any records; just want to learn the ropes. After a few visits I'll get to work on the performance aspects.

 

[DennistheMennis]

Found a neat description of a National-level Master track racer's workouts:

http://www.kevinworley.com/trackworkouts.html

 

[RapDaddyo]

Lower cadence is where you get the highest force on the pedals, and is thus the best way to "jump" as you start your sprint.

This is not necessarily true. For example, I generate my peak power at ~125rpm. If I started my sprint in, say, the 60s I would never get to my peak torque range. This is easily tested, but one shouldn't just assume that he generates his peak power at low cadence.

 

[DennistheMennis]

This is not necessarily true. For example, I generate my peak power at ~125rpm. If I started my sprint in, say, the 60s I would never get to my peak torque range. This is easily tested, but one shouldn't just assume that he generates his peak power at low cadence.

Well, I actually said peak "force," not power, but your point is well taken, and actually was already made by BullGod.

BTW, in my world torque is the same thing as force. And force, per Ric's postings, is highest at 0 rpm. But force doesn't win races, speed does, and so the point is that it's best to concentrate on power, not strength, even for sprinters. And peak power occurs at a higher rpm than peak force.

I think I got all that right...

So, what do you do for sprint-specific training?

Thanks!

 

[RapDaddyo]

So, what do you do for sprint-specific training?

I consider my sprint pretty putrid (my peak power is ~1200W), so there are others on the forum who have much more impressive sprints. Not that absolute sprint power affects how one trains.

I include 4-6 sprints in almost every ride. I do 5-20 seconds at max power under a whole variety of conditions (standing start, rolling low-speed jump, rolling high-speed jump from ~25mph, uphill sprints, etc., etc.). I just basically try to get power up over ~900W and go as hard as I can for 10-20secs. I find that I generate my max power from a standing start or an uphill sprint when fresh, but I think the desired NM adaptation takes place from any effort >900W for 5-20secs.

 

[DennistheMennis]

Cool! Sounds a lot like what I do, except for the power meter.

BTW, I've noticed that there's a wide spread of power/strength generation going on in just the short time between 10-30 seconds. I can do 10s at 100% effort and need almost no immediate recovery, but those 30s sprints totally drain me for about 5 min. I would guess that's because we're burning, what is it called, "ATP" (?) for the first few seconds, then shift over to muscle glycogen (?). Whatever it is, I really need to breathe a lot more in those 30s sprints!

 

[Billsworld]

Cool! Sounds a lot like what I do, except for the power meter.

BTW, I've noticed that there's a wide spread of power/strength generation going on in just the short time between 10-30 seconds. I can do 10s at 100% effort and need almost no immediate recovery, but those 30s sprints totally drain me for about 5 min. I would guess that's because we're burning, what is it called, "ATP" (?) for the first few seconds, then shift over to muscle glycogen (?). Whatever it is, I really need to breathe a lot more in those 30s sprints!

The on the bike training that I do is to develop bike specific neuromuscular power. The cadence range is kept low for the purpose of of training or in my case retraining my legs move in circles. Optimal cadence is not the goal becuase I am not doing a power test. Kind of like weights on the bike.....What track are you headed to?

 

[DennistheMennis]

<snip> What track are you headed to?

The Hellyer Park velodrome in San Jose, CA. They have rentals and such. Just bring your own pedals and shoes.

 

[carpediemracing]

sprinting

my only strength is sprinting.

what gear to use when jumping - if being led out (or sitting behind unwitting leadout riders), shift up one or two gears, i.e. instead of the 15T, use the 14T or 13T. Roadies are power sprinters and use their power to muscle the gear.

sprinting - once you start your sprint, you can shift any time you like. well, if your bike is in shape and you have your levers lower than a climber would. I regularly shift both up and down leading up to and in the actual sprint. Shifting under full gas is totally possible - just try it on your own before you unleash your secret weapon in a group.

A long time ago I read that a human body can sprint (max effort) for 40 pedal revolutions. But, in the long trainer sessions watching race tapes, I counted the revs the sprints did while in the wind. I found most of them did about 8-10 revs in the wind in the Tour stages I checked. The exception was the final stage when they inevitably went about 20 revs. I try and limit my sprints to 20 revs. if at a new race venue, I'll ride backwards from the finish in the gear I think I might use for 20 revs, find a landmark, and try and be in good position at that landmark.

my favorite recommendation for a jump/sprint workout is to find a slight (1-5%) downhill followed by a flat section the length you require for a sprint (say 200m). use the downhill as your "leadout" and jump as hard as possible at your start point (on the flat). try doing this in a cross/tail wind and keep track of your max speeds.

in the workout above, alternate gears - high and low. try say 53x13 and 53x16. it helps learn the difference between "pushing" and "spinning".

the best sprint workouts I ever got was a Tues night sprint ride at a local university on a 2 mile (3 km) loop (SUNY Purchase for those in the NYC area). approx 50-150 riders of all levels (up to Cat 1, national team riders) would show up for 2-3 hours. approx 1km-long committed leadouts (started by a 200 meter slight downhill followed by an undulated 800-1000 meters) by numerous leadout riders meant the leadout would typically hit 55-60 kph on a slow day and 65+ kph on a fast day. the top speeds I observed were typically 70-75 kph on the 200m slight downgrade to the line. 15-20 sprints really cooked your legs and I learned a lot of tactics and techniques on sprinting by doing that. I learned that if you have the power, you can jump really hard even if you're going really fast already.

I personally enjoy (but can only enjoy infrequently) sprinting with cars in city traffic. pick a loop that has all one-way traffic (or median'ed roads so there is no one driving towards you). I have a favorite 2 mile loop and the speed limit is 30 mph (50 kph) which means drivers go 35-40 mph (60-67 kph). this is perfect for motorpacing up to my jump point, 200 meters from a nice crosswalk. my sprint speed varies wildly with traffic and wind - it may be as low as 55 kph and as high as 80 kph (well, on one day). doing this workout with friends is more consistent since they're on bikes and it's easier to hold their wheels. but doing it alone is fine. trucks are a rare treat so they receive the most magnetic drafting attention possible. when I worked in NYC going up and down the large Avenues was a real treat. synchronized lights, some semblence of awareness of cyclists, and everyone driving 55 kph or so.

btw I'm a lowly Cat 3 (1 being national level and 5 being beginner) and although I can sprint reasonably well, there are a lot of guys who sprint better than I do. I mention the speeds because in Cat 3 races, although they may average 40-45 kph for an hour, typically contain short bursts at 65 kph to bridge to a break, attacks at up to 70 kph, and generally things are going fast only after we're going over 50 kph. I've been led out on relatively large group rides and once jumped super early because the guy leading out the sprint (a Cat 1 or 2) was "only" going 37 mph (60+ kph). I jumped past him, sat up when I had a big gap, and didn't contest when one guy caught me at the "line". the leadout guy told me I could have won if I'd waited. I pointed out I was more concerned with the positioning and the jump and that he was going too slow and I was getting swamped. "But I was going 37 mph". "Exactly.. too slow!". We laughed. I told him if he'd been holding 40 mph, I would have felt comfortable waiting.

hm now I want to do a nice night ride on my fave 2 mile city loop!

 

[DennistheMennis]

I usually get up to just 55 kph... I suck! Well, it is slightly uphill and I don't draft anything.