cyclist physic

explosifpete

after watching the olimpics i npticed that chris hoy does not have the avarage body of a cyclist.
Most rides have been very lean to the point of looking a bit ill but hoy is a power house, is this better for track sprinting?

andrewgturnbull

Yes!

mclarent

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/in_the_gym/workouts/newsid_4637000/4637001.stm

he actually has the same stats as me! Well, he has my height and target weight anyway...

wonder if that means i'd be world class track sprinter as well?

Alex_Simmons/RST

I think you'll find in competition mode, Hoy is very, very lean, i.e. very little excess body fat.
As a track sprinter, his is not an unusual build. While not always necessary, it is more common as such events require brutally high power outputs over short periods of time.

shockedsoshocked

I think I read somewhere his squat one rep max was around 500lbs.

That's a bloody good squat.

Alex_Simmons/RST

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

I think I read somewhere his squat one rep max was around 500lbs.

That's a bloody good squat.

True although in the past I have done a set of 10 at only 20kg less than that.
Strength, while a factor in sprinting, does not mean speed I'm afraid to say.

Quite a lot of fast sprinters don't actually have super high 1RM squats.

For example, Ryan Bayley (dual Athens Olympic Champion in sprint and Keirin) told us recently he couldn't squat more than about 130kg.

fuzzynavel

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

I think I read somewhere his squat one rep max was around 500lbs.

That's a bloody good squat.

True although in the past I have done a set of 10 at only 20kg less than that.
Strength, while a factor in sprinting, does not mean speed I'm afraid to say.

Quite a lot of fast sprinters don't actually have super high 1RM squats.

For example, Ryan Bayley (dual Athens Olympic Champion in sprint and Keirin) told us recently he couldn't squat more than about 130kg.

500lbs is around 230kgs! ouch.....I can only do about 160kg's for 5 reps.

shockedsoshocked

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

I think I read somewhere his squat one rep max was around 500lbs.

That's a bloody good squat.

True although in the past I have done a set of 10 at only 20kg less than that.
Strength, while a factor in sprinting, does not mean speed I'm afraid to say.

Quite a lot of fast sprinters don't actually have super high 1RM squats.

For example, Ryan Bayley (dual Athens Olympic Champion in sprint and Keirin) told us recently he couldn't squat more than about 130kg.

Sorry, wasn't trying to insinuate strength = speed, was just saying that if you're squatting with that you're going to have a rather well developed physique shall we say. I won't discuss my 1 rep max because it's quite frankly pathetic.

Edit: I also can't sprint for toffee

fuzzynavel

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

I think I read somewhere his squat one rep max was around 500lbs.

That's a bloody good squat.

True although in the past I have done a set of 10 at only 20kg less than that.
Strength, while a factor in sprinting, does not mean speed I'm afraid to say.

Quite a lot of fast sprinters don't actually have super high 1RM squats.

For example, Ryan Bayley (dual Athens Olympic Champion in sprint and Keirin) told us recently he couldn't squat more than about 130kg.

Can a good squat be translated into raw wattage or does it involve different muscles entirely?

Alex_Simmons/RST

fuzzynavel wrote:

Can a good squat be translated into raw wattage or does it involve different muscles entirely?

Not necessarily. The modality of the exercise is different. We don't squat with anywhere near the leg speed at which we sprint. Mechanical power requires moving something, and high power requires that be done fairly quickly. High forces can be applied without moving anything however.

Plenty of guys train leg strength but can't translate that to additional sprint power on a bike. Some can.

I mean Cavendish and McEwen are hardly body builder types. Neither is Theo Bos.

fuzzynavel

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

fuzzynavel wrote:

Can a good squat be translated into raw wattage or does it involve different muscles entirely?

Not necessarily. The modality of the exercise is different. We don't squat with anywhere near the leg speed at which we sprint. Mechanical power requires moving something, and high power requires that be done fairly quickly. High forces can be applied without moving anything however.

Plenty of guys train leg strength but can't translate that to additional sprint power on a bike. Some can.

I mean Cavendish and McEwen are hardly body builder types. Neither is Theo Bos.

So instead of slow squats you would probably want to build explosive power such as squat to jump and repeat to exhaustion possibly whilst wearing a few kilos of arm leg weights?

Infamous

might as well just get on the bike and sprint up a hill.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Infamous wrote:

might as well just get on the bike and sprint up a hill.

Bingo.

Specificity. Want to improve something? Do it. Do it again.

However if you are a dedicated track sprinter/kilo rider, then weights would normally form part of the training regime. Plyo type exercises possibly but doing starts and sprints on a bike is best by a long shot. Nothing else replicates the joint angles, forces and velocities of riding a bike like riding a bike.

Now the interesting part is with a power meter yis ou can examine an individual rider's maximal force v pedal speed relationship (I'm talking for the 5-6 seconds in which one can sustain absolute maximal effort, after which we begin to fatigue) and from that you can deduce things about what element of their training for sprinting might be better to target.

edhornby

interesting stuff alex - thanks

although your last post reminds me of when they asked Fausto Coppi about how how did he get so good and Coppi said

'Ride a bike, Ride a bike'

:-)

Alex_Simmons/RST

or the junior who ask Eddy Merckx whether it was better to spin fast or ride a big gear. The reply:
"Spin a big gear".

jp1985

I wont bring the power formula up in yet another thread but you have to be strong before you can be powerful. Therefore for track sprinters weight training will be a very important part of the training program but you also have to be able to express that strength at speed which is where on the bike work comes in.

Specificity is important but you also have to think about the concept of "overload". The body will not adapt unless it is stressed beyond its current capabilities. High power outputs can be achieved on the bike but force and power are far far higher in squats/olymic lifting type exercises.

e.g. chris hoy's peak power output will be around 2200watts yet poweroutput in olympic lifting can be over 6500 watts

On bike strength training can result in strength gains if appropriatly designed but it is not what simply works that is important but what works best and that is a combination of both weight training and on bike work

Training for road riding is differant and 95%+ of training is probably best done on a bike. Although for sprinters such as Mcewen and Cavendish i would still recommend some weight training. (But cavendish does all his training on the bike so what do i know)