Sprint Training...

airbusboy

Evening fellow cyclists,

This evening i realised my sprinting ability is truly appalling. I realise there's technique to a good sprint but i feel as if i'm lacking out of the saddle power....... What do i need to do to combat this.......

Please please hints/tips/advice is all welcome...

Rgds

AB

amaferanga

Are you racing? If so are you already finishing comfortably in the bunch?

Herbsman

You could perhaps try and go out on your bike and practice sprinting? How else do you think it's possible to get better at sprinting?

airbusboy

Yeah racing and happily finish in the bunch, i'm not lacking too much there.

I realise i need to get out and practice sprinting, but is it worth sprinting up hills on the drops... interval stylee? or Riding Z4 (ish) for 10mins and then full on sprint thereafter until i can't go any further?

Rgds

airbusboy

Yeah racing and happily finish in the bunch, i'm not lacking too much there.

I realise i need to get out and practice sprinting, but is it worth sprinting up hills on the drops... interval stylee? or Riding Z4 (ish) for 10mins and then full on sprint thereafter until i can't go any further?

Rgds

amaferanga

Is it your sprint or positioning that's the problem?

I do 9x20 sec intervals at >200% FTP and 3x (4x15s) on/off intervals (15s sprint - 15s recover, repeated 4 times then 5 minutes recovery before repeating).

I'm not a sprinter nor will I ever be, but IMO getting a result is much more about getting yourself in the right position coming up to the last few hundred metres.

airbusboy

Cheers for the advice... I'll give those intervals a go on saturday morning

ozzzyosborn206

amaferanga wrote:

Is it your sprint or positioning that's the problem?

I do 9x20 sec intervals at >200% FTP and 3x (4x15s) on/off intervals (15s sprint - 15s recover, repeated 4 times then 5 minutes recovery before repeating).

I'm not a sprinter nor will I ever be, but IMO getting a result is much more about getting yourself in the right position coming up to the last few hundred metres.

very true, you can be the best sprinter in the world but if your never in the right place or go at the right time its pointless, if you can position yourself well you should be able to top 5/10 from a big group. What category races are you doing?

joeyhalloran

IMO sprint training requires looking at two aspects:
leg speed
leg strength

Either one can be a limiting factor. Different sessions can target different things, on my easy days I do downhill/tailwind sprints in my easiest gear to allow my legs to learn how to spin fast(er) so that when I am sprinting in a race this doesn't slow me down. I also sometimes down up hill sprints in a heavy gear to build strength endurance (I think).

There is quite a lot about this on the wattage forum with some good tips and training techniques. I like the downhill sprints as you can do them on recovery days/rest periods, they don't tax your body at all...kind of free speed.