How to improve sprint?

some sprints on the bike would help... but seriously, what sort of sprinting are you trying to improve and why (e.g. sprint for a road race, sprint for 200m track sprinting)?

ric

Thank you for reply.

Well...I'm road racer so I want so improve my sprint for road race. I used to win a lot races in sprint but now I feel like much slower.

The problem is that you are taking too many faster guys to the line. Drop them early.

1st of all you are pretty much born a sprinter or not, so doing sprint training is just about muscle memory and technique.. also sprinting on the road is a lot about positioning and pack smarts and being very efficient (hiding) for the duration of the race etc.. and also quite a bit about AWC and Theshold power since you need to be able to hold your position right before the sprint and then sprint and then be fresh enough to sprint...

The sprint workout that i do is this...

find a quite road with a ~50-100m incline (.. 2% max) where you can do your sprint..

warm up for about 20-30mins endurance to tempo pace.

1) i do one or two sprints from almost a standing start up the incline and over geared.. this results on a lot of torque on the pedals and an exaggeration of the peddling and you kind of think a little more about what you are doing, work arms etc... and it kind of warms you up for the flying start sprints later.. sprint last 10-15second.. power is irrelevant... you sprint as hard as you can.. but take note of max and ave power to see your improvement over time..

2) ride in the other direction and do flying starts down the hill this time.. this is going to help you recreate the conditions of the end of a race (high speed, high leg speed, without having to accelerate up to that speed and tiring yourself out) without depending on other riders to draft you up to race speed.. go down the hill with very little force.. all that is required to get up to 35-40km/h as you get to the end of the hill sprint as hard as you can for 10-15 second

do FULL recovery.. ~5mins.. whatever it takes to be fully recovered.. this is in no way, shape of form an aerobic workout.. if you feel tired at all at the start of your sprint or your max power drops significantly.. do the same 20-30mins ride home endurance pace.. do this workout on a a day when you are recovered (just taken the previous day off).. it will not take too much out of you aerobically so you can do anything the next day or if you do it in the morning you can do anything in the afternoon.. if you're really bushed after doing this workout you did it wrong.. but you need to be fresh to do it properly..
Edit - have you moved up in category? this could explain why you are not doing as well in sprints.. also if you're doing harder workout and not recovering before your races it could negatively impact your spraining ability..

I am a "one trick pony" at this point in my 2 year cycling career and that trick is sprinting.
I only have 7 races under my belt since my first race in July, 2011. The only "sprint specific" training I was doing took place in December, 2011. I was training about 12 hours a week. Saturday was 3.5 hours "Endurance" miles with a sprint thrown in every 20 minutes. I would use phone poles as my start finish. Try to hold your sprint for at least the distance of two phone poles. It seams sprints I hold in races are 20-30 seconds.

I have no idea how experienced you are from reading your post, but if your new here are some tips that have helped me:

1. Most important. Sprinting means nothing if you can't get to the 200-400 meters out with enough gas in the tank to lay it down.
2. Next most important. Positioning. Doesn't matter how strong you are, if you get boxed in, caught in the wind, end up on the front, behind the wrong wheel (ie not a strong sprinter or teamate to lead you out)....you are screwed.
3. Leverage on the bike & weight distribution. A proper bike fit (I suggest Retul if you have access in your area)

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 2011 SWORKS [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am a "one trick pony" at this point in my 2 year cycling career and that trick is sprinting.
I only have 7 races under my belt since my first race in July, 2011. The only "sprint specific" training I was doing took place in December, 2011. I was training about 12 hours a week. Saturday was 3.5 hours "Endurance" miles with a sprint thrown in every 20 minutes. I would use phone poles as my start finish. Try to hold your sprint for at least the distance of two phone poles. It seams sprints I hold in races are 20-30 seconds.

I have no idea how experienced you are from reading your post, but if your new here are some tips that have helped me:

1. Most important. Sprinting means nothing if you can't get to the 200-400 meters out with enough gas in the tank to lay it down.
2. Next most important. Positioning. Doesn't matter how strong you are, if you get boxed in, caught in the wind, end up on the front, behind the wrong wheel (ie not a strong sprinter or teamate to lead you out)....you are screwed.
3. Leverage on the bike & weight distribution. A proper bike fit (I suggest Retul if you have access in your area)

I'd add..

4. that if you are not at least 4-5 as the sprint opens up.. you have little to no chance of winning the sprint.. but you need to time getting to the front just right and get to the front without expending a lot of energy and then hold you position..

gotta have some balls to hold off people trying to go around you and it helps to have someone on the front keeping the pace really high so it makes it harder for people to move up and easier for you to hold your position until the sprint opens up...

When you guys are training your sprints...are you specifically training standing, in the drops? I really need to work on my out of saddle efforts in general, especially 'maximal'. How about cadence/pedal efficiency- pedaling fast/smooth circles with stable bike, or mashing and swinging?

What have some of you stronger sprinters found your cadence @ 5 second max power to be, compared with your cadence @ 20min power- just curious?

-Joe

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by J-HY [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

When you guys are training your sprints...are you specifically training standing, in the drops? I really need to work on my out of saddle efforts in general, especially 'maximal'. How about cadence/pedal efficiency- pedaling fast/smooth circles with stable bike, or mashing and swinging?

What have some of you stronger sprinters found your cadence @ 5 second max power to be, compared with your cadence @ 20min power- just curious?

-Joe

sprinting is a very personal thing.. how ever you produce the most power is how you produce the most power.. play with it.. that's what this dedicated sprint training is for.. look at the best road sprinters out there.. a guy like Cavendish throws his bike from left to right and get's all kinds of leverage, Abdoujaparov (TdF green jersey, points jersey in Giro and Vuelta) is another guy that sprinted like this.. then you have guys like Husovd, Petacchi, Cipollini etc that are really steady on their bike and just lay down the power.. i think you might find the quick acceleration type sprinter (like cavendish) will be flalling all over the place and depend more on leg speed.. where as the higher top end will sit more steady on their bike and use a slightly lower cadence..

at FTP i'm doing 80-90rpms.. at max. power.. flying start, as you would be doing in an actual race.. cadence is anywhere from about 115-125rpms

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by J-HY [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

When you guys are training your sprints...are you specifically training standing, in the drops? I really need to work on my out of saddle efforts in general, especially 'maximal'. How about cadence/pedal efficiency- pedaling fast/smooth circles with stable bike, or mashing and swinging?

What have some of you stronger sprinters found your cadence @ 5 second max power to be, compared with your cadence @ 20min power- just curious?

-Joe

Joe,

Yes. You always sprint in the drops.
Going to try to post a screne shot from one of those workouts I told you I did this past December. All the info you are looking for is there, 115 avg / 123 max cadence, etc...
Click the picture to enlarge. Notice the sharp decline in power as the RPM goes over 115. That is me spinning out that particular gear and shifting to the next gear. I need to work on a smoother/quicker shift (Dura Ace Di2 next year should help)

[IMG]cyclingforums.com180Open ↗[/IMG]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 2011 SWORKS [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Joe,

Yes. You always sprint in the drops.
Going to try to post a screne shot from one of those workouts I told you I did this past December. All the info you are looking for is there, 115 avg / 123 max cadence, etc...
Click the picture to enlarge. Notice the sharp decline in power as the RPM goes over 115. That is me spinning out that particular gear and shifting to the next gear. I need to work on a smoother/quicker shift (Dura Ace Di2 next year should help)

[IMG]cyclingforums.com180Open ↗[/IMG]

I would not recommend switching gears in the middle of a sprint.. just pick a gear that you can use for the entire sprint.. that small time as the gear clicks over can lose you the sprint and it's really kind of dangerous.. if the gear skips under full power, you could find yourself doing a lip skid over the finish line or heavily damaging the family jewels.. and the little lull as the gear clicks in can find someone behind you riding into your back wheel.. i think all around not a good idea.. judge the sprint and pick an appropriate gear..

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by doctorSpoc [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I would not recommend switching gears in the middle of a sprint.. just pick a gear that you can use for the entire sprint.. that small time as the gear clicks over can lose you the sprint and it's really kind of dangerous.. if the gear skips under full power, you could find yourself doing a lip skid over the finish line or heavily damaging the family jewels.. and the little lull as the gear clicks in can find someone behind you riding into your back wheel.. i think all around not a good idea.. judge the sprint and pick an appropriate gear..

Wow, is that bad advice folks!

Careful what you read on the internet.

Dr. S:
Do you race? And I'm not trying to put you down, but can you sprint and do you find yourself contesting for the win?
I hope someone that races & can sprint chimes in to let you know how fast you will "spin out" a gear in a 20-30 second sprint, unless you are leaving in the wrong gear. Your "Jump" will suck if you try to leave in too large a gear.
You will notice that for a very brief moment my power drops to nothing. I am not shifting under 1,555 watts...I back off prior to the shift.

Would you mind sharring a power profile example of your sprint?
I'm currious how you perform never shifting in a sprint.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 2011 SWORKS [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Wow, is that bad advice folks!

Careful what you read on the internet.

Dr. S:
Do you race? And I'm not trying to put you down, but can you sprint and do you find yourself contesting for the win?
I hope someone that races & can sprint chimes in to let you know how fast you will "spin out" a gear in a 20-30 second sprint, unless you are leaving in the wrong gear. Your "Jump" will suck if you try to leave in too large a gear.
You will notice that for a very brief moment my power drops to nothing. I am not shifting under 1,555 watts...I back off prior to the shift.

Would you mind sharring a power profile example of your sprint?
I'm currious how you perform never shifting in a sprint.

I've been racing on and off for almost 30 yrs now.. 1180W sprint at 55kg => 21.5W/kg.. I'm a little guy, but fair very well in sprints...

Why can world champ sprinters on the track manage to get up to speeds approaching 70km/hr with one gear and you can't.. Switching gears in a sprint is ill advised from both a performance and safety aspect.. Letting off the gas in the middle of a sprint to change gears is not really what you want to be doing and if your chain skips you're a danger to yourself and everyone around you.. learned that from my coaches from the time I was riding as a junior.. I'm now 43 going on 44.. How long have you been racing?

do you think you can sprint fast than Theo Bos.. 73.7 km average speed for 200m he only needs ONE GEAR..

The flat course,Thursday club training crit around here dictates that when the sprint goes down (at 200-250 meters from the finish line) you need to be in the gear you're going to finish with because the speed is high (55kph+) even before the actual sprint. FWIW, the only time I could see myself shifting while in the sprint would be a downhill finish.

Ok, point taken.

I am going to research this topic a bit. I believe I saw a video where Chris Hoy is spinning at close to 200 rpm!!! ....just amazing.

Anything over 125 RPM I feel I am losing tons of effiniency.

Anyway, I'm still going Di2 next year and can't wait to try the "sprint button" to allow you to change gears in the drops. Anyone here have this feature? I would love to hear someone chime in who has this.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 2011 SWORKS [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Ok, point taken.

I am going to research this topic a bit. I believe I saw a video where Chris Hoy is spinning at close to 200 rpm!!! ....just amazing.

Anything over 125 RPM I feel I am losing tons of effiniency.

Anyway, I'm still going Di2 next year and can't wait to try the "sprint button" to allow you to change gears in the drops. Anyone here have this feature? I would love to hear someone chime in who has this.

It definitely is less efficient.. you are lifting you legs in opposition to gravity many more times a minute.. but efficiency is really irrelevant in this case.. what matters at the end of the day is higher average speed.. what's more efficient a drag racer or a honda civic? which is faster?

If you want to be successful in sprinting, then you need to sprint under various situations, such as in a group, up a hill, on narrow and winding streets, and at the end of several hours on the bicycle to replicate sprinting at the end of a road race.
Jumps Take turns initiating the sprint and vary the distance from 100 to 300 meters. This drill will force you to learn to sprint in various gears, uphill, downhill, into the wind, with the wind at your back, and at various positions in the group.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 2011 SWORKS [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I need to work on a smoother/quicker shift (Dura Ace Di2 next year should help)

[IMG]cyclingforums.com180Open ↗[/IMG]

I would actually say you need to work on being comfortable at a higher cadence. If I don't hit ATLEAST 135 rpms then I was in the wrong gear. I once read an article written by someone who worked with US olympic track sprinters that said they would actually restrict the sprinters to a certain gear until they could hit 160+ rpms.

With that, a good drill is to ride down a hill without shifting and try to see how high of rpm you can hit, I can consistently hit 165+rpms.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by yishunbicycle [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

If you want to be successful in sprinting, then you need to sprint under various situations, such as in a group, up a hill, on narrow and winding streets, and at the end of several hours on the bicycle to replicate sprinting at the end of a road race.
Jumps Take turns initiating the sprint and vary the distance from 100 to 300 meters. This drill will force you to learn to sprint in various gears, uphill, downhill, into the wind, with the wind at your back, and at various positions in the group.

This sounds like good advice. In addition try breaking the training for sprint into 2 parts:

1. High cadence sprint work with little load. The aim here is cadence not power. Start out the sprint rolling (at various speeds) in a gear 1-2 easier than you normally would and sprint out of the saddle for 15-20 secs holding the same gear then maybe another 10 secs in the saddle at the high cadence (or not). After a while this should allow you to change speed and "over rev" a bit more with cadence rather than needing to change gear mid sprint or start in too big a gear. It will also improve your jump as you will tend to start your sprints in a better gear rather than one larger and needing to get over it first. At first you will feel very uncoordinated because you are not used to the high cadences. Precisely why BMXers often make good sprinters. They can hold very high cadences and their races are virtually a series of sprints.

2. high power efforts with loads of recovery. As much as 10-15 mins between efforts.

The problem with starting in too big a gear is you need to start the sprint earlier to have time to "get on top of" the gear. This often leads to you being the lead out of the other blokes.