pinky
08-13-03, 03:09 PM
exactly that, what kind of workouts should I be trying, and beyond that, what kind of position should I have on the bike?
Road Bike Racing - how to improve at sprinting?
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don d.
08-13-03, 04:43 PM
The following are generalizations:
Sprinters are in general more heavily muscled below the waist then non-sprinters. Obviously there are exceptions like Jalabert and Zabel, but this is in general. Lots of lower body, strength building weight lifting is the norm for this type of racer. Marty Nothstein and Mario Cipollini are the prototypical sprinter types.
Position on the bike tends to be more centered over the Bottom Bracket than behind the BB like a climber. Saddle set more to the front of the norm(ctr of knee perpendicular to ctr of pedal axle), cleats set more to the front of the shoe than the norm(ball of foot over ctr of pedal axle).
Sprinters must be able to spin high rpm's with their pedals so they usually spend some significant time at least during there development as a racer riding a low gear fix alot. Leonard Nitz, a fairly good sprinter in his day, used to train on a fix at least one day a week.
Assuming you have a pretty good base, you need to practice sprints! 2-3 workouts a week should be oriented around building explosive sprinting power, uphill sprints, downhill sprints, big gear sprints, long sprints, short sprints.
You might have a weekly workout like this:
Mon off or easy 1hr
Tues 1-1.5 hr interval/short sprints workout in the morn/weights-eve.
Weds 2-3 hrs steady
Thurs 1-1.5 hr interval/uphill sprints workout-morn/weights-eve.
Fri 1-2 hrs steady/easy
Sat 1 hr high intensity w/2-3 long sprints.
Sunday race or ride 4 hrs steady
Sprinters are in general more heavily muscled below the waist then non-sprinters. Obviously there are exceptions like Jalabert and Zabel, but this is in general. Lots of lower body, strength building weight lifting is the norm for this type of racer. Marty Nothstein and Mario Cipollini are the prototypical sprinter types.
Position on the bike tends to be more centered over the Bottom Bracket than behind the BB like a climber. Saddle set more to the front of the norm(ctr of knee perpendicular to ctr of pedal axle), cleats set more to the front of the shoe than the norm(ball of foot over ctr of pedal axle).
Sprinters must be able to spin high rpm's with their pedals so they usually spend some significant time at least during there development as a racer riding a low gear fix alot. Leonard Nitz, a fairly good sprinter in his day, used to train on a fix at least one day a week.
Assuming you have a pretty good base, you need to practice sprints! 2-3 workouts a week should be oriented around building explosive sprinting power, uphill sprints, downhill sprints, big gear sprints, long sprints, short sprints.
You might have a weekly workout like this:
Mon off or easy 1hr
Tues 1-1.5 hr interval/short sprints workout in the morn/weights-eve.
Weds 2-3 hrs steady
Thurs 1-1.5 hr interval/uphill sprints workout-morn/weights-eve.
Fri 1-2 hrs steady/easy
Sat 1 hr high intensity w/2-3 long sprints.
Sunday race or ride 4 hrs steady