Originally Posted by
melville
Caffeine and sugar. Lots of it. When your hands shake enough that you can barely hold on to the handlebar, that's about right. Observing my 7 year old, I'd say the best sprinter nutrition is "Juice. Juice. Do you have some juice? There's juice in the refrigerator. I want some." Wind him up and watch him go!
If you want to be a monster sprinter, first you've got to be a gym rat. Find out what the powerlifters are eating. Avoid stuff sold out of the back of cars. But first, you should find out if you have some innate talent for sprinting. 80% of success in bike racing is just showing up in the first place, trying the different events, and figuring out what you like. Do the thing first, worry (specific training, nutrition) about it later. You'll get more benefit from the trackie learning curve in your first season than you will from feeling like you've got to be in monster sprinter shape before you show up.
Originally Posted by
MGtrack
The best food for a sprinter comes through your car window. Or at least that's what I learned watching one guy who continually blew my doors off (I'm a health food nut/gym rat)
I thinks genetics is a factor too
Sprinting is definitely a genetic thing. It's virtually impossible to "train" oneself to become a vividly better sprinter. Yes, you can work on tactics and power and all that, but your base level of "sprintness" will determine how far you can go.
An ex-teammate of mine could out jump me no matter how much (or little) I trained. I could beat him after 40-50 meters, but the first 10, forget it. Another guy, a long time friendly rival, could out jump me easily at will. He could be heavy, light, fit, fat, he still had his jump.
Go to the track. If you get beat because you're fatigued after winning a few rounds. A good sign is if you end up seeded well because you did a fast time, but you were actually trying to back pedal for the last turn and ended up riding halfway up the banking when you lost control of your bike. I did that - it was the first hard effort on a fixed gear bike I made in forever and I literally thought I was going to end up off the track.
My first track ride/race since 1992 (it was about a year ago):
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...me-racing.html
Also I recently finished a helmet cam clip and I forgot to post it here. Scratch race, B race. It's not fast, but I think everyone was saving themselves for omnium series events - pursuit, miss and out I think. I got 2nd to last in the pursuit.
Helmet cam at the track:
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...e-june-17.html
cdr