Hizles

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a plyometrics routine specific to track cycling? Namely scratch races and Keirin. I have a solid strength base.
Thanks!

carleton

As far as I know, there are no specific plyometric exercises or routines specific for track cycling. I mean, plyo work is plyo work.

Gym training is sort of an a-la-carte system. Lots to choose from. Pick what you need for what you are trying to accomplish. The key is to understand what each exercise trains and how to setup the right programming using these exercises.

Maybe find a plyo routine for track and field sprinters. The training and physical demands are quite similar.

brawlo

Box jumps or whatever they're called are commonly used. Bring exercises like those into a power building phase of weightlifting.

Note: My 2c may not be worth much as I am fairly new but I have been looking around a lot. There's a few vids on the net of track cyclists training and box jumps are in there as well as jump squats.

Hizles

Thanks! I'll look into that.

andre nickatina

I like to do box jumps and progressively add more height to the boxes.

If you don't have boxes, try lunge jumps, long jumps and high jumps.

Plyo's cool; you can do it any time, anywhere (though you'll look ridiculous more so some places than others )

carleton

+1

There are no proper plyo boxes at my gym. I sit on a low stool and do a seated box jump on to a flat bench.

As one tutorial explained it, athletes clear the higher platforms more-so by how high they pull their knees up than by how much they explode off the ground. The video showed an athlete clearing a modest box then a crazy high box. Then the coach said, "Now pay attention to the height of his head." It was the same for both jumps. It was the tuck that made the difference. But the focus point of the exercise isn't the tuck, it's the explosion off of the ground. I focus on exploding as hard as possible. This usually leaves my legs straight down and I still fall a few inches to the bench as opposed to my knees being in my chest to barely clear a taller box.

It's easier to cheat this way because you are imagining that you have to clear a taller box, so if you don't concentrate you'll half-ass it. On the other hand, there's little danger of not clearing the box and scratching the bejesus out of your shins.

Having plyo boxes would be nice as I've used them before, but I'm making do with what I've got. Maybe this will help.

tonski 

cross fit does a decent amount of exercises like that, so does graham street's videos