Advice on increasing peak speed
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Advice on increasing peak speed
Hi, I'm new to track and I'm training for the Kilo and 200, so I'm trying to increase top end speed. I'm finding it difficult to find information about track cycling online so I decided to turn here. I've heard that strength work in the gym translates mostly to the initial acceleration phase of a sprint at lower RMPs, so how do I go about training peak speed? Is it more about rate of force development? Would plyometric training and Olympic lifting be a good approach? Or is simply sprinting with full recovery the best method to get faster? Im sure it is a combination of the aforementioned factors, and more that I'm missing. I want to understand what physical and physiological variables impacting top sprint speed. Also if anyone has any other general advice about training and racing my events I would love to hear it! Thank you!
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I'm not a sprinter, so don't have great advice for training peak speed, but it would be helpful if you listed your athletic background, current training status, and if you have access to bike/velodrome/wattbike/smart trainer etc etc..
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Good point, thanks for the suggestion.
I'm 23 and fairly well trained for a beginner to racing as I have been training for sprinting for 2 years riding all seasons (probably improperly) and doing many of the elements of track cycling for much longer. I've been lifting for 8 years on and off, cycling recreationally since I was 12 because I lived in the middle of nowhere and that's all there was to do.
my lift/ plyometric PRs are as follows: deadlift is 405 lbs, squat 350, bridge 460, power clean 185, I can broad jump 9ft not sure about vertical. This was at 150 lbs.
I need to retest these numbers as I gained 25 lbs this winter and am now 175 lbs from doing mostly bodyweight exercises and strength work on the bike. My legs ballooned up to 26 inches but I'm not sure if I have the strength to match.
I dont have any times because I dont live near enough to a velodrome. Most of my bike training is done on the road. I have a basic track bike, but not many chain rings or cogs. I have a 48t or a 60t running to a 15t for strength work and cadence work. I have a power meter but I dont trust its accuracy at all because my numbers are so high, so I just use it for cadence. I dont have access to a watt bike and the trainers at my gym all have wildly different power readings but consistent rpm readings, with low resistance I can spin up to 242 rpm. I can get the 60/15 up to 120+ rpm and the 48/15 up to 160+rpm. I have less than ideal gym access as my budget doesnt have room for a membership so I go a few times a month with a day pass and lift at my friends garage where there are only 195 lbs of weights which isnt enough for much more than hypertrophy, I try to challenge myself with difficult bodyweight exercises like single leg sissy squat and nordic curls on days where I cant lift. Probably too much information (maybe not enough?), but I hope it helps!
Last edited by DinnerPlate; 02-28-20 at 07:17 PM.