No track time warm-up
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
No track time warm-up
I figured this might be useful to those doing nationals or worlds where the track is super crowded and track time is hard to get: Last weekend I did some racing, and on the second day (doing a kilo) it was not possible to get on the track before racing. This can be deadly before a kilo, but the following routine worked well for me.
1. Ten minutes easy warm-up on rollers (warm-up gear), ending with three 10 second sprints with 1-2 minutes between them
2. 5 sub-maximal infield starts on warm-up gear
3. 10 minutes rollers, race gear, ending with two 20 second efforts with 3-4 minutes between
4. Two set stair sprints (2 at a time, leg speed)
5. Three sets stair bounding (3 stairs at a time, explosiveness)
6 One set stair sprints
7. 10 minutes rollers; one 20 second effort, one 1 min effort
8. 5 infield starts on race gear
9. Periodically until go time, 5-10 min rollers, one 10 second sprint and one 20 second effort.
Of course everyone is different, but this worked surprisingly well for me. Would be interested to hear what others do in a similar circumstance.
1. Ten minutes easy warm-up on rollers (warm-up gear), ending with three 10 second sprints with 1-2 minutes between them
2. 5 sub-maximal infield starts on warm-up gear
3. 10 minutes rollers, race gear, ending with two 20 second efforts with 3-4 minutes between
4. Two set stair sprints (2 at a time, leg speed)
5. Three sets stair bounding (3 stairs at a time, explosiveness)
6 One set stair sprints
7. 10 minutes rollers; one 20 second effort, one 1 min effort
8. 5 infield starts on race gear
9. Periodically until go time, 5-10 min rollers, one 10 second sprint and one 20 second effort.
Of course everyone is different, but this worked surprisingly well for me. Would be interested to hear what others do in a similar circumstance.
#3
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I'll bite. I have Kreitlers, so I put on my race gear and do 20-30 minutes the rollers, gradually bringing my cadence up until I am spinning comfortably at 110 or so. In the last 5 minutes I will do a couple of 10-20 second spin-ups with maybe 2-3 minutes in between each one. I time this so I can get on the track in my race gear with abut 10 minutes left in warm up. I then do either two 100 meter jumps with a short wind up or two slow rolling 75 meter starts.
Then it is 7-10 minutes on the rollers at an easy pace every 15-20 minutes, and when it is about 10 minutes before my heat goes off I do a couple of spin ups. This works pretty well for me, and also lets me fee the race gear on the track, without burning out my legs warming up. Of course, the times are just averages; it depends on the temperature. For example, I warm up longer in Carson than I do in Rock Hill, where it probably be in the 90s with 80-90 humidity. I gauge by heart rate and amount of sweat.
Then it is 7-10 minutes on the rollers at an easy pace every 15-20 minutes, and when it is about 10 minutes before my heat goes off I do a couple of spin ups. This works pretty well for me, and also lets me fee the race gear on the track, without burning out my legs warming up. Of course, the times are just averages; it depends on the temperature. For example, I warm up longer in Carson than I do in Rock Hill, where it probably be in the 90s with 80-90 humidity. I gauge by heart rate and amount of sweat.
#4
I tend to be agnostic about my warmup. Some people need a process to feel like they've got their **** together. I go for a much more general approach to get my legs moving and my spirit ready.
If I'm just racing one day, my rollers warmup often looks something like this:
1. 15+ min spin easy
2. 5 min high rpm/tempo
3. 10 min spin easy
4. 2-4x max rpm spinups, that wind up being about 20s on, 40s off
If I'm racing for several days in a row, I want my warmups to be long and easy. They often involve several sessions on the rollers - sometimes, that AM rollers session is just recovery Low gear, low intensity, medium RPM, for 30 or more minutes. Sometimes I'll do it for an hour or more in the morning, take a big long break, and then start a warmup for racing in the early afternoon. Sometimes I'll be on the rollers for 60 or 90 minutes total before really starting a warmup - just pedaling easy and getting the blood flowing.
Since I don't do events that require immediate jumps, if I don't have track time, it's not a huge liability to me to not have a fully loaded jump or standing start or similar as part of my warmup.
If I'm just racing one day, my rollers warmup often looks something like this:
1. 15+ min spin easy
2. 5 min high rpm/tempo
3. 10 min spin easy
4. 2-4x max rpm spinups, that wind up being about 20s on, 40s off
If I'm racing for several days in a row, I want my warmups to be long and easy. They often involve several sessions on the rollers - sometimes, that AM rollers session is just recovery Low gear, low intensity, medium RPM, for 30 or more minutes. Sometimes I'll do it for an hour or more in the morning, take a big long break, and then start a warmup for racing in the early afternoon. Sometimes I'll be on the rollers for 60 or 90 minutes total before really starting a warmup - just pedaling easy and getting the blood flowing.
Since I don't do events that require immediate jumps, if I don't have track time, it's not a huge liability to me to not have a fully loaded jump or standing start or similar as part of my warmup.
#5
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I just roll up, hop out of the truck and go straight to the starting line...or at least I did when I was mountain bike racing. Even rolled up to the starting line about 30-45 seconds after my race started....still caught and passed them all. Then again, mountain bike racing got boring as I was winning a 2 hour race by as much as 6 minutes.
First time I went to nationals, I didn't have rollers or anything. Rolled out on the track cold and did a 1:09 kilo and an 11.5 200m. Now that I'm older and wiser (that's debatable), I take two bikes with me, my training track bike and my race bike. I do a warm up on track (if available) with my training bike, come off track, put the race gearing and wheels on my race bike, do 3-4 laps with a jump to make sure everything is good, then jump back on my training bike until the track closes for practice. After that, I just do rollers and/or roll around the infield as necessary. Every track I have been to has had the track open for at least one hour before racing starts, is that not the case everywhere? If I run up against that, I guess it will just be rollers and infield....or I could possibly take my training bike out to the parking lot to get a few good jumps or standing starts in?
First time I went to nationals, I didn't have rollers or anything. Rolled out on the track cold and did a 1:09 kilo and an 11.5 200m. Now that I'm older and wiser (that's debatable), I take two bikes with me, my training track bike and my race bike. I do a warm up on track (if available) with my training bike, come off track, put the race gearing and wheels on my race bike, do 3-4 laps with a jump to make sure everything is good, then jump back on my training bike until the track closes for practice. After that, I just do rollers and/or roll around the infield as necessary. Every track I have been to has had the track open for at least one hour before racing starts, is that not the case everywhere? If I run up against that, I guess it will just be rollers and infield....or I could possibly take my training bike out to the parking lot to get a few good jumps or standing starts in?
Last edited by Divebrian; 05-11-17 at 05:24 PM.
#6
Elitist
Bump for those prepping for Nationals now.
#7
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#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
If you can't get on track I highly recommend you do some light plyo stuff like jumping or stair bounding in addition to a roller warm-up.
#10
Elitist
Do you know if there will be an 'open track' session before races start?
Is there a schedule of events posted?
Do you know how long the break is between open track and when you might ride? (minutes, hours?)
In general, you'll be fine. You can do a good warmup on the rollers for sprint events. Just make sure to give yourself time to get 'hot'. This may include more than one roller interval, as in rollers for 15 minutes with a blow out at the end. Rest. Rollers for 10 minutes with a blowout at the end. etc...
If this is your first match sprint tournament ever, relax and don't over-think this. You'll probably suck (we all did the first time). Don't put too much pressure on yourself...including worrying about the perfect warmup.
#11
Basic questions:
Do you know if there will be an 'open track' session before races start?
Is there a schedule of events posted?
Do you know how long the break is between open track and when you might ride? (minutes, hours?)
In general, you'll be fine. You can do a good warmup on the rollers for sprint events. Just make sure to give yourself time to get 'hot'. This may include more than one roller interval, as in rollers for 15 minutes with a blow out at the end. Rest. Rollers for 10 minutes with a blowout at the end. etc...
If this is your first match sprint tournament ever, relax and don't over-think this. You'll probably suck (we all did the first time). Don't put too much pressure on yourself...including worrying about the perfect warmup.
Do you know if there will be an 'open track' session before races start?
Is there a schedule of events posted?
Do you know how long the break is between open track and when you might ride? (minutes, hours?)
In general, you'll be fine. You can do a good warmup on the rollers for sprint events. Just make sure to give yourself time to get 'hot'. This may include more than one roller interval, as in rollers for 15 minutes with a blow out at the end. Rest. Rollers for 10 minutes with a blowout at the end. etc...
If this is your first match sprint tournament ever, relax and don't over-think this. You'll probably suck (we all did the first time). Don't put too much pressure on yourself...including worrying about the perfect warmup.
#12
Elitist
By you showing up and racing you are on the way to becoming a better racer.
To be honest, the warmup is one of the least of your concerns. The biggest mistakes that I see first time sprint tournament participants make are:
- Not practicing their flying 200 before the event. (Your flying 200M time in your event shouldn't be a surprise. You will have done something very similar in training).
- Not realizing how many laps of windup are in the flying 200.
- Not knowing when to "jump" in the flying 200.
- Having too big of a gear on, (e.g. "In crits, I sprint on a 53x11...")
- Not being ready when they call you to go out for your flying 200.
I've known riders who only do flying 200s in sprint tournaments and never make time to practice and experiment...then are bewildered as to why they cannot get under 13".
#13
Sorry to dig up yet another old thread, but this looks like a good place to keep information together rather than just putting it in the random questions thread.
What would be a recommended warm up for a sprint race evening ( ie f200, plus the match sprint rounds)?
This is not my first race but I do wonder if my current warmup regime is doing me any good. I’ve read in a few places that an extended warmup over 20 minutes can actually diminish your power output but I usually see most people doing approx 60 mins warm ups ahead of their f200. ( example post https://www.velonews.com/2014/11/tra...-slower_352377 )
Currently my warmup consists of between 10-15 mins of very easy pedalling, approx 80-90rpm. Usually I am riding sat up, no handed during this time.
I start the next 10 mins riding at higher tempo, roughly 110rpm.
I then bring cadence back down to about 90rpm and do 3 Rev out activations about 3 minutes apart. I then return to very easy for last 5minutes and finish, all in all it’s about 40 - 45 minutes.
Does this sound about right?
I don’t do any further roller work between my f200 and match sprint ( or between match sprint rounds), I usually spend it sat or lying down in an effort to recover. There’s usually about 20 minutes between my events. Should I be doing any warmdown work between rounds?
Thanks
What would be a recommended warm up for a sprint race evening ( ie f200, plus the match sprint rounds)?
This is not my first race but I do wonder if my current warmup regime is doing me any good. I’ve read in a few places that an extended warmup over 20 minutes can actually diminish your power output but I usually see most people doing approx 60 mins warm ups ahead of their f200. ( example post https://www.velonews.com/2014/11/tra...-slower_352377 )
Currently my warmup consists of between 10-15 mins of very easy pedalling, approx 80-90rpm. Usually I am riding sat up, no handed during this time.
I start the next 10 mins riding at higher tempo, roughly 110rpm.
I then bring cadence back down to about 90rpm and do 3 Rev out activations about 3 minutes apart. I then return to very easy for last 5minutes and finish, all in all it’s about 40 - 45 minutes.
Does this sound about right?
I don’t do any further roller work between my f200 and match sprint ( or between match sprint rounds), I usually spend it sat or lying down in an effort to recover. There’s usually about 20 minutes between my events. Should I be doing any warmdown work between rounds?
Thanks
#14
#15
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Kaben have a look at my original post for how I do it, though as a general rule I think you should never do anything plyometric when cold. You can (and I have) substitute standing jumps for the stair workout.
#16
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Kaben, what works well for me is to do a roller (or feedback) warm up. I then change gears if necessary, put on my kit etc. I then do 2 or 3 plyo jumps right before getting on the bike. The theory behind the jumps is to energize a particular system (I can't remember which one right now). I seem to go better, by my times, when I do this than when I forget to do them, which can happen if the whip is rushing everyone to get on line.
Last edited by rensho3; 01-02-19 at 03:43 PM. Reason: fix typo
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