Cycling Sprint Training | The Workout & The Recovery
by Gavin Murray, rider for the Marc Pro Cycling Team
As a cyclist, there are two types of workouts that are really taxing on the legs: sprint training and long base days.
Sprint training revolves around shorter and more intense intervals as opposed to base days which target the metabolic system while putting as little pressure on the muscles as possible.
For a sprint training day, I like to warm up by doing 1.5 hours at what we call metabolic base which is a heart rate around 100-130bpm. I then do 2 max sprint efforts where I focus on form and power. In general, I mainly try to keep my front end as low as possible and keep a high out of saddle cadence as opposed to grinding gears. These efforts are normally separated by spinning the legs for 1 minute.
I do another 30 minutes spinning at metabolic base and then I do big gear work, which mainly consists of spinning a high gear at a low cadence (50-60 rpm). This part of the workout targets recruiting as many muscle fibers as possible and they help with sprint endurance. I’ll do 4 sets of these at 1 minute each all out.
The final on-bike component of this exercise is an hour spin back home at metabolic base. So overall this workout is normally 2.5-3 hours long. By this point I’m normally pretty fried.
When I’m home, recovery is the main priority. I immediately change out of my kit and get into my recovery routine.
I first make an Herbalife recovery smoothie, and do some light stretching and foam rolling for 30 minutes. In rolling, after a sprint workout, I target glutes and quads. I think it’s a good companion to using a Marc Pro, and really helps reduce muscle soreness.
I use my Marc Pro to cap off the day’s workout. My quadriceps are my priority when using the Marc Pro. I’ll use a low frequency with the intensity set to 9 for about an hour on both legs simultaneously while I’m watching Netflix or working on the computer. Depending on the intensity of the workout I can spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours targeting the quads. From there I move onto other areas. I’ve also really found that repeating sprints is really hard on my lower back. So I’ll use my Marc Pro on a high frequency to help control soreness in my lumbar.