Everyone has heard about them, we're all told we should do them as part of our training if we want to improve. But how, when and why should we do them? This article will discuss all of those questions in different sections tailored to those who want to improve in different parts of their racing. For more information on some of the technical setails behind this article, see what I previously wrote about Energy Systems in BMX. Before you go on, I don't suggest you read the whole article at once, it is quite long and won't all apply to you. Pick what seems to be the training that suits your need and read that section so you don't get information overload.
Determine your goals
Some of us have excellent stamina (in bmx terms) and can finish the race with a powerful drag race to the line, trying to make up for a slower start. Others have awesome power, always getting the holeshot down the first straight, only to fade in the later parts of a race as our legs turn to jelly or burn like crazy - that would be me - :( Most of us will fit somewhere in between, with obvious strengths and weaknesses. Before deciding what sprints program you want to try, have a think about what weaknesses you want to address, what your current training goals are, where you would like to improve.
Sprinting for power and acceleration
Without spending too much time on technicalities I will give you a little equation to remember:
Power = Strength x Speed
So now we know that our sprints need to do two things, increase our strength and increase our speed (how fast one pedal can happen).
Strength
For increasing strength, we need a difficult resistance to each pedal. Therefore consider doing these sprints on flat pedals rather than clips, as you will have to push harder during acceleration. Other ways of increasing the resistance are changing your gearing, sprinting on a slight uphill, or sprinting on grass.
You don't want to go out and do a hundred sprints every night when aiming to improve strength, they need to be short and sharp. My recommendation is as follows:
10 sprints, 3 x per week. First 5 sprints of 10 metres from a standing start, maximal effort. Final 5 sprints of 30 metres from a standing start, maximal effort. Rest for 30-60 seconds between each sprint.
Speed
When you want raw leg speed, you have to do somewhat the opposite of strength training (ie. low resistance). However in our case, we want the combination of strength and speed, so things are a little different. There are two ways to approach this, but I'm only going to recommend one for now.
Many races through our long season hold no particular significance. They can be used to your advantage, but your final position won't stay in anyone's mind for long. Unlike, say, a State Championship. With this in mind, race some of these events with a tooth or two lower gearing, practice your spinning.
Spinning builds leg speed. Spinning a bit on a race day - where you have standing starts and corners you must accelerate from - combines the speed aspect with the strength aspect. Off the track, incorporate some speed sprints into your regular training.
You could add a 10 second rolling start sprint to the end of your above sprints sessions. Alternatively, you could work on speed in a specific session:
5 sprints, 1 x per week. 50 metres from a moderately fast rolling start. Try a 1 tooth drop in gearing, or a slight downhill to get your leg speed up. Rest 2-3 minutes between sprints.
Sprinting for improved endurance
A & AA Pro BMXers don't have too many issues with endurance, they finish the race so fast that - during an individual race - the fatigue doesn't have time to set in. For the rest of us, we can only dream of that luxery, or perhaps work towards it.
Endurance obviously involves longer sprints, but how long, and is there more to it than that? Without the research, we don't know with complete certainty what types of energy production we need to target. It is up to those who have studied exercise to make educated guesses. I put forth the following two best guesses for a couple of slightly different riders.
If you find yourself needing a boost to your last straight or so...
5-10 sprints, 2-3 x per week. 20-25 seconds (no specific distance), 70-90% of maximal effort from a slow rolling start. Strict 40-50 seconds rest between sprints.
Notice I give a range of sprint number, duration and rest? This is because you should find it very hard to begin with, but as time goes on you will be able to do more sprints, for longer and with less rest. Effort, rest and duration may even vary a little within a session as you get tired. Try to only vary one of those aspects each week. For example, week 1 you might do 5 x 20 seconds with 50 seconds rest. Week 2 could be 6 x 20 seconds with 50 seconds rest, then week 3 might be 6 x 21 seconds with 50 seconds rest and so on.
To determine what percentage of maximum you're doing, complete one 100% sprint for 20 and 25 seconds, taking note of how far you go in those times. If you went 200 metres in 20 seconds, an 80% sprint would be 160 metres in that time. It doesn't have to be precise, but try to have a reasonable idea of how hard you're going.
If your fitness is lacking more and you're dying by the halfway mark...
5-10 sprints, 2-3 x per week. 40-50 seconds (about track length), 40-60% of maximal effort but you MUST not stop pedalling until the end of each sprint. Sit down and pedal backwards slowly during a rest period of 1.5 minutes.
That's right, no 10km rides here, as they won't do you a huge amount of good. Long rides can have their place, but generally you're better off training in a sport specific manner, exposing your body to the demands that it currently struggles with and progressively overloading it.
Finishing off
To sum up, I will say one final thing. There is no be-all-and-end-all for improving power or endurance. Different people will react differently to each method of training. It's your body that you need to listen too. Take the sprint sessions I have written as a baseline, then talk to the coaches, pro riders and other experts you know to help you fine tune the training. One day we might have a more specific coaching book for BMX, in the meantime, I hope this article gives you some good guidance.
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