Lower body resistance training for improving sprinting

[JoninSweden]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a bit of advice and reflections on personal experience for using resistance training to improve sprinting on the bike.

A bit of background - use to race on the bike between the ages of 13-16. I'm very tall, and was then extremely thin. Made a bit of an overcorrection in my late teens and into my early twenties and took up weight training and strongman. Got up to 131kg (at 203cm) and was fairly strong. My gut gave up from all the overeating (I'm naturally an endurance athelete) and I eventually settled back to 105-110kg, which is where I stayed for 15 years (mostly) befroe starting cycling again properly nearly three years ago.

33 months, 37500km and 1450hrs later, I'm a very lean 102kg, FTP around 430w and my sprint really sucks. Best is around 1350w for 5 seconds and maximum peak is 1396w.

I always absolutely loved squatting when I weight trained, but in one of my brief returns to weight training in the fallow 15 years (in 2020) I overdid 20 rep squats and hurt my patella tendon on my right knee. It's finally back up to close to 100% now and I can train it.

I have a full gym in my basement (squat rack, bench, bumper plates, oly bars, adjustable dumbbells to 32kg) and would like to focus on increasing my sprint. For my FTP, I ought to be close to 1800w.

I love the basic compound exercises, so wanted to start with squats and deadlifts. Are there any accessories that I should add? RDL, calf raises, Bulgarian split squats? I always hated unilateral leg training though, I'll admit.

I still have very good technique from my earlier years of weight training, but I have to be careful not to overdo it as my muscle memory allows me to easily overtrain. I did one set of 20x50kg squats on Monday (which was very easy, of course) and the DOMS this week have been out of this world. Not squatting for a year and then doing a 20 rep set is the surest way of destroying your legs. For reference, I would imagine my 1rm on squat is around 130kg (with a few months to build back to it) and my 1rm on deadlift is about 170kg (fairly recently tested). I realise that upper body plays a significant part in sprinting, but that area is strong as I row and have maintained consistent upper body resistance training for the last 18 months.

Anyway, any pointers would be gratefully appreciated. I only need to increase sub 60 second power. All power bands longer than that are appropriate for my FTP.

[stoney]

Bulgarian split squats for the win! In cycling, you are pushing with one leg while resting/pulling the other. You never push both legs at the same time.