Thanks to Corinne for taking us through her Sprint Session. If you want to have a go at it, simply download the session above. Alternatively, for more tips from Corinne, follow her on Instagram!
TRAINING TIPS - 45 MINUTE SPRINT SESSION
Dedicating time to targeted improvement, we spoke to Wahoo e-Racer Corinne Fox to get her insight on how to work on your sprinting. With her session outlined below, take it on and boost your ability today.
If you keep going down the same road, you’ll end up where you’re going! This is my training mantra that inspires my favourite indoor session where I confront my weaknesses head on and which I’m going to share with you.
I’m not a natural sprinter, however 99% of Zwift races finish with a sprint. It’s never fun working on your weaknesses but I soon realised that, even with a high FTP, if I can’t sprint then it’s game over in the last 200m.
I’m lucky to work with such a good coach – Dr Tom Kirk, Custom Cycle Coaching – who guides me in my training and we’d love to share this High Cadence Sprint session that has had the biggest impact on my training progress. This short, sharp session is specifically designed to build into fast finishes or attacks for Zwift races where you can drop a few Wattbombs at those crucial moments. The emphasis is on high cadence as it’s a natural weakness I wanted to address and it’ll enable a snappier ‘jump’. This means you can respond to attacks or get a gap yourself!
WARM UP
Don’t underestimate the importance of your warm-up. Get the blood flow going, get your joints moving.
- 10 min warm up bringing your power up through zones 1-3 at your preferred cadence.
Now use the 10s low gear sprints to wake your body up for what’s to come!
- 3 x 10 second high cadence sprints in a low gear aiming for ~110-120rpm with 2min very easy recoveries in between.
INTO THE INTERVALS
In racing, reaction time is critical especially in Zwift where you don’t have the same clues of an attack that you would on the road. With these intervals, you are simulating the finish where the pace picks up, forcing you to go deep as you surge for the line!
- 5 x 30 second sprints
- First 20s mid zone 5 and ~100rpm
- Then 10s full gas seated sprint aiming to hit as high a cadence as possible.
Five lots of 30s sprints? Is that all? YES! Full recoveries in between efforts help to maintain the quality of those 30s. This is all about quality over quantity. You don't need a big volume of these and if you do them properly.
RECOVERY AND WARM-DOWN
Everyone knows the importance of warming down but it’s often the 10 mins where people decide they don’t have time and need to hop off the bike! I like to imagine that I’m literally feeding my muscles in these 10 minutes. Increasing blood circulation means your muscles are being spoon-fed more oxygen and nutrients for repair and replenishment whilst getting rid of any lactic acid so make sure you give your muscles some TLC.
- 10min cool down – I start at Zone 2, 75% of my FTP and ramp down to 25% FTP
WHAT I GET OUT OF IT.
And then we eat! I always plan to have a protein full meal after this work out and rest the legs.
If you want to take on the session at home, download the Sufferfest File below and have a go by using the Free Trial Code: LECOLTRAINIINGTIPS