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Hoots : What was the meaning of 5x5 sprint performance on cyclists? Please help me, this is for my thesis. I really want to know what is the meaning of 5x5 sprint performance on/for cyclists? - freshhoot.com

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What was the meaning of 5x5 sprint performance on cyclists?
Please help me, this is for my thesis. I really want to know what is the meaning of 5x5 sprint performance on/for cyclists?


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I believe this may be misconstrued from something Mark Rippetoe, a renowned strength coach, said. To paraphrase:

Say you have a cyclist, and this will never happen, who has decided to hang up cycling for 6 weeks and dedicate that time to strength training.
Now, if we look at every pedal stroke as a sub-maximal measurement of force production. Let’s just say, to take a random number, that it’s 20% of a cyclists strength with every downstroke.
Now, let’s say you get that cyclist doing squats for six weeks. That cyclist starts out squatting 95 pounds. After 6 weeks, he finishes his strength program able to squat 190 pounds. He’s doubled his strength.
Now assume that he leaves the weight room on the last day and applies the same 20% force production on his downstroke. He’s a lot stronger - twice as much, actually - and so he’ll produce about twice the power.

Don’t get too wrapped up in the numbers. There are a lot of factors and it’s not like being twice as strong on a squat will literally translate to outputting exactly twice as much power on a bicycle. There are a myriad of other factors. That said, being stronger WILL increase production on the bike.
Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength 5x5 program is the place to go to get strong. My only criticism is that they treat all other endeavors and exercise as a complete waste of time. From the vantage point of getting STRONG, he may be right, but I think there is still value in doing other forms of exercise and training.


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