In last week's blog we were talking about sprinters needing to have a greater capacity than just raw power to be competitive in track sprinting. We know that a rider with a lot of raw power is always going to have an advantage in a sprint over one who does not, as simply they can make their bike reach a higher peak speed. But assuming two riders have the same power and same track craft...

Article: Michael Jordan – Physiological Performance Analyst

When Emily and I were first talking about sprinting in track cycling and what makes a person a pure sprinter we almost ended up concluding that here was no such thing. Yup, really, we did. It would have been convenient for the conversation if Kerrie and Shane had walked in to the Anna Meares Velodrome at that moment to add an...

Max Dal Santo has not only represented Australia in weight lifting, he has also coached a number of successful cyclists and helped them to achieve their best results on the bike through structured weight lifting programs. 

In this audio blog, Max talks about the parallels between weight lifting and track cycling, and how to structure and periodise your weight lifting to make gains on the...

In this blog we turn our focus to undoubtedly one of the most exciting of the track cycling events - the Keirin. 

The Keirin was invented as a betting sport by the Japanese and continues to be wildly popular there.

Riders draw for position on the start line and when the gun is fired they form a line behind a derny which brings them up to speeds of 45kph for women and 50kph for the...

If you’re familiar with the start line then it’s likely you’ll be all too familiar with the emotional highs and lows of competing and the mental energy it takes to wind down following a result (good, bad or indifferent). 

Without a well-rehearsed mental strategy (or set of strategies) regardless of the outcome of your race, you’re likely to have, what we like to...

Jordan Kerby became World Champion in the Pursuit, during the last week. He is local to Brisbane where the Track Cycling Academy live, work, coach, write and ride. Cameron Meyer became World Champion (again) of the Points race. He’s a lovely man and gave a toy koala to my (Michael’s) son at the Australian Championships a short while ago.

The title of this blog sounds like a Harry...

 ‘It is not surprising that pH regulation adapts to exercise training and that this adaptation is important to performance.’

This sentence comes from Acta Physiologica, a journal from Scandinavia, from research done at the Muscle Research Centre in Copenhagen. When you start to accumulate lactate in the blood it becomes more acidic. This means the pH drops. A pH of 7 is...

We had a question come into our coaching program regarding aerobic exercise.

I do talk about it a lot....

The question asked at what percentage of maximum should steady state rides be ridden?

The question also was a really technical question as the writer mentioned specific measures which were the ‘percentage range of lactate threshold heart rate and what percentage range of...

Stretching should be a fundamental part of your training routine, in addition to aiding in recovery, static stretches when done correctly will improve your flexibility, give you greater range of movement, help with maintaining a relaxed and stable position on the bike and aid in improving muscular imbalances. 

Dynamic stretching routines are usually incorporated into your pre-training...

Criteriums are becoming super popular amongst all cyclists - they're the hybrid event that sees track and road riders converge over the 20, 30, 40 minutes plus final few laps. 

If you're a sprinter, you're likely to hang midfield and wait for your big break in the final few hundred meters. If you're endurance, you're likely to hit out early and hope for an everlasting breakaway. Physiology...