 So welcome back or welcome to the 11th edition of the RCA training tip show where every Wednesday Aussie time, although I did just have a rest week last week, which is very important, I'm gonna be your YouTube road cycling coach and host of the show, Cam Nichols. So I'm at the Giroeen Sporting Complex where there's a purpose built criteria track and I'm about to head out for a session on the BMC team machine, but before doing so, I wanted to share something with you that I wish I had been shown when I first got into the activity of road cycling and what's prompted me here, it's interesting, the lockdown rules in Australia have started to ease. So I'm seeing more road cyclists get out on the road, some at local cafes and as a result of seeing cyclists reappear, it's showing the light on this subject matter, which both affects beginner cyclists, perhaps more so, but I also see it in very experienced road cyclists. But before I share this subject matter with you, I know some of you out there would have clicked on the video and you're hoping for the most amazing training technique that I wish I learned when I was a beginner cyclist and the core subject matter of this video isn't that. However, what we're gonna do after I share this with you is we'll head out on the Giroeen Criterium Track and I'm gonna share one of my top training tips with you that can be completed without a heart rate monitor or a power meter. So what I wish I had been shown when I first got into road cycling is how to do my helmet strap up properly. Seems bloody ridiculous, right? But I see so many cyclists out there with the strap super loose, opening the door to potential and fatal head injuries. And I'm not trying to ride a high horse here. I actually rode like this for a couple of years myself and I'm so grateful that someone pulled me aside and told me how to strap it up properly before I had my first incident. Now, assuming you've got your helmet on properly first and you've got the right size, which includes being able to place one finger between the helmet and your head, assuming you've dialed the retention systems right back and the helmet should be sitting on your head properly. So roughly two fingers here. And lastly, I would also advise on a routine check of the helmet for any potential cracks before actually putting it on your head. So when it comes to your chin trap, you should be able to fit two fingers under here just. Some people say three, I say two, better to be safe than sorry. And if you open your mouth like this, like you're yawning, when you get to the endpoint of the yawn, you should feel the tension in the strap. That's on properly. Yet many cyclists and myself included when I first started road cycling, where the chin strap way too loose. In fact, I reckon with some cyclists, you could almost fit your entire fist through the strap, which could possibly be the biggest oxymoron in cycling. You've got this thing on your head to protect yourself, yet with a loose strap, the helmet almost becomes irrelevant, opening the door to potential head injuries that could be fatal. So do yourself a favor. Do your strap up tight and properly. Like I showed you, when you put your helmet on, you're gonna keep me happy, you're gonna keep yourself safe, and you're also gonna keep your loved ones very happy. So let's get into the rest of the video. So as we get into one of my top training tips here, which is gonna involve some sprinting and look even if you're not a sprinter, but you wanna improve your road cycling, you wanna get stronger and faster, I'm gonna try and convince you in this little session here why you should be incorporating sprinting into your session, but let's blur out the numbers. You can see on the screen as external to benchmarking, you don't really need heart rate, power, speed, or any of that type of info for this training session here. Now this session is gonna make you a lot stronger on the bike, no doubt, but please carefully listen to the process you should take as if you just start sprinting without any direction, you may just do yourself some damage. So I'm gonna explain for you here what this session should look like, how to implement this session into your regime from a beginner to an advanced cyclist and why you will get stronger on the bike from completing this session. But before I take you through the process, please note that I have a free e-book for road cyclists looking to take their performance to the next level, I'll link to that below. And for those who would like to consider my online course for road cyclists looking to take their performance to the next level, I've still got a couple of spots available for May, so I'll link to that below and some exciting news moving forward that all members that join the up level road cycling course will be receiving a free bottle of a performance enhancing supplement called ModEx, valued at $70 AUD. So as discussed, we're gonna do some sprinting here and here's how I'd like you to run at it. First up, let's warm up well for at least 20 to 30 minutes which should also include some ramping efforts from a moderate to quite hard intensity over the course of roughly a minute. Now what do I mean by ramping efforts? Well, before I share, let's watch the first sprint. Now note here that I'm sprinting on a slight uphill out of the saddle and just to prove a point here, I'm gonna reveal the numbers so you can see that I'm not sprinting overly hard. I'm calling this my warm up sprint where I'm tapping on the door to my neuromuscular system before we go deep together. So the ramping efforts. Let's just say you ride to the track or your intended quite destination to do some sprints. You ride there easy and when you get to the track, which is what I've got access to in this instance, I'm going to ride around a few times before I start the sprint efforts which will include two full laps with a rest lap in between, ramping up the pressure from a moderate to a quite hard intensity which will essentially be two times one minute ramps. This just ensures that I am properly warm before I start the sprints. So the two times ramping efforts from moderate to quite hard combine with the first sprint at a lower intensity than an all out intensity just means I am prime and ready to properly start this session on this next sprint which if I reveal the numbers again is now at a very high all out intensity. So what does the core of this session exactly look like? What we're doing here is 10 to 15 second sprint efforts with roughly a minute off in between. We're sprinting in different areas. So we're sprinting at times on a slight uphill and then also on the flats. This is just to get a good feel for sprinting on different terrain if possible. As you can see here, I'm sprinting now on the flat section of the course just before I get to the hill climb. So just a bit of variation there. You can also alternate between seated sprints and out of the saddle sprints if you like. The next question you might be asking is how many sprints should I be doing? Well, first up I'd only complete this session once a week with a rest week from sprinting say every third or fourth week. If you're new to sprinting, I'd start with five sprints after the initial warm up sprint. By the time you warm up and warm down that should be roughly an hour's workout. As you progress your strength, add another rep maybe until you get to eight or nine reps. Then once you've mastered eight or nine reps, add another set by resting for five to 10 minutes after the initial set and then going in for round two. And lastly, for the really advanced, you could actually add on a sprint session like this after another high intensity session. So for example, I often do this sprint session after a hill repeat session when I'm really training hard. The last question is why would you do these sprint efforts? Especially if you're not a sprinter. So there are two big reasons or benefits I'm gonna share with you here, but you should note that there are a ton more benefits to this session like improving recovery times, naturally increasing your testosterone levels, et cetera. But the two I will mention are number one, working the neuromuscular system will make you stronger. Why is that? Well, neuromuscular efforts require high levels of force, which means your body will recruit more muscle fibers to complete the task. This will therefore have a trickle down effect on all other aspects of your cycling. Number two, sprinting like this will make you a more confident bike rider. Sprinting requires good form and technique. By getting out of the saddle and pushing the bike from side to side, you will start to develop a great sense of weight distribution and the pedal stroke action required at a maximal force. So give this session a try, do it for a few months and come back to this video and let me know how you've gone. But before any of this, please make sure you strap your helmet on properly and I'll catch you all in the next video. I got a few things, but if you need it, I love bearing your blue jeans. I'ma throw it to you funny like I'm Drew Brees. I'm just happy to my cram guy.