EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL TRAINING ON CYCLISTS’ SPEED

ABSTRACT Introduction Cycling is a competitive sport and has high demands on the athletes themselves, such as versatile use of skills, physical fitness, and explosiveness. Objective Increase the specific speed endurance of athletes. Methods Fourteen prominent male short-distance cyclists were divided into a group of constant cyclists (CG group, n=7) and a group of decreasing cyclists (DG group, n=7) and subjected to a physical training protocol. Results Peak activity and average endurance improved in both groups of athletes; rest periods improved significantly compared to the previous ones, and deceleration decreased by 12.2% and 14.6% in the CG and DG groups, respectively, immediately after the end of the rest period. Latency decreased significantly in both groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with the program with the same number of rides, the training load in the stage-based pilot program with the decreasing number of rides was higher, and the training effect was more significant in the improvement of peak power, 1 km total power maintenance capacity, and anaerobic threshold. The energy supply ratio of aerobic metabolism during exercise at the above intensity was also improved. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.