Want a Better Finishing Sprint? Count.

The secret to launching out of the pack may be a simple countdown.

Recent research in the Journal of Applied Physiology shows that counting down before an interval, attack, or sprint could improve your performance in it by giving your body a head start on the action. This simple research has shown that there may be some advantage to giving a quick countdown before springing out of the bunch. For tactics’ sake, I recommend you do it silently.

You can’t always decide exactly when you’re going to attack or sprint, but if the race lets you take the initiative, try counting down from 10 before you take off. The study, published in May 2020, showed that counting down before an effort boosts your heart rate, cardiac output, sympathetic nerve response, muscle oxygen saturation, and muscular perfusion right before you take off. This gives your muscles a tiny head start, making sure that they’re ready to go before you set off.

The research was quite a small study, so it should be taken with a grain of salt, but it does show some promise as a technique. The difference between winning and losing a sprint can be inches, hundredths of a second. Counting down and allowing your body to prepare for the action could give you the slight advantage you need. Having a bit more blood and oxygen pointing the right direction before a sprint might put off the lactic acid accumulation just long enough to power through and solo to the line.

I’ll certainly be trying this out when racing resumes later in the year and I’ll report back with my N = 1 study to let you know how it goes.

Luke is a cycling coach and physiologist from Richmond, VA who rides and races bikes all over the country. He’s an expert on the body in motion and its response to exercise and loves to share his knowledge with others. Find him @LukeHollomon everywhere.