5 BMX-Inspired Exercises to Turbocharge Your Speed and Power

Cycling endurance is a valuable asset, and 95 percent of the time, it's what will set individual performances apart. But there’s something primal and electric that appeals to us all about the ferocity of a sprint to the finish line.

BMX might not immediately come to mind when you think of sprinting. (The sport made its Olympic debut in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but now boasts a stellar USA Cycling program, which produced 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist Connor Fields.) It's a discipline that requires tremendous power for riders to propel themselves around the 400- to-600 meter track and over jumps. You might not know it, but BMX’s elite are some of the cycling world’s finest sprint talents.

In fact, perhaps the greatest sprinter of the modern era, Mark Cavendish, got his start riding BMX at the Douglas Cycling Centre on the Isle of Man. In his first pro season on the road, he recorded 11 wins, and has (so far) amassed 30 Tour de France stage victories, as well as multiple world titles on the road and track.

Feeling inspired? Good, because here are five foundational BMX exercises any rider can use to take their speed to the next level.