Training control for the bobsleigh push: Pmax as the lead metric, dosing resisted sprints correctly, building combine numbers and making progress measurable.
If you want to make your push measurably faster, train one target variable: your maximal mechanical sprint power. Pmax — the highest power you put into the ground while sprinting — is the strongest single correlate of push start performance (around 0.80) [1]. Everything else in this guide serves that one number.
Around it sit the other determinants, and they are remarkably concrete: body mass, 30-metre sprint time, maximal mechanical sprint power, unilateral horizontal force and power under moderate added load [1]. Plus the shape metrics of your force-velocity profile: theoretical maximal velocity V0 and optimal velocity Vopt carry discriminative validity for push performance [1].
Translated: you do not need more strength in the deadlift, you need more power per second in the direction of travel.
And there is a tool that trains exactly that direction. Meta-analyses on resisted sprinting show improvements in force, power and in the acceleration sections over 5, 10 and 20 metres compared with unresisted sprint training [2] — precisely the range in which the bob leaves the start block. That is no longer a niche method but standard equipment.
One caveat up front: a bobsleigh athlete is not a sprinter. Compared with unresisted sprinting, the bobsleigh push generates more mechanical energy at the hip and less at the ankle, which should be considered in strength and conditioning planning [5].
Your weekly core numbers: 10-metre time, 30-metre time, body mass. From time and mass, coaches derive your force-velocity profile, which yields Pmax, V0 and Vopt [1]. If your 30-metre time drops while mass holds, your push performance rises — that is the entire control logic.
For team sports, meta-analyses recommend 2 to 3 sessions per week across 6 to 8 weeks at 12 to 30 per cent of body mass, while very heavy loads near 80 per cent can specifically raise horizontal force production [2]. Heavier tow loads (around 40 to 50 per cent) improved speed, trunk angle and step length in acceleration more strongly in trials, while lighter ones (around 25 per cent) tend to affect longer sprint distances [2].
A workable pattern: 6 to 8 weeks of a heavy block (30 to 50 per cent body mass, focus on start acceleration), then 4 weeks of a light block (under 20 per cent, focus on high velocity), then a test week. That block length matches the intervention periods in the meta-analyses [2] — shorter cycles rarely show robust effects. A practice-based rule of thumb, not a guaranteed timeline.
Because the bobsleigh push generates more energy at the hip than unresisted sprinting does [5], hip extensors belong at the centre: heavy squats, power cleans, hip thrusts, Nordic variations. In one squad study, medallists differed from non-medallists in squat, back strength and hamstring strength among other measures [6] — with a very small sample, so read it as directional.
The tests are short sprints, standing broad jump, shot toss, squat and power clean [3]. Train them in test order, with test rest periods and in test clothing. Federation best marks for orientation: 45 metres in 5.10 seconds (men) and 5.60 seconds (women), standing broad jump 2.21 and 1.85 metres [4].
In 17 athletes of a national squad, sprint times improved after whole-body vibration: in men over 45 metres, in women over 15, 30, 45 and 60 metres [7]. The sample is small but the effect is practically usable — try it in training, never for the first time on trial day.
Heavy resisted sprints and maximal sprints load hamstrings and adductors considerably. Plan at least 15 minutes of warm-up with build-up runs, increase tow loads across weeks rather than days, and end the session as soon as times drop off clearly — loss of quality is the first injury signal.
Power cleans and heavy squats belong under qualified instruction. And for everything on the real sled the rule stands: this guide explains training control, it does not replace coaching — push and loading drills on the bob and in the ice track run exclusively under the supervision of qualified coaches.
Every two weeks, run a load-velocity test: the same 20 metres, sprinted with 0, 20, 40 and 60 per cent of body mass on the sled, two attempts each. Plot the four times — the slope of that line tells you whether you are currently getting faster or currently getting stronger. Exactly this force-velocity logic underlies Pmax, V0 and Vopt [1], and you can approximate it yourself with a stopwatch and four times.
Resisted sprint power work plus hip-dominant maximal strength. Pmax is the strongest single correlate of push performance [1], and resisted sprints improve force, power and acceleration over 5, 10 and 20 metres compared with unresisted sprint training [2]. Always track 30-metre time and body mass alongside.
For team sports, meta-analyses recommend 12 to 30 per cent of body mass at 2 to 3 sessions per week across 6 to 8 weeks; very heavy loads up to 80 per cent specifically raise horizontal force production [2]. Heavier loads act more on the acceleration phase, lighter ones on longer sprint distances [2].
Federation best marks set the direction: 45 metres in 5.10 seconds for men and 5.60 seconds for women, standing broad jump 2.21 and 1.85 metres [4]. Shot toss, squat and power clean are tested on top — these events predict push ability [3].
Only partly. The bobsleigh push generates more mechanical energy at the hip and less at the ankle than unresisted sprinting, which should be considered in strength and conditioning planning [5]. In practice: sprint quality like a sprinter, strength training distinctly more hip-dominant.
Possibly. In 17 athletes of a national bobsleigh and skeleton squad, sprint times improved after whole-body vibration — in men over 45 metres, in women over 15, 30, 45 and 60 metres [7]. The sample is small; test it in training, never for the first time on trial day.
The Combine: How a Bobsleigh Tryout Works and What Actually Gets Measured