There is a paucity of research on how to recover during a race or practice immediately between cycling sprints. The subjects of this study included 13 competitive male cyclists recruited from local bicycle shops. This study utilized a pretest-posttest experimental design. Participants completed two 30-s maximal effort sprints on a cycle ergometer followed by two four-min active recovery intervals. They were randomly assigned to either a flexed thoracic spine position greater than 14° (FC) or a neutral thoracic spine position (NC) during cycling sprint recovery intervals on the first testing day and completed the other no less than 48 hours later. Recorded variables included heart rate recovery (HRR), tidal volume (VT), carbon dioxide output (VCO2), change in sprint mean power (ΔMP), and change in sprint fatigue index (ΔFI). There were no significant differences between conditions in any of the variables (p\u3e0.05). Using the Cohen’s d statistic, there was a small effect of thoracic spine position during recovery on HRR (p=0.293; d=0.33), VT (p=0.121; d=0.34), and ΔFI (p=0.289; d=0.45) from one sprint to another. However, there was no effect of thoracic position on VCO2 (p=0.794; d=0.062) or the ΔMP (p=0.853; d=0.051) from sprint to sprint. HRR was 23.5±0.40 bpm in FC and 21.3±5.0 bpm in NC. VT was 3.0±0.51 L in FC and 3.19±0.54 L in NC. VCO2 was 3.28±0.25 L/min in FC and 3.26±3.61 L/min in NC. ΔMP was -29.7±17 W in FC and -28.8±19 W in NC. ΔFI was 0.59±3.6 W/s in FC and -0.429±1.9 L in NC. There may be little to no benefit in assuming a more flexed thoracic position between cycling sprints
