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Title: The Cyclist's Training Bible: A Complete Training Guide for the Competitive Road Cyclist by Joe Friel ISBN: 1884737218 Publisher: Velo Press Pub. Date: October, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25
Rating: 5
Summary: THE definitive cyclists training guide!
Comment: If you buy only one cycling book... You will have to look very hard to find such a good cyclists' training guide. This book very clearly and simply shows how to effectively create a training program to meet your objectives and work within your constraints. Friel puts all aspects of training (sleep, nutrition, periodization, testing, balancing with the rest of your life, etc.) into perspective and provides a scientific foundation for all of these areas.
Rating: 4
Summary: Overly complicated program, but useful for the dedicated
Comment: It is a little unclear for whom this book has been written. Professional, world class cyclists have their own training systems and don't need this book. It's difficult to see how 9-to-5ers who race on weekends have the time to follow a training program as complicated as this one.
The author starts by describing the basic cycling abilities of speed, endurance, and strength and goes on to describe the advanced abilities of muscular endurance, speed-endurance, and power. His training program consists of "periods" that emphasize the specific training of those abilities in varying proportions.
Those periods are Base I,II,III, Build I,II, Peak, and Compete. Throw in the factors of frequency, duration, intensity for all of the training periods, as well as lactate and cardiovascular monitoring and you have got yourself one complicated program. There is a lot of overlap in the training: to say that this manner of riding is this kind of training can seem somewhat arbitrary.
As a long-time runner and cyclist, I can attest to the fact that numerous training books exist for runners that are far easier to follow than is this one. There are a few basic workouts that can make one a successful runner. It is the opinion of this reviewer that the author would better serve those likely to buy this book or a next one if he would make the effort to simplify and reduce his descriptions of basic physiological systems and the corresponding training needed. And the author does readily admit that some cyclists are successful without going through such a complicated schedule. There must be some middle ground here.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Training Planning
Comment: If you want to prepare a well thought out and effective training plan, based on identifying your performance needs - including everything from commitment to sprinting, then this book will provide a superb template for your plan. The training year is split into sensible 4/5 week periods, each ending with a recovery week of lower volume and intensity, before winding up to the next higher level period- providing a developing plan that never gets stale. Once the annual plan is laid down, built around your planned events, you have to plan each weeks workouts as you go along. Theres plenty of workouts so your not restricted to the turbo when you want to get out on the road. This book doesn't alienate any discipline in competetive cycling. It's too early to say my plan is proven in races - but I'm definately improving according to the performance tests which form part of the programme. Of course better performance means effective training on the bike - the book can't do it for you...but what better aid than this.
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