SUMMARY: Authored by Joe Friel, the Cyclist’s Training Bible has been the staple of self-training cyclists for years. Now in its 4th edition, it’s been updated to include power meter training, current recovery research and new strength training methods. There are numerous charts and graphs to illustrate training times, intensities and totals, pictures showing the stretches and strength workouts, and sample plans shown as examples.
The content is broken down into Parts with lots of Chapters in each, and each delves into specific topics in great detail. The upside is you’ll learn a lot and have all the information you need to put together a full training program for the year. The downside is you’ll be flipping back and forth through the chapters quite a bit to piece it together.
SHOULD YOU READ IT? If you have A.D.D., skip it. If, however, you’re able to form complex thoughts and make plans without *ooh look, a bunny!* and you don’t want to pay several multiples of the book’s price each month for a coach, then yes, The Cyclist’s Training Bible could be the right book for you. Nothing else comes close to its comprehensive approach to planning out a season, creating a training schedule and incorporating diet and resistance training to an overall plan. The upside is you’ll likely have much better results than trying to piece together a training plan from magazine excerpts, the downside is it’ll take a couple weeks of real effort to put together a full plan and absorb the lessons in the book.
The depth and breadth of information is almost overwhelming, so it’s best to take it a bit at a time in the offseason…trying to rush through this book would be beyond frustrating.
INTERESTING FACT: As you age, you lose your ability to take in nitrogen, which causes you to literally pee away muscle mass. Eating more alkaline foods (as opposed to acidic) slows this effect and helps you maintain muscle mass.
WHERE TO FIND IT: On Amazon for $16.47 (versus $24.95 MSRP)
