Friel - The cyclists training bible

PRAISE FOR THE CYCLISTS TRAINING BIBLE

Joe Friel is arguably the most experienced personal cycling coach in the U.S., and his book The Cyclists Training Bible has become, well the Bible of the sport.

Bicycling magazine

I find Friels book a treasure of information for cyclists of all levels.

Andy Hampsten, 1988 Giro dItalia winner and 1992 Tour de France stage winner at Alpe dHuez

This book will have you systematically training just as world-class cyclists do. If you scrupulously follow its guidelines, Im confident your racing performance will dramatically improve.

Tudor Bompa, PhD

Nothing else comes close to The Cyclists Training Bibles comprehensive approach to planning out a season, creating a training schedule, and incorporating diet and resistance training to an overall plan.

BikeRumor.com

Packed with worksheets, charts, visuals, and a dense index and references for further reading, The Cyclists Training Bible is an arsenal of encyclopedic information for ambitious riders.

DailyPeloton.com

The Cyclists Training Bible has become a cyclists best chance at achieving their goals. This is the ultimate manual for growth as a cyclist.

BicycleSmile.com

To Dirk:

My friend, my training partner, my mentor, my pupil, my son

Copyright 2009 by Joe Friel

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by VeloPress, a division of Competitor Group, Inc.

3002 Sterling Circle, Suite 100

Boulder, Colorado 80301-2338 USA

(303) 440-0601 Fax (303) 444-6788 E-mail

Distributed in the United States and Canada by Ingram Publisher Services

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

The cyclists training bible / Joe Friel.4th ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-934030-20-2 (pbk.: alk. paper); ISBN 978-1-937716-16-5 (e-book)

1. CyclingTraining. I. Title.

GV1048.F75 2009

796.607dc22

2009000098

For information on purchasing VeloPress books, please call (800) 811-4210, ext. 2138, or visit www.velopress.com.

Cover design by Erin Johnson

Cover photograph by Don Karle

Interior design by Erin Johnson

Illustrations by Charlie Layton,

Composition by Eclipse Publishing Services

V. 3. 0.

CONTENTS

In 1963, while on the faculty of the Romanian Institute of Sport, I was asked to coach one of the countrys young and promising javelin throwers. As I looked at the traditional training programs at the time, I came to realize that something was missing in the way athletes were trained. Everyone followed the ancient program of preparatory, nonspecific training during the winter, followed by the competitive phase during the summer and a transition during the fall. Later on, the Russians even called this periodization. One of the missing links, the change I introduced, refined the sequence and type of strength and endurance training performed for each training period so that athletes ultimately would reach higher levels of strength and endurance. Later, I called this the periodization of strength and the periodization of endurance.

From the 1960s on, Romanian coaches, as well as other Eastern European training specialists, adopted my principles of periodization and dominated world and Olympic competition for many years in many sports. Today, these systems, along with periodization of training for young athletes, are used by most top athletes in Europe and are gaining popularity in the United States as well.

In The Cyclists Training Bible, Joe Friel has carefully provided the competitive road cyclist with all of the tools necessary to design and employ a periodization program following the principles I have laid down. He didnt come to this level of expertise by accident. I have spent time with Joe and know him as a very knowledgeable and masterful coach and teacher who is an authority on periodization. Unlike many other training specialists, Joe has spent many years trying different types of periodization and training schedules to determine what works best for cyclists and other endurance athletes. If he were in Eastern Europe, he would be called a master coach.

The Cyclists Training Bible is perhaps the most comprehensive and scientific book ever written on training for road cycling, and yet it is also practical and easy to follow. This book will have you systematically training just as world-class cyclists do. If you scrupulously follow the guidelines presented here, Im confident your racing performance will dramatically improve.

Tudor O. Bompa, Ph.D.

Dr. Tudor O. Bompa is considered the father of periodization. He consults with national Olympic organizations and sports federations throughout the world on the development of training programs for elite athletes.

In 1995 when I started working on the first edition of this book, I viewed it as a personal challenge. It was my first book, and I expected it might sell a few copies. My intent was not to sell a lot of books, but rather to record my training methods and philosophy in an easy-to-use volume for the benefit of the cyclists I worked with as a coach. The book was also for my own satisfaction and growthhaving been a teacher, I knew that the best way to ensure that you really understood a subject was to teach it to someone else. Thats what The Cyclists Training Bible was all about.

Fourteen years later, the book is still around and going strong. I am contacted daily by curious riders from around the world with challenging questions. Two other books have sprung directly from this one (The Triathletes Training Bible and The Mountain Bikers Training Bible), and a Web site (www.TrainingPeaks.com) was launched in 2000 to make the tools and methodology described here accessible to all. I have spoken to thousands of athletes about the concepts described here in clinics around the world. I never cease to be amazed at the books acceptance in the cycling community and the impact it has had on its readers and their sport.

This is the fourth edition of The Cyclists Training Bible and there have been many revisions and additions. There is not a single chapter that was left unaltered. There have been many advances in sport science over the past few years, and I have incorporated the most up-to-date and reliable information possible in this edition. In general, this includes the research that has provided me with a greater understanding of cycling issues and contributed to my personal growth as a coach. In addition, over the years I have continually tried slight changes in the training of the many athletes Ive coached. Some of these produced variations in what I have found to work, and I have revised the book accordingly. Other changes to this edition are in response to the many questions athletes have asked me over the years. Athletes are as eager to understand how best to train for peak performance today as they were when this book first appeared on the scene. They continue to support and question my methods and to offer suggestions. Its been an awe-inspiring journey.

While much has been added to this book for the fourth edition, there is one constant, as described in the original prologue: I offer this book with the hope that it will make you a better racer and that one day you will return the favor by teaching me something you learned along the course.

Joe Friel
Scottsdale, Arizona

There are many people who have contributed to this book in some way over the years since I first sat down to write it in 1995. I owe a debt of gratitude not only to those who assisted in various ways during the creation of the first edition, but also to those who came into the process during the second, third, or fourth edition. I would especially like to thank all of my colleagues who helped to produce the concepts included in the version you now hold in your hands: Hunter Allen, Bob Anderson, Dr. Owen Anderson, Gale Bernhardt, Dr. Tudor Bompa, Ross Brownson, Bill Cofer, Dr. Andrew Coggan, Dr. Loren Cordain, Bob Dunihue, Gear Fisher, Donavon Guyot, Greg Haase, Renee Jardine, Nathan Koch, Jennifer Koslo, Dr. Allen Lim, Dr. Jerry Lynch, Chad Matteson, Paraic McGlynn, Gerhard Pawelka, Charles Pelkey, Dr. Andrew Pruitt, Chris Pulleyn, Jill Redding, Mark Saunders, Ulrich and Beate Schoberer, Rob Sleamaker, Amy Sorrells, Oliver Starr, Bill Strickland, Todd Telander, Dave Trendler, Dr. Randy Wilber, Chuck Wurster, and Adam Zucco.