The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"The TCTP isn't about reclaiming your youth so much as it is about reclaiming your identity.Being a cyclist is an important part of who you are, and it's a lot easier to proudly identify yourself as a cyclist when you're good at it." [pg. 52]

Finally, a book that speaks to us "retired racers" who are in our late 30's and beyond, with a career, family, and obligations that do not lend themselves to 4+ hour training rides.Admittedly, the training plan is intense, but that's the point.

"Our relationship with our sport may have changed, but our desire to be fit, fast, and powerful hasn't diminished."

And how does he address that? By recognizing (finally) that all of the training plans out there do not lend themselves to the average athlete who wants to balance being an attentive parent and husband, a responsible employer/employee, and get in the training hours required to be competitive either in a race series or simply during intense weekend rides.His answer - high intensity, low volume, taper, recover, start over. Do no more than 2 to 3 cycles of this per year.

And his rationale -

"Initially I had a lot of trouble with the relatively short-term nature of the fitness gained using this program.Coming from the old-school mindset of endurance training, I struggled with the idea of a top-heavy training program that build high-end power without the deep aerobic fitness necessary to support it long-term.But for athletes with limited time to train, the alternative is sticking with old programs that can't possibly generate the fitness necessary to be a successful cyclist.Again and again I kept going back to the value proposition: Would you want to be really good for about 2 months at a time, even if it meant having to back off for 4 to 6 weeks before starting again?Or put another way: Do you want to be really good a couple of times a year or mediocre all year long?"

I only gave the book 4 stars because I have not tried the training program yet, but the fact that an internationally-recognized coach has finally put pen to paper to speak to the issues confronting the overwhelming number of athletes who fit into this category is worth the read alone.

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Product Description:
As cycling's popularity grows with men and women in their thirties, forties, fifties, and beyond, the traditional ideas about training for endurance sports need a new approach to reflect the daily challenges faced by parents and working professionals. In The Time-Crunched Cyclist, Chris Carmichael presents that new approach to cycling training. Using elements from the same program he designed for Tour de France winner Armstrong, this guide shows how to build competitive cycling fitness on a realistic schedule -- a schedule that fits into the busy lives of today's active middle-agers. Complete with training plans, case studies, nutritional guidelines, and success stories, "The Time-Crunched Cyclist" shows cyclists how to push the pace in the local group ride, have fun, and perform well in local races, or tackle a challenging 100-mile fundraiser ride without committing to a high-volume training program.

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