Fitness Cycling

by Dede Demet Barry, Michael Barry, Shannon Sovndal

Tired of the same ride at the same pace yielding the same results day after day? With Fitness Cycling , you will achieve maximum results from every cycling workout, whether you're trying to improve your times, bike longer distances, or simply increase your fitness level. With 60 workouts and 13 proven training programs at your fingertips, you will improve your physical conditioning and your performance. World-class cyclists Michael and Dede Demet Barry, with noted exercise physiologist Dr. Shannon Sovndal, guide you through assessing your cycling fitness level and selecting a training program based on your individual goals. The dozens of workouts include endurance rides, hill and speed training, time trials, and strength and lactate threshold sessions. Workouts are then arranged into four training zones to lead you from building a base to maintaining peak condition based on your fitness level and cycling ambition. Warm-up and cool-down methods, as well as expert conditioning guidelines, provide the information you need for more informed training, faster times, and improved fitness. Put an end to the monotonous rides and begin cranking out meaningful miles. Whether you're looking to jump-start your training or to peak for a race, Fitness Cycling ensures that every workout keeps you on pace to meet your goals.

Genres: Cycling, Fitness

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2006

Reviews

[Thomas]

Tired of the same ride at the same pace yielding the same results day after day? With Fitness Cycling , you will achieve maximum results from every cycling workout, whether you're trying to improve your times, bike longer distances, or simply increase your fitness level. With 60 workouts and 13 proven training programs at your fingertips, you will improve your physical conditioning and your performance.

World-class cyclists Michael and Dede Demet Barry, with noted exercise physiologist Dr. Shannon Sovndal, guide you through assessing your cycling fitness level and selecting a training program based on your individual goals.

The dozens of workouts include endurance rides, hill and speed training, time trials, and strength and lactate threshold sessions. Workouts are then arranged into four training zones to lead you from building a base to maintaining peak condition based on your fitness level and cycling ambition. Warm-up and cool-down methods, as well as expert conditioning guidelines, provide the information you need for more informed training, faster times, and improved fitness.

Put an end to the monotonous rides and begin cranking out meaningful miles. Whether you're looking to jump-start your training or to peak for a race, Fitness Cycling ensures that every workout keeps you on pace to meet your goals.

[Pat Loughery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barry's book attempts to describe cycling as a fitness activity for beginners through racers. It begins with equipment selection for total newbies but also contains sections about physiology, nutrition, goal setting and training programs.

The strength of the book is the discussion of workout types (base building, endurance, hill training, speed training, cross training and others) and training programs containing these building blocks.

The weakness of the book is that it's pretty broad and not too deep.

I wish the author would have talked a bit more about using commuting mileage in a training program (I ride my bike to work so my course and mileage are relatively inflexible... so what do you do with that? And how do you handle the scenario when you ride 2x/day, not 1x/day after work?). I also wish he would have spent time with cross-training during the season (how can I use mountain biking to train for road cycling events?).

All in all, a good overview that I'll keep on my cycling and fitness bookshelf, but not the primary book I'd recommend to others in this field.

[Kim]

easy to read, good information!