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Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes
Endurance sports performance is not about magic workouts, fad diets, or special supplements. It is about understanding the human body and how it responds to physical work. Science provides us with the tools to come to that understanding. However, that science is often inaccessible to the average athlete. This book changes that.
Packed with over 400 references, Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes provides an evidence-based framework to analyze and improve your swimming, cycling or running. It includes not only the techniques Dr. Skiba has used to help his athletes set world records, but the scientific basis of those techniques explained in everyday language.
Although it contains example workouts and schedules, Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes does not provide canned training plans. Instead, Dr. Skiba teaches you the concepts you need to know in order to develop your own custom training program. You will learn to rigorously evaluate what you have done, and then make the adjustments necessary to better pursue your dream performance.
By the time you finish this book, you will understand that the secret is there is no secret.
Note: In addition to entirely new material, this work includes the information found in Dr. Skiba's out-of-print books (Scientific Training for Triathletes, and The Triathlete's Guide to Training with Power), updated to include the latest research in the field.
Packed with over 400 references, Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes provides an evidence-based framework to analyze and improve your swimming, cycling or running. It includes not only the techniques Dr. Skiba has used to help his athletes set world records, but the scientific basis of those techniques explained in everyday language.
Although it contains example workouts and schedules, Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes does not provide canned training plans. Instead, Dr. Skiba teaches you the concepts you need to know in order to develop your own custom training program. You will learn to rigorously evaluate what you have done, and then make the adjustments necessary to better pursue your dream performance.
By the time you finish this book, you will understand that the secret is there is no secret.
Note: In addition to entirely new material, this work includes the information found in Dr. Skiba's out-of-print books (Scientific Training for Triathletes, and The Triathlete's Guide to Training with Power), updated to include the latest research in the field.
- GenresSportsFitnessNonfiction
236 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
3 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 29, 2026
(4.0) Good but he actually drops the critical power/speed thing when it comes to training planning
Lots of science here, starting to get dated but seems to hold up. Probably valuable to chase down some of the articles in bibliography, though the value of that will probably decline with time. I thought this book actually was at its best when it concisely covers a bunch of possible interventions (eg supplements, training strategies), marking a bunch of them as hokum, but being honest where he doesn’t have enough data to say something is bad/neutral.
More errors than there should be in a subsequent edition (perhaps introduced by the new edition?). Lots about critical power etc, but then oddly all the training/workout recommendations devolve to threshold, vo2max, endurance etc. He says it’s important to set pace/power targets based on % critical power but then does not demonstrate in the workout sections.
But the main thing left totally unexplained for me is why the W’ / D’ “battery” curves seem to decay exponentially rather than decrease linearly. He’s saying that the 10th interval (at same power as the previous!) actually depletes you less than the first one. And harder to tell from his graphs, but the recovery might be steeper from more depleted states. Ok, this all matches the “battery” analogy, but does not match his claims about what W’ and D’ are: the area under your power time series but above CP/CS. He also doesn’t present the physiological basis for this model…seems like it’s just based on empirical data. Still not sure how the more depleted state results in less loss of reserves though.
There’s definitely a road cycling/running bias in the book as well. Maybe even more suited to triathlon, esp draft illegal racing. I can see why Jason Koop created the trail running version of this book, with a lot of influence evident.
Lots of science here, starting to get dated but seems to hold up. Probably valuable to chase down some of the articles in bibliography, though the value of that will probably decline with time. I thought this book actually was at its best when it concisely covers a bunch of possible interventions (eg supplements, training strategies), marking a bunch of them as hokum, but being honest where he doesn’t have enough data to say something is bad/neutral.
More errors than there should be in a subsequent edition (perhaps introduced by the new edition?). Lots about critical power etc, but then oddly all the training/workout recommendations devolve to threshold, vo2max, endurance etc. He says it’s important to set pace/power targets based on % critical power but then does not demonstrate in the workout sections.
But the main thing left totally unexplained for me is why the W’ / D’ “battery” curves seem to decay exponentially rather than decrease linearly. He’s saying that the 10th interval (at same power as the previous!) actually depletes you less than the first one. And harder to tell from his graphs, but the recovery might be steeper from more depleted states. Ok, this all matches the “battery” analogy, but does not match his claims about what W’ and D’ are: the area under your power time series but above CP/CS. He also doesn’t present the physiological basis for this model…seems like it’s just based on empirical data. Still not sure how the more depleted state results in less loss of reserves though.
There’s definitely a road cycling/running bias in the book as well. Maybe even more suited to triathlon, esp draft illegal racing. I can see why Jason Koop created the trail running version of this book, with a lot of influence evident.
March 25, 2022
Long before Dr. Philip Friere Skiba, author of Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes, began his research, the practical foundations were being laid for coaches and athletes to build upon. However, the publication of such books confirms what has been discovered through the trial of the miles. It’s one thing, for example, to believe that the aerobic foundation of endurance needs to be laid before the quality efforts are added to a program, it’s another to have it verified through rigorous scientific research. For that we have Skiba and other authors to thank.
What sets Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes apart from the myriad of other science-based texts on the market is Skiba’s voice. When reading, it feels as though the author genuinely wants you, the reader, to really “get” what he is writing. His analogies are thoughtful and simplified, by just the right amount. He doesn’t write strictly in layman’s prose. One should be intrigued to a degree by physiology. That is all about you will need to be armed with to “get” it; a little interest in physiology.
https://athleticsillustrated.com/book...
What sets Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes apart from the myriad of other science-based texts on the market is Skiba’s voice. When reading, it feels as though the author genuinely wants you, the reader, to really “get” what he is writing. His analogies are thoughtful and simplified, by just the right amount. He doesn’t write strictly in layman’s prose. One should be intrigued to a degree by physiology. That is all about you will need to be armed with to “get” it; a little interest in physiology.
https://athleticsillustrated.com/book...
July 20, 2023
A good summary of the scientific knowledge concerning endurance training.
It feels like you can only derive the full benefit of the book for your personal training, if you manage to plug your data into the website Goldencheetah which utilises the models developed by the author. Unfortunately the models work with power which is readily available for cyclists but not for runners.
Sadly the book is missing an index of abbreviations and the book is not available as an ebook.
It feels like you can only derive the full benefit of the book for your personal training, if you manage to plug your data into the website Goldencheetah which utilises the models developed by the author. Unfortunately the models work with power which is readily available for cyclists but not for runners.
Sadly the book is missing an index of abbreviations and the book is not available as an ebook.
August 15, 2022
Amazing book and a lot to take in
October 23, 2022
Revised down from 5 stars.
The only thing wrong with this book is it lacks an index. That's a big deal, because this book is so dense with useful information. With an index, this book could easily become a frequently used reference manual. Instead, the onus is on you, the reader, to compile your own index for this book, if you're so inclined.
If you're an aspiring distance runner, you already know that training programs for distance running abound. But are they any good, or supported by empirical studies? If you are quantitatively adept, with Skiba's book, you will be able to discern whether the design principles of the programs you use are well founded.
Skiba writes with refreshing candor.
He addresses all kinds of topics about which I've wondered, including recovery, tapering, Billat intervals, and strength training for endurance athletes.
In general, he makes clear that training programs need to be calibrated to an individual's current level of fitness, which means the fitness needs to be checked and monitored as training progresses.
At the beginning of his discussion of periodization, Skiba even mentions Tudor Bompa, whom I've been reading since his name appeared in a 1996 Scientific American's piece on the science used by Olympic athletes just prior to the Atlanta Olympics. Skiba goes on to explain how the thinking on periodization has evolved since Bompa's progenitor.
Hat tips to Alex Hutchinson, who included this on his 2022 summer reading list, and to Paul Kedrosky, whose tweet called my attention to it and to Hutchinson's list.
The only thing wrong with this book is it lacks an index. That's a big deal, because this book is so dense with useful information. With an index, this book could easily become a frequently used reference manual. Instead, the onus is on you, the reader, to compile your own index for this book, if you're so inclined.
If you're an aspiring distance runner, you already know that training programs for distance running abound. But are they any good, or supported by empirical studies? If you are quantitatively adept, with Skiba's book, you will be able to discern whether the design principles of the programs you use are well founded.
Skiba writes with refreshing candor.
He addresses all kinds of topics about which I've wondered, including recovery, tapering, Billat intervals, and strength training for endurance athletes.
In general, he makes clear that training programs need to be calibrated to an individual's current level of fitness, which means the fitness needs to be checked and monitored as training progresses.
At the beginning of his discussion of periodization, Skiba even mentions Tudor Bompa, whom I've been reading since his name appeared in a 1996 Scientific American's piece on the science used by Olympic athletes just prior to the Atlanta Olympics. Skiba goes on to explain how the thinking on periodization has evolved since Bompa's progenitor.
Hat tips to Alex Hutchinson, who included this on his 2022 summer reading list, and to Paul Kedrosky, whose tweet called my attention to it and to Hutchinson's list.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews