Be a friend of BS
The Time-Crunched Cyclist
June 22, 2010
Let me guess: You want to become a better cyclist and athlete, but you live a busy life and don't always have time to train? If that's you than this latest training book by world renowned coach Chris Carmichael might just be the answer you're looking for. The Time-Crunched Cyclist by Chris Carmichael and Jim Rutberg is a book designed to help busy athletes become "Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week". The training plans in this book focus on high intensity, low volume workouts that aim to get you as strong as possible in as little time as possible. This book contains training plans, nutritional information, and personal experiences from many athletes to help guide you through the tough world that is training
This book focuses mainly on the theoretical side of the training, giving detailed explanations of the work that goes into the Chris Carmichael training systems. Along with a lot of information about things like heart rate zones, recovery periods, volume, and cadence, the book comes complete with training plans and strength workouts all designed to function together.
This book is mostly divided up into 3 sections: the introduction, the explanation, and the training plans. In the introductory part of the book we are introduced to the Chris Carmichael training systems and given a background describing Chris Carmichael's past experiences in cycling and coaching. The explanatory section of the book gives us an idea about what the science is behind the training plans given. It details the different aspects of the training regime, nutritional information, and how to map your progress. The training plans themselves take up the smallest part of the book, but this is the information that really matters. The training plans are set up in weekly portions, with varying wrokouts depending on the level of the rider and the type of riding that they are training for.
The part of this book I didn't find very useful was the introductory section. I found this part interesting at first, and the information about Chris' experiences in the cycling world is very useful, but I found a large part of this book to be mostly a Lance Armstrong biography. The section featuring training plans seemed a little scarce compared to the pages full of explanations for them. A lot of the information given was information that I did not find very helpful, and most cyclists would not gain much from the added information.
The book The Time-Crunched Cyclist is definitely something to take a look at if you are trying to fit in some good training to your hectic life, but it is no small task. The workouts in this book are extremely tough, and the book itself is hard to get through cover to cover. This book would be a great starting place for many athletes on a do-it-yourself training regime, but it could never replace an actualy cycling coach.
Price: $19.95 USD
Details: A good start for D.I.Y. cycling training
Pros: Cycling specific training plans
Cons: Too much talk, not enough training information
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Velo Press
Reviewed by: Hannah