Serious Training for Endurance Athletes 2nd

This is by far the best book on endurance training I've ever read and applied on my training. The training and racing of seven Ironman-distance races and one Ultraman race I did was based on this book, I finished all of the races successfully. This book was written before the hype of power meters so, if you are expecting anything about it that's not the book for you. The SERIOUS training system is based on a heart rate. The SERIOUS acronym, it's intensities and durations are very well explained through the book so, even if you are a beginner, you'll sure understand it. The examples that the book brings are great for planning your own season.

If you ever wanted a concrete way to actually do those fitness resolutions to make yourself a lean mean working machine this book is the ticket. It is a very inexpensive way to get the best coaching spelled out in an easy to read format. If you want to make yourself competitive for any sport this book will explain how...and it is a challenge and difficult but isn't that the point?

This is a very good systems design book that details how to develop a "best available strategy*" training program to accomplish a goal you set -- e.g., run a 50 Minute 10K race in late August. I know of no other book so good at letting you set a goal and then derive a fully structured training program for meeting that goal. * based on current optimization theories regarding load (HR), workout duriation, periodization ...

I rate this book as just OK for ease of use and for understandability. It is a book for serious and dedicated athletes, who must plan everything. The weakness of this book is that it is not for casual athletes regardless of what the previous reviewers would have you believe. The second weakness of this book is you have to be able to speak the lingua franca of serious athletic training, which I guess I do not. A third issue I have with this book is that when I tried it, it took the fun out of just riding. I'm still riding but I'm not training for racing except for longer endurance races like a half century or a century ride. A better book to buy if you are trying to cycle to lose weight is Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald, which is avalailable on this site. Racing Weight advises beginners, like I used to be when I bought Serious Training for Endurance Athletes, to exercise based on what you love to do, which is how eventually you will lose the weight you want to trim off. Serious Training is an advanced book, which might be better bought and read after one has found an endurance sport they love and do it regularly for the FUN of it.

I bought and used the first edition way back in the 80s. I like the update.

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This was actually a required text for a class I took in my undergrad, as part of a BA in Sports Science. I was impressed with the book and how the instructor used it as a cornerstone in his special topic seminar. I became further impressed when I stepped away from my academic interest with the book and actually used the theories to modify my training program; while my anecdotal evidence is with a single, biased subject (myself), I did find this to be the most pragmatic and effective guide to endurance training and periodization. The book is direct, explicit, and cleanly organized. Its theory is well established in the literature, but the book provides a much more digestible way to build a program based on this literature. Admittedly, however, it isn't written for the use of novices nor those ignorant with exercise science theory (at least basically). I've now had this book for nearly five years and still use its program. During that period I've also completed a Masters in Kinesiology (predominantly concerned with performance optimization), and my further education has reinforced how well-designed the theory and the book is. While there are some more advanced training modalities that are emerging that this book does not include, it does not diminish its value in any stretch of the imagination. It will always hold a spot on my shelf and I suspect Sleamaker's program model will remain at the foundation of my endurance training plan.

I've had this book for several years now. I constantly return to it to reevaluate my training schedule for the season. I agree with some other reviews. It's not for the entry level runner. It is for the runner or skier or triathlete looking to take there game to the next level . I'm looking for a new edition to the book because it can be improved upon as technology has changed a bit. It does require you to be proactive and dedicated. Not a bad thing when you want to improve.

I bought this book together with 'The complete guide to sports nutrition'. I will point out the following topics which I found most useful (I'm a beginner into triathlon which is considered endurance sport, doing several other sports though). 1) Warm up, cool down techniques, stretching exercises with photos and importance of ACTIVE recovery ( different from the ordinary lay down recovery!). Most books forget about those methods or they state them briefly. My training now includes the advice that these chapters mentioned. 2) Heart rate zones. I wish I knew about them before. It includes special article on how to calculate your Anaerobic Threshold (important if you want to raise your endurance capacity) level by just doing a test run, or cycle or swim - no need to pay a sport's laboratory, if you can ever reach it. This chapter actually made me get a Polar heart rate watch to look after those zones! Your performance can improve SO much if you consider the training zones during your sport. 3) At the end of each chapter there are short articles of sport's men who put down their experience on endurance sports. I think it's equally important to read such stories, it brings together theory and sports. This convinces that what you read within the book is actually happening and trusted by the world's professional athletes. The only small drawback of this book is that it needs to be updated with the current sport's science nutrition information a bit, i.e. Glycemic Index is now an important topic too, but the book only seperates carbohydrates into complex and simple groups, no mention about GI parameter in foods. It does state, though in detailed manner the importance of carbo loading and fuelling, before, during the after intense activity. This book is perfect if you just starting to plan your training now and be serious about it, or you want to IMPROVE and make your training more efficient.

Ce livre en anglais, même s'il n'est plus tout neuf, reprend les bases d'un entraînement sérieux de toute discipline d'endurance. Il permet, si l'on est un tant soit peu doué en Excel, de préparer ses propres schémas d'entraînement, sur base des modèles fournis. Je possèdai une ancienne version, mais ai offerte celle-ci à mon frère qui s'est mis sérieusement à la course à pied (après avoir rapidement parcouru les schémas en annexe et les encodé)

Fantastic book. Very thorough. You can use it at the beginner level, as I did for my first ever triathlon, right up to planning your Olympic attack for the next four years! Don't expect it to provide you with a training plan - you have to take time to engage with the SERIOUS (it's an acronym) training plan principles and design your own plan. For that reason I particularly recommend it for those of us who don't like being told what to do and would rather plan our own training if we only knew how. Be prepared to get yourself a heart rate monitor - you'll get more out of the book with one.

I have had this book for a number of years and it is now suffering as it has been referred to so often. I am no athlete but have used this to help train for charity events with great success. Some of the information is getting a bit dated but the basics of structuring a training program still stand. You will find that a number of other authors have effectively copied the approach outlined in this book which I guess is the sincerest form of flattery. If you want to just buy one book on Endurance training this is a good choice, particularly if you are into multiple sports.

This book has been written a years ago and suffer a bit from this. It certainly contains all the good basic principles on endurance training, however some aspects of the approach have since been proven wrong. (An example of that is slow long distance sessions: the books says it is anything between 1 and ... 6 hours, okay for an ultry kind of event, but a waste of time for shorter events) I will still recommend this book for anyone looking at endurstanding the principles behind: -Periodisation -the importance of incorporating strength -how to structure a session -the annual training plan Also, this book is not related to any sport and the principles described can be applied to any endurance sport.