If you are like me, the first thing you do to gain more knowledge on a topic that is important to you is by looking after a couple of good books. Books are great in the way that they provide the unique knowledge and experience of the author. Whether you agree with the author or not, there’s always something you can learn from a book.
Especially if you’re new to cycling training or confused about it in general, books are a great place to start gaining some clarity. By searching a lot and reading even more, I got pretty good at telling which books I suggest to any keen cyclist. Books that will make you a better and more complete cyclist and person.
Here are four of those books, in no particular order.
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The Cycling Physiology & Training Science Guide
by Dr. Emma Wilkins & Tom Bell
The first time I heard of Dr. Emma Wilkins and Tom Bell was 5 years ago right in the middle of the pandemic, when I discovered their website High North Performance. Their website is full of great articles. All of them written in a clear and distinct voice. It’s this tone that helps you understand all complex topics around exercise physiology without headache. And all other ideas on training just improved my own training as an athlete and thinking as a coach as well.
When their Cycling Physiology & Training Science Guide was published, I bought it and read it in just a week. Reading Tom Bell & Dr. Emma Wilkins is like going on vacation with a really, really smart brain for a few hours. Everything feels a bit brighter and more connected. Yet, at times, it can become mentally exhausting.
Nevertheless the guide covers it all. From all the physiological aspects like FTP, lactate threshold, Critical Power, VO2max. All the testing you can do both in a lab and in the field. All the planning that goes into your training plan like annual and weekly periodisation. And even great ideas and solutions for better training execution are being thought of. A book that gives comprehensive knowledge on cycling training and performance. Get it *here.
High-Performance Cyclist
By Joe Friel
Joe Friel was a pioneer in sharing his knowledge and experience as an endurance coach. His first ever published book was The Cyclist’s Training Bible. It’s a book I also recommend below. In his latest book *High-Performance Cyclist he condenses all the knowledge and experience he gathered over decades as an endurance coach and pairs them with expert advice for every aspect that comprises a high-performance cyclist. That’s one big plus of the book. Instead of purely getting the author’s advice, you get the unique views from a domain expert, be it in physiology, psychology, training, or race-week prep.
You can criticize Joe Friel for his complicated approach in minute detail. And I can comprehend. However, the timeless wisdom he writes about is the one you expect, when you imagine that old, wise coach at his age still observing his apprentices. A fascinating read for anyone who struggles with holding back on easy days to give it a shot at the right times for better performances tomorrow.
The Cyclist’s Training Bible
By Joe Friel
When Joe Friel published the first edition of The Cyclist’s Training Bible, on January 1st in 1999, there was nothing else for cyclists to read about training at this time. Ever since, Joe Friel has revised the book a total of 5 times to account for the progress that has been made in sports science. The book is a very straightforward guide on how to plan your training across years, months, weeks and even days. You get tools to track your progress, what equipment you need, for example a heart rate monitor and a power meter, and how to balance training stress and recovery. What I like about the book is that it doesn’t start with training. Instead, Joe Friel opens with the importance of the mind. In a world where it’s more and more about pure physiology and less about the individual, the mental aspect, in my opinion, is even more important.
While psychology seems less tempting than all the training science and physiology, I think it’s still more important. You can’t expect breakthrough performances in training and racing, when your mental attitude lacks behind your body.
The training approach in the book is a little overachieving and complicated, but the wisdom is timeless. Give it a chance. There’s always a lesson to learn.
Training and Racing With a Power Meter
By Hunter Allen and Dr. Andrew Coggan
It’s not rare for me to finish a really good book in a week or two. But a specific topic like cycling training and physiology can get tough at times. So I didn’t expect anything from this book. Honestly, Allen and Coggan gave me a good experience. Fair warning: some pages are slow and weird, while others are overly complex. They are a bit of a grind to get through. But if you stick it out, you will be rewarded with the most comprehensive manual around a cyclist’s most powerful tool: the power meter. More importantly, though, you will learn a lot about your own philosophy and what you may or may not find useful. Get it *here.
Structured Training Plans for Serious Cyclists
Training can and should be simple but it must be structured correctly in order to be effective. My training plans reflect this. Find the plan that suits your ability and build rock-solid cycling fitness and speed that last: