The Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel
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Book Reviews of The Triathlete's Training Bible
Book Review: Mixed Feelings....
Summary: 3 Stars
For the most part, I find this book very informative. I am a beginning triathlete, and have switched over from road cycling. This book can be for beginners if the book is read carefully. There is a lot of information, but it is up to the reader to find what is applicable and useful. Using this book as a basis of training will definitely help the athlete. Finally, the overall tone of the book is very wise: 'do only what you need to do in order to achieve'.
On the negative, I feel the author spends a little too much time selling his skewed slant on science. In chapter two, he tells the NASA scientist/bumble bee story. Unfortunately for the author, a little research would have exposed this as an urban legend. The bumble bee doesn't fly because of its ignorance of physics; it flies because of the wing being a non-rigid body. While this is a cute story, it's incorrect and not relevant.
Furthermore, the author states 'The best scientists in the world can take a group of the most fit athletes into state-of-the-art lab...and predict how they do, and fail miserably.' This statement is an unsupported 'sweeping generalization'. He goes on to state 'Labs are just not the real world of racing...'. Finally, 'Unfortunately when it comes to contributing anything extraordinary to the training and techniques of athletes, science has a poor track record.'
These above statements diametrically oppose his others regarding the growth of knowledge in the fitness industry. 'The rate at which this type of knowledge continues to grow is staggering. In the 1980's, science learned more about the human athlete than in the previous eight decades combined.'
I understand the author has a Masters Degree in Exercise Science. Knowing this, the author should show more critical thinking toward the sciences. For a scientist, the whole world is a laboratory. Most studies of exercise/motion are NOT theoretical in a pure sense. Rather, they are experimental. A scientist, outside the lab, is participating in observational or experimental science. Whether the author realizes it or not, he himself acts as an observational/experimental scientist while compiling this data. Furthermore, when a scientist uses 'the art' of this training he is also experimenting. There are measurable results.
As illustrated above with the bumble bee story and in the examples of strides in exercise science, Mr Friel is entirely off base with regards to exercise science. The 'growth of knowledge' did not come from the ether. If there are fault with the science, it is almost always due to the author or scientist not asking the right questions.
Book Review: Mambo jambo
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a regular 3 a week gym workout kind of guy (4 years now) who recently decided to get into endurance sports. Unfortunately I received minimal information from this book. I was looking for insider information on technique and multisport workout do's and don't, but ended up reading mostly about theory. The 1st 40 pages or so were purely on attitude, commitment and what it takes or something of the kind. Barely anything concrete on multisports. I did find a couple of useful pages on different training theories and technique itself, but only minimal. Don't mean to trash this book, but it just did not meet my expectations.Book Review: Way too technical and overly detailed
Summary: 3 Stars
If you're a recreational triathlete who just likes to train and doesn't want the sport to take over your life, don't get this book. I think this is written more for coaches and serious triathletes. I like to do Xterras, have some fun, and get outside. This book reads like a text for a college course. I expected it to be more accessible.Book Review: Usefulness for a beginning triathlete
Summary: 3 Stars
I found it to be written for a Iron man perspective and I was looking for information on Sprint Triathlons - those for beginners. It lacked the practical advice I was looking for. It does have a lot of information, but a lot of it is too detailed and advanced.Book Review: triathlete textbook
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a big textbook for triathlon. The author seems very knowledgeable and experienced and there is a lot of detail in the book. I found most of the book to be too technical for a recreational triathlete like myself.