One of the first books I ever bought on the subject of performance training was Serious Cycling, by Edmund Burke (affiliate links: UK
Serious cycling demands very big legs and very small arms
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So what does it say?
Well, it’s divided into four parts:
- Training
- Nutrition
- Planning
- Racing
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§1. Training
The overriding point made in the training chapter is the importance for endurance cyclists of building a mileage base.
Interestingly, going back to this section of the book after doing my personal training exams, I noted the prominence that Burke awards the muscular adaptations. He starts his discussion of the physiology of endurance with an introduction to slow-twitch (type one) muscle fibre types.
This is in stark contrast to the prevailing popular idea that endurance activities are based on the abilities of the cardiovascular system.
After a brief introduction to the physiological issues, we jump into the guidelines and recommendations. After all, this is not a theory textbook! This is a practical manual for bicycle racing and training for racing.
Obviously, given its importance, Burke advises on how to increase weekly mileage for the all-important mileage base. However, this is not the only area of concern.
In the next section, Burke discusses how to build in sprint training for that top-end. While the mileage base is way more important than many people will admit, the top-end is also critical for racing. As Lyle McDonald has written about at length, more experienced racers tend to try and lose much of the competition at the start of a race, by going out very fast and dropping as many people as possible before settling down to a more steady tempo. Burke provides detailed recommendations for building that top-end without overdoing it.
Next, we discuss the much-debated and oft-overused section of training for improving the lactate threshold. Many endurance athletes spend much too long in this zone and end up working harder than they need to. However, Burke provides solid guidelines for making your efforts count.
There is then consideration of other training modalities, including strength training, plyometrics and cross-training, and while there is nothing radical here, there is nothing daft either. Which, I feel, is probably as much as can be expected from this kind of publication…
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§2. Nutrition
I was also pleasantly surprised when I came back to the nutrition chapter after a year or two away from it. There is relatively little lipid hypothesis in there. Obviously, the macronutrient ratio is 60C/15P/25F but when you are cycling for 3 – 4 hours a day, there is a certain amount of sense in this.
Also, I liked the guidelines for protein, which stress the importance of learning from studies that show how protein helps endurance athletes recover from hard efforts. ”Protein is not just for bodybuilders!” he says.
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§3. Planning
The book really comes into its own at the half-way point.
Any half-decent personal trainer with a grounding in exercise physiology can make a decent fist of an endurance training programme. And if you read sensibly on nutrition and start with the big rocks (stop eating junk food, drink more water, take fish oils, etc.) then you can probably get pretty far on that front without help too.
However, in the planning section, Burke really sits down and gets to work. He starts with the overview and a discussion of the issues involved in planning a season’s racing. Then he works down the scale, starting with how to plan the year’s training, then how to plan each period within the year. Then we talk about monthly training planning, then weekly. Finally, he provides a sample daily logbook for recording daily rides and other important data.
After doing this, he takes us through the importance of proper mental preparation. Athletes often find that they prepare well physically and then their minds let them down on the day. Proper mental preparation can make all the difference between a great season and a complete waste of a year.
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§4. Racing
In the racing section, Burke starts with an explanation of how to find the optimum racing position on the bike to maximise power production without putting too much force through the knee.
He also discusses optimal pedalling mechanics, again to reduce injury incidence, but also to maximise economy.
Finally, we are treated to a discussion of how to race in bunches, the etiquette and the risks of bunch riding. This then morphs into a more general discussion of tactics and strategies for the race, depending on the terrain and the competition.
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Summing up
I bought this book while I was still competing at swimming about seven years ago, thinking that my next sport might be cycling. It was a great addition to my library back then and it stopped me from doing a number of silly things that would have been counter-productive.
Looking at it now, I appreciate that it was even better than I realised back then, as the training and nutrition sections are substantially better than I was qualified to understand.
