Customer Reviews

Core Performance Endurance: A New Fitness and Nutrition Program That Revolutionizes the Way You Train for Endurance Sports

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, the good. I've been a big fan of Core Performance workouts since reading the first book by Mark Verstegen. As I shifted toward more endurance sports like triathlon, I found the original book to be less helpful. Core Performance Endurance is the long-awaited combination of a core conditioning program with endurance training. On this most important point, I think Verstegen has again come through in a big way. Workouts emphasize flexibility, core strength, and injury prevention. Days are divided by emphasis on "strength", "power", "regeneration", and "rest". The idea is that, through this approach, an athlete will train efficiently and get the most results for the effort expended. What most people would call the "cardio" work is here referred to as "energy system development" or ESD. ESD work is done on most days, but it varies between slow days at less than race pace, relatively short intervals at race pace, and brief intervals at greater than race pace. The goal is to use the combination of approaches to improve the lactate threshold, the point where muscles start to "burn" and increase the level at which an athlete continuously perform without lactic acid build up. This flies in the face of "more is better" training, and it is consistent with the most recent advances in exercise physiology.

The Bad. If you are expecting a spoon-fed workout, you will be disappointed. The ESD workouts do not specify which sport is to be performed. That approach would work best for a pure runner or biker. For a multi-sport triathlete, it leaves a fair bit of the work in designing the program to the individual. For instance, should a swim be combined with a "power" day or a "strength" day? Should one alternate? How should "brick workouts" (two sports one after another, usually biking followed by running) be integrated? I like to take a hands-on approach to the details, but I can see how many might be put off by this. This book should properly be considered a foundation to an endurance exercise program, helping an athlete maximize their results and prevent injury. It should not be considered the whole program in itself.

The Ugly. An athlete progresses through stages (i.e. A, B, C) and levels (1, 2) that increase in length of time and difficulty. When ready to go to "level 3", you are instructed to go to the website, coreperformance.com. The problem? It's a site that REQUIRES A PAID MEMBERSHIP. I thought this was pretty sleazy. I don't think I would have bought the book if it had been marketed as "Two Thirds of Core Performance Endurance". When I first read the instruction to go to the website, I was pretty steamed. I was ready to dash off a 1-star review and trash the book. After I cooled down, I decided that, had there NOT been a 3rd level at all, I would have thought the workout was still pretty darn good. Judging the workout program by what is between the covers, I am reasonably happy. I decided to do my best to inform potential buyers and let them decide if it was a deal breaker or not. Consider getting the free trial offered at the site before buying the book, just to see if you think there is any value added for you.

So, for an excellent and innovative workout, I think Core Performance Endurance delivers. It would have been a much better book if it wasn't also a teaser for a subscription for an online exercise program run by the author. 4 stars.

Mark Verstegen deserves a lot of credit for his ability to take a basic concept and milk it into a very lucrative cottage industry. While I actually liked his earlier Core Performance Essentials book (it's a good basic introductory book, though admittedly not much is new there either), Core Performance Endurance offers virtually no new material. Instead, the book is a complete rehash of Essentials and his first book. The rehashing goes so far that entire sections of Endurance are copied word for word from the earlier two books. Other sections show substantial overlap (but not verbatim) with the earlier two books. The two exceptions is that he spends a little more time introducing plyometics (though an introductory text on plyometrics can do it better) and regeneration (the novel concept that endurance athletes should schedule regular rest and active regeneration instead of going 100% every day).

I was also disappointed in the lack of new exercises presented. Whereas Essentials provided an interesting variety and progression of exercises, Endurance was fairly minimal in its presentation. I was especially expecting more challenging exercises that would be appropriate for endurance atheletes.

Finally, I was annoyed by the endless cross-selling of other products endorsed by Verstegen. I already bought the book and buy into the philosophy, but there were too many pushes of the coreperformance website (a subscription service that offers more exercises) and other products sold by Athletes Performance or strategic partners. There is a time and a place for cross-selling, but this book crossed the line.

Overall, if you're a Verstegen fan and want to know what the whole core thing is all about, I'd recommend Essentials over Endurance, but even then I'd recommend it only if you're looking for something fairly introductory.

Overall, I really like this book. They have made a lot of improvements since their first Core Performance book. This book shows how to incorporate core and strength training into an already busy schedule of swimming, biking and running. It is meant for any type of endurance athlete. You incorporate your endurance sport of choice into their training plan.

The one thing I really hate about the book is I felt like they were constantly trying to sell me something. I also wish that in some places they actually cited the studies they mention.

If you can ignore those issues though, this is a great book to get you started on improving how you train for endurance sports.

I have been a fan of the CP approach since the original book. As a trail runner and mountain biker, neither of the previous titles addressed training and injury-prevention particular to my interests. Core Performance Endurance applies the already widely praised and very effective techniques of Movement Prep, Prehab, Elasticity, Power and Strength Training to the particular demands of cycling, running, swimming and other "lung" sports.

A great deal of space is devoted to "Tissue Management". The human body takes quite a pounding during endurance training but these techniques, combined with proper movement patterns and nutrition can prevent over 60% of the injuries commonly experienced by endurance athletes according to the authors. This information alone is largely ignored in other published material and easily justifies the purchase of this book.

The nutritional information provided is state-of-the-art, practical and effective. They know what an endurance athlete's body demands and dispell many prevalent myths that are ineffective at best and potentially dangerous at worst.

The material is clearly presented (they've learned what works from feedback regarding the previous books) and there are plenty of new tricks for those already familiar with the CP methodology. As a program it is very flexible and realistic for those who already have to squeeze in rides, runs and swims in-between work and family responsibilities. Many other books on this subject assume you've got endless time and opportunity to work on increasing your VO2 Max.

Other reviews have mentioned needing to purchase additional equipment to do some of the exercises. While this is true, all of the workouts can be performed with a minimum of equipment, most of which would fit in a bike bag or small duffel. This is a cutting-edge program and the investment needed for the additional equipment is modest compared with the return. Additionally, Mark Verstegen suggests a number of low or no cost alternatives should you not wish to purchase more equipment.

Whether you're gunning for a PR in the Leadville 100 or running your first 5k, Core Performance Endurance has got you covered. Highly recommended.

I was excited to get the book and flipping through it, was excited to start reading it. But reading it I found that each chapter was written like an introduction. He hints at what you'll be doing in the program without ever showing you how to do it. The program is essentially presented as one table with a two line explanation of how to use it. There is a huge explanatory gap between the "introductory" chapters and the presentation of the program. The introductory chapters could have been condensed to one quite easily, leaving plenty of room for real information on how to use the program, how everything fits together.

The table references all of the program's exercises, which are great. I quite like the exercises but the single table program doesn't quite work for me. Without any explanation of how I might customize it, I'm just doing my own thing with the exercises.

In the end it's just a bunch of new exercises.

I was very excited to hear about this book. I've been a fan of Mark's first two books. The content is fine, a bit of a rehash in spots but some very good new material. I mentioned in my first review about the use of additional equip. Mark does note in the book thats it optional. I rushed to judgement. In fact, after working with some of the new material i went out and set a personal record run of over 6 miles. Spend time with the book, digest it and put it to good use.

Great book for general rules in regards to your workout routine. If you have any over use injuries then I would recommend it.

I will however caution that reading this on a Kindle had issues because they pulled a lot of the tables as images and the text was so small that you really can not read it.

Excellent book. Might be just a little too much for me. I just wanted to get in on the ground floor and learn some Core exercises. This book helps you do that, but most of it is focused on a much higher level of athlete, not just someone wanting to change their tri-weekly workout routine.

Core conditioning meets endurance training in this manual geared toward endurance sports. This is a great program to work on with a friend.

I am a big fan of Mark's 'original' book, so I was thrilled to see a version specifically for endurance athletes. This version does borrow many of the same exercises from his first book -- but, if they work why change them?

The workouts are quick and effective. So, this is the way to go if you are considering strength training into your plan. Many traditional exercises (like leg press, for example) really do not translate into improvement in endurance sports. The strength and power workouts really have resulted in better cycling and running. The Core Performance sessions are completed quickly and allow you to recover for your swim/bike/run workouts. Mark uses the 'incremental' approach to improvement. This is not a workout session that will require you 3 days to recover.

Also, I've found the 'Movement Prep' and 'Regeneration' movements most helpful. My back has never felt better.

The ESD (or cardio) part of the program really should be ignored. Your run/bike/swim workouts more than cover this aspect.

Mark does provide a free code for a 3 week trial of the coreperformance.com site. This site provides really nice video snippets of how to complete the exercises and a detailed diet plan. Good stuff. Now, after the 3 weeks you have to pay -- but, it is only like $[...] for the year. I learned the proper form during the trial phase and chose not to renew.