Power Speed ENDURANCE: A Skill-Based Approach to Endurance Training [Paperback]

Brian MacKenzie (Author), Glen Cordoza (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 12, 2012

Power, Speed, ENDURANCE is a highly effective training system that has catapulted thousands of endurance athletes to the next level. Developed by CrossFit Endurance founder Brian MacKenzie and featuring instruction from some of the world's top endurance and CrossFit coaches, Power, Speed, ENDURANCE unveils techniques, drills, and training strategies that will optimize your performance and overall work capacity while decreasing your susceptibility to injury.

Through thousands of step-by-step color photographs and detailed narrative, Power, Speed, ENDURANCE breaks down proper running, cycling, and swimming mechanics like never before. MacKenzie's unique system of building strength, speed, and power is aimed at reaping continual results, without injury. In fact, he devotes an entire chapter to the "broken down" athlete, equipping you with the knowledge to prevent, repair, and treat injuries brought on by poor mechanics and tight overworked muscles. In addition, MacKenzie outlines a straightforward approach to nutrition, hydration, and electrolyte balance that will increase your energy, boost your performance, and accelerate your recovery.

Whether you're a self-trained athlete looking to compete in your first endurance event, a seasoned competitor looking to reach your highest potential, or a CrossFit athlete looking to increase stamina, Power, Speed, ENDURANCE will help you reach your goal.

In this book, you will learn how to:

develop proper running technique using the Pose Method

properly fit yourself on a bike

improve cycling mechanics on a road, time-trial, and mountain bike

swim effortlessly and improve freestyle-stroke mechanics through skill-based drills and exercises

accelerate work capacity and minimize fatigue by building muscle, speed, and power

incorporate a CrossFit Endurance strength-and-conditioning program into your training routine

maximize nutrition, hydration, and electrolyte balance to improve performance and body composition

prevent, repair, and treat nagging injuries associated with endurance sports and improve range of motion using Starrett's Movement and Mobility Method

Editorial Reviews

Review

"While writing The 4-Hour Body, I conducted thousands of tests and experiments and consulted with more than a hundred scientists, doctors, and world-class athletic coaches. It was a three-year quest to find the smallest inputs that create the largest outputs. On the endurance front, one name came up again and again: Brian MacKenzie. If you want to go from zero to marathon in 12 weeks, or perhaps run 100 miles and dead-lift two to three times your body weight without struggle, he's your secret weapon. Listen and learn."—Timothy Ferriss, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Body

About the Author

Brian MacKenzie is a world-renowned strength and conditioning coach and the innovator of the endurance / strength and conditioning paradigm. He created CrossFit Endurance (www.crossfitendurance.com), which specializes in movement with an emphasis in running, cycling, and swimming mechanics. MacKenzie and his program have been featured in Competitor Magazine, Runners World, Triathlete Magazine, Men's Journal, ESPN Rise, The Economist, Tim Ferriss' New York Times bestseller The 4-Hour Body, Men's Running UK, LA Sport & Fitness, and Rivera Magazine. He has consulted with several teams, including the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Champions San Jose State Women's Swim Team.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Victory Belt Publishing; Original edition (November 12, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936608618
• ISBN-13: 978-1936608614
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 1 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Weight Training
  • #12 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Coaching > Training & Conditioning

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 104 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Assumption - you know what that gets!! December 17, 2012

By P. Quigg

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Pre-statements for this:

I have been coaching endurance athletes for 10 years, mostly runners with a few triathletes thrown in. I attended USAT and USATF level one clinics many years ago. I have dozens of all-americans, conference champions, school records and NCAA trophy teams in XC and Track.

Pros:

1) The sections on recovery and tissue mobility are worth the price of the kindle book. Myofascial release is given little attention in standard running/endurance texts though it is very important to overall muscle health and function.

2) The form sections are complete, but please refer back to the title of the review. I'll address this later, but it's a solid review of the pose method. Dr. Romanov's books are available, so for further info consult those...

Cons:

1) The standard Crossfit assumption is how runners just do LSD, paying no attention to mobility/strength/coordination/flexibility, etc. It's that we repeat the same general pattern, distances and exercises from week to week without viewing a runner as a total athlete. It's flat out insulting - majorly insulting - to most running coaches. Part of a "new way" of training is the intonation that the "old way" was flawed and poor.

2) There is nothing new - not even remotely so - in this book. "The runners of tomorrow will be strong. The runners will develop themselves through lifting heavy weight and running sand and hills; anything for a heavy, sweating effort." Percy Cerutty (the legendary Australian coach) said this... In 1955!!!!!

3) Periodization is the idea that you structure training from the least specific to your target race to the most specific work for your target race in a way that gets you to the starting line prepared in the best possible way to succeed at your target race. CFE removes this process. The same basic rules apply that CFE takes as their "new and true". You need different components at different times of year. You can't perform the same exercises more than a few weeks in a row. The body will adapt and plateau if one thing is maintained for too long. BUT, the difference is that it is planned in periodization to get you to the starting line to perform your best.

4) The lifts provided form an excellent base of strength for an endurance athlete. There are more specific/functional strength exercises you can/should perform as you get closer to race day. Yes, they will keep up your ability to perform in everyday life while extending your capacity as an endurance athlete. It's all part of that periodization thing. These variations in training can and SHOULD be planned, but CFE makes them random.

5) POSE pisses me off a bit. It has good intention, but once again there's the assumption no one runs correctly to begin with. I teach all of my athletes to pull with their glutes and hamstrings, maintain their foot strike over their center of gravity and those who don't do it to begin with are sure able to do it by the end. We build the strength in the weight room and teach through every day drills. I don't have a fancy name for it nor do I make a ton of money selling seminars, but it works.

Hopefully this all makes sense. Big words, decent ideas and a couple of big objections!!

41 of 50 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Presentation Perfect...Considerable amount of bad content. November 26, 2012

By TheAdjuster

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

would really like to give it a 2.5/5.

there are some really good points in this book and i'd like to rate it higher, but the main reason i give this only 3 stars is that this is a plan for general "endurance" fitness and will not help you sent PR's at the longer races. would really like to give it a 2.5/5

pros:
- The layout and presentation of this book is fantastic and among the best I've seen for instructional books. Each section has a color-coded tab you can easily flip to. Then there are many photos taken from different angles to supplement the text. In terms of fitness books, the layout/presentation of this book is the best I've seen.
- The mobility section is a must read in terms of content. Can't wait for K.Star's book to come out.
- mid-line stabilization discussion is right on.
- section on hydration is a must read.

cons: (note - i'm not a biker or swimmer so my review does not include critiques on those sections)
- in terms of form, this book clearly prescribes doing several exercises at best sub-optimally, at worst incorrectly. for example the bench press and deadlift. so i was interested to see if this bad form was a cross-fit thing and went to the main CrossFit exercise demo website and found this book does not follow what even CF says in terms of setup and form with these exercises. As these are two of the big-3 lifts and they couldn't seem to get them right, I read through the rest of the exercise demo's in the book with a grain of salt. even if it has the best presentation in the market, what good is an exercise book if it doesn't teach the exercises correctly, even according to its parent organization?
- on the internet people claim CFE ignores the benefits of the LSD. This book clarifies that when elite runners are doing LSD runs they are far more intense than rec. runners out on a easy job. however nowhere do they incorporate the mitochondrial benefits of the long distance run. so it seems they choose not to add the benefits of longer runs but don't say why? this carries over to other aspects of the plan. seems like rather than taking what works from 'conventional' plans and adding to it, they do try to create something completely different.
- to add to that last point, i would first say that the HIT this book gives does get you feeling comfortable running FAST. but for shorter distances. from personal experience, i followed the CFE plan, including diet, from their website for 3 months preparing for a half-marathon. i found that it help me set new PR's in "shorter" endurance events, such as 5k's and 10k's, but for the half-marathon distance it was detrimental. now, i had absolutely no problem finishing the race. but at the end when my friends who trained the old fashioned way were able to pick it up, i had no get-up-and-go for the last 3 miles.
- nutrition: again making good points about the benefits of a gluten free diet and dairy (lactose) free diet, but then never addresses very valid criticisms (evolution of the digestive system, for one, lack of longer lives and thus more age-related diseases for hunter gatherers, for two.) of the paleo diet including the fact that many people today can process lactose with no problem.

in my opinion, a reader should use this book to supplement their overall knowledge of fitness. and using the physical plan it provides would be great as a general readiness plan. but if you want run a distance race for time, modify the CFE program to add in training that has a proven track record at those distances.

i would suggest for halfs, fulls, ultras, the runner use the plan provided in the book to prepare (or use year round) until 8-12 weeks out from these distance races, at which point i'd recommend adding in some longer runs.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done. January 2, 2013

By jksnake

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

One of the first books i have read that explains crossfit, both theiry and practical. Provides an excellent array of rountines, progressions and wods for the beginner and the more advanced. Also provides an execellent section on how to design your own workouts. My only negative is the discrepancy in price between the ebook price of ten dollars versus the hardcopy price of forty dollars ( still worth the cost).