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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Plan for the Masses, December 30, 2009
This review is from: The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week (The Time-Crunched Athlete) (Paperback)
I started cycling again a few years ago after having ridden a bunch in high school and college. I had always ridden for transportation and a little fun on the weekends, but I started going on some group rides and found that I was pretty fast. So, I started riding with the "fast" guys. I made a lot of progress (got faster) two seasons ago without any specific training plan, and decided to try my hand at racing. So, I decided I needed to have an actual training plan. I read and tried to follow Joel Friel's Training Bible and made progress last season, but felt that there was something that wasn't quite right. I felt like the prior season had been much more beneficial. I was training smarter, but I wasn't progressing like I thought I should. The training often seemed way too easy. I read this book, and it all started to make some sense. I was rarely able to train more than 8 hrs/wk. When Friel's plan started calling for 10-13 hrs/wk, I just wasn't able to make it happen. I think I just wasn't stressing my body enough last season.
The TCTP (Time Crunched Training Plan) replaces volume with intensity, so you don't have to try to put in 10-12 hrs/wk. Based on my experience of the last two seasons, this should work.
The book is well written. He talks about making it short because he knows the readers are "time-crunched". I felt he could have shortened it a bit more, but it is way better than other books on training that are way too wordy. The three real life examples of CTS clients that have successfully used the TCTP are very motivational and effective as to how to use the plan.
I respectfully disagree with Peter Krogh's review that the book is only for century rider. I think he must have missed some of the book if it came as a surprise that you could be racing during the training plan. pg 5 - "Rutberg put Sterling on the TCTP six weeks before the start of the 2007 spring races in the Carolinas. He rode four times a week, never more than 7 hours total, raced four times in 8 weeks, and finished fourth, eighth, first, and third." pg 17 - "The TCTP is a high-intensity, low-volume training program that produces the fitness and power necessary to push the pace in local group rides and to be competitive in local and regional criteriums, cross-country and short-track mountain bike races, and cyclocross races." pg 17 - "However, there are limits....although the program lets Sterling race for the win, there's a reason he's focusing on the spring and fall series instead of trying to win races throughout the entire season." The book also goes on to detail Taylor Carrington's use of the plan to prepare to race Cyclocross Nationals and describes how he starts racing early in the plan to work on skills even though his fitness isn't very far along. Anyway, I don't get what Mr. Krogh is talking about.
At first read, I didn't understand what you are supposed to do in the 4-6 weeks between sessions. He explains it early in the book and calls it "Maintenance". It is so far in front of the actual plan that I had forgotten about it by the end of the book. When I went back through it, it was plain as day. The maintenance period should probably be briefly touched on again in relationship to the plans.
I'm looking forward to using the TCTP to prepare for the 2010 season. I've set it up to be peaking in April, July, and November. I wanted to write a review now because it is likely that I won't get back to it after I'm done racing next December.
Best of luck to all of you wanting to be "Fit, Fast & Powerful"
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43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reclaim Your Identity, August 18, 2009
This review is from: The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week (The Time-Crunched Athlete) (Paperback)
"The TCTP isn't about reclaiming your youth so much as it is about reclaiming your identity. Being a cyclist is an important part of who you are, and it's a lot easier to proudly identify yourself as a cyclist when you're good at it." [pg. 52]
Finally, a book that speaks to us "retired racers" who are in our late 30's and beyond, with a career, family, and obligations that do not lend themselves to 4+ hour training rides. Admittedly, the training plan is intense, but that's the point.
"Our relationship with our sport may have changed, but our desire to be fit, fast, and powerful hasn't diminished."
And how does he address that? By recognizing (finally) that all of the training plans out there do not lend themselves to the average athlete who wants to balance being an attentive parent and husband, a responsible employer/employee, and get in the training hours required to be competitive either in a race series or simply during intense weekend rides. His answer - high intensity, low volume, taper, recover, start over. Do no more than 2 to 3 cycles of this per year.
And his rationale -
"Initially I had a lot of trouble with the relatively short-term nature of the fitness gained using this program. Coming from the old-school mindset of endurance training, I struggled with the idea of a top-heavy training program that build high-end power without the deep aerobic fitness necessary to support it long-term. But for athletes with limited time to train, the alternative is sticking with old programs that can't possibly generate the fitness necessary to be a successful cyclist. Again and again I kept going back to the value proposition: Would you want to be really good for about 2 months at a time, even if it meant having to back off for 4 to 6 weeks before starting again? Or put another way: Do you want to be really good a couple of times a year or mediocre all year long?"
I only gave the book 4 stars because I have not tried the training program yet, but the fact that an internationally-recognized coach has finally put pen to paper to speak to the issues confronting the overwhelming number of athletes who fit into this category is worth the read alone.
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24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Training Program Works. I have results., September 22, 2009
This review is from: The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week (The Time-Crunched Athlete) (Paperback)
I am a CTS client and fit into the "Time crunched" category. I am 43 and started biking later in life (early 30's). I have been involved in other competitive sports growing up, but when I started biking, I wanted to race. I was fortunate enough to hook up with a CTS coach and told him my work and family schedule. He said let's try something a bit different. I was a bit skeptical at first because I had read so many books on training and knew I did not have the 15 hrs/ week to devote to become a competitive racer. I gave this method a try and have put up some very good results because of it. I am no pro but on my way to a CAT 3 upgrade and recently won a NorCal criterium by soloing off the front for several laps. I have to say, the training really simulates the efforts that you put forth in criteriums or cyclecross. I also have been able to get a win in a road race by using this method. The book is a fairly quick and easy to understand read. If you don't have the time, you need to crank up the intensity. They just show you how to structure it. My first race of the season was in early April and last race was this past weekend, so it got me through the entire season.
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