Customer Reviews

Weight Training for Cyclists (The Ultimate Training Series from VeloPress)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this book to be an excellent tool in fine tuning my strength training regimen for cycling. There's no doubt that weight training in the off season helps a cyclist build strength which translates to better on road performance. Unfortunately many cyclists don't know where to start, and too often the cycling press publishes articles aimed towards people who don't want to take the time to get the most out of the gym. Alternatively, most of the reference material and magazine articles about weight lifting are aimed towards the "body building" crowd. If you're looking to build strength and endurance for the road (or trail, I suppose), this book is for you.

I had already been using a strength training routine from Bill Pearl's "Strength Training", when I started reading this book and within a few chapters I found that I was making some mistakes in my form and technique. Additionally, I learned about a variety of exercises and techniques which added some spice to my time in the weight room.

The lessons from this book have benefited me greatly and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to put some purpose into their gym time.

This book is very well laid out. It is an excellent guide for the beginner and a nice, well-organized reference for the advanced cyclist. Every part of the book is laid out in a straightforward manner and the information is right on in every respect. Whole training plans are sampled for the season, and easy-to-use charts are used to track your progress.

As a long-time cyclist and coach, the reviews that say this book is inferior are just plain wrong. Reading the book doesn't make you fitter. You have to practice what is taught in here. Additionally, the readers who pan it seem to have weight training backgrounds which likely pre-disposes them to their set ways of doing things in the gym. Bodybuilding techniques aren't cycling-specific.

Arguably this is the best book for that area of cycling that can improve your cycling the most, strength training.

I bought this book over a year ago, and followed the program as laid out by the authors. All I can say is WOW! I am now hammering guys on climbs that used to leave me in the dust.

I referred a friend to this site and was not happy to see the very negative review written by O'Toole. He and the other "bodybuilder" guy who panned the book claim to have all of this knowledge of weight training, so why did they buy the book? A bodybuilder may know his way around the gym, but I am betting that he has no idea how to write up an annual periodized training program specifically for cycling. If he did, then once again, why did he buy the book? Just to criticize it?

This is a book to inform cyclists on how to use weight training to improve their riding, and it does this perfectly. It tells you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. I strongly suggest it to anyone who wants to get stronger in the saddle!

This book only gives the absolute bare minimum of training guidelines. It will give you a decent idea of what exercises to do, and a tiny bit of the reasons why to do them, but that is all. The authors suggest doing some very simple exercises like the bench press, for which they show photos. For the very complex, and somewhat dangerous, plyometric and power development exercises, they give almost no detail on how to do the exercise. Why would they show photos of simple exercises that everyone knows how to do, and then just skim over the complex ones that they suggest are the most important exercises??

This book offers no real insight other then the standard thoughts like cyclists should do high repetitions with low weight so as not to build bulky muscles. Other standard thoughts include varying your workout over time to constantly stress your muscles so they don't become too accustomed to one particular workout routine. The author references his personal training program available via his website one too many times for my taste. When reading the book you get the feeling that the "cycling" aspect of the book seems more the result of a search and replace operation in a word processor versus a book really geared towards cyclists.

If you haven't spent much time in a gym lifting weights then this book might be more valuable then I found it.

This book is an invaluable resource for those just getting into cycling. It also makes a great reference tool for the advanced cyclist.

I have always read in bike magazines that the way to improve your strength on the bike you need to lift weights. Problem is, I don't know the right way to do it! This book gave me all of the knowledge I needed to design a training program and perform the exercises correctly and safely. I'm already seeing the benefits!

I found the advice to be well presented and thought out. I am a non professional cyclist and some of it was too detailed and geared to a racing season approach. Overall though it was informative and interesting, with some valuable tips about how to avoid injury that i had not encountered.

This was a ton of common sense here if you have been weight training for a bit. I would recommend P90x - The legs and back DVD and Plyometrics for leg strength. Look into INSANITY by beachbody as well. This will put your VO2 max up and your legs will thank you! Insanity is NO JOKE! Real tough

Forget this book... get the above and you will be a stud.

This is so basic of a weight training book that only a beginner might glean something from it. It doesn't get too far into the specialties of physiology around the sport. I think that this book would be good for someone just starting a basic weightlifting program.