About the Book
Fast After 50 is for every endurance athlete who wants to stay fast for years to come.
For runners, cyclists, triathletes, swimmers, and cross-country skiers, getting older doesn’t have to mean getting slower. Drawing from the most current research on aging and sports performance, Joe Friel--America’s leading endurance sports coach--shows how athletes can race strong and stay healthy well past age 50.
In his groundbreaking book Fast After 50, Friel offers a smart approach for athletes to ward off the effects of age. Friel shows athletes how to extend their racing careers for decades--and race to win.
Fast After 50 presents guidelines for high-intensity workouts, focused strength training, recovery, crosstraining, and nutrition for high performance:
How the body’s response to training changes with age, how to adapt your training plan, and how to avoid overtraining
How to shed body fat and regain muscle density
How to create a progressive plan for training, rest, recovery, and competition
Workout guidelines, field tests, and intensity measurement
In Fast After 50, Joe Friel shows athletes that age is just a number--and race results are the only numbers that count.
With contributions from: Mark Allen, Gale Bernhardt, Amby Burfoot, Dr. Larry Creswell, John Howard, Dr. Tim Noakes, Ned Overend, Dr. John Post, Dr. Andrew Pruitt, and Lisa Rainsberger.
About the Author :
With a masters degree in exercise science, Joe Friel was a marathoner and running coach throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. After his first triathlon in 1983 and falling in love with the sport he began coaching multisport athletes becoming one of the first triathlon coaches in the country. The following year he opened a triathlon store in Ft. Collins, Colorado—probably the first in the world. Throughout the 1980s his race management company organized several triathlons in Colorado. He left retail and race management in 1987 to focus on coaching. The athletes he coached for over 30 years ranged from novice to high-performance amateur to professional to Olympian. In 1997, he was a founding member of the USA Triathlon Coaches Association. He served as co-chair in 1999-2000. In 2000, he attended the Sydney Olympics to assist with team preparation. The following year he was the coach of team USA for the World Triathlon Championships. Throughout the 2000s he was a frequent speaker at USAT coach seminars. He wrote 17 books on training, the most notable being The Triathlete’s Training Bible, which is now in its 5th edition and translated into 15 languages. It remains the best-selling book in the world on triathlon training. In 1999, he co-founded TrainingPeaks, online training software for endurance athletes. As an athlete he competed in hundreds of events including national and world championships, was an All-American Age Group Triathlete several times and a USAT-regional multisport champion. He stopped competing after a bike crash in 2014 restricted range of shoulder movement. He continues to present at triathlon camps and clinics for triathletes and coaches around the world. Joe currently lives and trains in the mountains of northern Arizona and is working on his 18th book—this one for coaches.
Review :
"While I am a professional triathlete, I also juggle the enjoyable yet challenging commitments of family and being CEO of Picky Bars. If I simply chased a traditional program, without consideration of my life stressors, I would be sure to find myself on a journey to failure. The dynamic mindset has helped me navigate continued evolution at the world-class level, while also growing Picky Bars and being an active participant in my family.”
“When, Matt Dixon of Purplepatch Fitness, a coach to athletic immortals, pens a book germane to everyday people trying to keep fit, it pays to listen since improved athletic performance has such a profound effect on one's work, sense of well-being and attitude to all aspects of life. The world's best coach of professional and amateur triathletes has distilled decades of experience in his new book Fast-Track Triathlete. It’s an intelligent explanation of how fitness can transform life and work for everyone.”
“Each time I have tried endurance sports I have found myself quickly succumbing to a cycle of injury, while it also being a drag on my ability to fit it all in with all my other business and life commitments. The Purple Patch approach has been refreshing, and not only has allowed me to thrive in sport, but also helped my energy and mindset for life’s activities.”
“I started the multipart journey with some goals, but also questioning how I could fit it into my busy life. Fast forward, my lens has shifted to realize that integrated the sport and positive habits is an asset to my performance in work and life, hence has become a non-negotiable tool in helping my global performance.”
“Most training philosophies simply take what the best of the best do and water it down for each level. Matt's book flips the script and looks at how to get the best performance, while not sacrificing work and life. Matt does a great job of whittling down the fat and looking at what matters the most, where do we get the most bang for our buck.”
“One of the things that has struck me most about Matt Dixon and his coaching philosophy is his emphasis on quality over quantity. Many coaches load on volume and training hours, whereas Matt is able to create superior performances from his athletes on few hours of training. This translates into better overall quality of sessions, more time to recover, and more time for healthier life balance. His philosophy is one that I admire greatly.”
“Matt Dixon taught me to not view my training in isolation but rather implement a holistic focus where my program was planned in the context of maintaining a healthy body, happy family, and fulfilling life. Not only have my performances drastically improved, but also my entire triathlon experience has become far more enjoyable.”
