Joe Friel wrote The Cyclist's Training Bible — the book that taught a generation of amateur cyclists how to think about periodisation, training stress, and the structure of a season. Co-founder of TrainingPeaks and former chairman of the USA Triathlon National Coaching Commission, he is the bridge between sports science and the home-trainer cyclist trying to peak for one event a year. Most modern amateur coaching software still leans on his vocabulary: periodisation, A/B/C races, base, build, peak, recovery weeks.
The major positions Friel is known for in cycling and endurance sport.
Every appearance by Joe Friel on The Roadman Cycling Podcast — 2 episodes in total.
Roadman blog articles that reference Joe Friel’s work.
How to Periodise a Cycling Season (Pro Template Inside)
Periodisation isn't arbitrary. Here's the annual structure pro teams use, why each phase exists, and how to build a year around your priorit…
How to Structure a Cycling Training Plan (Coach's Framework)
Every good cycling training plan follows the same five principles. Miss any of them and the plan breaks. Here's the framework coaches use, w…
Masters Cycling Decision Framework: The 3 Mistakes That Stall Riders Over 40
You can still get faster after 40. The evidence is clear. But the training that worked when you were 30 will break you now — here's what cha…
“You really cannot have too much base. You can have too much build. You certainly can do that and you can certainly have too much peak or taper but you can't have too much base. So the more the base period we have the better fit more the more fitness the athlete is going to carry into the general as a specific preparation period.”
“Zone one, zone two accomplish things that three, four, and five don't accomplish. And but the athlete doesn't feel they have they're accomplishing what they want, which is more suffering. So consequently, I've got a really it almost always comes down to it almost like an argument that you must do these workouts otherwise you need to find a different coach.”
“Three a priority races becomes extremely difficult to do. It's possible. I've seen athletes do it, but it becomes very very difficult to have three a priority races and beyond three is impossible. It just becomes a a waste of time for everybody.”
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