Joe Friel’s Blog

This fall - October 22-29, 2010 - I'm presenting a triathlon camp in Scottsdale, Arizona where I spend my winters. This is not your standard swim-bike-run camp. It focuses on exactly … [Read more...] about Scottsdale Laying the Foundations & Testing Camp

With about three weeks to go until race day you start the Peak block of training which lasts two weeks. There are three things you must do in the Peak block if you are to come into good form for the … [Read more...] about Peak Block Recovery Workouts

A student doing a project for a sports nutrition class asked me to record what I ate yesterday. Since I get lots of questions here on this blog (and by email) about sport nutrition I … [Read more...] about What I Ate Yesterday (as if you care)

            The accompanying chart is a detailed summary of a road cyclist’s periodization leading to his first A-priority race of the season last Saturday (click … [Read more...] about Case Study: Periodization for First A Race of Season

The most critical time in your season is from three weeks to 12 weeks before an A-priority race. This is when your hard training is the most effective. Missed workouts now have a much greater impact … [Read more...] about The Build Period and Health

In my last post I provided research which refutes the age-old claim that muscle cramping during exercise is caused by electrolyte deficiency and/or dehydration. The most commonly proposed cause of … [Read more...] about Muscle Cramp Theory

Contrary to what we’ve been led to believe, no one knows what causes muscle cramps. The common lore is that the culprit is electrolytes, but this is highly doubtful. Much of the sports nutrition … [Read more...] about Muscle Cramps and Mythology

I had a recreational rider ask me today what he should drink while riding. My answer wasn’t what he expected.   Basically, I believe recreational athletes don’t need nearly as much sugar while … [Read more...] about Questions on Workout Nutrition

After my last post I received a couple of questions from athletes asking if they should avoid training in zone 3 using my heart rate zone system. It’s a good question and one that comes up quite … [Read more...] about Should You Train in Zone 3?

I offer training plans to cyclists, triathletes and runners through TrainingPeaks.com. While I describe in most of my books how to set one's training zones, I still get lots of questions about how … [Read more...] about Quick Guide to Training With Heart Rate, Power and Pace

The heart of training is the workout. This is when you create the potential for fitness. Notice the “potential” in the previous sentence. Fitness is not created in workouts. It occurs in the recovery … [Read more...] about Workouts

The younger an athlete is the less effect a poor diet has on performance. The older an athlete is the more critical diet is to performance. At least that is what I have observed over the years. It’s … [Read more...] about Age and Diet

When riding a bike uphill or running you are working to overcome gravity. For the bike I’m sure that’s obvious. Riding up a hill means that gravity is trying to pull you back down. That’s what makes … [Read more...] about Power and Weight

It seems that athletes sometimes train much harder than is necessary, and rest less than they should, especially right before important races. Take Emil Zatopek, for example. The Czech … [Read more...] about History Lesson: The Zatopek Effect

I’ve always enjoyed history. In my undergrad days I had a double major – physical education and history. I even taught US history at the high school level for nine years in what now seems like another … [Read more...] about Mark Allen’s Training

As I explained in a previous post, training should become increasingly like the race the closer you get to race day. The problem with that rule is apparent when training for an Ironman triathlon. You … [Read more...] about Ironman Big Day

Periodization really doesn’t need to be as complicated as we make it out to be. Those who are new to endurance sport simply need to increase the amount of time they spend training being careful not to … [Read more...] about K.I.S.S. Periodization