Joe Friel’s Blog

What we thought we knew about “normal” aging isn’t really normal for humans at all. Master and senior athletes provide proof of that every time there’s a race. Many older athletes continue to perform … [Read more...] about Aging: Muscle, Strength and Performance

Did you know that the max heart rates of trained athletes are lower than in age- and gender-matched, sedentary people? We just can’t get our heart rates as high (Whyte GP, George K, Shaver R, et al. … [Read more...] about Interesting Info

In my previous posts I’ve been making the point that the physical aspects of performance that science tells us are most likely to need our attention as we age are aerobic capacity (VO2max), muscle … [Read more...] about Aging: High-Intensity Training

In the last few posts (here, here and here) I’ve made the point that as we age the training variable we probably most need to focus on is aerobic capacity (VO2max), according to the research on … [Read more...] about Aging: Your Aerobic Capacity

Science measures aging in many ways. Take telomeres, for example. Those are the caps on the ends of your DNA strands. Scientists use them as markers of cell age since the longer they are, the younger … [Read more...] about Aging: An Excuse?

People such as Diana Nyad who recently swam from Cuba to Florida at age 64 change the standards of what it means to be “old.” There are hundreds of aging athletes who have made great sports … [Read more...] about Aging: Is It Just a Number in Your Head?

There’s no doubt that there is a loss of athletic performance with aging. We will never see a 70-year-old athlete take gold in the Olympic Games marathon. Sports scientists have offered … [Read more...] about Aging: What’s Behind the Decline?

Scientists who study aging have been telling us for years that we can expect a loss of muscle mass as we get older. We’re simply destined to lose muscle fibers, especially type II fibers – the fast … [Read more...] about Aging: What’s Happening to My Muscles?

The traditional advice from the medical community is that older people (usually meaning age 50 and up) should avoid strenuous exercise. Instead, once we reach that doddering age, we should walk – not … [Read more...] about Aging: More on Science

In the last five posts here I’ve been examining the effects of aging on my training, racing and life in general (vision, recovery, more on recovery and vision, race weight, performance). It appears … [Read more...] about Aging: Research

I’ve got training logs that go back to the 1970s when I first started recording my workouts. My heart rate data started in 1983, power in 1995. I had intended to go back and review all of that before … [Read more...] about Aging: My Performance

I’ve always considered my racing weight to be 154 pounds (70kg). Why? That’s what I weighed when I was 18 years old. Over the years my out-of-season weight has gradually climbed. In my 30s and 40s I … [Read more...] about Aging: My Race Weight

It seems there is never enough time to do all I want to do. By the time I watch the Tour de France, work out a few hours, answer emails (it seems that is what I mostly do these days), and other stuff … [Read more...] about Aging: Update on Recovery and Vision

When I was in college around 50 years ago (wow, am I really that old?) I was a runner on the track team. The coach used to have us do what I now call "Anaerobic Endurance" intervals 3 to 5 … [Read more...] about Aging: My Recovery

 and Prescription Cycling Sunglasses  It's been quite a while since I posted here. I used to think I was simply too busy due to travel, but now that I'm on vacation in Boulder for … [Read more...] about Aging: My Eyes…

Earlier this month I reported on a study of block periodization that found it superior to a traditional (linear) periodization model. This study lasted 4 weeks with well-trained cyclists in the … [Read more...] about Another Block Periodization Study

I was asked twice this week how I taper athletes for their A-priority races, once by an athlete and also by a coach. I told them that I would write about it in my blog, but later realized I had … [Read more...] about Tapering and Peaking Review

One of my favorite pastimes is reading sports science research. Most days start with me grabing an abstract from the top of my to-be-read list and seeing what’s new. I know, I’m weird that way. … [Read more...] about Updates on Compression Clothing and Block Periodization

There have been some big gaps between my posts here this winter. This is my busy season with lots of travel. It seems there is never enough time. I’m sure you know the feeling. In my last blog as an … [Read more...] about Keep It Simple – Bike Skills

Training for peak performance in endurance sport does not need to be complicated. I came to understand that only recently. More than 30 years ago I earned a masters degree in exercise science while … [Read more...] about Keep It Simple

I get lots of questions from athletes in my email. Here are three recent ones. Pedaling Technique Q: While riding this weekend and working on my form, I recall you saying not to lift on the backstroke … [Read more...] about Pedaling, Tri-Novice and Runner’s Trots

The following are the five most read posts on my blog in 2012. There is only one that is new to the list. The others are perennials. 1. A Quick Guide to Setting Zones (November, 2009) This one moved … [Read more...] about My Most Read Blog Posts of 2012

This is the time of year when most endurance athletes are starting to think about and perhaps even plan for the coming season. That makes it a good time to remember what’s most important when it comes … [Read more...] about Five Fundamentals of Training

Some time ago I wrote about recovery on demand. This is a method of training in which recovery is not planned in advance, but rather done when the need arises. For the athlete who is good at … [Read more...] about Periodization on Demand