A nice book about general training

During the holidays, I had the time to read (by the way, my first Ebook..) a very interesting book about functional training.
It is all about strength and power training for different body segments, focusing on the kind of exercises which are really functional for the sport.

The reading is really a eye-opener about which are the useful exercises to do for general conditioning, especially if you usually hit the weight or machines in a gym.
So, for example, the book explains clearly why doing "leg curls" on the weight machine is a waste of time because the hamstring is not working in concentric effort in any sport, but always in eccentric way to stabilize the hip.

Many of the concept are more targeting "sprint running" sports (like Sprints in T&F and Team Sports), but obviously what is good for running fast is good also for running slower..
(by the way, my maximum sprint speed is lower of Bekele's speed on 5000m/10000m... so the concept of sprint is very relative...)
Anyway a very good reading and good to follow the book's indication if you are setting up a self-made functional conditioning strength program

Polar Running Index (more of)

end of 2008 I did a post on the usage of the Polar Running Index and related chart.

It happens that is the most popular page of this blog, through google searches on the Polar Running Index.

It is a pity that Polar did develop such a useful function and never explained it properly to the users. Even the Polar forum does not offer more...

probably my chart is the only thing publicly available on the practical use of this functions

well, now that chart end up also in a new book by Matt Fitzgerald "The Runner's Edge".

The book makes a pretty good job to explain all the advanced use of Garmin, Polar, etc...how to use the tons of information that are calculated by those toys and train better.

So also the Polar Running Index and the cadence function of the RS800sd got some explanations and useful tips.

I would say a good reading and I must make anyway a couple of remarks

A) the book is totally biased in favour of the TrainingPeaks SW (well, the book's co-author is TrainingPeak's developer), while there is the free alternative of SportTracks and/or simply use the Polar PPT SW

B) maybe (for my tastes) it could have been even more technical and go more into the details (well, I also see that in Amazon's comments someone complained about the opposite... too much technical... well, dude, then you better stick to the Garmin SW to show your friends where have you been running and stop there...)

(disclaimer: I was kindly offered the book by the author as token of appreciation for the small contributions)

Book review

during the holidays, I found in my old home's bookshelf a book that deserves a reading: Training lactate pulse rate by Peter Janssen (Author). I saw that there is also a kind of 2nd edition under a slightly different title and publisher, but the original is a very low priced paperback, published by Polar.
The book is most useful only if you train with a HR monitor and in general is a very messy reading structure, without a real logical sequence. I guess the author did not give it to anyone for a reading before publication....
There is a large section dedicated to the Conconi's test, whose validity is now under discussion. The author is supporting the concept of large aerobic base construction with a lot of training at AT level, trying to avoid the mistake of too much training above AT level, with excess of lactate in the blood and poor recovery.
So why to read it ??? in the mess, there are great gems very useful for practical use.
1. Many tables about the intensity of training in relation to HR, lactate values, pace, etc.
2. The training concepts are exposed in very brief manner, but I guess that is the reader would be capable to build up a actual training plan under these raw concepts, he/she can really achieve a good improvement. (well, it is very close to follow a Lydiard way but with HRM on the wrist).
2. Very interesting is the set of actual HR recording on training workouts and races of Pro athletes, with comments. So the reader can get actual data from Elite Athletes about the actual effort in races and workouts and how they dose it during the week.
Also other HR charts of amateur runners are very helpful in giving a objective assessment of how to pace yourself in race and training.
Overall it is an interesting reading, because of so many "actual" data and the price is pretty reasonable (you buy a copy of Runner's world for that price....)