Fast After 50 by Joe Friel - Book Review

If you have been a cyclist or a triathlete for more than a day it is almost guaranteed that you know who Joe Friel is, and you probably have a book or two of his sitting on your bookshelf. Friel is the author of The Triathlete's Training Bible, The Cyclist's Training Bible, The Power Meter Handbook, and Triathlon Science, to name just a few. I personally own all these books and read his blog on a regular basis. I like to keep up on both the science behind training as well as the art of getting it right.

Yeah, he knows his stuff and, yeah, I'm a fanboy.

Fast After 50 is a little different than much of his past writing. In fact, I read a fair amount of books each year and I do not remember reading anything quite like this before. If you are looking for information on how to prepare yourself to race anything from a 5k to an Ironman triathlon you have volumes of information available on either the internet or book form. All of this information, or at least what I have ever come upon, has never been focused on the needs of the older athlete. And as a 45 year old who has been racing for almost 20 years, I can tell you that it does get different as you age up.

Fast After 50 is a result of the research Friel was doing as he approached his 70th birthday. Then, starting in mid-2013 Friel began what became a series of blog posts on  how to limit the deleterious effects of aging on athletic performance. From those posts, and the research he did in writing them, comes this book.

Review

The book is divided into two parts and eight chapters. Part 1 (three chapters) is an overview of the literature and Friel's personal experience with aging and performance. Aging happens, but it is different for the aging athlete than it is for older Joe Average. Fortunately, those differences are for the positive for athletes. He even delves into how society is, in general, really not being helpful the the majority of us who aren't athletically active.

The final five chapters (Part 2) get to the meat of how to slow the aging process and continue to race fast into your older years. These chapters are designed to help incorporate the knowledge presented in Part 1 into your training.

So what is the key to continued speed and endurance?

"... we may draw the conclusion that both training volume and intensity are important to the maintenance of fitness as we age, but intensity is more important ... (T)his conclusion holds significant implications for how you should train: Maintain your weekly volume (hours, miles, kilometers) if possible, but place a great emphasis on how hard your workouts are. Is this realistic as you age? Yes, it is ..." (p. 35)

But, and I think this is big, staying fast and fit is not as easy as just cranking up the intensity. Designing yourself a proper training regimen is about proper dosing of the intensity. Too much work will cause the body to break down and not respond the way you would like. Sometimes the older athlete will need to spread things out more than they are used to doing. This is an important concept to grasp AND implement.

Along with training Friel touches on not just training, but also rest, recovery, and diet. Fortunately, in regards to the chapter on diet, he takes a very Matt Fitzgerald approach by not directing us to one style of eating. Yes, we need to avoid weight gain the best we can, but we all need to find what works right for ourselves. If you have an interest in diving deeper into diet, I recommend Fitzgerald's book Diet Cults as a good place to start.

Who Should Read "Fast After 50"?

In my opinion, any serious athlete who plans on staying fit and fast who is 35 years or older should pick up a copy of this book. If you are a serious athlete who is 50 or over this book directly addresses the issues you currently face as you try and dial in your training and racing. For those between 35 and 50 there is a lot of value here as well. I can tell you from personal experience that how your body reacts to your training starts to change as you approach your 40th birthday. Instinctively I have made changes to my training - most notably lower volume, more intensity, more flexibility in workload - every year for the past five or six years. If Fast After 50 were around six years ago I could have limited the amount of self-experimentation I did with my training.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this book. 



Train hard. Stay smart.
Jon


Resources:

Joe Friel's Blog

You can buy the book at Amazon.com here

Diet Cults by Matt Fitzgerald - Book Review

When I was two weeks old I was diagnosed with a condition called pyloric stenosis, which apparently is pretty serious. So serious that Dr. Gluck made the call for surgery, which freaked my parents out but basically saved my life. After all was said and done my folks were told that I would have a larger than normal appetite for a few years. Forty-five years later I still have the appetite of a 16 year old boy.

Clearly I loves me some food. In a past life when my obsession was lifting heavy things and "getting big" I ate a much different diet than I do today. In my day I have eaten more dry chicken and tuna fish from a can than I care to admit. Didn't think of it this way at the time, but I was a part of what Matt Fitgerald refers to as a diet cult.

Why the word "cult?" Fitzgerald believes that "cult" is "the best word to identify a way of eating that is morally based, identity forming, community building, and viewed by its followers as superior to all other ways of eating." This, of course isn't new to society. People simply want to believe in something ... and that something should give a sense of identity as well as a feeling of belonging. Science gets trumped by feelings.

Through the various chapters Fitzgerald delves into a number of different eating lifestyles that seemingly vary as much as the reasons people give for being on such diets. He looks at diets you may be familiar with as well as some you may not.

Some of the mainstream diets he looks at are the Weight Watcher protocol, the high fat Atkins plan, and the Paleo diet that came out of the Crossfit revolution. He takes on the chicken and tuna heavy bodybuilder's diet, as well as the exercise doesn't help diet. Even the Vegans, Foodies and Gatorade do not get overlooked!!!

Not only is the overview pretty inclusive, Fitgerald makes sure he speaks with people directly associated with each style of eating. This is good Most people choose a diet on social and emotional factors, and then either cherry pick the science behind the diet (if there is any science), or use anecdotal evidence to justify their food choice. The reader is able to get not just the author's vision, but also those who are actively involved in the specific diets/lifestyles.

So, if Diet Cults are bad, how should we eat?

There are two realities about food and nutrition. First, we all have basically the same nutrition needs. Yes, there will be variations from person to person, but those variations aren't that great. Obviously there are some exceptions. For example, someone with celiac disease will have to avoid gluten, just like one who is allergic to Penicillin has to avoid that specific drug. The other reality is that the human body is an amazing machine that can adjust to almost anything we put into it. This is obvious when you look at the different diets discussed in the book or, better yet, head out to your local Chinese buffet and take a look at what (and the quantity) people are ingesting.

So how should we eat? Here's Fitzgerald in his own words:

"The only conclusion we can draw from the sum of these lessons is that there is no such thing as the One True Way to eat for maximum health. No diet cult is better than the rest, and a person need not join any diet cult to attain maximum health. An agnostic approach to healthy eating that forbids nothing, smiles upon eating for pleasure, and encourages individual choice can do the job just as well or better."

That doesn't mean you can eat sugar out of the bag with a stick of butter on the side and you're all good. No, there is more to eating healthy than just eating food. Fitzgerald's agnostic healthy eating game has a 10 item hierarchy of food that looks like this:

Vegetables
Fruits
nuts, seeds, healthy oils
High Quality meats and seafood
Whole Grains
Dairy
Refined Grains
Low Quality Meats and Seafood
Sweets
Fried Food

He recommends eating more of the foods at the top of the list and few at the bottom. Nothing is prohibited, meaning ice cream, chocolate or even the occasional KFC Double Down is acceptable. OK, that last one may be acceptable but not really (because like everyone else I too will judge your food choices). The first two groups are essential, must eats, the next four are recommended foods (don't HAVE to eat, but should), with everything else listed as acceptable and can/should be eaten in small amounts (if at all). Basically you eat more of what is on the top of the list and less of what is on the bottom of the list.

Who Should Read Diet Cults?

This is a book that is aimed at the person who considers him- or herself an athlete, but really the book is good for anyone who is looking to live a healthy lifestyle. We can all get caught up in believing in this or that diet cult, even if we aren't living that particular lifestyle. Heck, I did it for a long, long time. Fortunately I learned my lesson and enjoy eating while staying healthy all at the same time. Along with pizza and the occasional treat. Imagine that.

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon



Resources:

Outside Magazine Interview  with Matt Fitzgerald

Matt Fitzgerald talks to Tawnee at Endurance Planet here

What the Paleo Diet gets wrong 

Paleo Runner, as you would expect, takes exception to Fitzgerald