Fast After 50: How to Race Strong for the Rest of Your Life

Good Read
I enjoyed reading the book. It contains science-based training advice for the older athlete. If you can lift heavy, do it twice a week. Run and bike high-intensity intervals to maintain or improve your VO2max.

Comprehensive – based carefully on science!
Great news here: The studies of fitness with aging show big declines because most of them are based on athletes that stop trying because they read that there are a big declines with age!He covers all aspects. What is a given and how training, sleep and diet need to change as we get older. And importantly how we need more time for recovery.I’m turning 70 and this answered all sorts of questions and makes my next 10 years in CrossFit look very exciting.

Addresses the inevitability of physical decline (3.75*s)
The author readily admits that his turning 70 and losing cycling capability are the motivators for this book. It is his claim, backed up by a good deal of evidence, that large declines in performance can be avoided with training and habits that counter physical changes in older athletes. Of the two essential elements of training, that is volume and intensity, it is intensity that must be emphasized to counter the effects of aging. And that is contrary to the advice often given that older athletes must take a long, slow approach to training.Of all the declines in athletes, it is the reduction of VO2-Max, the ability of an athlete to process oxygen that most severely limits performance. After describing that change and others common to aging athletes, for example gaining fat and losing muscle, the author introduces a rudimentary training plan to address those issues. Key to his plan is the inclusion of aerobic-capacity and lactate-threshold intervals of varying intensity and duration. In addition there are more conventional elements like longer aerobic threshold efforts and weightlifting. His plan is tailored for those in any endurance sport. Periodization of training is also discussed with the elements of training adjusted based on where one is in a racing cycle.The main point of the book, that is the emphasis on training intensity, is noteworthy. In so far as the author sticks to supporting and explaining that idea, the book is good. However, there is some redundancy and the inclusion of bits of miscellaneous testimony from older athletes does not add much. The author also veers into general health topics of the aged such as sleep, fat, insulin, and diet. The book is a corrective to the notion that people somehow have to substantially decline in old age.

Joe puts his own hands-on and highly professional training and racing experience in an overall lifestyle, fitness and well-being project for the benefit of the reader. It is at the end up to the reader to adopt Joe’s recommended behavior changes to become a high performance athlete without age. Thank you Joe

Joel Friel, nos traz conhecimentos importantíssimos a respeito do envelhecer com saúde, mantendo autonomia e desempenho após os 50 anos de idade. Ele mesmo, já com mais de 70 anos, analisa e explica com dados científicos o processo fisiológico do corpo humano conforme este envelhece. Oferece soluções práticas e programas de exercícios para conseguir chegar-se a uma atividade física adequada e prazerosa, com menos riscos de lesões.