Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Current Read: Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald


I loved Matt Fitzgerald's Brain Training for Runners and am now working through his book on nutritional advice for athletes. So far it's a pretty good read. I'm not going to go into book review mode, but will say that this is the first bit of documentation where I was able to learn what my weight should be. This does not mean what I would like it to be, but rather my optimal racing weight. And there's a handy method of calculating just how much food you need to be eating to get to and then maintain your "racing weight".

I have about 5 pounds to lose to get to this magical number. This should make me super fast.

OK, the book doesn't promise that you will be super fast if you get to your optimal racing weight, but it does give some real life examples of what a difference a few pounds makes.

A nice perk is a chapter about resistance exercises that are tailored specifically to different sports --- rowing, cycling, running, triathlon, etc.

2 comments:

Ransick said...

I started reading the same book last month then got busy. I need to get back to it. I kind of don't want to know my ideal racing weight since it is likely another 10-15 pounds :-).

Anne B said...

I was surprised that I really only have about 5 lbs to lose. The book goes a step further than many of the other methods by adjusting for age. It's very forgiving!