How would I describe the book to a friend?
The book is written by Dr Richard Freeman, who was the sports medicine doctor with British Cycling and Team Sky until 2017. He describes lots of the innovative methods he helped to develop as well as talking about case studies of athletes he helped.
He covers a range of things that are genuinely helpful to the average keen weekend cyclist and age group triathlete such as back injuries, sleep, crashing, saddle sores, weight management, mental health and sepsis.
He also talks about the culture and environment he worked in and how cycling has developed. This includes his involvement with the drugs scandal surrounding British Cycling, Bradley Wiggin’s and the infamous jiffy bag
What are the main ideas?
The book is a mixture of ideas and advice that are useful to every day cyclists combined with stories and experiences from his time at British Cycling and Team Sky.
Things I liked
It’s easy and interesting to read with lots of fascinating stories and case studies. There’s some genuinely useful information about various issues such as back injuries, saddle sores in women, concussion and sepsis.
If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?
- Share information about saddle sores in women!
- Make sure I do my hip flexor stretches and core work to stop my back from hurting!
- Avoid anti-inflammatory pain killers in the first 3 days of an injury!