This board is lacking in book reviews, so I thought I'd give one a go!
The Line: Where Medicine and Sport Collide
by Dr Richard Freeman
I read most of this - someone else's copy on loan - over the weekend. Freeman worked for Sam Allardyce's soccer team, and then spent a couple of years working for a national cycling team and a Pro team - but their name escapes me right now (possibly funded by an Australian?).
It's probably a very dull read for the non-cyclist; in fact I found it only a little interesting! But there is some good detail on his team's research into (and new approaches to):
- diet
- recovery
- "Inner chimps" and their friends
- saddle-sore avoidance (mainly for the gurrrls)
- hydration
- sleep
- injury rehab (broken bones + the duller stuff)
- amongst others ...
A lot of the measures they took were known by his manager as "
marginal gains" - anyone heard of this before? It's quite snappy! Some of these are a bit tenuous, and some are things I found useful but could be criticised as "
just common sense"; certainly not quantum leaps in training or medical techniques. (There is also some insight into the details of running a Very Well Funded Pro Team in a 3-week stage race.)
Much of it is only relevant to elite athletes, and a lot will already be known to keen sports cycling fans; but there was enough that was new to me, and/or potentially of use to the likes of me, to feel I didn't waste those hours. MIGHT buy it in paperback ...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40719509-the-line