Book by Sports Medicine Professional

[mattc]

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

[yoav]

Coincidentally, I’ve also just finished this book. Didn’t buy it either, borrowed it from the library.

I found it an odd book, part confessional, part insider stories, part self-help manual. I’m not entirely sure what the author was trying to achieve. For certain he glossed over his part in the jiffygate/triamcinolone scandals. I, for one, would have liked to know why Brailsford and Sutton were so evasive in front of the parliamentary committee if it was all so innocent. When it comes to medical tales from the British team and Sky, I guess he was limited as to what he can say by medical confidentiality and those that were already public (Wiggins’ ENT issues for example) there wasn’t much to add. The medical stuff was useful but if you are a keen cyclist, but all that is available from more comprehensive sources (ladies, don’t shave your pubes seems to have been the main message). Much of the coaching and nutrition information is not really medical and is available elsewhere. It ended with a plea for more resources for sports medicine for ordinary people rather than professional athletes.

I believe Dr Freeman is awaiting a GMC investigation into his poor record keeping and odd prescribing habits (testosterone patch, anyone?). I won’t be buying his book, in paperback or otherwise.