Synopses & Reviews
Studies have shown that the majority of endurance athletes are concerned about their weight. They know that every extra pound costs time, wastes energy, stresses the body, and hurts performance.
Racing Weight is the first weight-loss program designed for endurance athletes. Using sound principles from sports science, Fitzgerald lays out 5 easy steps to help athletes zero in on their fastest weight. The
Racing Weight plan reveals simple ways for athletes to improve diet, manage appetite, time meals and snacks, and adopt workouts that burn more calories. They lose weight safely, without hurting their training. Fitzgerald simplifies good nutrition with his revolutionary Diet Quality Score system that makes calorie counting unnecessary. With snacks and meals from pro triathlete and dietician Pip Taylor,
Racing Weight helps athletes improve the quality of their diet with food that tastes great. Fitzgerald also explains how to avoid the most common mistakes in training and embark on a strength-training program that works.
Racing Weight will help athletes close in on their performance goals while feeling—and looking—great.
The new edition features updates from the latest research in weight loss and endurance sports, new everyday recipes to satiate athletic appetites while restricting calories, new high-intensity workouts, new cases studies of elite athletes, more tips and practical ideas for putting the Racing Weight plan into action, and more on how to integrate training with nutrition.
Review
“I highly recommend reading Racing Weight even if you don't need to lose any excess poundage. You'll come away with a better understanding of your physiology and also of food.” — Joe Friel, founder of TrainingBible Coaching and author of The Triathlete's Training Bible and The Cyclist's Training Bible
“Sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald lets us in on his no-diet secrets that can help endurance athletes get leaner, stronger, and faster.” — Mens Fitness
“Even if you are already a lean machine, you'll likely still learn something from Racing Weight. From how to determine your optimum weight, to improving your diet and training around it, to controlling your appetite and making your own fuel—it's all in this book.” — Bike Radar
“The mysteries of weight and its relationship to performance are unlocked in Matt Fitzgeralds Racing Weight. If you've got a basic handle on both training and nutrition, this book offers the means to improve both your diet and athletic performance.” — Daily Peloton
“Fitzgerald is going to go down as one of the most competent and prolific authors of books for serious runners covering just about every legitimate aspect of the all-important runner's lifestyle.” — Letsrun.com
“Its not too hard to convince cyclists that they can improve their performance if they drop their weight to an optimum level. However, thats generally as useful as a physician telling a client they need to lose weight and then sending them out the office door. There are endless diet or nutrition books out there, but very few specifically catering to the endurance athlete. Into this void comes Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald.” — Pezcyclingnews
“Racing Weight answers the difficult questions athletes often have about dieting, including how to handle the off-season. The book gives readers a scientifically backed system to discover your optimum race weight, as well as five steps to achieve it.” — Triathlete magazine
“Reaching an ideal weight for endurance sports is important, but doing it the right way is even more important. Matt Fitzgerald provides scientific and sound advice for anyone trying to achieve their racing weight.” — Scott Jurek, 7-time winner of the Western States Endurance Run and 2-time winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon
“Racing Weight is the first book written exclusively about an issue that is very important to runners—eating and training properly to get to the start line of the peak race with the right body composition for running fast.” — Letsrun.com
“Racing Weight offers endurance athletes a simple approach to dietary quality. The Diet Quality Score system is worth the price of the book alone. Its easy to follow and makes sense. Amateur to professional athletes can optimize their potential with this book.” — BikeWorldNews.com
“Every now and then someone writes the giant-killer text, the volume that becomes the bible of a subject. Ten years from now most of us will be wondering how we managed before Racing Weight came along.” — Red Kite Prayer
Synopsis
Matt Fitzgerald is the author of numerous books on running, triathlon, nutrition, and weight loss. His most recent books are
Iron War,
Racing Weight Quick Start Guide,
RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel,
Racing Weight,
Brain Training for Runners, and
The Runner’s Diary. Matt is a freelance sports journalist and has contributed to many national health/fitness and endurance sports magazines including
Outside, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Runner’s World, Bicycling, Running Times, Women’s Running, Triathlete, and
Competitor. Fitzgerald is a featured coach on Training Peaks and Active.com. He is a certified sports nutritionist (CISSN) licensed by the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Synopsis
Racing Weight is a proven weight-management program designed specifically for endurance athletes.
Revealing new research and drawing from the best practices of elite athletes, coach and nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald lays out six easy steps to help cyclists, triathletes, and runners lose weight without harming their training.
This comprehensive and science-based program shows athletes the best ways to lose weight and avoid the common lifestyle and training hang-ups that keep new PRs out of reach.
The updated Racing Weight program helps athletes:
• Improve diet quality
• Manage appetite
• Balance energy sources
• Easily monitor weight and performance
• Time nutrition throughout the day
• Train to get—and stay—lean
Racing Weight offers practical tools to make weight-management easy. Fitzgeralds no-nonsense Diet Quality Score improves diet without counting calories. Racing Weight superfoods are diet foods high in the nutrients athletes need for training. Supplemental strength training workouts can accelerate changes in body composition. Daily food diaries from 18 pro athletes reveal how the elites maintain an athletic diet while managing appetite.
Athletes know that every extra pound wastes energy and hurts performance. With Racing Weight, cyclists, triathletes, and runners have a simple program and practical tools to hit their target numbers on both the race course and the scale.
Synopsis
Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak PerformanceA 6-Step Plan to a Leaner Body and Better Performance
Improve Your Diet Quality
Manage Your Appetite
Balance Your Energy Stores
Monitor Your Weight and Performance
Time Your Nutrition
Train Right
Athletes know that every extra pound wastes energy and hurts performance. Racing Weight offers a proven weight management program exclusively designed for and endorsed by endurance athletes.
Revealing new research and drawing from the best practices of elite athletes, coach and nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald lays out six easy steps to get you lean for racing. You will find out how to avoid the common lifestyle and training hang-ups that keep your optimal weight—and your best race—just out of reach.
The Racing Weight program gets you to your fastest weight with practical tools that deliver results:
• Diet Quality Score, a simple approach to better eating
• Racing Weight superfoods to boost your diet quality
• Daily food diaries from 18 pro athletes
• Strength training for a leaner body in just 1 hour a week
Hit your target numbers on the stopwatch and on the scale with Racing Weight.
About the Author
Matt Fitzgerald, runner, triathlete, and coach, is a former editor and current contributor for Triathlete magazine. He writes articles for such national publications as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Outside, Fitness Runner, and the Runner's World Web site, and serves as managing editor of the sports nutrition Web site, Pioneering Muscles. He is a prolific journalist and an authority on sports nutrition and endurance sports. Since 2005, he has authored 10 books, including Brain Training for Runners and The Runner's Body.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Body Weight, Body Fat, and Endurance Performance
2 How to Determine Your Optimal Performance Weight
3 Tracking Your Progress
4 Seasonal Considerations
5 Sport-Specific Racing Weight Considerations
6 Guidelines for Beginners
7 Improving Your Diet Quality
8 Balancing Your Energy Sources
9 Nutrient Timing
10 Managing Your Appetite
11 Training for Racing Weight
12 What the Pros Eat
13 Endurance Fuel
14 The Role of Supplements
Appendix: Recommended Strength Exercises for Endurance Athletes
References
Index
About the Author