Cycling Anatomy Paperback – May 4, 2009

I bought this book based on the reviews that stated the pictures were well drawn and showed what muscle groups were being used for specific exercises. Well, they were not lying. The pictures are large, colorful, and show exactly what muscles you are stretching for a warm up or exercise. The writers give very short (to the point), but detailed advice on how to perform each exercise correctly. Sometimes, they give you an alternative way of performing an exercise if the first suggestion is too difficult for a novice to perform.The one thing I wish they had done was to write, in layman's terms, the names of each muscle group. This would make it easier for me to talk about each group of muscles to others. The terms they use are for professionals, and they are sometimes hard to pronounce. Otherwise, the pictures do the trick for showing one what muscle or muscle groups one is working.I'm very pleased with my purchase, and highly recommend buying this book if you want to strengthen you muscles for riding.

I actually take this book to the gym with me in my gym bag. I refer to it so that I can visually match machine to the right muscle groups. I have done full and metric centuries, and the first to go is shoulders and lower back. The book breaks down these areas as they match the motion you make on the bike. Core work, from shoulders to hip flexors is essential - something I did not realize before, until I referred to this book. It would be neat if there was a digital version so that I could load the diagrams on my cell phone. Otherwise, I look like a bookworm with the book lying open on the ground as I am doing the rowing machine. :-)

Dr. Sovndal explains in concise language how the muscle groups work together to make cycling a full-body exercise, and the illustrations are helpful in showing where the muscles are and how to strengthen them. A friend in my Pilates class recommended this book to me and I recommend it, too, to any casual or performance cyclist. After a month of doing the exercises, I ride a one-day, 200-mile course with 16,500 feet of elevation gain and had far less body pain than on many way less difficult rides I made before my new awareness of my physiology.

If you love cycling like I do, you'll learn a lot of the mechanics of how your body and your bicycle work in tandem for fitness and fun!Interesting topic in your scientifically inclined.

The Sports Anatomy books (in general) are all very good. I see my husband referring to this and his other two books (Running Anatomy and Swimming Anatomy) on a regular basis. He is an avid marathoner who used to swim in high school. He is now branching into training for an Iron Man. As a physician, he believes knowledge about proper, sport-specific mechanics and training is your best defense against sports injury. I would recommend these books to anyone who is serious about learning the proper way to train and move in their sport of choice.

First said, with eduaction on the matter. A chiropractor and sports training/injury major.Its a little disappointing, could have been a lot more advanced, but a guess its more for the peoplenot (very) educated on the subject.It gives a nice view, and for the best take home message, you see that that its not only your legs at work,its the whole shambam, and might give an understanding of importance of balance and core stability.Could also work as a learning tool at your clinic, gym and events.

This book is great for people like me 1) want to get specialized guidance for their off-the-bike training (lifting, etc) and 2) who always want to know WHY they are doing something. Each page gives great diagrams of a rider using specific muscle groups, then an exercise in the gym that works the same muscles. It's great! The only weird thing is the name of the book. I initially looked at it not expecting a training book. But, I love it.

The book appears to offer a lot of great exercises for tuning the cycling body (particularly during, but not limited to, the off-season).I think that the book is great - but would be even better had the author provided some example workouts using the different exercises in the book. I realize that many readers will have varying needs - but any example workouts at all would provide a reference to start from.