Joe Friel

Joe Friel

Coaching legend

Joe Friel is a life-long athlete and has a masters degree in exercise science. He has trained and conferred with amateur and professional endurance athletes from a wide variety of sports since 1980. Based on this experience he cofounded TrainingPeaks.com in 1999 with son Dirk Friel and friend Gear Fisher. He currently coaches only a few athletes. He mostly focuses on training emerging top-level coaches on best practices in preparing endurance athletes for competition. This regularly takes him to coaching seminars around the world. He also consults with corporations in the sports and fitness industry and with national Olympic governing bodies worldwide. His Training Bible books for road cyclists, mountain bikers, and triathletes are used by several national sports federations to train their coaches. Friel’s philosophy and methodology for training athletes was developed over more than 40 years and is based on his strong interest in sport science research and his experience training hundreds of athletes with a wide range of abilities. His views on matters related to training for endurance sports are widely sought and have been featured in such publications as VeloNews, Bicycling, Outside, Runner’s World, Women’s Sports & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, American Health, Masters Sports, The New York Times, Triathlete, 220 Triathlon, and many more. Joe lives and trains in the mountains of Sedona, Arizona.

Recent articles by Joe Friel

4 cycling drills to improve cycling technique

Wondering how you can improve your cycling technique? Here are four proven sets from triathlon legends Spencer Smith and Joe Friel that will do just that...
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Ironman race-day: how to pace each leg

If you want to run rather than crawl across the finish line in your next race, you need to stretch out your energy reserves, says Joe Friel
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Heart rate monitors: how to use them to improve your run

Unsure how to train with your heart rate monitor and get the maximum benefit from its data? Joe Friel explains how to train effectively and efficiently with a heart rate monitor, using heart rate zones
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How to reach your optimal bodyweight for triathlon

Apart from training smarter and harder, the next best way to get faster is to hit your optimal body weight. Joe Friel shows you how…
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Ironman training: how to maximise the build phase

What happens during the 63 days of the build phase has a greater influence on your Ironman race performance than any other time in your preparation says Joe Friel. Here he explains how to make the most of this time
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Ironman training: 3 common mistakes most triathletes make

Push yourself harder in training and you’ll see results, right? Wrong, says Joe Friel, who rectifies three common mistakes triathletes often make when training for an Ironman
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How to improve your efficiency in all three disciplines for Ironman

Joe Friel shows you how to become more economical in your swimming, cycling and running
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Ironman success: the 3 crucial elements to improve

Joe Friel identifies the three crucial elements for better long-course performance
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What's the best bike cadence for Ironman?

When racing Ironman, what’s best – high or low cadence? Joe Friel prescribes your peak rpm
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Racing strategy: should you pedal or coast when cycling downhill?

Getting your pacing right for every element of long-distance is key. Joe Friel explains why pacing on the downhill sections of the bike leg shouldn’t be ignored.
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Ironman training: how to use the off-season to assess and prepare

The key to lronman improvement is constant monitoring of your efforts. That’s why now’s the time to get testing, says Joe Friel
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How to choose a triathlon coach

Thinking about hiring a tri coach? With over 1,500 triathlon and Ironman coaches in the UK alone, you’re almost spoilt for choice, but what should you look for in a multisports coach? Whether you need a coach for sprint or Ironman Joe Friel gives you the answers...
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Interval training for triathletes

Using interval workouts in training can lead to huge improvements in race performance, says tri coaching legend Joe Friel. Here he explains how…
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