Serious Training for Serious Athletes.

Serious Training for Serious Athletes By Sleamaker R. Champaign, IL 68120, Leisure Press, Div of Human Kinetics Publishers Inc, 1989, paper, 247 pp, illus, $12.95 This book is based on the author's practical experience as an athlete and on his vast experience working with domestic and international Olympic teams. It provides currently accepted endurance-training principles for developing an organized training routine. The book is built around the acronym SERIOUS, which stands for the following elements: S = speed, E = endurance or easy distance, R = race, I = intervals, O = over-distance, U = up-vertical intervals, and S = strength. Chapters 1 through 3 provide simple background information to help readers understand training language, the psychological considerations, and the foundation for the systematic training program. Although the exercise physiology information presented in these chapters is very basic and can be understood easily by the layperson, it is of little value to the physical therapist. Chapters 4 through 11 expand on the acronym SERIOUS, breaking down the yearly training regimen into four-equal-week cycles. These chapters also cover how to use the author's worksheets, provide examples of various four-equal-week training regimens, and include a discussion of how to modify a four-equal-week training cycle. The book is organized logically, with each chapter building on the previous chapter's materials. The specific worksheets referred to by the author are all presented in an appendix. The worksheets can be easily followed by readers who want to implement their own training schedules. I recommend this book to lay individuals who have a yearly targeted training objective and who are very structured and regimented in their training technique. Physical therapists with an athletic clientele can recommend the book to a patient or use its worksheets to help design the patient's endurance exercise program. Ira Silverstein