Stretching Your Boundaries: Flexibility Training for Extreme Calisthenic Strength


Al Kavadlo - 2014
    Watch yourself move with the fluidity and grace of a great dancer. Feel your strength as you power into and hold the most challenging of bodyweight exercise moves. See yourself ripple with the muscular, toned, symmetrical physique that signals the perfect marriage of form and function. All of this could be yours—with the right mindset, the right knowledge, the right mentor and the right blueprint for success. Enter Al Kavadlo—and his hard-earned skills in the world of bodyweight exercise training. This is a man who walks the walk of his talk—and then some. A man who models the capabilities and qualities of a bodyweight master—while also being able to teach and inspire others in the most practical of manners. In Stretching Your Boundaries, Al provides a blueprint that anyone can follow to achieve supreme physical elegance, mobility and strength—and to amp up their game in any aspect of physical performance. Stretching Your Boundaries could have been called “Yoga Meets Calisthenics”. Or “Zen and the Art of Stretch”. Because—as with the best of the physical culturists—there is a deep, yet lightly-carried spiritual “vibe” to Al’s teachings. There is a humble joy and a sense of well-being emanating from the man—that speaks volumes about his program. If you really want to succeed as a physical culturist—and if you really want to live a healthy, happy, long life—then the right combination of spirit, wisdom and hard, skilled practice is the essential recipe, or template if you will. In Stretching Your Boundaries you will find the time-tested tools you need to continue cultivating yourself as a magnificent human artwork. Fitting Al Kavadlo’s message is the medium: the book has gorgeous design and stunning photography—that will inspire you for years to come. “The ultimate bodyweight mobility manual is here! Al Kavadlo’s previous two Dragon Door books, Raising the Bar and Pushing the Limits, are the most valuable bodyweight strength training manuals in the world. But strength without mobility is meaningless. Al has used his many years of training and coaching to fuse bodyweight disciplines such as yoga, martial arts, rehabilitative therapy and bar athletics into the ultimate calisthenics stretching compendium. Stretching Your Boundaries belongs on the shelf of any serious athlete—it’s bodyweight mobility dynamite!—"COACH" PAUL WADE, author of Convict Conditioning "An absolutely masterful follow up to Raising the Bar and Pushing the Limits, Stretching Your Boundaries really completes the picture. Both easy to understand and fully applicable, Al's integration of traditional flexibility techniques with his own unique spin makes this a must have. The explanation of how each stretch will benefit your calisthenics practice is brilliant. Not only stunning in its color and design, this book also gives you the true feeling of New York City, both gritty and euphoric, much like Al's personality." —MIKE FITCH, creator of Global Bodyweight Training “Stretching Your Boundaries is a terrific resource that will unlock your joints so you can build more muscle, strength and athleticism. Al's passion for human performance radiates in this beautifully constructed book. Whether you're stiff as a board, or an elite gymnast, this book outlines the progressions to take your body and performance to a new level." —CHAD WATERBURY, M.S.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle


Tom Venuto - 2003
    It is written by a man who has discovered these secrets the hard way - through long years of trial and error. Using the information in this manual will allow you master the art and science of losing body fat by a shorter and less costly route; by “modeling” those who have gone before you and learning from an expert. This book was written for you as a simple, yet detailed instruction manual. You get step-by-step instructions: Do this, don’t do that, eat this, don’t eat that, and so on. This is not just an informational book – it is a complete system that will take you from where you are now to where you want to be – in the shortest possible period of time.

ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription


American College of Sports Medicine - 2000
    The Seventh Edition contains the most current public health and clinical information and state-of-the-art, research-based recommendations.Coverage represents the fundamental knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that must be mastered by candidates for all ACSM certifications. Written by international experts in numerous fields, the Seventh Edition covers additional topics including arthritis, osteoporosis, dyslipidemia, immunology, and metabolic syndrome.

Strength for Life: The Fitness Plan for the Rest of Your Life


Shawn Phillips - 2008
    Now he's sharing his fresh approach to fitness with everyone. Strength for Life is an easy-to-implement program to help you get in fantastic shape, enjoy abundant energy, and maintain a lean, strong physique-not just for 12 weeks but for the rest of your life. Let's face it, with the demands of family, work, and life, many of us simply don't have the time to stick to a rigorous workout schedule. Through his own life experience, Shawn Phillips has recognized this challenge and risen to it, literally reinventing fitness with a results-oriented program that you can embrace even with your hectic schedule and do either at home or at the gym. Homing in on the idea of building mental and physical strength rather than just sculpting your body, Shawn has pioneered a technique called Focus Intensity Training (TM) (FIT), which uses the mind-body connection to yield incredible results. The program features - a workout plan that can take as little as 35 minutes a day, 3 times a week- illustrated exercises with clear step-by-step instructions- 3 workout phases-a 12-day Base Camp pre-training period, a 12-week Transformation Camp, and a year-round continuation plan geared to keep you going strong and vibrant for the rest of your life- a simple eating plan to fuel your body for optimum energy and performance-one that will free you from dieting forever- goal-setting exercises to help you achieve lasting motivation and reach your loftiest visions It's never too late to get in shape. If you're in your twenties or thirties, Strength for Life will show you how to achieve peak levels of fitness year after year. For those forty and beyond, you can look forward to recapturing the energy and vitality you thought you had lost. By following Strength for Life, you will make yourself stronger, leaner, sharper, and more confident. As Shawn writes: "Strength is about being more, doing more, giving more. It's not just surviving; it's thriving. And most important, strength is about having a reserve, a deeper, fuller capacity of body, mind, heart, and soul."

Fitness over 50: Weekly Workout Plan! (Success Over 50 Book 2)


Christopher Quinn - 2015
    What I eat. And how I stay lean. If you are over the age of 50 there is no better time to get VERY FIT!! And have the body you truly desire despite your age!!Fitness over 50: Weekly Workout Plan! by Christopher Quinn

Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance


Kelly Starrett - 2013
    In Becoming a Supple Leopard, Kelly Starrett—founder of MobilityWod.com—shares his revolutionary approach to mobility and maintenance of the human body and teaches you how to hack your own human movement, allowing you to live a healthy, happier, more fulfilling life.Performance is what drives the human animal, but the human animal can be brought to an abrupt halt by dysfunctional movement patterns. Oftentimes, the factors that impede performance are invisible to not only the untrained eye, but also the majority of athletes and coaches. Becoming a Supple Leopard makes the invisible visible. In this one of a kind training manual, Starrett maps out a detailed system comprised of more than two hundred techniques and illuminates common movement errors that cause injury and rob you of speed, power, endurance, and strength. Whether you are a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or simply someone wanting to live healthy and free from restrictions, Becoming a Supple Leopard, will teach you how to maintain your body and harness your genetic potential. Learn How to: Pprevent and rehabilitate common athletic injuries Overhaul your movement habits quickly identify, diagnose, and fix inefficient movement patterns Problem solve for pain and dysfunction in austere environments with little equipment Fix poor mechanics that rob power, bleed force, and dump torque Unlock reservoirs of athletic capacity you didn't know you had Identify and fix poor movement patterns in children Reverse the aging process Develop strategies that restore function to your joints and tissues Accelerate recovery after training sessions and competition Create personalized mobility prescriptions to improve movement efficiency Improve your quality of life through regained work capacity Run faster, jump higher, and throw farther

Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness


J.C. Herz - 2014
     One of the most illuminating books ever on a sports subculture, Learning to Breathe Fire combines vivid sports writing with a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be human. In the book, veteran journalist J.C. Herz explains the science of maximum effort, why the modern gym fails an obese society, and the psychic rewards of ending up on the floor feeling as though you're about to die.  The story traces CrossFit’s rise, from a single underground gym in Santa Cruz to its adoption as the workout of choice for elite special forces, firefighters and cops, to its popularity as the go-to fitness routine for regular Joes and Janes. Especially riveting is Herz’s description of The CrossFit Games, which begin as an informal throw-down on a California ranch and evolve into a televised global proving ground for the fittest men and women on Earth, as well as hundreds of thousands of lesser mortals.  In her portrayal of the sport's star athletes, its passionate coaches and its “chief armorer,” Rogue Fitness, Herz powerfully evokes the uniqueness of a fitness culture that  cultivates primal fierceness in average people. And in the shared ordeal of an all-consuming workout, she unearths the ritual intensity that's been with us since humans invented sports, showing us how, on a deep level, we're all tribal hunters and first responders, waiting for the signal to go all-out. From the Hardcover edition.

Fat Funeral: The Scientific Approach to Long-Term Weight Loss


Daniel Dell'uomo - 2018
    But don’t blame yourself if you’ve struggled losing weight. There’s a lot of conflicting information and nonsense out there. Drawing on years of research, Fat Funeral answers critical questions, busts myths, and introduces The Five Golden Weight-Loss Habits—a system of simple, science-based habits that are proven, practical, and powerful enough to completely change your life.

Dolphins Don't Run Marathons: 26.2 Loving Thoughts On Why You Should Not Run a Marathon


Sam Brand - 2015
     Help!! I cannot find any way to escape the marathon jungle world. Stop being a case study in the runner’s world.Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons will lead you towards a new direction so you will be able to find a way to escape from the world of marathons and move on to a new, positive sporting life.Sam Brand thinks that the peak of the marathons may have been reached. Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons will show you the way to reinvent yourself, to become a new you, with the 26.2 loving thoughts that will change your running world.Dolphins Don’t Run Marathons is Sam Brand’s philosophy behind sports and happiness. You can shape your world, become a dolphin, all other animals are already taken.Go for the human dolphin’s magic life.

IronFit Secrets for Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success: Time-Efficient Training for Triathlon's Most Popular Distance


Don Fink - 2013
    Full Iron-Distance races require such painstaking planning and sacrifice that it’s difficult to keep life in balance. The Half Iron-Distance is accessible, while remaining challenging.    Also known as the “70.3” for the sum of its 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run, the half-iron triathlon is not simply a race for which an athlete can use a full-iron training regimen chopped in half. Doing so would in no way approach maximizing an athlete’s performance. The races are performed at completely different intensity levels, with completely different approaches. As a result, the training is completely different.       IronFit Secrets to Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success does for the half-iron what Be IronFit has done for the full-iron. It provides three sixteen-week training programs—Competitive, Intermediate, and “Just Finish”—and details everything an athlete needs to know to successfully prepare for and maximize performance at this racing distance. In as little as four months, any athlete can be physically and mentally ready for the world’s most popular triathlon challenge.

Diamond-Cut Abs: How to Engineer The Ultimate Six-Pack--Minimalist Methods for Maximal Results


Danny Kavadlo - 2014
    It’s about right eating, right drinking, right rest, right practice, right exercise at the right time, right motivation, right inspiration, right attitude and right lifestyle. If you don’t have that righteous set of abs in place, it’s because you have failed in one or more of these areas.With his 25-plus years of rugged research and extreme physical dedication into every dimension of what it takes to earn world-class abs, Danny Kavadlo is a modern-day master of the art. It’s all here: over 50 of the best-ever exercises to develop the abs—from beginner to superman level—inspirational photos, no BS straight talk on nutrition and lifestyle factors and clear-cut instructions on what to do, when. Supply the grit, follow the program and you simply cannot fail but to build a monstrous mid-section.In our culture, Abs are the Measure of a Man. To quit on your abs is to quit on your masculinity—like it or not. Diamond-Cut Abs gives you the complete, whole-life program you need to reassert yourself and reestablish your respect as a true physical specimen—with a thunderous six-pack to prove it.“Diamond-Cut Abs condenses decades of agonizing lessons and insight into the best book on ab-training ever written. Hands down.”—PAUL WADE, author of Convict Conditioning“Danny has done it again! Diamond-Cut Abs is a no-nonsense, results driven approach that delivers all the goods on abs. Nutrition, training and progression are all included, tattoos optional!”—ROBB WOLF, author of The Paleo Solution “There are a lot of abs books and products promising a six-pack. What sets Danny's book apart is the realistic and reasonable first section of the book… His insights into nutrition are so simple and sound, there is a moment you wish this book was a stand alone dieting book.”—DAN JOHN, author of Never Let Go"As soon as I received Diamond-Cut Abs, I flipped to the table of contents. Amazingly I found what I have been fruitlessly looking for in ab books for decades: 66 pages dedicated to NUTRITION. Kavadlo passed his second Marty audition by not echoing all the bankrupt politically-correct, lock-step, mainstream nutritional commandments. When Dan starts riffing about eating like a horse, eating ample amounts of red meat, shellfish and the divine pig meat (along with all kinds any types of nutrient-dense food), I knew I had to give my first ever ab book endorsement. When he noted that he drank whiskey while getting his abs into his all time best shape, it sealed the deal for me. Oh, and the ab exercises are excellent.”—MARTY GALLAGHER, 3-Time Powerlifting Champion, Author of The Purposeful Primitive"Danny Kavadlo's book might be titled 'Diamond-Cut Abs' but the truth is that it goes way BEYOND just ab training. Danny has actually created a guide to Physical Culture & LIVING healthy. The traditional fitness industry has gone astray from what the body truly needs. Since 1989, I've read a ton of abs-related books—and they don't scratch the surface of what's inside Danny's masterpiece. From powerful nutrition methods to training the entire body with a holistic approach, Diamond-Cut Abs is a vital addition to anyone's library. I LOVE it!”—ZACH EVEN-ESH, author of The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning“Danny's new book definitely hits the mark.

Runner's World Running on Air: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Breathing Technique for Runners


Budd Coates - 2013
    Validating his method through a mix of accessible science, Eastern philosophy, and the experiences of test subjects, Coates shows readers how focusing on their breathingbrings their minds and bodies into harmony and helps them run stronger, faster, and more comfortably.Rhythmic breathing increases lung volume; improves awareness and control; helps prevent injury and side stitches; improves running for those with asthma; allows runners to quickly set a pace for quality training and racing; and helps athletes manage muscle cramps. This book reviews the basics of rhythmic breathing, teaching readers how to perform it while walking and, eventually, while running. Weeklongsample schedules from different programs shows readers how to apply the rhythmic breathing scale to any workout. Coates also touches on the importance of stretching, cross-training, and core training and provides detailed training plans and schedules.

Foundations of Strength


James Clear
    Proven strategies to help you never miss a workout.2. How to get over the motivation hump and exercise (even when you don’tfeel like it).3. How to structure your workouts for long–term success.4. How to decide what type of exercises you should do.5. The most common strength training mistake that people make (and howto avoid it).6. What to do when your workouts get difficult.7. How to boost your confidence and believe in yourself.8. How to determine which workouts will give you the body you want.9. How to make smart decisions before, during, and after your workouts.10. How to develop the most important skills of all: consistency anddiscipline.

The Warrior Monk Philosophy of Trainer Cus D'Amato: The 5 Strategies That Turned Mike Tyson Into a World Champion


Brett McKay - 2019
    Undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Prodigious, powerful boxer who won 50 of his 58 fights -- 44 by knockout. Lesser known is how Tyson became one of the fiercest fighters of all time. The absolutely improbable tale began when a troubled young kid met a cantankerous old trainer at a small boxing gym in the sleepy town of Catskill, New York. Cus D'Amato would change the whole trajectory of Tyson's life, teaching him everything he knew about success in and out of the ring, before dying just a year before his protege became the youngest heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 20. How did this hard-boiled trainer turn a kid who'd been abandoned by his parents, mercilessly bullied, and imprisoned for dozens of crimes, into a pedigree pugilist? How did he take an unfocused, insecure, lost young man and turn him into a champion who lived to train, fought with an unconquerable spirit, and positively lusted after victory? Cus did it by teaching Tyson the way of the warrior monk -- the art of focus and ferocity. In this short and punchy book, we uncover the five universally-applicable strategic principles of Cus' philosophy. Included are details on: The contents of Cus's library, and the books he gave Tyson to read Tyson's training routine The mental affirmations and tactics Cus shared with Tyson to strengthen his mind Cus's approach to making fear your friend instead of your foe No matter what kind of fight you're in, the savage wisdom of one of boxing's greatest minds will help you come out the victor.

7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups: Strengthen and Sculpt Your Arms, Shoulders, Back, and Abs by Training to Do 50 Consecutive Pull-Ups


Brett Stewart - 2011
    ARE YOU READY FOR THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH CHALLENGE? Follow the 7-week program in this book and you’ll massively increase your strength, muscle tone and overall fitness to such an extreme that you’ll be able to do 10, 20 or even an amazing 50 consecutive pull-ups!Offering several field-tested, day-by-day plans, this book has something for everyone: from beginners embarking on a new workout regimen to athletes looking to expand their strength-training options.Packed with clear charts and helpful photos, 7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups tells you everything you need to know about the ultimate strength-building exercise and includes:• Instructions on how to do a perfect pull-up• Easy-to-follow progressive training programs• Challenging pull-up variations