Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth


Adharanand Finn - 2010
    Lions, rhino, and buffalo roam the plains on either side. But I haven’t come to Kenya to spot wildlife. I’ve come to run.”   Whether running is your recreation, your religion, or just a spectator sport, Adharanand Finn’s incredible journey to the elite training camps of Kenya will captivate and inspire you. Part travelogue, part memoir, this mesmerizing quest to uncover the secrets of the world’s greatest runners—and put them to the test—combines practical advice, a fresh look at barefoot running, and hard-won spiritual insights.   As a boy growing up in the English countryside, Adharanand Finn was a natural runner. While other kids struggled, he breezed through schoolyard races, imagining he was one of his heroes: the Kenyan long-distance runners exploding into prominence as Olympic and world champions. But as he grew up, pursued a career in journalism, married and had children, those childhood dreams slipped away—until suddenly, in his mid-thirties, Finn realized he might have only one chance left to see how far his talents could take him.   Uprooting his family of five, including three small children, Finn traveled to Iten, a small, chaotic town in the Rift Valley province of Kenya—a mecca for long-distance runners thanks to its high altitude, endless running paths, and some of the top training schools in the world. Finn would run side by side with Olympic champions, young hopefuls, and barefoot schoolchildren . . . not to mention the exotic—and sometimes dangerous—wildlife for which Kenya is famous.   Here, too, he would meet a cast of colorful characters, including his unflappable guide, Godfrey Kiprotich, a former half marathon champion; Christopher Cheboiboch, one of the fastest men ever to run the New York City Marathon; and Japhet, a poor, bucktoothed boy with unsuspected reservoirs of courage and raw speed. Amid the daily challenges of training and of raising a family abroad, Finn would learn invaluable lessons about running—and about life.  Running with the Kenyans is more than one man’s pursuit of a lifelong dream. It’s a fascinating portrait of a magical country—and an extraordinary people seemingly born to run.

The Principles of Running: Practical Lessons from My First 100,000 Miles


Amby Burfoot - 1999
    and about life. From a key figure in the running world comes a unique little compendium of information and anecdotes about a life in motion. Champion marathoner Amby Burfoot has created a distinctive resource to help runners run better, faster, and farther. More than this, his succinct and sure-footed text will help runners rediscover and deepen their own joy in the sport. This is a celebration of running.Training, racing, nutrition, injury prevention, issues for women, weather, mental preparation, and the marathon are discussed in detail with plenty of solid information. Each chapter ends with a list of relevant principles of running. Interwoven among the facts and fundamentals are enlightening personal notes from a learned lifelong runner. The Principles of Running is much more than a simple manual. It is a book that you will not be able to put down, although you are not sure whether you are reading it for the running tips or the life lessons. It is a book that you will keep on your nightstand, tuck in your briefcase, and give to your friends. It is a book that is certain to help you hit your stride--whether your running shoes are off or on.

The 21-Day Sugar Detox: Bust Sugar & Carb Cravings Naturally


Diane Sanfilippo - 2010
    Now it's your turn! Use the easy-to-follow meal plans and more than 90 simple recipes in this book to bust a lifetime of sugar and carb cravings in just three weeks. Three levels of the program make it approachable for anyone, whether you're starting from scratch or from a gluten-free, grain-free, and/or Paleo/primal lifestyle. "The 21-Day Sugar Detox" even includes special modifications for athletes (endurance, CrossFit, HIIT-style, and beyond), pregnant/nursing moms, pescetarians, and people with autoimmune conditions. What you'll experience on this program will be different from a lot of other "diet" programs out there that promote extremely restricted eating; encourage you to consume only shakes, juices, or smoothies; or rely heavily on supplements and very-low-calorie or very-low-fat diets to ensure success. The goal of any detox program should be to support your body in naturally cleansing itself of substances that create negative health effects--and that's exactly what The 21-Day Sugar Detox does. By focusing on quality protein, healthy fats, and good carbs, this program will help you change not only the foods you eat, but also your habits around food, and even the way your palate reacts to sweet foods. You'll likely complete the program and continue eating this way much of the time thereafter because you'll feel so amazing. After changing your everyday eating habits, you will begin to gain a new understanding of how food works in your body--and just how much nutrition affects your entire life. There's no reason to wait! Sugar is taking over our lives. But why? And is it only those sweet, refined white crystals that are causing us problems, or could there be more to the story? Let's be honest: The problem isn't just sugar itself. It's the refined, nutrient-poor carbohydrates that carry tons of calories, but no real nutrition. In our world, these are the easiest foods to grab on the go, but they leave us fat, sick, tired, and downright unhappy. The effect that sugar, "hidden" carbs, and refined, processed foods have on our bodies goes far beyond our waistlines. We can't focus, we can't sleep, we have irrational mid-afternoon cravings, and we can't even make it through the day without wanting--or needing--to prop up our energy levels with caffeine or even more sugar! What can we do to break free from this cycle? "The 21-Day Sugar Detox" is here to help.

Strong Medicine: How to Conquer Chronic Disease and Achieve Your Full Athletic Potential


Chris Hardy - 2015
    High vitality, optimal health and sustainable strength can only be achieved by a properly-informed plan to understand, identify and conquer the enemies of our wellbeing. The only way to sustain a healthy, vigorous life is to make long-term lifestyle changes—across the board, be it through nutrition, resistance training, cardio or stress management. Strong Medicine shows you how to achieve an utter and complete physical and physiological transformation in 3 months without any draconian training or concentration camp nutrition. Discover how to go from unhealthy and uncertain into ever-improving levels of health, wellness and fitness… Using the intersection of cutting-edge science and real-world medicine—melded with high-level athletics, results-producing coaching and elite military-preparedness training… "Strong Medicine is flat-out amazing. If you ever wanted to take your training and your nutritional theory to an elite level—better than 99.9% of certified personal trainers—this is the book for you. It's all in here: genetics, gut bacteria, cutting-edge stress biology, molecular nutrition...even better, the ‘deep science’ is all explained so clearly (with charts, key points, photos and diagrams) that it's almost impossible not to understand and absorb it all fully. An automatic classic in the field, which will surely prove impossible to surpass. I bow down to the Doc and to Marty!"—Paul Wade, author, Convict Conditioning and Explosive Calisthenics “Strong Medicine by Chris Hardy, D.O. and Marty Gallagher is an exhaustively researched, clearly written, and practically useful guide to improving your health. Improving health is fundamentally different than treating disease. This book represents the future of healthcare in our country. It requires the patient to assume responsibility, learn the basics, and then enhance their health through diet, exercise, sleep, and mindfulness. If you are looking for a quick fix, this is not the book for you. If you understand that there is no quick fix, then read this book and trust what you read. The information is accurate and relevant, simple to understand, and actionable.” —Patrick Roth, M.D., author of The End of Back Pain: Access Your Hidden Core to Heal Your Body, Chairman of Neurosurgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and the director of its neurosurgical residency training program. “Strong Medicine by Dr. Chris Hardy and the legendary Marty Gallagher is a declaration of unconventional and asymmetrical war against mortality. The authors' weapon of choice is information, relayed masterfully in the form of an easy-to-understand and richly illustrated owner’s manual of sorts. This is an owner’s manual that is chock full of insights for every level, from the seasoned physician to the absolute layman who is new to fitness. For the grizzled coach who doesn't have medical training, Strong Medicine lays out crucial performance concepts like ‘hormetic dose’ in ways that are easy to understand regardless of your background. Dr. Hardy continues with insights into diet, nutrition myths, biochemistry demystified, intestinal fine-tuning, the chronic stress connection with disease, and then passes the baton to Marty Gallagher, who unleashes a plethora of exercise and training tips that are centered around five basic exercise categorie

Jog On: How Running Saved My Life


Bella Mackie - 2018
    She could barely find the strength to get off the sofa, let alone piece her life back together. Until one day she did something she had never done of her own free will – she pulled on a pair of trainers and went for a run.That first attempt didn’t last very long. But to her surprise, she was back out there the next day. And the day after that. She began to set herself achievable goals – to run 5k in under 30 minutes, to walk to work every day for a week, to attempt 10 push-ups in a row. Before she knew it, her mood was lifting for the first time in years.In Jog On, Bella explains with hilarious and unfiltered honesty how she used running to battle crippling anxiety and depression, without having to sacrifice her main loves: booze, cigarettes and ice cream. With the help of a supporting cast of doctors, psychologists, sportspeople and friends, she shares a wealth of inspirational stories, research and tips that show how exercise often can be the best medicine. This funny, moving and motivational book will encourage you to say ‘jog on’ to your problems and get your life back on track – no matter how small those first steps may be.

Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong with the Fit52 Life


Carrie Underwood - 2020
    This philosophy is a year-round common-sense approach to health and fitness that involves doing your best most of the time—and by that I don't mean being naughty for three days and good for four. I mean doing your absolute best most of the time during every week, 52 weeks of the year."—Carrie UnderwoodCarrie Underwood believes that fitness is a lifelong journey. She wasn’t born with the toned arms and strong legs that fans know her for. Like all of us, she has to work hard every day to look the way that she does! In FIND YOUR PATH she shares her secrets with readers, with the ultimate goal of being the strongest version of themselves, and looking as good as they feel. Carrie’s book will share secrets for fitting diet and exercise into a packed routine—she’s not only a multi-Platinum singer, she’s a businesswoman and busy mom with two young children. Based on her own active lifestyle, diet, and workouts, FIND YOUR PATH is packed with meal plans, recipes, weekly workout programs, and guidelines for keeping a weekly food and workout journal. It also introduces readers to Carrie's signature Fit52 workout, which involves a deck of cards and exercises that can be done at home—and it sets her fans on a path to sustainable health and fitness for life. Fit52 begins with embracing the "Pleasure Principle" in eating, making healthy swaps in your favorite recipes, and embracing a long view approach to health—so that a cheat a day won't derail you.Throughout the book, Carrie shares her personal journey towards optimal health, from her passion for sports as a kid, to the pressure to look perfect and fit the mold as she launched her career after winning American Idol, to eventually discovering the importance of balance and the meaning of true health. For Carrie, being fit isn't about crash diets or a workout routine that you're going to dread. It’s about healthy choices and simple meals that you can put together from the ingredients in your local grocery store, and making the time, every day, to move, to love your body, and to be the best version of yourself.

The Fat Smash Diet: The Last Diet You'll Ever Need


Ian K. Smith - 2006
    Smith's diet was featured on VH1's number-one rated show, Celebrity Fit Club, where Hollywood celebrities follow his customized diet plan and compete to lose weight. Now, with The Fat Smash Diet, everyone will have access to the revolutionary eating plan that leads to lifestyle changes and permanent weight loss forever.The Fat Smash Diet is not a gimmick or short-term fix. It is a four-phase diet that starts out with a natural detox phase to clean impurities out of the system. Once this nine-day phase is completed, the next three phases encourage the addition of everyday foods that promote significant weight loss.In just thirty days, most dieters will complete all four phases and be on their way to a thinner lifetime of good health. Best of all, there is no calorie counting, and Dr. Smith guarantees there never will be. As an added bonus, there are over fifty easy-to-cook, tasty recipes that make it easier to stick with Dr. Smith's plan. The Fat Smash Diet is unlike any other program on the market. In fact, it's the LAST DIET YOU'LL EVER NEED!

The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health--And How You Can Too


Bradley J. Willcox - 2001
    This breakthrough book reveals the diet, exercise, and lifestyle practices that make the Okinawans the healthiest and longest-lived population in the world. With an easy-to-follow Four-Week Turnaround Plan, nearly one hundred fast, delicious recipes, and a moderate exercise plan, The Okinawa Program can dramatically increase your chances for a long, healthy life

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution


Robert C. Atkins - 1972
    Atkins' New Diet Revolution "is still the safest, easiest, most effective weight-loss program available! You've tried all the rest--from the Beverly Hills Diet to the South Beach Diet--Atkins is the proven one, the weight-loss plan that works!"

Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life


Brendan Brazier - 2008
    As one of the few professional athletes on a plant-based diet, Brendan Brazier researched and developed this easy-to-follow program to enhance his performance as an elite endurance competitor.Brazier clearly describes the benefits of nutrient-rich foods in their natural state versus processed foods, and how to choose nutritionally efficient, stress-busting whole foods for maximum energy and health. Featuring a 12-week meal plan, over 100 allergen-free recipes with raw food options—including recipes for energy gels, sport drinks, and recovery foods—and a complementary exercise plan, The Thrive Diet is “an authoritative guide to outstanding performance” (Neal D. Barnard, M.D., Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine).

Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention


Jay Dicharry - 2012
    Unfortunately, with running comes injuries, as a result of wrong information and improper training.Along with clear and thorough explanations of how running influences the body, and how the body influences your running, this book answers many of the common questions that athletes have:Do runners need to stretch?What is the best way to run?What causes injuries?Which shoes are best for running?Is running barefoot beneficial?And much moreThe mobility and stability tests will assess your form, and the corrective exercises, along with step-by-step photos, will improve your core and overall performance, so that you can train and run with confidence, knowing how to avoid injuries!

The No-Breakfast Plan And The Fasting-Cure


Edward Hooker Dewey - 1900
    Dewey's The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure (originally published in 1900) was very successful with the public. By 1921 it had gone through three editions and was translated into French and German. Dewey argued for people to completely abstain from breakfast, and only consume two meals per day. He attributed all disease and physiological problems to excessive eating. He advocated long fasts and believed that abstinence from food could cure insanity and mental disorders.

Rich Food Poor Food: Your Grocery Purchasing System


Jayson Calton - 2013
    In their first book, Naked Calories, the Caltons revealed the importance of choosing the most micronutrient RICH foods. Now they make these foods even easier to identify, making sure you leave the checkout wiht a cart full of essential vitamins and minerals. This indispensable grocery store guide takes you aisle by aisle, from the produce section to the pasta aisle, visiting every department in between, teaching you how to identify potentially problematic ingredients and sharing tips on how to lock in a food's nutritional value during preservation and preparation.

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook


Nancy Clark - 1989
    The problem is, the more active your lifestyle is, the less time you have to spend on preparing healthful meals. Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook offers solutions from the nation's leading sports nutritionist.More than 350,000 fitness enthusiasts and athletes have already turned to the first two editions of this book for straightforward sports nutrition and weight management advice. Now the all-time best-selling sports nutrition guide has been thoroughly updated with realistic eating strategies to help you make nutritious, tasty food choices in today's fast-paced, high-stress, eat-on-the-run society.Renowned sports nutritionist Nancy Clark shows you what to eat to boost energy, reduce stress, control weight, improve health, and enhance workouts--even when coping with a stressful lifestyle. You'll learn how to navigate your way healthfully through grocery stores, restaurants, food courts, and even your own kitchen, with numerous food suggestions and sample meal plans. You'll find more than 72 recipes for healthful, mouth-watering meals that are quick and easy to prepare.Clark offers recommendations on how to lose undesired body fat while maintaining energy for exercise. She helps you get the maximum benefit from the foods you choose, and her sample eating plans show you how to fuel for specific workouts. You'll learn how to eat well on a day-to-day basis as well as how to eat before games or tournaments and, just as important, how to eat afterward for optimal recovery. Clark covers current food, diet, and supplement options and explains which are best--and why--based on your individual energy needs. She also offers healing information on overcoming food and weight obsessions and advice on trendy diet alternatives like the Zone, Atkins, thermogenics, and Ultra Slim-Fast.Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook is the preferred source of solid nutritional advice to fuel an active lifestyle while achieving a desired weight. Use it to feel great and energized all day long.

The Quick and the Dead: Total Training for the Advanced Minimalist


Pavel Tsatsouline - 2019
    You take pride in your all-around physical development—but have precious little time for it. You are serving your country, raising a family, training for a sport… You have been around too long to be fooled by pop fitness "high intensity" fads. The Quick and the Deadis designed for an advanced minimalist like you. A culmination of five years of research and experimentation, it distills cutting-edge science to a straightforward protocol of only two basic exercises you mastered years ago: kettlebell swings and power pushups. Q&D delivers. A highly ranked pro boxer sums up its effects: “I had even greater speed and explosiveness and I was able to maintain this for the whole match… I had gas to sell.” A military special operator, on the wrong side of 40, reports: “a speed increase in all my powerlifts… pain relief in all of my injuries… an increase in my endurance while doing combatives… increased striking power…” Q&D can be a minimalist’s stand-alone total training regimen—or be plugged into any athlete’s regimen. It takes only 12–30min, two to three times per week. Additional benefits may include: - Increased testosterone - Decreased cortisol - Improved heart rate variability - Reduced body fat - Improved soft tissue quality All this without getting "smoked"—because you need energy to fight, work, play, live. About the Author Pavel Tsatsouline is a former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor and Subject Matter Expert to elite US military and law enforcement special operations units. Pavel is the chairman of StrongFirst, a global school of strength offering instructor certifications and user courses in kettlebell, barbell, and bodyweight strength training.