Book picks similar to
Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance by Stuart McGill
fitness
health
training
non-fiction
Pilates Anatomy
Rael Isacowitz - 2011
Using the original mat work of Joseph Pilates, you'll see how key muscles are used, how variations and minor adjustments can influence effectiveness, and how breathing, alignment, posture, and movement are all fundamentally linked.Choosing from over 45 exercises, you can target a particular body region and delve deeper to stretch, strengthen, and finely coordinate specific muscles. You'll also find techniques for breathing, concentration, and self-awareness for a unique exercise experience that enhances your mind and your body.Whether you are just beginning to explore the beauty and benefits of Pilates or have been practicing for years, PilatesAnatomy is a one-of-a-kind resource that you'll refer to again and again.
The Leangains Method: The Art of Getting Ripped. Researched, Practiced, Perfected.
Martin Berkhan - 2018
Forget sit-ups. Eat when you want but don’t snack. Breakfast? Who needs it. Spend less than two hours a week in the gym to double your results in half the time, because less is more. Sound like a reasonable diet and exercise advice? To most people, it doesn’t. But as crazy as it sounds, these statements are part of the winning formula behind Martin Berkhan’s controversial Leangains method—as evidenced by hundreds of clients and thousands of success stories from Leangains devotees all over the world. The Leangains Method: The Art of Getting Ripped. Researched, Practiced, Perfected is the definitive fat loss manual and body transformation plan for people who are tired of gimmicks, BS, and the same old spiels they’ve heard countless times before. Tired tropes like “Eat Breakfast Like a King, Lunch Like a Prince, and Dinner Like a Pauper,” conventional “wisdom” about our eating habits and other nonsensical beliefs has no place in this book - but they are dealt with accordingly, which is to say that The Leangains Method is the perfect gift for the dabbler who can’t tell right from wrong and is highly educational for beginners or scholars alike. Conceived and outlined on www.leangains.com over a decade ago, the Leangains diet is commonly known as the “16:8" diet in mainstream media. The popular diet that shook the foundation of the fitness industry, kickstarted the intermittent fasting craze and caused a nutritional paradigm shift has been plagiarized more than any other diet in recent history. But its secrets have eluded everyone, and its efficiency has never been reproduced. Until now. And when its elusive creator pulls the curtain apart and reveals the treasured terroir of the Method, you will bask at its flavors and laugh at its imitators. Rest assured. People are often told that there are no secrets left. That statement was wrong a decade ago when Martin Berkhan introduced intermittent fasting and made breakfast skipping a thing. And in The Leangains Method: The Art of Getting Ripped. Researched, Practiced, Perfected he does it again. But he doesn’t make these outlandish claims casually, and skeptics will be delighted to know that the book and its methods are fully referenced, evidence-based, and peer-reviewed by fitness industry watchdog Alan Aragon. The Leangains Method: The Art of Getting Ripped. Researched, Practiced, Perfected is chock-full of insider secrets and cutting-edge science revealed for the very first time. You’ll learn why a calorie isn’t a calorie, and how to use this knowledge to your advantage. You’ll be taught the ingredients of the most efficient legal fat-burning stack in existence—and, should you decide to use it, be able to accelerate fat loss by up to half a pound per week. After that and much more, you’ll witness the unveiling of the greatest diet secret of them all. The magic bullet, the one thing that makes all the difference. Don’t listen to what they say. It exists. The Leangains Method: The Art of Getting Ripped. Researched, Practiced, Perfected is the alpha and omega of fat loss, conceived at the crossroads of lived experience and brutal honesty, the everyday practicalities of dieting, and the bleeding edge of science. It’s a body transformation plan that reaches beyond bodies and into minds, perceptions, and priorities. Its author makes a single promise. You’ve never read a book like this before, and you’ll never read its like again. Author’s note: The Leangains Method extols the benefits of a high-protein diet, and the nutritional recommendations in the book reflect this. It’s therefore unsuitable for vegans and—to a lesser extent—vegetarians.
Get Strong: The Ultimate 16-Week Transformation Program For Gaining Muscle and Strength--Using The Power Of Progressive Calisthenics
Al Kavadlo - 2017
We have no real goal, no proper focus and therefore underachieve—going nowhere with our strength… Get Strong is a guidebook for those who are dissatisfied with their current rate of progress—and who want to effect lasting changes, fast… Your great advantage with the Get Strong program is the intelligent realism of its plan. While the Kavadlo brothers have achieved supreme feats of calisthenics strength—like the one-arm pull up, the human flag and the back lever—they have also spent decades helping thousands of clients meet and often exceed their training goals. And you can see from their photographs that their choice of exercise regimens has resulted in beyond spectacular physiques. With the Kavaldos’ strategies you get strength and looks in one awesome package. So, you can consider the Kavadlos curators of not only the most effective bodyweight exercises, but also the programming needed to extract the full juice from those chosen drills. As experienced architects and constructors of strength, the Kavadlos know what it takes to advance from absolute newbie to elite practitioner. The Kavadlos also know how to strip things down to their essentials—to get the most out of the least, the biggest bang for the buck… You’ll discover what key exercises in what exact progressions will give you the best results in the fastest, safest time. Get Strong guides you through four major phases of strength, using a construction analogy: Foundation, Brick and Mortar, Concrete and Iron and Forged Steel. Just follow the master architects’ blueprint as drawn—and you cannot fail but to grow a stronger and better-looking body. It’s inevitable! When you graduate from Phase 3, Concrete and Iron, you will already possess a beastly level of functional strength—with a body to match. When you graduate from Phase 4, Forged From Steel, you will be at a world elite level for pound-for-pound strength. And the beauty of it all: you can do it! Once You’ve Got Strong, Then What? Once you have completed the Get Strong 16-week transformation program, you won’t want to stop and rest on your laurels. Because it’s all too easy to let entropy take over and to start sliding. Or, perhaps you need a helping hand to complete the program… The Kavadlos have anticipated your needs beautifully with Part II, Stay Strong. First, Al borrows from his Ask Al blog formula and answers most of the questions you are likely to have about the 16-week program. Here’s where to go if you’re stuck in any manner whatsoever… Then Doctor Danny delivers the Dos and Don’ts of “right conduct” in the quest for bodily fame and fortune. Preach it Danny! Invaluable tips from a man who seen just about everything in the training world, from good to bad to ugly… Next, we have a dynamite set of Supplemental Exercises you’ll want to mix in at some stage. All those Kavadlo favorites that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another in the 16-week program: like muscle-ups, flags, dips… Want variety in your workouts? Sure thing, the Brothers deliver the goods in Supplemental Workouts… Hungry for more variety still? Partner Exercises are an awesome way to add fun and challenge to your calisthenics.
Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning
G. Gregory Haff - 2015
Developed by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Fourth Edition, is the fundamental preparation text for the CSCS exam as well as a definitive reference that strength and conditioning professionals will consult in everyday practice.
Convict Conditioning 2: Advanced Prison Training Tactics for Muscle Gain, Fat Loss, and Bulletproof Joints
Paul Wade - 2011
With an amazing understanding of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology, Coach Wade explains very simply how to work the smaller but just as important areas of the body such as the hands and forearms, neck and calves and obliques in serious functional ways.His minimalist approach to exercise belies the complexity of his system and the deep insight into exactly how the body works and the best way to get from A to Z in the shortest time possible. Paul teaches us how to strengthen our bodies with the simplest of movements while at the same time balancing our structures in the same way: simple exercises that work the whole body.Sprinkled throughout the entire book are too-many-to-count insights and advice from a man who has come to his knowledge the hard way and knows exactly of what he speaks. But what Coach Wade does better than any before him is his unbelievable progressions on every exercise and stretch. He breaks things down and tells you exactly how to proceed to get to whatever level of strength and development you want. and gives you the exact metrics you need to know when to go to the next level.
Trail Guide to the Body
Andrew Biel - 2010
This acclaimed book delivers beautifully illustrated information for learning palpation and the musculoskeletal system. It makes mastering the essential manual therapy skills interesting, memorable and easy. With 504 pages and 1,400 illustrations covering more than 162 muscles, 206 bones, 33 ligaments and 110 bony landmarks, this text provides an invaluable map of the body.This new edition includes an extensive 56-page appendix that describes the common trigger point locations and pain patterns of 100 muscles. Trail Guide to the Body is a highly recommended textbook for the state licensing tests administered by both the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) and the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) and is one of only five books on their official examination reference lists. In addition, the Board of Certification program for athletic trainers in the U.S. uses our high-quality Trail Guide to the Body illustrations in their various products, including exams.Whether you are a massage therapist, physical therapist, sports trainer or student in any bodywork modality, Trail Guide to the Body is for you!
Treat Your Own Back
Robin McKenzie - 1980
The world-renowned McKenzie Method detailed in this book is a simple process that is proven to work.This publication contains easily understood exercises and vital information to enable you to self-manage your back pain and gives you an insight into the cause and effect relationship which helps to prevent recurrence of back pain.You can become independent of spinal manipulation or drugs that only treat the symptoms of your back pain, and not the cause. Just check out the research or the testimonials from readers who have found enormous relief from the "world's best-selling back book of all time".This book on back pain treatment is right for you if you suffer from recurrent low back pain, including Slipped Disc, Fibrosis, Lumbago, Arthritis in the back, Rheumatism and Sciatica.Now completely revised and in its 7th Edition, Treat Your Own Back has helped more people achieve freedom from back pain than any other publication.
Tactical Barbell II: Conditioning
K. Black - 2015
A lifetime’s worth of training knowledge, drawn from the world’s most extreme arenas. Lessons learned and best practices from military operators, tactical law enforcement, martial artists, and others that rely on their physical abilities to survive and thrive in very harsh and unforgiving environments. Where there’s more at stake than winning a medal, or getting a bruised ego. Bottom line, with these people, the training has to work. By implementing the strategies in this book, you will cut your learning curve by decades. You’re going to be able to take your conditioning to the next level and beyond, while avoiding costly amateurish mistakes that lead to injury and burn out. The path has been laid out and handed to you on a silver platter. If you’re an older athlete, you’re going to reclaim that confidence you once had in your physical abilities. You may have forgotten what that feels like. Prepare to be reminded. It’s great having a 600lb squat and 400lb bench press. However, as an operational athlete, if you can’t run, work, or thrive for long periods of time in a multitude of energy demanding environments, you are ineffective. Your big bench press is useless, your big squat is useless. Tactical Barbell proposes you work towards being a different kind of athlete. The kind that is not only extremely strong, but also highly conditioned. If you look carefully, you’ll see these people all around you. That guy on your Emergency Response Team with the 350lb bench press and a sub 9 minute 1.5 mile run. The old Marine Sergeant that can run 6 miles in under 40 minutes, deadlifts over 600lbs and does 30 dead-hang pull-ups. So how do you get there? It's not what you think. Popular 'bootcamp' style approaches that throw a lot of push-ups and running at you in a haphazard fashion don't work. Sure, you'll break a sweat and release some endorphins. You might even lose a pound or two. But take a good hard look at your progress. For all your effort, are you really that far ahead? To make real progress, you have to look to the approaches used by the pros. Train each attribute you're trying to improve in a progressive manner, using the most effective tools for that particular fitness domain.In TB2, you'll find the structured, three pronged approach to conditioning we take with all of our clients. It consists of Base Building, followed by a transition to a more specific continuation protocol. Periodic maintenance of lower-priority fitness domains complete our model.TBII is our manual for training tactical law enforcement candidates, soldiers and recreational athletes. You will be hard pressed to find a more thorough, and effective conditioning program. If you are a results-oriented individual looking for concrete, actionable programming based on cutting edge research, TB2 is for you.
The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You
Patrick McKeown - 2015
With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Dr. Joseph Mercola. Achieve more with less effort: The secret to weight loss, fitness, and wellness lies in the most basic and most overlooked function of your body—how you breathe. One of the biggest obstacles to better health and fitness is a rarely identified problem: chronic over-breathing. We often take many more breaths than we need—without realizing it—contributing to poor health and fitness, including a host of disorders, from anxiety and asthma to insomnia and heart problems. In The Oxygen Advantage, the man who has trained over 5,000 people—including Olympic and professional athletes—in reduced breathing exercises now shares his scientifically validated techniques to help you breathe more efficiently. Patrick McKeown teaches you the fundamental relationship between oxygen and the body, then gets you started with a Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) to determine how efficiently your body uses oxygen. He then shows you how to increase your BOLT score by using light breathing exercises and learning how to simulate high altitude training, a technique used by Navy SEALs and professional athletes to help increase endurance, weight loss, and vital red blood cells to dramatically improve cardio-fitness. Following his program, even the most out-of-shape person (including those with chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma) can climb stairs, run for a bus, or play soccer without gasping for air, and everyone can achieve: Easy weight loss and weight maintenance Improved sleep and energy Increased concentration Reduced breathlessness during exercise Heightened athletic performance Improved cardiovascular health Elimination of asthmatic symptoms, and more. With The Oxygen Advantage, you can look better, feel better, and do more—it's as easy as breathing.
Body by Science: A Research-Based Program for Strength Training, Body Building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week
John Little - 2008
Doug McGuff to present a scientifically proven formula for maximizing muscle development in just 12 minutes a week. Backed by rigorous research, the authors prescribe a weekly high-intensity program for increasing strength, revving metabolism, and building muscle for a total fitness experience.
The World's Fittest Book: How to Train for Anything and Everything, Anywhere and Everywhere
Ross Edgley - 2018
Dubbed "the body's complete user guide," it will become the go-to resource for learning all you need to know about building muscle, losing fat, eating (healthy) cake and unlocking your superhuman physical potential. Packed with workouts the author tried and tested in the pursuit of multiple world records, it's more than a book, it's the greatest training tool ever written! Designed for anyone who wants to make permanent and lasting changes to their food and fitness, it's the first book to combine the teachings, tips and tricks of Olympic and World Champions into one, easy to follow resource. This book will show you how it's possible to: • Live below 10% body fat with the aid of chocolate and Mayan secrets • Add 27% more muscle mass, courtesy of tips from world heavyweight champions • Increase speed by 10%, thanks to gold medal winning Olympic sprinters • Squat, deadlift and bench weights you never dreamed of lifting, with the guidance of the world's strongest men • Improve endurance capacity by 60%, thanks to the knowledge of world champions in multi endurance-based sports ...all of which the author has achieved during the 10-year 'Fitness Pilgrimage' that has taken him around the globe. Aiming to be the most eclectic and comprehensive fitness guide ever created, The World's Fittest Book is the sum and substance of over a decade of research and the collective wisdom of some of the greatest minds and athletic bodies in history. By learning the lessons within it, readers will understand 'fitness' better than the vast majority of the population. Every chapter will have an easy to digest workout within it and can be read individually. But if you want to read the stories and the science behind the routines, that's there too. Until now, there hasn't been a book covering such an ambitious range of areas, catering for the casual fitness enthusiast seeking clarity and guidance in their own gym routine and kitchen habits as well as the seasoned sportsperson who's hit a plateau and is searching for tips, tricks and tweaks they can make to their training and diet. This book changes that, and will take you on a journey to whatever level of fitness you want to find.
The Athlete's Guide to Yoga: An Integrated Approach to Strength, Flexibility, & Focus
Sage Rountree - 2007
This time-honored discipline imparts flexibility, balance, and whole-body strength, creating improvements in an athlete’s form, efficiency, and power. In addition, yoga’s attention to concentration and breath awareness improves mental focus and mental endurance—hidden assets that become especially important at the end of a long training session or race. In The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga, yoga instructor, endurance athlete, and coach Sage Rountree explains the benefits that yoga can bring to every training program. With hundreds of color photographs featuring more than 100 poses, this book treats common problem areas to make athletes stronger in their sport. Rountree helps athletes see progress from just 10 minutes of yoga each day. In an engaging and easy-to-follow style, The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga presents:warm-up and cool-down routines for workouts simple poses to specifically target areas of inflexibility and overuse breath and meditation exercises different types of yoga for each phase of training recommendations for intensity and volume of yoga workouts throughout the training year Rountree’s applications for training and racing ease the introduction to yoga, making it practical and accessible for all athletes.
The New Rules of Lifting For Life: An All-New Muscle-Building, Fat-Blasting Plan for Men and Women Who Want to Ace Their Midlife Exams
Lou Schuler - 2012
Today's exercising adults are caught in a bind: Those who take it seriously and work out aggressively end up with chronic aches and pains in midlife because they don't know how to adjust their programs as they get older. And those who take it easy end up with overfed, underdeveloped bodies that don't respond well when they decide to get serious about exercise. Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, fitness experts and authors of The New Rules of Lifting series know all too well that these readers need a program of their own. That's because they are these readers. Schuler started working out in his early teens. After forty years, he realized he couldn't do the programs in his own books without lots of modifications. And Cosgrove, a former European champion in tae kwon do, is a two- time survivor of stage IV cancer who found himself with limited endurance and a body that stubbornly refused to add muscle or shed fat. So the authors set out to create a new template for exercise, one that delivers serious results but is also flexible enough to accommodate individual limitations. The New Rules of Lifting for Life offers a six-month plan that balances total-body strength, endurance, mobility, balance, coordination, and athleticism. The workouts are challenging and, in conjunction with the suggested diet modifications, will help readers change the way their bodies look, feel, and perform. And not just temporarily- The New Rules of Lifting for Life allows you to enjoy productive and pain-free workouts for many years to come.
Infinite Intensity
Ross Enamait - 2005
This program integrates a lifetime of in the trenches experience, coupled with years of extensive research.Don't expect a picture book filled with secret exercises or bogus promises. There is nothing new under the sun. This 250 page manual will outline a complete system, from A to Z, covering all aspects of physical training.The philosophy behind this program is simple. If it works, we will use it. This program is not limited to one training style (ex. bodyweight exercise vs. weight training). This manual incorporates the best of both worlds.A sample 50 day routine is provided which applies the principles detailed throughout the manual. Topics Include: Dumbbell training for power and strength Advanced bodyweight exercises Isometrics Weighted and bodyweight core movements Low budget options for homemade training equipment Heavy bag drills for enhanced punching power Conditioning drills to enhance each energy system An analysis of periodization for combat athletes Research from world renowned sports scientists Commonly neglected areas such as the hands and neck A 50 day training program And much, much more... Infinite Intensity will enable the athlete to optimize strength and endurance based on the unique needs of the individual. This program will teach you how and why to incorporate strength training and conditioning, without allowing one objective to interfere with another.
The Science of Running: How to find your limit and train to maximize your performance
Steve Magness - 2014
The Science of Running is written for those of us looking to maximize our performance, get as close to our limits as possible, and more than anything find out how good we can be, or how good our athletes can be. In The Science of Running, elite coach and exercise physiologist Steve Magness integrates the latest research with the training processes of the world's best runners, to deliver an in depth look at how to maximize your performance. It is a unique book that conquers both the scientific and practical points of running in two different sections. The first is aimed at identifying what limits running performance from a scientific standpoint. You will take a tour through the inside of the body, learning what causes fatigue, how we produce energy to run, and how the brain functions to hold you back from super-human performance. In section two, we turn to the practical application of this information and focus on the process of training to achieve your goals. You will learn how to develop training plans and to look at training in a completely different way. The Science of Running does not hold back information and is sure to challenge you to become a better athlete, coach, or exercise scientist in covering such topics as:· What is fatigue? The latest research on looking at fatigue from a brain centered view.· Why VO2max is the most overrated and misunderstood concept in both the lab and on the track· Why "zone" training leads to suboptimal performance.· How to properly individualize training for your own unique physiology.· How to look at the training process in a unique way in terms of stimulus and adaptation.· Full sample training programs from 800m to the marathon.