Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding


Daniel E. Lieberman - 2021
    Using his own research and experiences throughout the world, Lieberman recounts without jargon how and why humans evolved to walk, run, dig, and do other necessary and rewarding physical activities while avoiding needless exertion.Exercised is entertaining and enlightening but also constructive. As our increasingly sedentary lifestyles have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and diseases such as diabetes, Lieberman audaciously argues that to become more active we need to do more than medicalize and commodify exercise.Drawing on insights from evolutionary biology and anthropology, Lieberman suggests how we can make exercise more enjoyable, rather than shaming and blaming people for avoiding it. He also tackles the question of whether you can exercise too much, even as he explains why exercise can reduce our vulnerability to the diseases mostly likely to make us sick and kill us.

The Well-Built Triathlete: Turning Potential into Performance


Matt Dixon - 2014
    Dixon details the four pillars of performance that form the foundation of his highly successful purplepatch fitness program, showing triathletes of all abilities how they can become well-built triathletes and perform better year after year. The Well-Built Triathlete does not focus narrowly on workouts and training, but instead gives equal weight to training and workouts, recovery and rest, workout and daily nutrition, and functional strength and mobility. Dixon considers the demands of career and family to prepare athletes to achieve their goals through a realistic, practical ecosystem of stress and recovery. The Well-Built Triathlete is Dixon’s guide to every aspect of triathlon performance. Chapters on swimming, cycling, and running explain the most effective ways to train for each. His pragmatic approach to stretching, recovery, and effective strength training shows athletes where they can recover valuable time. A purplepatch section shows how triathletes can achieve long streaks of high performance. Dixon’s whole-athlete approach to triathlon will help triathletes become greater than the sum of their workouts. By becoming better all-around athletes, well-built triathletes will train and race faster than ever.

Fitness Swimming


Emmett Hines - 1998
    Expert swim coach Emmett Hines has created 60 new workouts and 16 sample programs, each arranged into suggested training zones to correspond to your fitness level and performance goals. Over a dozen cutting-edge technique drills help you progressively build an effective freestyle stroke. The text covers stretching, warm-up and cool-down methods, heart rate zone targets, expanded instruction for stroke efficacy, progressive drills, conditioning tips, and fitness assessments. Fitness Swimming has all the information you need to chart progress and maintain peak performance.

The Physique 57(R) Solution: The Groundbreaking 2-Week Plan for a Lean, Beautiful Body


Tanya Becker - 2012
    This unique, effective workout combines interval training, isometric exercises, and orthopedic stretches to rapidly and dramatically transform your body. No matter your level of fitness, the Physique 57 technique will keep you challenged, motivated, and entertained. Now combined with a healthy and delicious meal plan, this two-week program will help you get your best body fast. Discover: Step-by-step, groundbreaking workouts offering major calorie burn Innovative choreography, including muscle-defining arm exercises, intense seat-and-thigh sequences, and waist-chiseling ab moves A super-slimming two-week meal plan A variety of flavorful and healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and dessert Motivating tips to help you reach your goals! Drop pounds, lose up to 10 inches, and transform into the best version of yourself.

Treat Your Own Knees: Simple Exercises to Build Strength, Flexibility, Responsiveness and Endurance


Jim Johnson - 2003
    In this compact and accessible book, he shows readers exactly how to improve and maintain the functioning of their knees by enhancing the four crucial abilities every knee must have:** muscular strength** flexibility** responsiveness (proprioception)** enduranceA chapter is devoted to each of these four functions, showing why they are essential. The reader is shown exactly how to do simple home exercises designed to restore or improve that particular ability. The last chapter is a "master plan" that pulls together all the concepts and exercises into a time-efficient exercise program. The author guides the reader effortlessly through the exercise routine.Clear drawings illustrate the muscles responsible for knee pain and the exact way to do the exercises.All the information is based on research trials and studies and evidence from peer-reviewed journals. The author has chosen for this book the best techniques for relieving knee pain.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen


Christopher McDougall - 2009
    For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Beyond Training: Mastering Endurance, Health & Life


Ben Greenfield - 2014
    Whether you're an extreme exercise enthusiast or you're just looking to shed a few pounds, this is the last book on training, endurance, health, and life you will ever need.In this book you will learn:• The 2 best ways to build fitness fast without destroying your body• Underground training tactics for maximizing workout efficiency• The best biohacks for enhancing mental performance and entering the zone• How to know with laserlike accuracy whether your body has truly recovered• 26 ways to recover quickly from workouts, injuries, and overtraining• The 25 most important blood and saliva biomarkers and how to test them• 5 essential elements of training that most athletes neglect• 7 stress-fighting weapons to make your mind-body connection bulletproof• Proven systems to enhance sleep, eliminate insomnia, and conquer jet lag• 40 high-calorie, nutrient-dense meals that won't destroy your metabolism• Easy tools for customizing your carbs, proteins, and fats for your unique body• 9 ways to fix a broken gut, detox your body, and create a toxin-free life• A complete system to safeguard your immune system and stomach• Simple time-efficiency tips for balancing training, work, travel, and family

Galloway's Book on Running


Jeff Galloway - 1984
    He tells beginners how to get started, explains his ideas on stress and rest, and reveals secrets for running better. In this completely revised and updated new edition of the classic text on running, Galloway includes training schedules for 5k, 10k, and the increasingly popular half-marathon races, as well as recent insights into motivation, nutrition, and fat burning. Runners at all levels will benefit from this seasoned athlete’s wisdom.

Hansons Half-Marathon Method: Run Your Best Half-Marathon the Hansons Way


Luke Humphrey - 2014
    Now in Hansons Half-Marathon Method, the coaches of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project reveal the half-marathon training program they’ve used to turn their runners into race winners, national champions, and Olympians. Using this strategic and scientifically grounded training program, runners will mix precisely paced speed, strength, and tempo workouts to forge breakthrough performances in the half-marathon distance.Hansons Half-Marathon Method will prepare beginners as well as intermediate and competitive half-marathoners for their best performance. Detailed nutrition and hydration chapters help runners pinpoint their energy and hydration needs so they know precisely how to fuel during workouts, race week, race day, and for recovery. The Hansons approach to pacing and nutrition keeps runners from hitting the wall before hitting the finish line.Hansons Half-Marathon Method lays out the smartest half-marathon training plan available from one of the most accomplished running groups in the nation. Using this innovative approach, runners will run their fastest half-marathon.

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.

Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide


Hal Higdon - 2005
    Aspiring or veteran marathoners will benefit enormously from its proven guidance."This new edition focuses on first marathoners, women runners, and those new to the sport; and as always, Higdon shows how to build up mileage and gives advice on running long, speedwork for distance runners, defensive running strategies, and planning for peak performance.

NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training


National Academy of Sports Medicine - 2007
    The OPT model presents NASM's protocols for building stabilization, strength, and power.More than 600 full-color illustrations and photographs demonstrate concepts and techniques. Exercise color coding maps each exercise movement to a specific phase on the OPT model. Exercise boxes demonstrate core exercises and detail the necessary preparation and movement. Other features include research notes, memory joggers, safety tips, and review questions.

Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike


Grant Petersen - 2012
    Forget the ultralight, uncomfortable bikes, flashy jerseys, clunky shoes that clip onto tiny pedals, the grinding out of endless miles. Instead, ride like you did when you were a kid—just get on your bike and discover the pure joy of riding it.   A reformed racer who’s commuted by bike every day since 1980, whose writings and opinions appear in major bicycling and outdoor magazines, and whose company, Rivendell Bicycle Works, makes bikes for riders ready to opt out of a culture overrun by racing, Grant Petersen shares a lifetime of unexpected facts, controversial opinions, expert techniques, and his own maverick philosophy. In 87 short, two-to-three page chapters, it covers:Riding: Count Days, Not Miles; Corner Like Jackie Robinson; Steer with Your Hips, Shift with Your LegsSuiting Up: The Shoes Ruse; Ponchos—the Ultimate Unracer’s GarmentSafety: #1 Rule—Be Seen; Helmets Aren’t All They’re Cracked Up to BeHealth and Fitness: Why Riding Is Lousy All-Around Exercise; Saddles Don’t Cause Impotence; Drink When You’re Thirsty—Not Before Also includes chapters on Accessories, Upkeep, and Technicalities, and a final chapter titled “Velosophy” that includes the essential, memorable thought: Your Bike Is a Toy—Have Fun with It.

Yoga for Runners


Christine Felstead - 2013
    You can feel that impact in the muscles, ligaments, and bone structures throughout your body. Thankfully, Yoga for Runners addresses both the physical and mental demands of the sport. Whether you are new to yoga or have practiced for years, Yoga for Runners provides you with the most effective poses--88 poses in all. Each pose is described in detail to ensure correct execution, maximizing the physical benefit and decreasing the risk of injury.You'll learn how simple yoga techniques can be incorporated into your existing running workouts and routines to eliminate chronic aches and pains. Discover how each pose can be sequenced to address a specific need, such as strengthen and lengthen the hamstrings, strengthen and increase mobility of the hip joint, eliminate lower-back and upper-body discomfort, speed the recovery process after a practice run or a race, maintain a strong core, or just restore and rejuvenate to prepare for an upcoming event. These sequences target all troublesome muscle regions. Anatomical illustrations and descriptions explain why these poses and sequences decrease your risk of acute or chronic injury as well as why they are beneficial to your training regimen.After just a few weeks of following Yoga for Runners, you will feel stronger, more balanced, more in tune with your breathing, and more aware of your posture and technique. Your entire running experience--endurance, strength, breathing, and mental sharpness--will be more productive, positive, and enjoyable.

The Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start: Lose Weight, Get in Shape, and Start Living the Biggest Loser Lifestyle Today!


Cheryl Forberg - 2009
    In fact, you may have been so inspired by the show's remarkable success stories that you've considered embarking on your own weight loss journey. If you're looking to get healthy now, there's good news: You don't have to spend time at the ranch to benefit from The Biggest Loser magic. THE BIGGEST LOSER: 30 DAY JUMP START by Cheryl Forberg, RD, Melissa Roberson, Lisa Wheeler, brings all of the secrets of the ranch right into your own home. The Biggest Loser experts--the same ones who advise the contestants--are here to walk you through a 30-day plan that will kick off your weight loss and help you build new, healthy habits. In this book you'll find easy-to-follow menus, recipes, exercise plans, and motivation for each day of the week. You'll also find helpful tips and advice from past Biggest Losers who have been in your shoes, including the nine contestants from Season 7 who left the ranch early to follow this very plan at home. So far, the Biggest Losers have lost more than a combined 10,000 pounds. But for each of them, the journey started with a commitment: to health, to weight loss, and to themselves. The first steps toward a healthier future are in this book--what are you waiting for? Make the commitment, take the leap--and begin your 30 day jump start today!