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 Meat Fix: How a Lifetime of Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me!


John Nicholson - 2012
    Rather, it is an explanation of how Nicholson discovered what works for him and why we should all look at nutritional advice through a clear lens, not the warped prism of what has become conventional dietary advice. This is a surprising, often hilarious, and shocking journey of discovery.John Nicholson is author of We Ate All the Pies, which was longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize.

Embrace the Suck: A Crossfit Memoir


Stephen Madden - 2014
    He immersed himself in the culture, diet, and psyche of CrossFit--the fast-growing but controversial fitness regime that's a stripped-down combination of high-intensity aerobic activity, weightlifting, calisthenics, and gymnastics. Madden is just one of over two million athletes worldwide to do so. But what's crazier? The fact that such a grueling regimen--in which puking and muscle breakdowns during workouts are common--is so popular, or that people pay good money to do it?In Embrace the Suck, the former editor-in-chief of Bicycling magazine explores with irreverence, humor, and soul-touching candor the fitness revolution sweeping America. Madden chronicles the year he devoted to trying to master all the basic CrossFit exercises, like double unders, muscle-ups, and kipping pullups, and immersing himself in the Paleo diet that strips weight from its followers but leaves them fantasizing about loaves of bread. Along the way, he explores the culture of the sport, his experience becoming a CrossFit coach, and some basic questions about himself, his past, and his athletic limitations--and why something so difficult and punishing can be at once beautiful, funny, and rewarding.Whether you are a CrossFitter or a nascent athlete, you will come away from this book understanding the limitless potential of the human body and mind, and will learn what it takes to welcome and defeat any kind of suck.

Hansons Marathon Method: Run Your Fastest Marathon the Hansons Way


Luke Humphrey - 2016
    Hansons Marathon Method tosses out mega-long runs and high-mileage weekends--two old-fashioned running traditions that often injure and discourage runners. Runners using the Hansons method will gradually build up to the moderate-high mileage required for marathon success, spreading those miles more sensibly throughout the week. Running easy days mixed with precisely paced speed, strength, and tempo workouts, runners will steel their bodies and minds to run the hardest final miles of the marathon--and finish strong. In this new second edition, the Hansons program welcomes newer runners with a new Just Finish program featuring a simple schedule of easier running and lower mileage. The Just Finish program sets up first-time marathoners for an enjoyable marathon and a lifetime of strong, healthy running. Hansons Marathon Method will prepare you for your best marathon: Sensible weekly mileage based on science, not outdated traditions Effective Hansons speed, strength, and tempo workouts paced to achieve your goal Crucial nutrition and hydration guidelines to run strong for the whole race A smart and simple Just Finish program for new runners and marathon first-timers Detailed training schedules for experienced and advanced marathoners This revised second edition answers frequently asked questions, shows how to integrate flexibility and strength work into your training week, and shares the most effective recovery methods. Using the Hansons' innovative approach, you will mold real marathon muscles, train your body to avoid the wall, and finish strong. Hansons Marathon Method lays out the smartest marathon training program available from one of the most accomplished running groups in the world. Using their innovative approach, runners will mold real marathon muscles, train their body to never hit the wall, and prepare to run their fastest marathon."You might expect a training program devised by the Hanson brothers to be a little different than the usual rehashing of principles and schedules. Given the success of athletes from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, you wouldn't be surprised if it was effective, too." -- Runner's World

Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions


Nancy Clark - 2002
    Clark writes this book from her passion for teaching the everyday champions that we all are how to use food to help achieve our marathon goals. She combines her personal experiences and professional expertise to teach us to eat well and enhance our energy. We learn what, when and how to eat to enjoy not only the process of training for the marathon, but also participating in the marathon itself with energy to spare.

Ten Golden Exercises: (As chosen by a 20 year Physical Therapist)


Daniel Philpot - 2018
    Learn not just what to do, but why it matters- and in simple terms. Presented here is the exercise foundation to preventing the most common biomechanical dysfunctions that we all may face. Whether young or old or somewhere in between- the information in this book will help you physically function better now and throughout your life.

Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building


Robert Kennedy - 2008
    Featuring the most up-to-date information and 800 pages of color images, "Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding" presents a user-friendly book that offers valuable information on nutrition, supplements, exercising, and posing.

The Miracle Ball Method (Relieve Your Pain, Reshape Your body, Reduce Your Stress)


Elaine Petrone - 2002
    And they perform miracles. Suffering a career-ending, potentially crippling injury to her back and right leg, a young dancer named Elaine Petrone tried ...

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.

Strala Yoga: Be Strong, Focused Ridiculously Happy from the Inside Out


Tara Stiles - 2016
    Focusing on the power of combining movement with intuition, Tara walks readers through the importance of moving with ease and creating space in their lives. Strala isn’t about strict poses; it’s about your body and your abilities. By moving how it feels good to move, readers will not only get a great workout but also release stress, free up space in their minds, and open themselves up to creativity. Tara lays out simple, step-by-step information on everything from how to use the breath in movement, to how to create ease, to how to set up a home practice. More than ten routines—each illustrated with clear, instructional photos—offer both easy and more difficult tracks, appealing to beginners and seasoned yogis alike, and aim to help readers dissolve stress, get better sleep, gain energy, or even wind down after a tough day. Tara also offers up both a 7-day jumpstart and a 30-day program to help readers bring yoga—and its varied benefits—easily into their lives.“My goal is to help you feel connected and gain strength, calm, clarity, and ease from the inside out. Get ready to feel amazing, and enjoy the ride!” —Tara

Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy


Brad Schoenfeld - 2016
    Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy is a comprehensive compilation of science-based principles to help professionals develop muscle hypertrophy in athletes and clients. With more than 825 references and applied guidelines throughout, no other resource offers a comparable quantity of content solely focused on muscle hypertrophy. Readers will find up-to-date content so they fully understand the science of muscle hypertrophy and its application to designing training programs.Written by Brad Schoenfeld, PhD, a leading authority on muscle hypertrophy, this text provides strength and conditioning professionals, personal trainers, sport scientists, researchers, and exercise science instructors with a definitive resource for information regarding muscle hypertrophy--the mechanism of its development, how the body structurally and hormonally changes when exposed to stress, ways to most effectively design training programs, and current nutrition guidelines for eliciting hypertrophic changes. The full-color book offers several features to make the content accessible to readers:- Research Findings sidebars highlight the aspects of muscle hypertrophy currently being examined to encourage readers to re-evaluate their knowledge and ensure their training practices are up to date.- Practical Applications sidebars outline how to apply the research conclusions for maximal hypertrophic development.- Comprehensive subject and author indexes optimize the book's utility as a reference tool.- An image bank containing most of the art, photos, and tables from the text allows instructors and presenters to easily teach the material outlined in the book.Although muscle hypertrophy can be attained through a range of training programs, this text allows readers to understand and apply the specific responses and mechanisms that promote optimal muscle hypertrophy in their athletes and clients. It explores how genetic background, age, sex, and other factors have been shown to mediate the hypertrophic response to exercise, affecting both the rate and the total gain in lean muscle mass. Sample programs in the text show how to design a three- or four-day-per-week undulating periodized program and a modified linear periodized program for maximizing muscular development.Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy is an invaluable resource for strength and conditioning professionals seeking to maximize hypertrophic gains and those searching for the most comprehensive, authoritative, and current research in the field.

Yoga Girl


Rachel Brathen - 2014
    In Yoga Girl, Brathen takes readers beyond her Instagram feed and shares her journey like never before—from her self-destructive teenage years in her hometown in Sweden to her adventures in the jungles of Costa Rica, and finally to the beautiful and bohemian life she’s built through yoga and meditation in Aruba today. Featuring spectacular photos of Brathen practicing yoga with breathtaking tropical backdrops, along with step-by-step yoga sequences and simple recipes for a healthy, happy, and fearless lifestyle—Yoga Girl is like an armchair vacation to a Caribbean spa.

The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training


Dawn Dais - 2006
    Dawn Dais makes it a little more bearable--and a lot more funDawn Dais hated running. And it didn't like her much, either. Her fitness routine consisted of avoiding the stairs in her own house, because who really has the energy to climb stairs? It was with this exercise philosophy firmly in place that she set off to complete a marathon. The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women is the ideal training manual for women who don't believe that running is their biological destiny but who dream of crossing the finish line nonetheless. Nonrunners offers a realistic training schedule and is chock-full of how-to's and funny observations, which she felt were lacking in the guides she had consulted. She also integrates entries from her journal, sharing everything would-be marathoners need to know about the gear, the blisters, the early morning workouts, the late-night carb binges, and most important of all, the amazing rewards. Running may not seem like a friendly endeavor, but with Dawn Dais, you can tame the beast and hit the marathon trail.

Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory


Deena Kastor - 2018
    In Let Your Mind Run, the vaunted Olympic medalist and marathon and half-marathon record holder, will reveal how she incorporated the benefits of positive psychology into her already-dedicated running practice, setting her on a course to conquer women's distance running. Blending both narrative running insights and deep-dive brain science, this book will appeal to and motivate steadfast athletes, determined runners, and tough-as-nails coaches, and beyond. This memoir, written by perhaps the most famous American woman active in the competitive world of distance running, will appeal to the pragmatic athletic population, and jointly to fans of engaging sports narratives, inspirational memoirs, and uplifiting biographies.

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.