• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Testosterone Boosters
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Multivitamins
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Tasting Protein Powder
      • Best Vegan Protein
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
      • Concept2 RowErg Review
      • Hydrow Wave Review
      • Best Jump Ropes
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Reviews

Book Review: “The Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game” by Sam Sheridan

The Fighter’s Mind is for readers who want to understand how and why any of us challenge ourselves to improve. It is a book for and about fighters. In other words, it is a book for and about us.

val worthington, valerie worthington, bjj, mma, brazilian jiu jitsu, grappling

Written by Valerie Worthington Last updated on Oct 21, 2021

We receive free products and receive commissions through our links. See disclosures page.

Realistically, the vast majority of us will never enter a cage to face off against someone with a menacing nickname, a six-pack, and an unsettling game face, attempting to inflict bodily harm before it is inflicted upon us. We will never throw a punch or a kick, nor will we ever take one. That is to say, we will never fight in the strictest sense, the sense demonstrated by many of the interviewees who populate author Sam Sheridan’s 2010 book The Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game.

Legendary grappler Renzo Gracie gives a simple and convincing explanation for why even those who never fight professionally might be interested in reading Sam’s book: “Everybody is fighting something.” Sam elaborates that everyone, fighter or not, is dealing with issues of adversity and risk. We all have to deal with failure. And “when we do have to deal with a devastating loss, how do we come back from that?”

Sam addresses this question by getting inside the minds of the likes of world class grappler Marcelo Garcia, mixed martial artist Randy Couture, chess expert and martial artist Josh Waitzkin, and wrestling legend Dan Gable, among others. He questions how and why his interviewees do what they do, especially when fatigue, self-doubt, and failure conspire to convince them to quit.

What makes the stories so compelling is the way they touch on issues everyone must face. We are all tested in life, repeatedly. We must face doubts and adversity, and we must rebound after failing. We all fight, in some form or fashion. And in order to do this, we must honestly assess our own measure, which is potentially painful if we find ourselves lacking. The lessons in The Fighter’s Mind transcend the cage, the boxing ring, the wrestling mat, the chessboard. And the athletes profiled could be speaking directly to anyone when they talk about their own experiences.

Some insights are simple. For instance, Couture notes that using positively worded statements in coaching like “Impose your game” is more effective than using negatively worded ones like, “Don’t give up.” “Don’t give up” plants the concept of “giving up” in an athlete’s mind, and then that becomes the focus. Other insights are perhaps equally simple but far more difficult to acknowledge, and harder still to embody. As Sam notes in the book, “It goes back to what fighting is all about: honesty and identity. You have to know who you are…The truth will out.”

Described by Sam as a “gift back to the fighters” who helped him with his first book, A Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey through the World of Fighting, The Fighter’s Mind is also a tool for readers who want to understand how and why any of us challenge ourselves to improve, and how we can do it better. It is a book for and about fighters. In other words, it is a book for and about us.

Sam is the author of A Fighter’s Heart and The Fighter’s Mind. His forthcoming book, The Disaster Diaries: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse, is due out in January 2013. It explores the “disaster imagery” that bombards modern society and describes his attempts to determine how prepared he might be to handle a catastrophic event. Sam lives in Los Angeles.

A Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game is available on Amazon.com for $16.70.

val worthington, valerie worthington, bjj, mma, brazilian jiu jitsu, grappling

About Valerie Worthington

Valerie Worthington has been moving her body since before she was born, for many reasons and with many outcomes. She really started to pay attention to how, when, and why her body moves when she began training in Brazilian jiu jitsu in 1998. From then on, she became hugely invested in educating herself about how to optimize her body movement for BJJ and how to support it in doing so. She has observed that these endeavors require her to invest herself not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and psychologically, fueling a particular interest in the influence on her life of these dimensions of athletic activity.

Valerie has developed as a BJJ practitioner via her own training and competition preparation, teaching and coaching other practitioners, and writing about her life as a jiu jitsu devotee through the lens of her education, personal experiences, and professional background. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a doctorate in educational psychology from Michigan State University. She is a first-degree black belt in BJJ, as well as co-founder and proprietor of Groundswell Grappling Concepts. She trains at Princeton Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Princeton, New Jersey.

Most recently, Valerie is the author of How to Love a Grappler: A Guide for People Who Love People Who Love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

View All Articles

Related Posts

A photo of the bag of XWERKS Motion on a red background
XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts
A photo of the Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X on a red background
Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?
Photos of the Peloton Bike+, Concept2 BikeErg, and NordicTrack S22i Studio Bike on a red background
13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)
Featured image of Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine supplement
Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

New Year’s Fitness Sales (2025)

XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts

Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?

13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)

Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Latest Reviews

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt Review (2025)

Omre NMN + Resveratrol, Lifeforce Peak NMN, and partiQlar NMN on a red background

Best NMN Supplement: Fountain of Youth in a Bottle? (2025)

The Titan Series Adjustable Bench on a red background

Titan Series Adjustable Bench Review (2025)

A photo of the NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Dumbbells on a red background

NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbell Review (2025): Are These Value Dumbbells Worth It?

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2025 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About