Today we have the mixed blessing of an abundance of information. Never has it been easier to get answers to our athletic questions. However, it’s also never been easier to get the wrong information.

In the book Faster, Higher, Stronger, named for the motto of the Olympic Games, Mark McClusky details the science that makes our athletes ever better.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger”

Mark McClusky is the editor of Wired and previously an editor and reporter for Sports Illustrated. His experience has certainly given him his writing chops. That experience shines through in this book, which is smooth, easy to read, and highly informative.

“The information covered in ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger ‘deals with science you could have read in the last year, rather than the last few decades like many books you may see.”

Each chapter begins with a story about an athlete, team, or event, which leads into a discussion of some major topic of athletics. McClusky weaves through each story, making the book a smooth and page-turning read.

About the Book

I’m pleased to report that the science in this book is refreshingly updated. The information covered in Faster, Higher, Stronger deals with science you could have read in the last year, rather than the last few decades like many books you may see.

The chapters are divided into how the specific changes to materials, science, coaching, or other methods affect sports. There is no focus on a given sport, and the book discusses many different types of athletics. Rather, it is about the athletes themselves. Here’s a glimpse at the topics covered:

• Chapter 1: How science shapes coaching, and how each individual athlete is shaped for optimal performance.
• Chapter 2: Genetics in athletics, including how they affect men and women differently.
• Chapter 3: Nutrition and supplement science.
• Chapter 4: Talent identification, how your age and maturity affects sports, and how the school of hard knocks can provide a good athletic education.
• Chapter 5: The famous 10,000 hour rule, and how it applies to sports. Also discusses athletes moving from one sport to another.
• Chapter 6: Motor learning and how to best shape practice.
• Chapter 7: How changes to materials in sport, like the size of a ball, profoundly alter the outcomes.
• Chapter 8: The old and new science of the theories of fatigue: why an athlete actually gets tired. It may not be what you think.
• Chapter 9: Sleep, travel, and recovery.
• Chapter 10: Using Information Age data to shape how we engage in sports.
• Chapter 11: Performance enhancing drugs.
• Chapter 12: The limits of human potential. Do they exist, how can we tell, and are we there yet?

As you can see, virtually every aspect of sport science is covered in detail. The chapters are fairly à la carte, so you can pick up the book and read any chapter that interests you without needing to have built on the earlier parts of the book. This makes it a handy reference guide with easy-to-find information and history on each of the above topics. However, since all of the chapters are important, I think you will find yourself reading the entire thing from cover to cover.

It takes a special author to be able to take science and make it readable and understandable to the non-scientist. I think most people will find this book does so successfully. I personally love reading science, even the dry stuff, but McClusky makes it easy in this book. The narrative flows naturally and stays on any one topic just long enough to get the point home.

Considerations

In any book based on the discussion of science there will be some contradiction. The same is even more true with an in-depth look into coaching strategies, which can vary hugely from team to team. Faster, Higher, Stronger, discusses both topics, so you may spot some of those contradictions.

“It takes a special author to be able to take science and make it readable and understandable to the non-scientist. I think most people will find this book does so successfully.”

As an example, the first chapter deals with developing an athlete based on what needs to change at the smallest levels. In other words, training an athlete like a scientist might. Later in the book is a chapter focusing on how the best training methods involve randomness and specificity to sport conditions. These two discussions might beg the question: am I better off honing in on the details or should I put in more practice time? The book leaves the answer up to you.

My Recommendation

Faster, Higher, Stronger has a huge amount of information for coaches and athletes in any sport. Even the unanswered questions may stimulate the future generation of authors to write the next series of amazing books like this one. Faster, Higher, Stronger should be in the collection of anyone serious about athletics.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger” is available for $19.59 at Amazon.com.

Check out these related articles:

• Superior Fitness Rules Tennis Today
• Analysis Shows Suits to Blame for 2009’s 43 World-Record Swims
• Technology Doping in the Olympics: Cheating or Progress?
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

The post Science and Superathletes: The New Generation of Sport appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Recently I read a book called The Running Revolution, by Dr. Nicholas Romanov and Kurt Brungardt. The book is a great resource on running technique and self-assessment. It’s perfect for beginners and will keep them coming back for years to come.

About the Author

Dr. Nicholas Romanov was an athlete who went on to coach two Olympic teams. He is also the creator of the Pose Method of running. Much of the book is centered around the concepts he has been teaching for decades. The co-author, Kurt Brungardt, is a personal trainer and an experienced writer.

Section One: Preparation

The book is divided into four parts. The first section covers preparation for running. This includes the story of Romanov’s journey to the United States and his transition from athlete to coach. Romanov details how to use a journal to track progress and provides some simple proprioceptive awareness techniques.

“‘Running Revolution’ is a great starter book. It covers the basics of physical preparation, injury, and programming well enough to start a novice runner on the right track while teaching him or her every detail of running form.”

The section includes two chapters that provide a series of mobility exercises and a couple strength exercises, as well. These exercises can be used as a routine to keep you limber or as a warm up. You’ll also find information on shoe selection and a discussion of barefoot running. I will describe one of my favorite parts in detail later in this review, which teaches you how to use digital capture to become your own coach.

Section Two: Technique

Section two explains the technique of running. It is split into ten lessons that cover every nuance of running form. The Pose Method is a complete system that helps people with their running form. It places a heavy emphasis on foot-strike, namely, a forefoot strike. In these sections, you’ll find how your foot should land, where it should land, and why it should land that way. You’ll learn details about the rest of your body, as well.

The Pose Method’s three elements of running

Section Three: Transition

The third section explains how to transition from the way you’re running now to the technique described in the book. It expounds on the self-assessment video method described in the first section and shows you how to perform drills to correct the problems you might find when you watch the videos.

“Not only does ‘Running Revolution’ teach you how to perfectly capture yourself on video, but the topic is then revisited to show you what to look for in each video you create to make corrections and view progress over time.”

There are also bonuses in this section, such as how to run on different terrains (treadmill included) and injury care. Common injuries are briefly covered, including how they come about and how to correct them. However, the book’s focus is on avoiding these altogether, so the author does not linger here long.

Section Four: Programs

The final section of the book provides a few training programs for races ranging from 5K up to marathon. There is also a detailed running workout. Romanov’s method is an intuitive one, so a portion of this section is dedicated to teaching you how to choose for yourself how to proceed in your training.

Be Your Own Coach

One of the strongest aspects of the book is its description of how to coach yourself. As I mentioned above, Romanov teaches you how to capture yourself on video. You will learn how to create videos of yourself and what to look for to make corrections and view your progress.

I’ve reviewed a lot of great books on running lately. I’m also a runner and a longtime coach myself, so I was familiar with the details about running form and the Pose Method. As such, I had few expectations regarding this book, but I was surprised by how great it was. On the topic of running form (in particular, forefoot running) there are no equals.

“Experienced runners and coaches will probably already know all the basic information provided, but may still need to learn some of the finer points of running form. This resource will be a great addition to their library.”

The greatest strengths of this book are its details on technical development and self-assessment. However, a lot of this information is centered around the Pose Method and may be unnecessary for people who have already learned this technique from a coach. If you’re already trained in Pose Method running, keep in mind there might not be much new information in The Running Revolution.

My Recommendation

The Running Revolution is a great starter book. It covers the basics of physical preparation, injury, and programming well enough to get a novice runner on the right track while teaching him or her every detail of running form.

Experienced runners and coaches will probably already know the basic information provided, but may still need to learn some of the finer points of running form. This resource would be a great addition to their library.

“Running Revolution” is available for $10.75 at Amazon.com.

You Might Also Enjoy:

• Changing Strides: The Pose Method and Newton Shoes
• You Move As Well As You Eat: The Link Between Food and Gait
• How to Move Better and Relieve Pain
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post Revolutionize Your Running for Performance and Injury Prevention appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Jill Miller is the creator of Yoga Tune Up, a fitness therapy that combines conscious corrective exercise with precise self-myofascial release using therapy balls.

In her new book The Roll Model, Miller has extracted the self-myofasical release portion of her work, The Roll Model Method, and has created a tremendously thorough resource guide.

A Thorough Guide

One would think that writing about one-half of a fitness therapy would yield a slim book, but that person never met Jill Miller. Jill is insatiably curious about the human body, incredibly well-educated and well-read, and also deeply thoughtful and heartfelt about her work. This book reflects that and then some.

“The stories run the gamut from recovering from surgeries and injuries, to recovering from chronic disease processes like lupus and MS, to recovering from emotional wounds and traumas such as rape and depression.”

A delight for full-on body nerds and laypeople alike, The Roll Model is without a doubt the most thorough resource guide not only on self-myofascial release, but on self-care as a whole, that I have ever come across. Weighing in at 432 pages, if you want to know how to help yourself heal the issues in your tissues, this book has what you need.

READ: Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls vs. Lacrosse Balls vs. Foam Rollers

Book Structure

To give you a taste of the goodness that lies within, the book is structured as follows:

• Chapter One: A New Model of Self-Care Healthcare – A rallying cry for all of us to empower ourselves by addressing our needs in a proactive and compassionate way. This chapter defines self-care, and covers the basics of “self-care healthcare.”

• Chapter Two: How to Use My Program – Miller introduces people to the magical Tune Up Fitness therapy balls – grippy, pliable rubber balls that come in three sizes, and one Coregeous ball, a gushy, air-filled, pliable ball that is used, as its name suggests, for abdominal work. She also gets into some frequently asked questions, like how often can someone roll and what is the difference between good pain and bad pain?

“True to the promise of this book being the most thorough resource on self-care out there, Miller does not simply talk about our cranky joints or sore muscles.”

• Chapter Three: Posture, Pain, Performance: Stand Up for Yourself by Getting on the Ball: – Tackles the woes of modern posture, the costs of bad posture, and what supported posture looks like.

• Chapter Four: The Science Section: Fascia and Proprioception – Body nerds rejoice! If you want to really dive in and get to know more about what fascia is, how it remodels itself, and proprioception – or your “body map” of where you are in space – this chapter dives deep.

• Chapter Five: Know Your Body Better: An Embodied Orientation to Bones and Muscles – Miller helps people to better get to know what’s on the inside by introducing them to 36 “knead-to-know” bony landmarks and 44 “knead-to-know” muscles.

• Chapter Six: The Nine Essential Roll Model Ball Techniques – Like a mini-massage therapy course, Miller takes people through the myriad ways you can use the therapy balls to mimic the hands of a skilled therapist. She covers sustained compression, skin-rolling/shear, stripping, crossfiber, pin and stretch, contract/relax, pin/spin and mobilize, ball plow, and ball stack.

• Chapter Seven: Breath Reset – No book on self-care would be complete if it didn’t turn its attention to the breath. Miller dives deep into how our breath functions, our stress response, and how the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system work. She also details strategies for using the therapy balls to open and facilitate good breath, while saying goodbye to “bad breath.”

• Chapter Eight: The Sequences That Reset Your Body – If you want precise, innovative, deeply useful strategies to give (pretty much) every nook and cranny of your body some self-myofasical release love and attention, this chapter is the motherlode. Bright, clear photographs document every strategy, along with good test and retest check-ins.

“A delight for full-on body nerds and laypeople alike, The Roll Model is without a doubt the most thorough resource guide not only on self-myofascial release, but on self-care as a whole, that I have ever come across.”

• Chapter Nine: The “Roll” of Relaxation – Diving even deeper into a tour of your nervous system, this chapter addresses the lost art of downregulating ourselves so that we can reap the benefits of deep relaxation.

• Chapter Ten: Soul Rolling: When You “Knead” More Than a Physical Fix – True to the promise of this book being the most thorough resource on self-care out there, Miller does not simply talk about our cranky joints or sore muscles. She also addresses how unassimilated emotion finds a way of expressing itself in the body, and how people can heal deeper emotional wounds with “soul rolling.”

• Chapter Eleven: What Next? Tune Up Fitness and Corrective Exercise – Miller finishes with a teaser that addresses training to complement rolling, and defines the method that gave birth to all of this: Yoga Tune Up.

RELATED: The Top 5 Ways Fascia Matters to Athletes

Personal Transformation Stories

What you can’t see in the chapter breakdowns is perhaps my favorite part of the book: scattered throughout the text are stories from 22 people who have used The Roll Model Method to heal themselves. I am a bit of a junkie for stories of transformation, so I realize I’m an easy sell here, but I challenge anyone to make it through all of these stories with dry eyes. Not possible.

The stories run the gamut from recovering from surgeries and injuries, to recovering from chronic disease processes like lupus and multiple sclerosis, to recovering from emotional wounds and traumas such as rape and depression. The stories give so much heart to this book, and also demonstrate the broad range of its application.

I’ll end with a quotation Miller uses in the beginning of The Roll Model:

“Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”

Right on. Go, read it, and then get on the ball!

The Roll Model” is available for $24.68 at Amazon.com.

The post “The Roll Model” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I recently read a good book on self-treatment of chronic pain, inflammation, and immobility calledThe MELT Method by manual therapist Sue Hitzmann. In the book, Hitzmann explains her method of using implements like foam rollers to make pain vanish and improve athleticism.

I’ve been using the program at home for weeks now, and it has helped me mobilize my joints and relieve chronic pain. Plus, it feels amazing. As an example, I always feel pain when I put pressure on the pad of my thumb. Not only did it feel great to work on it, but once I was done with the hand portion of the program, my wrist mobility had improved. Not just over the course of weeks, but in minutes.

About the MELT Method

The program revolves around a series of movements you perform with an implement like a ball or a foam roller. The exercises are designed to stimulate the nervous system, break up internal scar tissue ,and relax the muscles. The movements feel divine, but like most mechanical therapies, there will be times when you will need to test your limits and work through knots.

After doing the moves you’ll be spent, so save them for after a workout or, even better, a different time altogether. Even when I used the MELT Method on just my forearms or other small muscles, I could feel my metabolism fire up in response to the activity.

About the Book

The book begins with a description of how your connective tissue works and where chronic pain comes from. This sets the foundation for the next section, in which you begin to learn the theory on how to work with the connective tissue yourself in order to alleviate pain and improve mobility. These two sections of the book put together go a long way into explain the details of both why and how to perform the moves that form the core of the program.

The extremities come next. The calves, neck, hands, and feet are all worked to battle the effects of daily stress. If you do nothing else in the MELT method, these first few pieces alone will work wonders.

Hitzmann then details how to use the MELT method for the rest of the body. Interspersed in the details of doing the moves are various bits of advice, like how to get started, the importance of assessing and tracking progress, and so on. This section ends with how to release the muscles of the neck and low back to relax the body.

The Movement Sequences

The movement sequences, which range in length from ten to twenty minutes, bring all the information together. The programs themselves are pretty rudimentary, as they should be. They are simple and easy to follow, and after going through each section a few times it became much faster.

Each program can also be done quickly, which is an advantage, but the full body programs took me a while. I can spend a full ten to twenty minutes just on my hands. The length of time you spend on the sessions will come down to personal preference.

The difference between The MELT Method and most other methods you’ll find isn’t in the general premise, but rather in the detail and thoroughness of execution. Everything is explained in depth, and the moves are more varied than you’ll usually find. For example, you will perform normal foam rolling motions, but you’ll also learn specific point pressure. You’ll even learn how to “glide,” “shear,” and “rinse,” which are names of techniques included. It’s a holistic program too, so it includes tips for improving your breathing and awareness.

Drawbacks

The parts I didn’t like about the book were minor. The name sounds more like a bad diet than a manual therapy program to me. The content, however, has little to do with nutrition, and is much more valuable than the name might suggest.

Next, the story of the creation had me rolling my eyes. The introduction of the book chronicles Hitzmann’s search to find answers about her weird superpower of sensing connective tissue vibrations. It goes from her youth in which she was told to hide her gift, up until her epiphany that she can use it to develop the program described in the book. It all sounded a bit hokey to me, but the bottom line is that she has a lot of experience and spent a lot of time learning and developing to create this program.

Who This Book Is For

This book would be great for those interested in using a foam roller and other rolling methods for self-myofascial release. The importance of mechanical therapies for athletes is paramount, and performing it yourself is the easiest, quickest and cheapest way, while still being very effective.

People who suffer from pain, immobility, or both will also benefit from this book. Many of the methods are suitable for both the athletic and also the untrained individual. Anyone of any level can benefit from the sequences and information contained in this book.

The book isn’t perfect, but the parts that matter are well thought out and explained. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic of self-treatment for pain and stiffness, and those who want to improve mobility and athleticism.

The Melt Method is available for $17.58 at Amazon.com.

The post “The MELT Method” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If you’re an athlete with a furious appetite for all things CrossFit, have I got a book for you. Even if you’re not a CrossFitter and want to learn more about the movement’s history, you’ll want to check out the book Learning to Breathe Fire, by J.C. Herz.

J.C. Herz was already a veteran writer before writing Learning to Breathe Fire. Having written for Rolling Stone, Wired, and the New York Times, Herz only needed to discover her love for CrossFit to turn her writing talents towards the fitness behemoth.

Unlike many other fitness books, Herz didn’t reinvent the wheel. When you’re writing about CrossFit, you can’t exactly list out the workouts of the day (WODs) or describe the exercises. There would be no point, as that’s all public information anyway. Instead, Hertz wrote an impassioned history of CrossFit’s landmark moments with a life and verve that CrossFitters will understand to their core, and non-CrossFitters will envy.

A Book for CrossFitters

It seems fairly obvious that this book will appeal to CrossFitters. If you’ve joined CrossFit as a part of the big wave of office workers, laborers, CEOs, and mail room clerks who have become CrossFit enthusiasts, learning the history of the culture that’s been taking ahold of you will no doubt be exhilarating. You can stand on the shoulders of giants, as it were.

For those who started CrossFit a half-decade ago or more, when the culture amounted to little more than posting your WOD scores on the otherwise spartan CrossFit website, this book may provide a bit of nostalgia for you. The diehards may love recounting some of the history they know, and learning some of the details that perhaps they didn’t.

Personally, I fit into a variation of the latter group, which I suspect is quite large. Being well-entrenched in the fitness world, I knew about CrossFit early on. I would peruse their website now and again, and try the workouts that I saw. At my level of experience, the workouts weren’t particularly new, but that’s not what kept me checking out the website time and time again. The forums where people posted their WOD scores were what kept me returning to the website.

Posting results on an online community isn’t new, either. Plenty of websites have done it since the dawn of the Internet, but the CrossFit website just felt different. It was an entity of its own. Its feel was remarkable and unmistakable. That was the burgeoning culture that made CrossFit special, and it’s exactly what Herz has a knack for describing. This book will be enjoyable to anyone who has thought about CrossFit more than once, for good or bad, simply because it has such a unique presence that can’t be explained by fitness alone.

About the Book

The story opens with Jerry Hill, an ex-Marine yearning for the feeling he would get during his toughest physical labors and the lengths he went to to get that feeling back. The book is full of personalities like Jerry, and it follows him and others as they weave through the path to becoming the juggernaut that CrossFit is today. From new coaches renting out space in dojos just to get a crew of enthusiasts inside, to the advent of the CrossFit Games, which became the biggest sporting event by participation in the world, and then on to big corporate sponsorship, this book covers a huge swath of the cultural history of CrossFit.

One of my favorite sections is about the CrossFit legend Rich Froning. His story interested me because he was a small-town guy working out in his family barn, which reminds me of my own childhood. No matter who you are, you will identify with one or many of the personalities that make the CrossFit culture as big as it is today.

CrossFit-Colored Glasses

The only possible downside is that Herz often portrays CrossFit as seen through CrossFit-colored glasses. There’s no question that Herz is a convert to the cult, as she herself calls CrossFit in the book. Even when potentially negative aspects of CrossFit culture are raised, such as founder Greg Glassman’s refusal to acknowledge other successful programs as useful for athletes, they get brushed off with the statement, “Things are better now.” If you’re not drinking the Kool-Aid, this might come across as distasteful.

As far as books go, this one is pretty much the CrossFit of books. At least some of it will be of interest to everyone, even if the haters can’t admit it. It’s a well-written and well-detailed rose-colored history of CrossFit and some of its many people. Learning to Breathe Fire is worth a read for anyone with an interest in CrossFit.

“Learning to Breathe Fire” is available for $25.00 at Amazon.com.

The post “Learning to Breathe Fire” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I’ve read a lot of books on women’s health, and particularly reproductive health, and I can honestly say that The 28 Days Lighter Diet is unlike any of them. I’m so excited about this new offering by Ellen Barrett and Kate Hanley. I found its unique approach to be engaging, informative, and highly entertaining.

If you’re not sure whether or not you should read this book, assess how you respond to this statement: “A normal, healthy menstrual flow comes every 28 days, lasts for 3 to 5 days, and doesn’t include pain of any kind.” If your first reaction is to think sarcastically, “Yeah, right, you’re dreaming,” then you need to read this book. The truth is, your menstrual cycle doesn’t have to be a monthly tragedy that makes your workouts, work, and significant other suffer. If it sounds too good to be true, then this is the book for you.

This book is based on the idea that a woman’s menstrual cycle is “…a major indicator of her state of health.” Rather than simply seeing the menstrual cycle as a the curse of Eve or a “super-concentrated concoction of germs,” as described in one of the historical accounts the authors reference, this book aims to educate women about the cues they can take from their cycles. “This is another way in which we women are the lucky ones: Mother Nature checks in with us every month and gives us obvious feedback regarding our state of being.” Rather than simply seeing symptoms like irregular bleeding, heavy menstruation, or debilitating cramps as normal and simply part of the chore of being a woman, the authors seek to provide simple, effective ways to manage and even prevent unpleasant symptoms from occurring.

One of my favorite chapters was the “Herstory” chapter, which provides a colorful historical analysis of changing perceptions of menstruation. I suppose if you were being picky, you could argue that this section isn’t absolutely necessary to the overall subject of the book, which is eating and working in rhythm with your cycle. However, I think this chapter did a great job of putting me in the proper mindset for talking about the finer points of diet and fitness as they pertain to menstruation.

Hanley goes on to divide the menstrual cycle into three phases, with chapters providing specific directives for each. Here is a brief rundown of those three phases and their corresponding areas of focus for nutrition and workouts:

• Phase One: Menstruation, Days 1 – 7: The priorities during Phase One are rest, getting enough sleep, eating warming foods in small servings, and getting enough iron in your diet (and as a cast iron fanatic, I was thrilled to see the recommendation to use cast iron for cooking!). The nickname for this phase is “Wise Woman.”
• Phase Two: Mega Phase, Days 8 – 21: Focus is on daily workouts, socialization, adequate protein intake, regular movement, and thyroid support. The authors call this phase “The Mother.”
• Phase Three: Pre-Menstruation, Days 22 – 28: During this phase, women should exercise every other day, stay hydrated, practice meditation, and focus on vitamin D and magnesium intake. The best way to describe a woman’s mood during this time is the nickname for this phase, “The Vixen.”

To top it all off, there is also a yoga sequence provided for each of these three phases, with photos for guidance. At the end of the book, you’ll find an entire 28-day plan with suggested workouts, meals, and lifestyle tips. Keep in mind that despite the title, this book is not just about food. It’s a well-rounded, simple program that any woman can follow.

Hanley discusses common problems and how to address them in gentle, natural ways. I appreciated the many perspectives provided by alternative health practioners that you will find throughout the book, including several snippets by biomechanist Katy Bowman and tidbits detailing Traditional Chinese Medicine and ayurvedic principles from Laurie Steelsmith, ND. These insights flesh out the topic and add a unique layer of expert advice that is unfortunately lacking in most of the literature I’ve read.

For personal and health reasons, birth control is not an option for me, and I will definitely be referencing this book to manage the ups and downs of my own menstrual cycle. As the authors point out, “The female body changes from week to week, and traditional diet and workout programs never acknowledge this phenomenon, much less take advantage of it.” That’s a lot easier said than done, but this book will help you do it successfully.

“The 28 Days Lighter Diet” is available for $12.38 at Amazon.com.

The post “The 28 Days Lighter Diet” (Book Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I felt mixed emotions when I received The 21 Day Sugar Detox in the mail. This new book from Diane Sanfilippo promises to help you kick your sugar habits and reset your palate and metabolism in just three weeks by eating whole foods and avoiding sugar in all its forms. The noble, better part of my soul was excited to try this new challenge, but my appetitive side was looking for excuses to get out of it. I quickly found the fructose demon on my shoulder rattling off the reasons I shouldn’t review this book. “You just had a baby! You’re nursing! And besides, you don’t really need to do this. You don’t eat a lot of sugar, anyway,” she said slyly.

Author Diane Sanfilippo had already thought of all my excuses. I quickly found that the nursing was no excuse, as her book outlined modifications for people with higher carbohydrate needs, including pregnant and nursing women and athletes who participate in high-intensity exercise on a regular basis.

As for not needing a program like this, that proposition was also mistaken for me, and I suspect it may be for other people out there. On the list of “No” foods for my own level, I found several foods that I ate regularly at the time, including all fresh and dried fruits (except for green-tipped bananas, grapefruit, and Granny Smith apples), cashews and cashew butter, quinoa, lentils, and white rice. And of course, the lovely jars of pure maple syrup and raw honey in our pantry would have to wait for later, even though they are “natural” sweeteners. As it turned out, there were a lot of foods I could do without.

My point is, pretty much anyone can benefit from giving Diane’s program a shot. Whether you still eat Twinkies on a daily basis or opt for raw honey or coconut sugar, The 21 Day Sugar Detox will help you overcome cravings and put sugar in its proper place. As Diane notes in the beginning of the book, the program isn’t about avoiding a specific toxin or drinking juice all day. It’s a whole-food-based program that focuses on achieving a healthy balance of fat, protein, and carbs. It’s also not to be confused with a low-carb program, and although you will be ditching the sugar, you won’t be lacking in carbs, which makes it a good fit for beginners.

Here’s a brief overview of what you’ll find in this book:

• Overview about what sugar is and why we crave it
• Preparation checklists
• What to Expect day-by-day tips
• Supplement recommendations
• FAQ section
• Success log
• Guide to replacing foods, food labels, dining out, and fats
• Quiz to determine which level you need and details for each plan
• Modifications
• Meal Plans
• Menus for each level
• Resources for further reading

As Diane noted in the book, “To detox from sugar means not only to rid your body of cravings for it, but also to rid your daily life of the structure built around being a slave to when you eat sugar, how much you eat, and the form in which you eat it.” To that end, the book offers more than meal plans and templates. In the beginning of the book, you will find a helpful, thorough informational chapter about why you should follow the program in the first place, and the end of the book is full of resources where you can learn more.

Diane also recognizes that when it comes to success with a program like this, preparation is key. The preparation checklist helped me get ready for the detox and have a handy list of the foods I needed to avoid. The “Roadmap to Your Detox” is a short guide to how you might feel on each day of the detox, and how to avoid slipping up or get back on track when you do give in to temptation.

And then there are the recipes and meal plans. Following the meal plans is optional, and although I didn’t follow them strictly, I did find they were extremely helpful. You’ll also find over ninety recipes that are appropriate for all levels, with tips and modifications included when applicable. Recipes I tried included:

• Bacon and Root Veggie Hash
• Broccoli and Herb Egg Muffins
• Tomato-basil Quiche with Bacon and Spinach
• Mustard-Glazed Chicken Thighs
• Italian-style Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Balsamic-Braised Beef
• Tuna Salad Wraps
• Smoky Chicken Tortilla-less Soup
• Savory Herb Drop Biscuits
• Spicy Thai Nut Mix
• Granny Smith Apple Crumble

Even though I already finished the program, I still use this book frequently for recipes, particularly for desserts and treats. The recipes are quite simple and easy to make, and I’m sure that was Diane’s point. It’s hard enough to go 21 days without sugar, and the meals are low-maintenance but delicious to help you on your journey.

If you complete the program, you will find that your taste for sugar is affected. For example, when I first started out, the Granny Smith Apple Crumble did not make a satisfying after-dinner dessert because it wasn’t sweet enough. I felt like I needed to pour about half a cup of maple syrup on top to make it truly qualify as a dessert. Now I find it to be the perfect end to a meal (although just a tad bit of freshly made whipped cream is a nice touch).

In fact, ironically, I feel that after completing this program I have a deeper appreciation for sugar in its more subtle forms. I can have a small piece of dark chocolate when I get a sugar craving and I am satisfied. If you would also like to restore your relationship with sugar and overcome cravings that make you “hangry,” I highly recommend this book.

“The 21 Day Sugar Detox” is availble for $19.92 at Amazon.com.

The post Book Review: “The 21 Day Sugar Detox” by Diane Sanfilippo appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I was first introduced to the work of Ray Long through his book The Key Muscles of Yoga, which I read and then reread when it was required during a yoga teacher certification course I took part in. From there, I discovered his Yoga Mat Companion series. The first volume, Yoga Mat Companion 1: Anatomy for Vinyasa Flow and Standing Poses is everything you’d expect from an orthopedic surgeon who practices and teaches yoga. Diving into the anatomical details of yoga postures can only enhance your experience of their practice. And even if you don’t practice yoga, you can still find amazing info and visuals on musculoskeletal anatomy. This volume of the Yoga Mat Companion series has been one of the primary resources to which I keep returning to enhance and develop not only my own practice but also my skills as a yoga instructor.

Each pose is covered in detail in about six to eight pages of illustrations and detailed cues that inspire beginners to give it a try and encourage the more seasoned practitioner to refine each pose by the most subtle of adjustments. It’s not uncommon for me to read six pages and then stop because I need to absorb what I just read for a few days or because I immediately feel excited to try out the pose I just read about.

Along with the main section covering each standing pose in detail, some bonuses of the Yoga Mat Companion series include the Key Concepts section, Bone and Muscle Anatomy Index, and Glossary of Terms. If you are newer to yoga, the Key Concepts section alone is worth the price of the book, covering isometric isolation, muscle co-activation, bandhas, and reciprocal inhibition, among other topics.

Another convenient feature is the way the author explains cues that are often given in a yoga class setting that might be confusing if you don’t already understand them. How do you “hug the knee joint” in triangle pose? Or “wring out your arms?” Or “scrub your foot?” If you need to engage your accessory muscles to deep breathing and you’ve never done that before, what are some clear and practical instructions to make that happen? Here, we, the readers, are given more direct adjustments that we can use to accomplish these ends. As a yoga teacher who instructs primarily in a one-on-one setting, I often need to explain adjustments to students in more than one way until it clicks for them, or in a way that is accessible for them. Cueing someone to “engage your abductors” while in downward dog might not work directly, but instructing that same student to drag her feet away from one another is a little more clear and accomplishes the same purpose.

This is probably not the type of book you would read from beginning to end over the course of a short period of time, but rather you would find the pose you’d like to refine and study that one section for a few weeks. Nonetheless, the book is arranged in sequential order in terms of how you might arrange the poses in your practice. I spent about six months working my way through this volume, but only because I spent time practicing each pose after reading about it. You could certainly read straight through the book in a few days and still gain plenty of useful tidbits, I just wouldn’t recommend it that way.

If you really wanted to find something negative to critique about this book, you probably could say that the writing style is a bit dry. But it’s not meant to be a page turner. It’s meant to be a reference book that you can keep coming back to and mull over single sentences until you really understand what they mean.

Mr. Long also has a great blog that I read at Daily Bandha. There you’ll find plenty of free material and useful info with graphics, videos, and illustrations even more detailed than in his books.

“Yoga Mat Companion 1: Anatomy for Vinyasa Flow and Standing Poses” is available for $25.80 at Amazon.com.

The post Book Review: “Yoga Mat Companion 1: Anatomy for Vinyasa Flow and Standing Poses” by Ray Long, MD appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Andrew Read, Master RKC, is a great writer when it comes to articles on strength and performance. So when I was asked to review his new book, Beast Tamer, I was interested and excited to see if he could translate that same passion and wisdom into a book.

The book is based on becoming a Beast Tamer, which involves performing a perfect pistol, a press, and a pull up with a 48kg kettlebell. This is perhaps the ultimate strength testing accolade in the Dragon Door RKC kettlebell instructor training system. The equivalent for women is becoming an Iron Maiden by performing the same with a 24kg kettlebell. Make no mistake, this is a tough challenge involving a combination of strength, mobility, and skill across three very different movements. As Andrew notes, only one percent of those involved in the RKC system have ever achieved it.

Andrew is faced with a challenge himself here – breaking down an elite challenge into an achievable system and accessible format. In summary, he manages this very well.

The book begins by explaining the challenge, and this introduction sets the tone for the rest of the book. Andrew always takes it back to the real core of whatever he is writing about, and in the introduction, he begins by explaining why you should be lifting heavy stuff in the first place. He follows this up by referring to a variety of well-respected strength training figures, including Dan John, Mel Siff, and Yuri Verkhoshansky, citing their strength training beliefs as a basis for this book. These solid foundations help to give the book credibility straight away.

Andrew then introduces some themes that run throughout the book. For one, he explains that a key to mastering this challenge is identifying and working your weaknesses. Throughout the book, he continues to remind us of similar basic strength training principles that would serve us all well, such as hard work, perseverance, patience, and discipline. I like the way this book has a final goal – to tame the Beast – but also puts great value on the journey.

The book is then split into three sections for the pistol, the press, and the pull up. These sections start with drills required to develop skill, which is good for those who need basic skill progressions for the movements. However, Andrew is mindful throughout the book of the different skill (and strength) levels of his audience and explains how for more advanced trainers these same drills can be used as a warm up. Additionally, within each section there are good explanations of why Andrew focuses on particular drills, their benefits, and their carryover.

At the end of each section, Andrew includes two different specialist programs for the pistol, the press and the pull up. The pistol section also contains a light version if all you want to do is learn the pistol. The press section is structured well, and includes details on position, mechanics, and common faults.

This section is also a good example of how Andrew always takes the reader right back to basics. For the press, this includes how to create good and tight rack position. To accomplish this, Andrew reverts back to something as simple, yet undervalued, as plank drills. I feel that this type of information is invaluable even if you are not that concerned with the challenge itself. The pull up section follows a similar vein as the previous two sections, providing valuable strategies for building the upper back strength required to meet the challenge.

The book then incorporates some workout plans. These are not just a list of workouts as in many books, but are explained well in terms of goals and how you would use the plans. Within these workouts, and the book in general, Andrew references many other books and authors such as Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline. I like the respect paid to these coaches and the fact that the book does not try to reinvent the wheel – rather, it is a synthesis of strength training concepts mixed in and pulled together through Andrew’s deep experience and expertise.

Finally, there are some interviews with those few that have completed the challenge. Even these are filled with tips and tricks – yet more value for your money.

My only criticism at this point has nothing to do with the writing or information. Rather, it is that there’s so much practical information packed into the book, with drill and solutions all numbered and mixed in with each other, that sometimes it serves to flick back a few pages to remind yourself of the overall goal of the drills and solutions offered.

The book is written in an honest and personal fashion. Andrew is happy to say that he hates certain drills because they are difficult, or to explain when something works even though he has no specific scientific backing for it.

This book is absolutely packed with practical information, corrective fixes, and drills. The programming is personalized as much as possibly can be within a single book. The lessons are valuable regardless of the specific aspect of strength training you are interested in. Whether you are an athlete or a coach, this book is well worth a space on any strength enthusiast’s bookshelf.

“Beast Tamer” is available for $29.95 at DragonDoor.com.

The post Book Review: “Beast Tamer” by Andrew Read appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If you’re looking for a new diet plan that will tell you exactly which foods to eat, which foods to eliminate, how many calories to consume each day, and when to consume them, you might benefit from reading Sane and Simple Nutrition by Nia Shanks. Not because it does any of those things, but because it offers a new perspective on eating and food.

Before I go any further, I must admit there is probably a bit of personal bias in this review. As someone who has experimented with several rigid diets at this point – including paleo, vegetarianism, and the old-fashioned ‘counting calories’ approach – only to find myself stressed, hungry, and lacking energy, so much of this book applied my own experiences with dieting and nutrition. I actually found myself agreeing with Nia out loud as I read.

Nia’s approach is, well, simple. In her own words, “Sane and Simple Nutrition is about stripping nutrition down to the bare essentials for the simplest, easiest, and most stress-free way possible to build a better body.” That means you won’t find pages of studies and opinions from health experts about whether or not you should soak your grains or eat cheese. You won’t find tables and diagrams of detailed daily meal plans. You will not find entire chapters devoted to chastising certain foods or food groups. Not that there’s anything wrong with research, planning, and food elimination when necessary – it’s just not what you should expect from this particular book.

Nia’s approach is a bit different. Rather than focusing on the nitty-gritty details of diet plans, this book aims to reset your approach to food and eating. One of the primary goals of Sane and Simple Nutrition is to help readers break free from what Nia calls “OCD eating habits” and the guilt that often comes with following a strict diet. This book is not a guide to analyzing your food but a guide to enjoying your food and building a healthier, better body in the meantime.

Sane and Simple Nutrition is an easy read and written in a conversational style. Although it’s a quick read, there’s also a lot of take away and practical tips. Here are some of the topics I found most helpful:

• The Domino Foods Chapter: This chapter discusses how to avoid fods that trigger overeating.

• The Sane and Simple Nutrition Chapter: Outlines Nia’s nine mental and physical principles of healthy eating.

• The Real Food Reference Guide + Resources: This short chapter provides a list of foods to include in your diet as well as tips for shopping locally.

• Intermittent Fasting Chapter: This chapter details two approaches to intermittent fasting and gives some advice for doing it without falling into disordered eating habits.

• Sane and Simple Strength Training Chapter: This is a very short chapter but I appreciate that Nia includes recommendations for strength training in her book. Some of the nutrition books I’ve read have felt a little incomplete with no mention of physical activity.

Sane and Simple Nutrition is available in PDF format, and you’ll find links throughout to recipes, resources, and other information. I do wish some of the information were a little more detailed and that there were more recipes. Other than that, this is a good resource for any athlete looking to simplify and clean up their diet and their overall approach to food.

“Sane and Simple Nutrition” is available for $13.00 in PDF format at NiaShanks.com.

The post Book Review: “Sane and Simple Nutrition” by Nia Shanks appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Clint Nielsen’s Reveal the Steel is a fitness book that completes a circle often left incomplete in the lives of many Americans. It comes from the position of struggle, trials and tribulations, success, and a repeatable plan to dig readers out of the very rut the author used to share with them.

From the high ground position of my own health and fitness, I’m often amazed when I look down on the countless folks struggling to turn their lives around. I’m amazed there are so many people who don’t have the tools or knowledge to even begin their climb to the top of their best health. My heart aches for the millions of people getting up early to head into their local gym to work out the only way they know how and to eat the only way they know to eat – without success.

With Reveal the Steel, you’ll quickly learn that the author is speaking as an expert on the subject, while remaining in touch with the reader. Clint Nielsen begins his book with a compelling personal story of rock-bottom health, and his own success story paved with dedication, trial, and error. This is a guy who went from being called names as a heavyset teenager, to trying to train his way out of his rut with cardio, experimenting with supplements (even steroids), portion control, and endured endless peaks and valleys.

The author isn’t vague in any way shape or form about who this book is for. Reveal the Steel is an approachable plan for any man or woman to achieve a sustainable, lean physique. I love how real Nielsen is in his writing and his intentions. He even goes as far to say that if you’re looking to get “super massive like a bodybuilder” that you’ve come to the wrong place.

What’s Reveal the Steel’s “magic bullet?” Ironically, it’s a mature approach to a combination of lifestyle components. Nielsen’s honesty brings the reader crashing back down to Earth over and over, which sets the stage for lasting change.

Before there is even a word about exercises and program structure, Reveal the Steel dives into food and nutrition, as it should, in my opinion. It’s in the nutrition section that Nielsen begins to get specific with his plan of action. It’s here he encourages intermittent fasting and carb cycling, as well as outlining the dos and don’ts of macronutrient food sources. The nutrition section even gets into general guidelines of quality and addresses common misconceptions about calorie intake. The reader will definitely be steered in a helpful direction, albeit without having specific meals and regimented portions to follow.

The training portion of the program starts by also wiping the slate clean of common misconceptions and exercise mistakes. Here, Nielsen addresses overtraining, neglect of the posterior chain, logging workouts, cardio intensive training, and plateau. After the reader is free and clear of what he/she thought was true of training, Nielsen gets into action mode. What’s his first bit advice? Goal oriented training.

I was specifically impressed with Nielsen’s ability to cover the basics for people new to training. Things that I would be prone to skipping over, like defining what exercises constitute isolated movements versus compound movements, are critical foundational concepts he addresses in great detail. From there, the training begins with an eighteen-week program, with the flexibility to accommodate modifications whether the reader is training at home or in the gym.

The full program is three stages long, with a fourth bonus stage for “hardcore trainers” only. The first stage gets things rolling with strength and fat loss, stage two incorporates muscle gain and strength, and stage three rounds it out with focus on fat loss and muscle gain. The entire program is well illustrated and easy to follow, including modifications. A guide to nutrition strategy is coupled with each section of the training outline, as well.

Reveal the Steelis personal and well thought out. I don’t doubt for one minute that a compliant participant will see a positive adaption. Starting with the premise of lasting change and sustainable results, the big question is whether or not participants will be able to live with the steel once they’ve begun to reveal it. Nielsen addresses this very topic with a handful of strategies for life after week eighteen. Potentially, the most helpful way he does this is with enticing advanced skills, like the human flag or a one-armed push up, which may keep folks pushing on for years to come.

“Reveal the Steal” is available at for $47.00 at revealthesteel.com.

The post Book Review: “Reveal the Steel” by Clint Nielsen appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The book Ignite! Enrichment Through Exercise by Chris Cooper and Tyler Belanger, is packed with information, but it all boils down to a very simple concept: learning is an activity of the brain and the entire body. As the authors say, “Movement is hardwired into our system to trigger cognitive action.” Ignite! not only to exposes the science behind these assertions, but also outlines what an educational program that took the relation between the brain and movement would look like.

As the wife of a high school teacher and mother of a preschooler and toddler, I found this book fascinating. Belanger and Cooper have managed to compile a resource that is both packed with information and accessible. There is a lot of information in this book, but these are five concepts that I found make this book and its approach to learning stand out:

1. The Body Is Made To Move

Belanger and Cooper emphasize that the body should be in continuous motion. So often you hear trainers preach the “30 minutes of exercise per day” line. Not so for the authors of Ignite. “The body is built to move not only one hour per day, or four times a week, but to remain in constant action and reaction.” Imagine if we were to implement that concept in the modern school setting.

2. Setting the Stage For Success:

“For a student to reach a state of self-actualization – ready to learn, confident in their capacity, and in a positive state of mind – their most basic needs must be met first.” This seems obvious, but so often in my experience tutoring middle and high schoolers, the basics are forgotten. Sleep, stress, and diet play a critical role in academic and athletic success, and I was happy to see that the Ignite! curriculum acknowledges the role of these basic needs.

3. Centrality of Play:

“Play is a form of therapy AND a form of practice.” Belanger and Cooper use the example of Alice, a 12-year-old with a brain injury. After several unsuccessful sessions ignoring her therapists and even hiding under the table to avoid therapy, Alice tried the Ignite! program. “Ignite! was playtime to Alice; it was practice. It was a chance to challenge her abilities and improve.”

4. Creating a Context For Learning:

Learning doesn’t have to take place in a sterile classroom. One unique aspect of the Ignite curriculum is that all lessons are connected to some kind of physical activity. For example, the lesson might begin with a warm up to release dopamine and acetylcholine and increase the heart rate, followed by the lesson introduction, and finally moving into a focus drill. The session ends with an Anchoring Activity to make sure the information sticks.

5. Movement as a Critical Part of Learning:

We seem to remember this during early childhood, but as children get older, they move less and less in many classroom settings. The Ignite! program aims to utilize movement to anchor thoughts and encourage creative thinking.

If these are the types of ideas you enjoy discussing with fellow teachers or coaches, check out this book. I’ve only scraped the surface of the information you will find in Ignite!. Here’s a brief overview of the book’s sections:

1. Anatomy or Better Living Through Chemistry: Explores how exercise affects the brain and primes it for learning.
2. Childhood Development: Explores the brain’s development from infancy, and how this relates to learning, social development, and movement patterns.
3. Ignite! In Practice and Delivery: Explores the plasticity of the brain and the centrality of practice
4. Applying Ignite! In a One-On-One Setting At Home, Or With a Coach: Provides some concrete tips for using the Ignite! approach in an educational or home one-on-one setting
5. Ignite! Program Delivery in the Classroom: Offers a brief comparison of Ignite!with the traditional classroom model and gives tips for teachers.
6. Resource Section: Various studies and an article from the CrossFit Journal
7. The Ignite! Academy: Provides a detailed picture of what an Ignite! academy looks like, from the actual layout of the academy to the lesson plans presented.

The book also includes several appendices with worksheets, workout progressions, and more.

To my mind, the only problem with this book was the formatting. There’s not index or table of contents, and I found typos in several spots. However, the wealth of information definitely makes up for less-than-perfect formatting. I’d love to hear what other coaches and educators thought of Ignite!,or any success stories from this innovative program. Feel free to share in the comments section below!

“Ignite! Enrichment Through Exercise” is available for .99.

The post Book Review: “Ignite! Enrichment Through Exercise” by Chris Cooper and Tyler Belanger appeared first on Breaking Muscle.