Skip to main content

Run For Your Life - A great guide for starting out

 My Score 10/10

What is covered? Diet, biomechanics, slow training, training plans 

I don't give many books full marks but there is so little I don't like about this book I was annoyed I had forgot about it until now. In fact it is another book I own in both paperback and audiobook and as a result of seeing it am going to give it another listen to. Things I like / use in my own training that are talked about in this book: 

  1. Walking before you can run, it is even the title of chapter 3. 
  2. Standing more than sitting e.g. standing desks (chapter 2)
  3. Barefoot / Minimalist Running (mentioned in a few places) 
  4. Maffetone / Low Heart Rate training 
  5. Diet - Low carb which would be sufficient for most runners. 
  6. Running Drills to improve technique 
  7. Recovery is where you improve and should be prioritised. 
  8. Health and happiness before performance but also often leads to it. 
  9. Strength training
The book opens up with how humans evolved and the function of the foot as well as some of Mark's experiences. It leads into various chapters covering various aspects of training all of which is backed by Marks medical knowledge and scientific research. At the start of chapters there are often helpful quotes and facts and myths to try and help people process the information. After all it is easier to fool someone than to convince them they have been fooled. 

Example quote: "You are not training to run an event. What you are training for is to live a long and productive life and maintain health optimally"

Example Myth: "When you are exercising, sugar is the best fuel to keep you going"

Key take aways: Really get this book and give it a good read, most runners will benefit from applying the coaching principles in this book. 


Below are some YouTube video to get you started on Mark C. 





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Humans are Carnivore - Persistence / Subsistence Hunting

This one is not so much about complete carnivore but about why we should eat meat and why we should prioritise it. After all, if hundreds of thousands of years of evolution drove us to walk upright, sweat, shed fur for hair, springy legs and feet and a digestive system optimised to process fat. So humans were born / evolved to run but we did so in order to hunt animals to give us the fat we needed to thrive. Lets have a look at some of the literature, note that these were just a few of the many articles I came across and several of these are themselves reviews that reference many articles to support these hypothesis. At this point it is a fact that humans evolved the way they did because of / for their meat based diet. Evolution works on such grand timescales that we are essentially the same beings as we were 10,000 years ago and as such are still a species that is has been moulded through time to live and thrive off of meat. It is the drive to hunt that meat that has led to use be...
Post a Comment
Read more

"The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease

My Score 8/10 Category : Debunking myths on nutrition "The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It" by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick challenges conventional wisdom regarding cholesterol and its alleged link to heart disease. The author presents an alternative perspective that questions the validity of the widely accepted cholesterol hypothesis. Dr. Kendrick delves into the history of the cholesterol theory, examining the research that has shaped our understanding of heart disease. He argues that the demonization of cholesterol as the primary culprit in cardiovascular issues oversimplifies a complex set of factors that contribute to heart health. It is well known that the Ancel Keys published selective data to start the world on a route towards high carb, low fat and things snowballed from there. One of the strengths of the book is its accessibility to the general reader. Dr. Kendrick avoids overly technical language, making it easie...
Post a Comment
Read more

Primal Endurance

My Score - 9/10 Key Area's covered: Running by Feel, MAF, Strength, Barefoot Key Positives: Great blueprint for getting started. "Primal Endurance" is aimed to be a ground-breaking guide that revolutionizes the way we approach endurance training, offering a refreshing and effective alternative to conventional methods. This book was the original inspiration for changing my training methodology after a few years of constant injuries. Authored by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns, the book presents a comprehensive blueprint for achieving peak performance while embracing the primal principles of ancestral health. As is my guiding principle, health leads to performance (it might just take a little longer!). Sisson and Kearns skilfully marry their expertise in endurance training with the ancestral wisdom of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. The result is a holistic approach that prioritizes intuitive training, emphasizing the importance of aerobic development through MAF training and me...
Post a Comment
Read more