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339 reviews for:
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Alex Hutchinson
4.01 AVERAGE
339 reviews for:
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Alex Hutchinson
4.01 AVERAGE
After running a few marathons and many more half marathons, I'd consider myself quite knowledgable about endurance training. So when I curiously opened this book I expected to pick up a few more tricks or something that would help me run more and run faster. I didn't get this. Except I got a completely engrossing book about endurance and how we always find out new things about human performance.
This book isn't really how to run faster or further. It's about how the different systems in our bodies might work together to provide incredible endurance. In that sense, I could have been disappointed by the lack of clear and helpful advice. On the other hand, it does something much more than that. It provides me the knowledge that there are hidden depths that we might sometimes access if needed and that we are not mechanistic machines, limited by vo2max numbers or others, but that our limits are elastic and can change a lot. Hutchinson is a former runner and a journalist and is really adept at translating the scientific studies into something understandable. More than this, he's also not trying to sell you anything. If results are inconclusive, he reports that, leaving you to take your own position on it.
I highly recommend this to anyone who's interested in human performance and for anyone who's regularly running long distances, this is really a book for you!
This book isn't really how to run faster or further. It's about how the different systems in our bodies might work together to provide incredible endurance. In that sense, I could have been disappointed by the lack of clear and helpful advice. On the other hand, it does something much more than that. It provides me the knowledge that there are hidden depths that we might sometimes access if needed and that we are not mechanistic machines, limited by vo2max numbers or others, but that our limits are elastic and can change a lot. Hutchinson is a former runner and a journalist and is really adept at translating the scientific studies into something understandable. More than this, he's also not trying to sell you anything. If results are inconclusive, he reports that, leaving you to take your own position on it.
I highly recommend this to anyone who's interested in human performance and for anyone who's regularly running long distances, this is really a book for you!
This book was quite interesting - people have come up with a lot of creative ways to short circuit the body's self-protection systems and squeeze out better performance. But, I imagine like most readers will be, I was disappointed to find that there were few lessons you could apply to your life as a casual athlete.
I found the chapters on hydration, food, and mindset most interesting.
It turns out that the popular story that you're already dehydrated when you're thirsty is misleading. You are technically dehydrated, but your body is very efficient at functioning while slightly dehydrated. Also, drinking water has as much of a psychological benefit as a physical one. Most of the time, your body can't ingest water fast enough to make it useful while exercising anyway.
The story for food is similar: you probably can't eat fast enough to replenish the calories you burn, unless you're moving pretty slowly. Most of the effect of eating during a workout is in tricking the brain. Another interesting finding was eating fat vs carbs. In intense exercise, you mostly use carbohydrates stored in the muscles and liver. In sustainable exercise, you use fat. If you switch to an all-fat diet, you'll get better at burning fat and have more energy for slow exercise, but you'll lose all the carbs for fast exercise. For non-ultramarathoners, this tradeoff isn't worth it. However, it's still good to train on an empty stomach from time to time to force your body to learn to burn more fat.
A few of the chapters were about mindset. For example, there's a theory that caffeine is mostly beneficial because it makes you feel good. Similarly, Tylenol or even fentanyl have positive training effects in the short term (until you exceed the body's limits that the pain the drugs block was there to prevent). Positive self-talk, competition, mental resilience, and the placebo effect are also pretty useful in improving performance by a few percentage points too.
I was also disappointed to learn that I might be limited by oxygen intake (and maybe in efficiency in heat) as a tall runner living at sea level in one of the most moderate climates in the world.
But most of the studies are on how to extract the maximum out of a pre-trained body without dying, not about how to train your body to have a higher maximum. The message the author leaves at the end - run a lot of miles, some of them faster than race pace - isn't actually discussed in the body of the book. Maybe it's just such an obvious thing that no sports scientists bother to study it.
Ultimately, my big takeaways were: drink when you're thirsty, eat a few hours before big runs, and believe in yourself/don't worry about the small stuff.
I found the chapters on hydration, food, and mindset most interesting.
It turns out that the popular story that you're already dehydrated when you're thirsty is misleading. You are technically dehydrated, but your body is very efficient at functioning while slightly dehydrated. Also, drinking water has as much of a psychological benefit as a physical one. Most of the time, your body can't ingest water fast enough to make it useful while exercising anyway.
The story for food is similar: you probably can't eat fast enough to replenish the calories you burn, unless you're moving pretty slowly. Most of the effect of eating during a workout is in tricking the brain. Another interesting finding was eating fat vs carbs. In intense exercise, you mostly use carbohydrates stored in the muscles and liver. In sustainable exercise, you use fat. If you switch to an all-fat diet, you'll get better at burning fat and have more energy for slow exercise, but you'll lose all the carbs for fast exercise. For non-ultramarathoners, this tradeoff isn't worth it. However, it's still good to train on an empty stomach from time to time to force your body to learn to burn more fat.
A few of the chapters were about mindset. For example, there's a theory that caffeine is mostly beneficial because it makes you feel good. Similarly, Tylenol or even fentanyl have positive training effects in the short term (until you exceed the body's limits that the pain the drugs block was there to prevent). Positive self-talk, competition, mental resilience, and the placebo effect are also pretty useful in improving performance by a few percentage points too.
I was also disappointed to learn that I might be limited by oxygen intake (and maybe in efficiency in heat) as a tall runner living at sea level in one of the most moderate climates in the world.
But most of the studies are on how to extract the maximum out of a pre-trained body without dying, not about how to train your body to have a higher maximum. The message the author leaves at the end - run a lot of miles, some of them faster than race pace - isn't actually discussed in the body of the book. Maybe it's just such an obvious thing that no sports scientists bother to study it.
Ultimately, my big takeaways were: drink when you're thirsty, eat a few hours before big runs, and believe in yourself/don't worry about the small stuff.
This book was a well-balanced mix of scientific (and historical) information, anecdotes, and humor. Alex Hutchinson didn't sensationalize some of the more extreme experiments and findings, while providing his take with clear disclaimers, which I appreciate.
The take-away, for me, is that even though we don't know how, we do know that our brain does play an important role in letting us overcome (or inhibiting us from) certain physical limits -- not exactly surprising, but the extent of this effect was definitely more than I expected.
One practical take-away, for my running, is:
Overall a very good read!
The take-away, for me, is that even though we don't know how, we do know that our brain does play an important role in letting us overcome (or inhibiting us from) certain physical limits -- not exactly surprising, but the extent of this effect was definitely more than I expected.
One practical take-away, for my running, is:
[even pacing]: it reduces the risk of a blowup, but takes away the possibility of a breakthrough.
Overall a very good read!
informative
medium-paced
A deep dive into what makes athletes tick
A truly spectacular look at what separates endurance athletes from everyone else. Hutchinson really dives deep in the weeds to look at what kind of adaptations makes athletes successful, and how to improve, while still presenting the information in an interesting manner. It's definitely given me more than a few things to think about in my training and racing. I will absolutely recommend it to all of my friends.
A truly spectacular look at what separates endurance athletes from everyone else. Hutchinson really dives deep in the weeds to look at what kind of adaptations makes athletes successful, and how to improve, while still presenting the information in an interesting manner. It's definitely given me more than a few things to think about in my training and racing. I will absolutely recommend it to all of my friends.
Made this incredibly scientific and specific topic accessible for a general
All my years of reading the literature and more consolidated into one book. And coming from another runner made it all the more readable for me.
Highly recommend to any Endurance athlete at any level.
Highly recommend to any Endurance athlete at any level.
Listened to this one on audiobook while running (felt like that would be more inspirational than it actually was).
Overall, enjoyed this and found it really interesting to dive into some of the details of the psychological and physiological aspects of endurance / elite human performance. While some of it seems obvious, it was fascinating to hear the results of physical lab tests seeking to prove or disprove the existence of a central governor (particular interesting given David Goggins' focus on 'overcoming' the central governor in his book). I found the debates around nutrition (high fat vs. high carb for endurance athletes) and the impact of mental strain on physical performance to be most interesting.
Only complaint was that this felt long for what it is -- lots of details, more scientific than I was expecting - but that may have been aggravated by listening to it on audiobook (which I think I'm realizing I just don't really enjoy).
Overall, enjoyed this and found it really interesting to dive into some of the details of the psychological and physiological aspects of endurance / elite human performance. While some of it seems obvious, it was fascinating to hear the results of physical lab tests seeking to prove or disprove the existence of a central governor (particular interesting given David Goggins' focus on 'overcoming' the central governor in his book). I found the debates around nutrition (high fat vs. high carb for endurance athletes) and the impact of mental strain on physical performance to be most interesting.
Only complaint was that this felt long for what it is -- lots of details, more scientific than I was expecting - but that may have been aggravated by listening to it on audiobook (which I think I'm realizing I just don't really enjoy).
Thoroughly researched, but still an incredibly pleasant book to read. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in endurance sports or in the evolution of human performance.
Not a how-to on building endurance but an overall closer look at the science and study behind endurance athletes and feats of endurance from everyday people.