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341 reviews for:
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Alex Hutchinson
4.01 AVERAGE
341 reviews for:
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Alex Hutchinson
4.01 AVERAGE
What a great book! So much interesting science and anecdotes packed into a surprisingly easy read.
Alex Hutchinson is incredibly good at writing about complicated matters in a way that depicts several sides of the story, and at the same time is a lot of fun to read.
I really liked that the book utilizes knowledge and stories from several different disciplines, not just limited to sport, as well as including both lab studies and data from "the real world".
Alex Hutchinson is incredibly good at writing about complicated matters in a way that depicts several sides of the story, and at the same time is a lot of fun to read.
I really liked that the book utilizes knowledge and stories from several different disciplines, not just limited to sport, as well as including both lab studies and data from "the real world".
I loved the stories in this book but I was looking for more.
informative
medium-paced
I've followed Alex Hutchinson's writings on running research for a long time, back to the day when he wrote his Sweat Science column for Runner's World. I still subscribe to his month email digest. I love the way he breaks down the research into something we all can understand. Endure covers all things endurance. Hutchinson provides plenty of background regarding theories about endurance and shares plenty of anecdotes of athletes as well as his own experience. I found this book fascinating, especially in light of Eliud Kipchoge's very commanding win and world marathon record at this year's Berlin Marathon.
https://www.takinglongwayhome.com/2018/09/book-review-endure-by-alex-hutchinson.html
https://www.takinglongwayhome.com/2018/09/book-review-endure-by-alex-hutchinson.html
Hutchinson is a sports science journalist and the book looks at different aspects of physical limitations and includes to great historical research/science. Lots of stuff about VO2 as well as heat, fuel, mental toughness, pain, lactate threshold and hydration. What’s really interesting is that in spite of all we know, we still don’t know much of anything!
Some interesting takeaways:
Pacing is complex but it seems we judge what is sustainable by how we feel but also by how we feel in comparison to how we expected to feel at that point during the race.
Pain tolerance is both a trainable trait and a limiting factor of performance.
VO2 max is a pretty good predictor of performance.
A high fat low carb diet works just fine for endurance but if you want a good sprint you absolutely need carbs.
Some interesting takeaways:
Pacing is complex but it seems we judge what is sustainable by how we feel but also by how we feel in comparison to how we expected to feel at that point during the race.
Pain tolerance is both a trainable trait and a limiting factor of performance.
VO2 max is a pretty good predictor of performance.
A high fat low carb diet works just fine for endurance but if you want a good sprint you absolutely need carbs.
Is the limit in the body's physiology or in the mind, or in a combination of the two? (Mine is surely in the mind, I haven't gone close to limits of my body for running, swimming or cycling)
An exploration of research on limits of endurance performance and how to stretch them. I really enjoyed the middle and last section of the book—covering various physiological elements affecting the body, and the research on identifying and stimulating areas of the brain to *stretch* performance.
9/10.
An exploration of research on limits of endurance performance and how to stretch them. I really enjoyed the middle and last section of the book—covering various physiological elements affecting the body, and the research on identifying and stimulating areas of the brain to *stretch* performance.
9/10.
Ok, reasonably interesting, although, like most popular science books, a bit repetitive in spots.
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I read [b:Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance|35068622|Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance|Alex Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502095296s/35068622.jpg|56364072] as part of The Next Big Idea Club with [a:Malcolm Gladwell|1439|Malcolm Gladwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224601838p2/1439.jpg], [a:Adam M. Grant|6583155|Adam M. Grant|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446782927p2/6583155.jpg], [a:Daniel H. Pink|96150|Daniel H. Pink|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1506805008p2/96150.jpg], and [a:Susan Cain|4101935|Susan Cain|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1315319296p2/4101935.jpg]. It was very, very interesting, and one of those books that I may not have otherwise picked up but am glad I did. [a:Alex Hutchinson|5038088|Alex Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1518724873p2/5038088.jpg] presents a thorough view of the different theories and research about human endurance (is it physical or mental?), weaving stories about real athletes into each chapter to keep you engaged and intrigued.
These stories and anecdotes really made the book for me. For example, the chapter on heat used the story of Max Gilpin, a high school football player whose death from heat stroke attracted national attention. The chapter on belief used Reid Coolsaet, a marathon runner who threw his careful planning to the wind and decided to try to keep up with the leaders right out of the gate. We were introduced to Reid at the beginning of the chapter and didn't get to learn his outcome until the end. Stories like this, weaved in so masterfully, helped it read more like a novel.
I also learned a ton of interesting things. I run casually—5 and 10k races, nothing too crazy and certainly nothing close to the 2-hour marathoners mentioned throughout—so I did have a bit of personal experience to help me relate to what he was describing. As I read, I'd routinely set the book down, turn to my husband, and say "Did you know...?!"
If you're looking for a good nonfiction book to broaden your view of the world and learn something new that you might otherwise never have known, this is a great choice.
"These days, the terror has mostly, though not entirely, faded. When I line up for a race, I remind myself that my fiercest opponent will be my own brain's well-meaning protective circuitry. It's a lesson I first learned in my breakthrough 1,500-meter race in Sherbrooke more than two decades ago, but its implications continue to surprise me. I'm eager to learn more, in the coming years, about which signals the brain responds to, how those signals are processed, and—yes—whether they can be altered. But it's enough, for now, to know that when the moment of truth comes, science has confirmed what athletes have always believed: that there's more in there—if you're willing to believe it."
I read [b:Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance|35068622|Endure Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance|Alex Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502095296s/35068622.jpg|56364072] as part of The Next Big Idea Club with [a:Malcolm Gladwell|1439|Malcolm Gladwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224601838p2/1439.jpg], [a:Adam M. Grant|6583155|Adam M. Grant|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446782927p2/6583155.jpg], [a:Daniel H. Pink|96150|Daniel H. Pink|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1506805008p2/96150.jpg], and [a:Susan Cain|4101935|Susan Cain|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1315319296p2/4101935.jpg]. It was very, very interesting, and one of those books that I may not have otherwise picked up but am glad I did. [a:Alex Hutchinson|5038088|Alex Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1518724873p2/5038088.jpg] presents a thorough view of the different theories and research about human endurance (is it physical or mental?), weaving stories about real athletes into each chapter to keep you engaged and intrigued.
These stories and anecdotes really made the book for me. For example, the chapter on heat used the story of Max Gilpin, a high school football player whose death from heat stroke attracted national attention. The chapter on belief used Reid Coolsaet, a marathon runner who threw his careful planning to the wind and decided to try to keep up with the leaders right out of the gate. We were introduced to Reid at the beginning of the chapter and didn't get to learn his outcome until the end. Stories like this, weaved in so masterfully, helped it read more like a novel.
I also learned a ton of interesting things. I run casually—5 and 10k races, nothing too crazy and certainly nothing close to the 2-hour marathoners mentioned throughout—so I did have a bit of personal experience to help me relate to what he was describing. As I read, I'd routinely set the book down, turn to my husband, and say "Did you know...?!"
If you're looking for a good nonfiction book to broaden your view of the world and learn something new that you might otherwise never have known, this is a great choice.
This book is a good survey of the history and current state of science around human endurance. For that, it was worth a read. You learn about all the factors, such as oxygen, food, pain, muscle, and, most importantly, the mind. It’s recent enough that it covers topics such as Eliud Kipchoge’s first 2-hour marathon attempt and low carb, high fat diets.
The problem with the book is that it the author just provides a survey of all the things but doesn’t weave it all together into something more cohesive with a strong point of view. Instead, I often felt like I was reading magazine articles instead of a whole book on the topic. I appreciated the author’s objectivity and how focused on science it was, but that approach unfortunately made it less fun than it could have been.
The problem with the book is that it the author just provides a survey of all the things but doesn’t weave it all together into something more cohesive with a strong point of view. Instead, I often felt like I was reading magazine articles instead of a whole book on the topic. I appreciated the author’s objectivity and how focused on science it was, but that approach unfortunately made it less fun than it could have been.
This isn't a running book and it isn't a manual on how to run (or bike, etc) faster, but it's a summary of the research into the question of how far and fast we can push our bodies, and why our seeming limits can sometimes be transcended.
Hutchinson writes engagingly on what would be pretty dry topics, and intersperses anecdotes of athletes, explorers and other people who find themselves in extreme situations among the research summaries about what our brains and bodies are doing when we are trying to set a new PR (or just survive your Sunday long run). The framing narrative for the book is Nike's Breaking2 project from 2017.
I found it all really neat to read about. I wouldn't say there's necessarily a lot of take-away advice for training, although you will approach new training trends and gizmos and fads with a more informed eye after reading this.
Hutchinson writes engagingly on what would be pretty dry topics, and intersperses anecdotes of athletes, explorers and other people who find themselves in extreme situations among the research summaries about what our brains and bodies are doing when we are trying to set a new PR (or just survive your Sunday long run). The framing narrative for the book is Nike's Breaking2 project from 2017.
I found it all really neat to read about. I wouldn't say there's necessarily a lot of take-away advice for training, although you will approach new training trends and gizmos and fads with a more informed eye after reading this.