What do you read?

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This is not just for SS and Sara, goes out to all group members. I am looking for recomendations for books about health,fitness,weight training, nutrition. Would love to be able to find stuff on audio books so I could listen at work or in the car. Any book suggestions at all that anyone found helpful, educational or just plan ole "GOOD READS" Please post.

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  • Slrajr
    Slrajr Posts: 438 Member
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    This is a good question, I'd like to tag it to hear the responses. My response may not be so helpful but here it is:

    I read new rules, starting strength ( an audio of this would be fantastic beacause the book is so detailed) , and you are your own gym over and over. I also like to read John Stanton's (from the Running Room in Canada) running book. As for diet and nutrition I have probably read dozens and have at least ten in my bookshelf, but I don't want to recommend any because they tend to speak in absolutes. I have listened to audiobooks on nutrition and diet in my car also, and they tend to inspire me to think about what I eat moreso than educate.

    For me, my fitness pal has been the best read. Set a daily goal, and stick to it. It is easier for me to meet my macro goal if I eat whole grain carbs and lean protein. I think it's also a good idea to try and meet the RDA for vegetables. I fall short in the vegetable department so for me, I really need to get a grasp of that before I start reading more books. And really, if I met my protein goal every day and had a few more veggies I probably wouldn't feel the need to read books on nutrition.

    My Favourite "GOOD READS" are actually right here in this group.
  • Mikej77
    Mikej77 Posts: 112
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    I guess we do not have many readers in the group, so how about audio books? Or pod casts? I am sure most people listen to music to pass the time but I get bored of music, prefer to learn something while I am being entertained. Very hard to read while walking, or working. Does anyone have any podcast/mp3 or free audio books they can suggest?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Reading on the web:

    Anything from Alan Aragon. www.alanaragon.com
    Anything from James Krieger. www.weightology.net

    Both of the above sites have member only content in which you pay a monthly fee and then you can access all past issues/research reviews. Nerdy but very very good, I am a long-time member of both and I enjoy them quite a bit.

    www.bodyrecomposition.com

    This is Lyle. Great reading material.

    www.body-improvements.com

    The above site is run by Steve Troutman who also frequents MFP. Steve has a lot of great information to share, start with his Nutrition 101 series.

    www.Impruvism.com run by Armi Legge. Lots of great information here.

    For Youtube:

    The protein roundtable videos with Ian McCarthy, Alan Aragon, and Eric Helms. Two very long videos but it should be good car-listening. Some foul language, just FYI.

    Anything by the 3dmj team. Look for the nutritional pyramid by Eric Helms, it's a 5 or 6 part video series and it's awesome.

    Ian McCarthy of LiftingforLyfe (spelling?) and No Bull**** Bodybuilding on facebook.


    I'm sure I'm leaving a few things out but these are great starting points.
  • Ophidion
    Ophidion Posts: 2,065 Member
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    bump for later and references
  • BarbellApprentice
    BarbellApprentice Posts: 486 Member
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    bump
  • MickeS
    MickeS Posts: 108 Member
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    Save!
  • selinafzr
    selinafzr Posts: 19 Member
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    Bump to save here too.

    I 'started' with reading http://www.builtlean.com/ it IS selling a product, and cannot say all info is 100% current thinking, but found a lot of accessible articles which were a good foundation to go on to further research. May help someone.
  • CallMeBacon
    CallMeBacon Posts: 196 Member
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    tagging for later :)
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Bump to save here too.

    I 'started' with reading http://www.builtlean.com/ it IS selling a product, and cannot say all info is 100% current thinking, but found a lot of accessible articles which were a good foundation to go on to further research. May help someone.

    I'll check out the above link and give my opinion on it.
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
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    Tagging.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Well, these two are rather obvious.
    Christopher McDougall's Born to Run. It is about running, not weight lifting. But it is an excellent read. It kind of follows this quirky, counter-culture guy who took up running for its zen meditation-like aspects, and how it took him to remote Mexico where he lives among a native tribe that runs super-long distances -- usually barefoot. It launched the current barefoot/minimalist shoe trend in this country.
    Or
    Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. The premise of the book is that Pollan is going to eat three meals, but before he does so he is going to explore and describe its sourcing. One is a regular old meal from the industrial food complex. He starts to describe how prepackaged meals are put together, but quickly realizes that corn and corn products dominate processed foods. Second is an organic meal. He talks about the marketing genius of Whole Foods Markets, but also discusses some very interesting aspects of organic farming -- including how even the poop of the farm animals can be important in the small ecosystem of the farm. Lastly, he collects his own food stuffs. In this section, he goes hunting and even pulls fruit off of neighborhood trees.
    The book is long but it is very absorbing and informative, especially the first section. Particularly fascinating is the part where he has a McDonald's meal analyzed chemically to see what percent of the caloric energy in that meal comes from corn. You wouldn't think any, given that it is a hamburger, french fries, and a coke, but you will surprised.

    All of which reminds me of a hilarious food piece written in the New Yorker back in the late 1960s, about Euell Gibbons. Do you remember Euell Gibbons? He used to be on a television commercial in which he asked: "Ever eat a pine tree?" His answer was: "Many parts are edible."
    Anyway, he was a guru of natural eating and had written many books on the subject. So, the author of the piece, John McPhee, decided he and Euell would go on a canoe trip, and during this trip, they would add more and more natural foods they gathered along the way to their meals, until they were eating entirely off the land.
    They last about four days. Then they park the canoe, get up to the road, and hitchhike to a hamburger joint.
    The piece is called The Forager.
    While I am recommending . . . McPhee also wrote what is perhaps the greatest example of sports journalism ever written. It is a slim little book called Levels of the Game. In it, he describes a U.S. Open Tennis Tournament semi-final match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner. He uses individual points in the match, and descriptions of each player's style of play, to flash back and give you each player's life story. It is fascinating because the two players were such stark opposites of each other. Graebner was from the traditional tennis background -- white, privileged upbringing, politically conservative, socially and economically connected. Ashe, by contrast, was black, grew up the son of a public park caretaker, and was politically liberal.
    The way McPhee described it, those features of each player manifested itself in their style of play, and their perception of the other player's style of play.
    The book is kind of a time capsule to read now, because it is a little about race relations (or at least race perceptions) in the 1960s.
    It is not informative, unless you play tennis. But, it is about something active.
  • elly1979
    elly1979 Posts: 79 Member
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    Dan John, Never Let Go.

    Funny, insightful, no BS, and intriguing training ideas. I've read it 3x now :)