The Runner’s Body: How The Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster by Ross Tucker, PhD, and Jonathan Dugas, PhD, with Matt Fitzgerald
I love this book!
The Runner’s Body constains a lot of information that I had to digest slowly and thoroughly. Since I don’t have a science background and only did some anatomy and physiology during my PT course years ago, a lot of the information seemed overwhelming at first but I was surprised that it was easy to understand. The authors wrote the book in a simple way, explaining any difficult concepts with simple analogies.
The Runner’s Body is divided into five sections: The Musculoskeletal System, The Cardiorespiratory System, The Metabolic System, The Central Nervous System, and The Immune System. Each section nicely explains how these systems effect the runner’s body and performance and offer advice on improvement and recovery.
What I did find it lacking were real life stories. I love reading about other people’s running experiences and it would have been nice if the book had included a bit more than it does. It’s always interesting to read how other runner’s overcome physiological challenges – whether it’s losing weight, winning a marathon, or achieving a personal best.
Reading The Runner’s Body you will find out lots of useful information about hydration, improving your diet without dieting, running through illness, injury prevention, plyometrics, and generally how to get more out of your run. This is definitely a book I will be going back to.
Sounds really useful, it is always great to have real-life stories, it helps put the science into perspective. This one sounds like a good ‘un to add to my shelves, especially now that the snow is gone!
Cool! Although I would like real-life stories, too. I’ll keep my eyes open for this one.