Recommended Reading

Ever since I was a kid I've been a reader.  I'm sure I have a few school teachers to thank for that.  Mrs. Hunt in the first grade got me hooked on Clifford books and Mrs. Nickerson during my senior year of high school helped me find my love of reading.  It makes me nothing but sad whenever I ask a kid what they like to read to only have them reply, "Reading sucks, it's so boring."  I'm not going to get into the why's of this whole situation but I think it comes down to a lot of over-stimulation and never really finding something that interests them.

So with that here is a list of books that have influenced me in one way or another.

Science/Strength Training


Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers- Robert Sapolsky
Stress is ever-present in our lives.  From losing a job to the asshole who just cut you off.  In the eons of human evolution we evolved a very specific response to stress- fight or flight.  When the stress response is activated- and it's activated a lot more than most think- due to whatever is stressing us, be it a car accident or a mean boss, and not dealt with in the way it was meant to be dealt with it can literally make us sick.  Dr. Sapolsky uses the latest research and his own brand of humor to shed light on what is happening inside us and the diseases it can cause or exacerbate when we are stressed.  It also give great techniques for handling stress in our everyday lives.

Anatomy Without A Scalpel- Dr. Lon Kilgore
I mentioned this book in my last weekend update.  It's a great resource for strength trainers and trainees alike.  On top of the practical anatomical knowledge Dr. Kilgore provides a lot of interesting and practical information not generally covered in anatomy texts.  The section on footwear and how it relates to ankle and foot function is one of the best I've come across.

Science and Practice of Strength Training- Vladimir Zatsiorsky and William Kraemer
This book is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to strength training.  Dr. Zatsiorsky has decades of knowledge from studying athletes in the old Eastern Bloc nations of the Soviet Union and Dr. Kraemer is one of the top training researchers that America has ever produced.  Together they've expanded on Dr. Zatsiorsky's original text to create a book that will go over the head of many but has a wealth of practical knowledge that anyone in the strength training industry should read.

Amino Acids and Proteins for the Athlete: The Anabolic Edge- Mauro Di Pasquale

The nutritional guidelines that the FDA puts out are wholly inadequate for a strength training athlete.  Athletes that are involved in strength training need protein and they need a lot more than the FDA recommends.  In Amino Acids and Proteins for the Athlete Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale- an MD no less- goes through everything you could ever want to know about the various types of protein and the way they are broken down and used by the body.  Like the title suggests the book is written with all types of competitive athletes in mind.

Fiction

Anything by Cormac McCarthy

If you ever need someone to paint a picture with words you better look up Cormac McCarthy.  It is a rare gift to be able to create a stark and beautiful image of a situation that can come from the depths of humanity.  Blood Meridian, No Countryfor Old Men, and The Road all tell tales of some of the more gruesome things that humans are capable of.  But McCarthy weaves the story in such a way that you almost don’t realize what you are reading.  His style of writing can be off putting to some because he doesn’t use punctuation but once you get past it you won’t put it down.

Non-Fiction

Seea Grown Man Cry/ Now Watch Him Die- Henry Rollins

This book could be both fiction and non-fiction.  Rollins writes a lot of poetry along with a lot of short stories and journal entries.  All of it comes from his guts.  Most of the works are inspired by the murder of his best friend.  There are entries on the pain of loss, the pain of being idolized when all he wants to be left alone, and the dealing of the pain in his own way.  My favorite poem, for obvious reasons, is The Iron;

The Iron is my friend my hero

Detects my weakness

Shows me where to go

Strengthens my number

Never fails

The Iron makes life worth living

Stabs self doubt

Mutilates depression

Opens gates of light

My body aspires to The Iron

Fast Food Nation- Eric Schlosser

I’ve always had a love for a good muck-raker.  Fast Food Nation deals with how the fast food industry has transformed not only American agriculture and restaurant practices, but also how the industry has permeated other aspects of American culture.  It is a cold look into how exactly that cheeseburger actually got into your hands, how you eating it affects all the people involved in getting it to you, and all of the things that are in it that you might not know about.

Manthropology- Peter McAllister

Many men would probably believe that we are at the pinnacle of our evolution.  Many would believe that we are smarter, stronger, better looking, and all-around more awesome than our counter parts from 100 to 10,000 years ago.  Peter McAllister shatters all that.  His surprisingly well-researched book shows that in comparison to previous generations we are pretty awful at being men.  We aren’t as smart, or as strong, or as good at getting chicks compared to many of the men that have come before us.  This is a great read for anyone man who feels a certain listlessness and needs a kick in the ass to be a better man.  Also a great read for women who don’t want to settle for some ninny who is a sorry excuse for a man.

We’ll start with that.  I’ve read a lot of books and one of my faults is that I rarely re-read them.  I should get into that habit.  You never know what you might learn when you pick up a book, even one that you’ve read already.  So lift something heavy and learn yourself something.