Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Bring It! - Books to Inspire Fitness

This is my first blog post for The Reader so I suppose I should introduce myself a little. I'm a Librarian and, as is expected of most librarians, I love to read. I also am passionate about fitness and lately I have found myself eagerly devouring any book related to physical health. Recently, I jumped on the Tony Horton band wagon. Maybe I am a little late to join this trend, but after watching the p90x infomercial (I only get about 5 TV channels… so yes, I watch infomercials) for about the 10th time I finally decided to see what this p90x thing was all about.

I started reading Bring It! by Tony Horton and I can only say that I was impressed. Even in writing Horton can motivate you to get off your butt and start exercising. To him it is all about effort, as long as you're putting 100% into every workout it does not matter how slow you are going. Instead, you just need to Bring It! Plus, the book is full of great fitness advice - from stretching to cardio to strength training.

Now, I'm not going to say that this book has convinced me to commit myself to the full p90x deal (I still prefer to do my own thing and I can not imagine not eating sugar or drinking coffee), but I definitely found some new workouts to add to my routine. For anyone looking for a little extra motivation, this book has lots to offer.

Aside from actual exercise books, I often find inspiration through the experiences and dedication of others. Books that I currently have on my reading list include:

Born to Run: A hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen
by Christopher McDougall

Stretch: The unlikely making of a yoga dude
by Neal Pollack

The Grace to Race: The wisdom and inspiration of the 80-year-old World Champion Triathlete known as the Iron Nun
by Madonna Buder

3 comments:

  1. Julie, I know what you mean. I didn't think I was ready for P90x either. Instead we're finishing up Tony's Power 90 program and we LOVE it. Enough that I'm going to take the plunge and do the P90x next.

    I saw your tweet and the words Bring It brought me over. I can't tell you how much my fitness has improved since doing Power 90. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Born to Run is a fantastic book! It really challenges much of the conventional wisdom about long distance running

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree, Born to Run is a unique and interesting read. It also reveals so much about a sport the public doesn't hear much about. Filled to the brim with quirky characters too! Loved it.

    ReplyDelete