The Big Book of Health and Fitness: A Practical Guide to Diet, Exercise, Healthy Aging, Illness Prevention, and Sexual Well-Being

This book is a great resource. I am constantly going back to it and rereading sections. The 2 week test is fabulous and has changed my life. I do it a few times a year to get myself back on track. If you have any aches and pains please try the 2 week test, I didnt do it for weight as I am fine but I was in pain depressed and tired. His running method is very different than what we are used to and I have changed my runs 2 years ago and have loved his method, it is a lot slower pace, feels like you are walking when you first change but give it a few months and you will get the hang of it. The nice thing is my runs now give me a lot of energy and I can run a lot more miles than before. I also noticed in races I can really sprint the last 200 meters and have the energy to finish well where before I drug my body in. So give it a try! I hope it makes a difference in your life. Thank You Dr Maffetone!

Oh, my FREAKING goodness! (kept that rated G). If you ever hated intense exercise, this is the book for you.However, if you aren't serious about becoming healthy, reading this book won't help you too much until you decide to take care of yourself.So, what did I learn?1) I learned why sugar isn't bad, but insulin is (and unfortunately sugar can spike your insulin.2) I learned why intense exercise is bad for you (comparatively) and you should slow down your workouts to comfortable levels.3) I learned why body fat stays on your body, even when you work out a lot.4) I learned why most people who train for a 5k or similar event actually do workouts that are detrimental to their goals.5) I learned the difference between healthy foods and unhealthy ones, and why.If you care even the slightest about your body health and how old you want to live, please just read this book. Even if it takes you a year or two to come around to living it, you need the knowledge first.

Maffetone has been writing and studying health and fitness for decades. I first became acquainted with him through his coaching of Stu Mittleman; who covered 577 miles on foot in 6 days through Maffetone's coaching. Whereas I love the super-healthy endurance stories like that, this book is geared to the average individual who just wants good overall health.Maffetone's theme is all around avoiding health problems: feeling vibrant, getting the best out of your life through proper nutrition, activities, and sleep. He discussed in detail how to do this and both embraces some of the "common wisdom" and debunks some of it. What distinguishes it most from other books is the view on the whole person - not just diet, or exercise, or daily activities, or sleep in isolation - but how they all tie together.

At 50, tired, achy and overweight - but a former athlete with good self-discipline - I was looking for some guidance to improved health that made good sense, that worked and that would provide a basis for the future; ie, nothing faddish or scientifically quesionable or pitched for profit.I think this book is it. I've done the 2 week carb intolerance test and no surprise - that's where some of my issues lie. I love to walk and discovered in this book that I've been walking too fast to lose weight - I can now take a bit more time and get greater benefit. I'm eating butter and cream after years of dropping them from a low-fat (and apparently sub-optimal) diet. I don't have to go to the gym to be fit. I'm made many other changes and have no doubt they'll be permanent.There are a few books I've kept for years that I regularly read and refer to them. This book has joined them.Thanks Phil Maffetone.

Reading Maffetone is such a pleasure because what he says is really mostly quite intuitive. The problem is, I guess I just never thought about many of these things. To be honest, his earlier book, In Fitness and in Health, changed my life. Maffetone is a ridiculously successful coach in the endurance sports and his ideas really went against the grain years ago when he was training the likes of Stu Mittleman. But the more you think about his techniques, the more they generally make sense. He is the antithesis of a drill sergeant or high school coach that preaches the "no pain, no gain" philosophy. And as a result, his disciples have run circles around others.Since I started following Maffetone I have lost weight, have more energy than ever, and have been injury-free for more than 5 years after never going a year without a running injury. What more can I say about his training philosophy?

The concepts in this book can be difficult to believe at first since much of it is contrary to how I've always trained. Despite this I took a leap of faith and followed the advice because the science behind the training is well documented and makes sense. The training really felt like it couldn't possibly be benefitting me, because it started out so slow, yet in less than 2 months I have increased my aerobic threshold pace by 1 minute per km and also doubled my weekly training load, while feeling more energized. Now I never feel tired for the whole day after a long run and look forward to every run.The only thing I would suggest is buying this as a hard copy instead of the digital version because you will want to flip back through to look at diagrams and graphs etc

Just about all aspects of healthy living are covered and are consistent with current thinking about diet, aging and exercise. Particularly useful is the very complete index with live "page" references that take you directly to the referenced item - a rarity in eBooks but really useful in an encyclopedic book such as this one. It even has a recipe section though not really detailed enough for most people to actually make the dish, it just provides a reasonable starting place for the experienced cook. Excellent for the 50 and younger group but a bit weak in specifics for older readers.

Interesting read. Makes you realise what you have been doing in the gym has not been useful. Quite a technical read but certainly give you pointers and advise on living a health and active life.

A fantastic book - right on almost every level. After following his guide I have lost 1 and a half stone and 5% body fat in the last 6 weeks without excercising much more than a gentle walk. ,

a present one of my family asked for, happy with it

If you REALLY want to know why your body does what it does when you eat certain foods and you want to know what goes on at a deeper level without too much medical jargon, this is the book.

A friend at work recommended the big book of endurance training to me, but i spotted this one and thought it was more appropriate for me. Glad i got it, it is interesting and very informative, a must read for anyone interested in health or fitness. I have been recommending this to everyone!