Christopher McDougall is the author of Natural Born Heroes: Mastering the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance and Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. He began his career as an Associated Press overseas correspondent, covering wars in Rwanda and Angola.

Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with a simple question: Why does my foot hurt? It is full of incredible characters, incredible athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most importantly, pure inspiration. In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets out to find a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, revealing that everything we thought we knew about running was incorrect.

The reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art, isolated by the most treacherous terrain in North America. For centuries, they have honed techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without stopping, chasing down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while thoroughly enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman abilities are matched by unfathomable health and serenity, rendering the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern life. The author was able to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara with the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

McDougall transports us from Harvard's high-tech science labs to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks of North America, where an increasing number of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is one of those rare books that will not only engage your mind but also inspire your body when you realize that the key to happiness is right at your feet and that you, like all of us, were born to run. It is among the best books on fitness.

Author: Christopher McDougall

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303

Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars (from 12078 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #36,271 in Books

#9 in Extreme Sports (Books)

#10 in Triathlons (Books)

#64 in Running & Jogging (Books)

Brian Keane went from a full-time primary school teacher in London to one of the top online fitness coaches in Ireland and the UK in less than five years, transforming thousands of lives and physiques in the process. Brian reveals what he has learned in his 16 years of training, nutrition, and personal development, from playing top level inter-county football as a teenager to traveling the world as a professional fitness model in his twenties.

Have you ever been frustrated by not getting the desired results? Do you believe you're eating the right foods and working out properly, but your body isn't changing as quickly as you'd like? Are you slogging through your workday with little energy, hoping for the next day off so you can sleep in? If this describes you, The Fitness Mindset is the book for you.

The Fitness Mindset provides you with everything you need to get the body you've always wanted, boost your energy levels, and develop the mindset to keep it forever.

When you read this book and apply brian's time-tested strategies, you will:

• Know exactly what foods work best for you and how to eat to increase energy, lose fat, and build lean muscle.
• Learn how to combine tension-style workouts and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to build the body you've always wanted.
• Create a bulletproof body and mind by developing strategies to reduce stress, anxiety, and the fear of rebounding.
• Finally, achieve your best physical and mental health.

Author: Brian Keane

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073PJQQC5/

Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars (from 971 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #80,298 in Kindle Store

#56 in Nutrition (Kindle Store)

#343 in Nutrition (Books)

#595 in Health, Fitness & Dieting (Kindle Store)

Martin Gibala, Ph.D., is a kinesiology professor and chair at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His research on the physiological and health benefits of high-intensity interval training has gotten a lot of scientific attention and coverage around the world. Gibala has written over 100 peer-reviewed articles, the results of which have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vox, CNN, NBC Nightly News, and Conan.

Christopher Shulgan is an author who specializes in working with fascinating people who have important things to say. He currently resides in Toronto.

Martin Gibala was a young researcher in the field of exercise physiology a decade ago, with little time to exercise. That pivotal point in his career sparked an interest in high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which allowed him to stay in shape with only a few minutes of hard work. It also inspired Gibala to conduct experiments that contributed to the burgeoning science of ultralow-volume exercise. Gibala's first book, now that he's the worldwide guru of the science of time-efficient workouts, answers the ultimate question: How low can you go?

Gibala's fascinating quest for the answer turns us all into exercise experts. His research shows that very short, intense bursts of exercise may be the most effective type of workout available. In The One-Minute Workout, Gibala debunks myths ("it's only for really fit people"), explains astounding science ("intensity trumps duration"), outlines time-saving life hacks ("exercise snacking"), and describes the intriguing health-promoting value of HIIT (for preventing and reversing disease). Gibala's most recent study discovered that sedentary people could reap the fitness benefits of 150 minutes of traditional endurance training with an interval protocol that required 80% less time and only three minutes of hard exercise per week.

Among the best books on fitness, The One-Minute Workout, which includes the eight best basic interval workouts as well as four microworkouts customized for individual needs and preferences (you may not want to go all out every time), solves the number-one reason we don't exercise: a lack of time. Because everyone is given one minute.

Author: Martin Gibala and Christopher Shulgan

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399183663

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 501 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #162,987 in Books

#141 in Stretching Exercise & Fitness

#227 in Anatomy (Books)

Bret Contreras, is a personal trainer, bestselling author, researcher, international lecturer, and lifter. He has established himself as the world's leading expert in gluteal muscle functioning and development, strength training, and program design, and is best known for his glute training methods. With twenty-six books to his name, Glen Cordoza is one of the world's most published authors on the subjects of MMA, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai boxing, and fitness.

Bret "the Glute Guy" Contreras has been researching the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the human body, for over twenty years in order to improve human performance. What began as an attempt to improve his own weak, flat backside quickly evolved when he discovered the glutes' contribution to a wide range of functional movements. Gluteal muscles that have been properly trained not only help you lift heavier, jump higher, sprint faster, and swing harder, but they also help prevent knee, hip, and lower back pain and injuries. Bret later earned a doctorate in sports science and is now regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on strength and physique training.

Bret brings you Glute Lab, which pulls his field-tested and scientifically proven methods and techniques together into an all-in-one glute training system that will help you develop leaner, rounder, stronger, higher-performing glutes after helping thousands of people reach their strength goals and achieve their ideal physique in his world-renowned training facilities. This comprehensive guide explains why glute training is important for health and performance, how the glutes work, what critical role they play in the body, and how to design the best training program to achieve your aesthetic and performance goals. For those who want to jump right in, this book provides 36 weeks of programming and several training templates, breaking down each technique with step-by-step photos and descriptions. Bret also reveals the most common mistakes people make when performing these movements and provides hundreds of tips for making the most of every workout. You can use his system in a gym or even in the privacy of your own home.

Glute Lab is more than just a glute training book. These principles and methods can assist you in maximizing muscle growth and strength, improving body composition, breaking through training and physique plateaus, training around injuries and discomfort, determining optimal training frequency and exercise selection, designing periodized programs, and much more. In short, this book gives you the tools you need to increase your strength and physique while also designing balanced programs that cater to a variety of goals and work for your entire body. Whether you're a regular person looking to improve your appearance, an athlete looking to improve your performance, a physique competitor or bodybuilder looking for an edge over the competition, a powerlifter looking to increase your strength, a CrossFitter inspired to learn, a personal trainer interested in offering cutting-edge training techniques to your clients, or a physical therapist looking to improve your clients' health, Glute Lab will provide you with the infrared technology you need. This book will teach you:

• The basics of glute training
• The anatomy and function of the glutes
• How to choose exercises based on your physique and training goals
• How to perform the most effective exercises for sculpting rounder, stronger glutes
• Hip thrust, deadlift, and squat variations
• Sample training templates and splits that cater to various training goals and preferences
• How to incorporate advanced methods into your training regimen
• Sample glute burnouts and templates
• Twelve-week beginner, intermediate, and advanced full-body training programs with a glute emphasis
• How to design your own customized training programs
• How to overcome plateaus in training, strength, and physique

Author: Glen Cordoza and Bret Contreras

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628603461

Ratings: 4.9 out of 5 stars (from 4953 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #12,038 in Books

#3 in Ab Workouts (Books)

#12 in Sports Training (Books)

#17 in Weight Training (Books)

Dr. Kelly Starrett, a coach and physiotherapist, is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book Becoming a Supple Leopard, which has changed the way coaches, athletes, and everyday people think about movement, mechanics, and the realization of human and athletic potential.

T.J. Murphy has established himself as one of the endurance world's most prolific writers over the course of a 20-year career. He has been the editor-in-chief of Triathlete and Inside Triathlon magazines, as well as the editorial director of Competitor.

Dr. Kelly Starrett, author of the best-selling Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance, has tailored his revolutionary movement and mobility philosophy to the injury-prone world of running. Despite the growing minimalist shoe industry's promises and a flood of new ideas on how to transform running technique, more than three out of every four runners suffer at least one injury each year. Although we are "born to run," modern life has trashed and undercut dedicated runners who want to transform their running. The harsh effects of too much sitting and too much time spent wearing the wrong shoes have tethered us to lower back pain, chronic knee injuries, and crippling foot pain. Ready to Run will teach you the 12 principles that will prepare your body for a lifetime of high-performance running. You'll not only be ready to run in a minimalist shoe, but you'll be ready to run in general. You will discover:

• The 12 performance standards you must constantly strive for and improve.
• How to unlock your full running potential and find a fountain of youth for lifelong running
• How to Transform Your Weaknesses into Your Strengths
• How to avoid chronic overuse injuries by incorporating powerful injury prevention habits into your daily routine
• How to prepare your body for the demands of switching running shoes and techniques.
• How to use cutting-edge modalities to treat pain and swelling and speed up your recovery
• How to Set Up a Home Mobility Gym
• A set of mobility exercises for restoring joint and tissue function and range of motion.
• How to Run Faster, Longer, and Better

Author: Kelly Starrett

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628600098

Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars (from 834 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #29,668 in Books

#38 in Weight Training (Books)

#39 in Sports Training (Books)

#43 in Running & Jogging (Books)

Christie Aschwanden is a renowned science journalist. She co-hosts the podcast Emerging Form, writes for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Slate, and was previously the lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight.

Recovery has become a sports and fitness buzzword in recent years. Anyone who works out or competes at any level is inundated with the latest recovery products and services, which include everything from drinks and shakes to compression sleeves, foam rollers, electrical muscle stimulators, and sleep trackers.

Christie Aschwanden, acclaimed FiveThirtyEight science writer, takes readers on an entertaining and enlightening tour of this strange world in Good to Go. She examines the latest trends among athletes, from NFL star Tom Brady's infrared pajamas to gymnast Simone Biles' pneumatic compression boots to swimmer Michael Phelps' "cupping" ritual; and she tests some of the most controversial methods herself, including cryochambers, float tanks, and infrared saunas.

At a time when the latest recovery products and services promise so much, Good to Go seeks answers to the fundamental question: Do any of them actually assist the body in recovering and performing at peak levels?

Author: Christie Aschwanden

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/039325433X

Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars (from 364 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #215,363 in Books

#173 in Stretching Exercise & Fitness

#289 in Anatomy (Books)

#364 in Sports Training (Books)

Valerie Moselle is a 20-year-old advanced yoga and breathwork instructor. She is the founder and director of Luma Yoga in Santa Cruz, California, an award-winning yoga studio and wellness center. Valerie's classes are known for inspiring a playful exploration of breath, movement, strength, and surrender.

Every breath you take has the power to heal, but it takes practice to learn how. Valerie Moselle, an established yoga and breathwork teacher, guides you through a practical program to create a personal routine of restorative breathing techniques in Breathwork.

To increase energy and physical health, begin each day with breathing exercises. Every day, meditate on clarity and calm. This breathing plan is your guide to discovering the rejuvenating and varied benefits of breathwork, with effective practices that address everything from allergies to anxiety and more.

Breathwork: A 3-Week Breathing Program includes the following components:

• Breathing fundamentalsLearn the timeless fundamental practices of breathwork first.
• A 3-week programInvite intentional breathing into your life every morning and evening with simple, step-by-step exercises.
• Feel the positive impact of targeted breathing to treat anxiety, asthma, insomnia, and other conditions.

Breathwork can help you transform automatic breathing into intentional breathing for deep healing. The book is among the best books on fitness.

Author: Valerie Moselle

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641524480

Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars (from 151 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #186,553 in Books

#19 in Respiratory Diseases (Books)

#153 in Stretching Exercise & Fitness

#331 in Yoga (Books)

Michelle Segar is a behavioral sustainability scientist at the University of Michigan and the Director of the Sport, Health, Activity Research and Policy (SHARP) Center. She has a Ph.D. in Psychology as well as Masters degrees in Health Behavior and Kinesiology. Her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Elle, Prevention, and other major media outlets.

Do you secretly despise working out? Having trouble sticking to a program? Millions of people try and fail to maintain a healthy lifestyle. But what if it's "exercising" that's the issue, not you?

No Sweat distills years of exercise and motivation research into a simple four-point program that will enable you to finally break the cycle of exercise failure. You'll learn why you should abandon willpower and stop gritting your teeth through workouts you despise. Instead, you'll be motivated from within and begin to crave physical activity. You'll be addicted!

We must first change our minds before we can change our bodies in order to achieve long-term fitness. Segar demonstrates how in No Sweat. She helps readers broaden their definition of exercise, find pleasure in physical activity, and discover realistic ways to fit it into their lives by translating twenty years of research on exercise and motivation into a simple four-point program. We repeat activities we enjoy, making this evidence-based system more sustainable in the long run than a rigorous workout regimen. Even if we don't sweat, we benefit greatly.

The success of the clients Segar has coached attests to the effectiveness of her program. Their stories pepper the book, entertaining and inspiring readers to finally break the cycle of exercise failure. Getting in shape has never been easier—or more enjoyable.

Author: Michelle Segar

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0814434851

Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars (from 363 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #82,781 in Books

#3 in Nurse & Patient Communications

#132 in Popular Applied Psychology

Jim Afremow, PhD, is a licensed counselor and sports psychologist at Arizona State University. He has worked closely with athletes at all levels, including MLB, NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, PGA Tour, and LPGA Tour players, as well as business professionals, performing artists, and others in demanding professions.

Even among the most elite athletes, certain athletes stand out as a cut above the rest, capable of outperforming in game-changing situations. These athletes demonstrate that raw athletic ability does not always translate to a superior on-field experience—it is the mental game that is most important.

Sports participation is at an all-time high, from recreational to collegiate Division I levels. While the caliber of their games may vary, athletes at all levels share one trait: the desire to excel. Sports psychologist Jim Afremow, PhD, offers the same advice he gives to Olympians, Heisman Trophy winners, and professional athletes in The Champion's Mind, including:

• How to get into a "zone," thrive as part of a team, and remain humble
• Customizable pre-performance routines to hit full power when the gun goes off or the puck is dropped

Among the best books on fitness, The Champion's Mind will help you shape your body to ensure a longer, healthier, happier lifetime, with hundreds of useful tips, groundbreaking science, and cutting-edge workouts from the world's top trainers.

Author: James A. Afremow

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623365627

Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars (from 2005 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #16,381 in Books

#18 in Sports Training (Books)

#20 in Sports Psychology (Books)

#337 in Success Self-Help

The 100 Workouts Book is for anyone who wants to stay active, get fit, build muscle tone, and/or lose weight at home without purchasing any additional equipment. Take complete command of your fitness. No more stressing about getting the right equipment, dressing appropriately, finding a gym, or finding the space or time to exercise. This jumbo A4-size workout book contains 100 no-equipment fitness routines that will allow you to:

• Exercising on your own terms
• Get in shape with the time you have. Have fun while getting in shape.
• Stop being concerned about gym culture.
• Find a routine to follow, whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced athlete.

Different workouts will keep your muscles from becoming accustomed to the same routine, giving you more in return, and will also keep you active and prevent boredom with the same routine. Some of the workouts are more difficult than others, ensuring that you are never bored. You can try them at three different levels, so there's always something to aim for.

Easy-to-follow visual routines guide you through the workout as you transition from one exercise to the next in a more natural way than a video would. Simply stick to the routine and have fun! You don't have to complete the entire book; you can choose your favorite workouts or pick one at random and make it your workout of the day. You should aim for 3-4 workouts per week.

Author: Neila Rey

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/100-No-Equipment-Workouts-Vol-Routines/dp/1844819809

Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars (from 1615 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #30,901 in Books

#3 in Aerobics (Books)

#28 in Stretching Exercise & Fitness

#83 in General Women's Health