Athletics Books

The writing of this book is very technical yet if you are looking for the training regime and/or secret of why the kenyans win so many races, you will be disappointed as it writes a lot on geographic differences....

This book is a must read for anybody that is interested in running. Everyone always wonders why the Kenyans are such good runners? This detailed, and interesting, book allows you to learn and understand the people of Kenya, and also why they are such good runners. Throughout their turbulant history it seems as though games, or sporting events, have been an important part of their culture. Becasue of their deep rooted cultural activites, as well as the colonial influence from the British, the Kenyans have been able to excell at events that revolve around running. Bale and Sang bring fourth a lot of information that allows you to learn about running in Kenya, and also the impact the Kenyans have had on runners around the world yesterday, today, and into the future.

This book is a must read for anybody that is interested in running. Everyone always wonders why the Kenyans are such good runners? This detailed, and interesting, book allows you to learn and understand the people of Kenya, and also why they are such good runners. Throughout their turbulant history it seems as though games, or sporting events, have been an important part of their culture. Becasue of their deep rooted cultural activites, as well as the colonial influence from the British, the Kenyans have been able to excell at events that revolve around running. Bale and Sang bring fourth a lot of information that allows you to learn about running in Kenya, and also the impact the Kenyans have had on runners around the world yesterday, today, and into the future.

How are we to explain the seemingly phenomenal success of East African athletes in the sport of track and field? One approach, advocated by Roger Bannister, former mile world record holder and currently a consultant neurologist, is to explain such success in biological terms. During 1996, in a series of speculative statements, not grounded in any `scientific' facts, Bannister highlighted the importance of `race' in determining thesuccess of East African athletes. On reading Kenyan Running, it is clear that, on this occasion, Bannister is firmly on the wrong track.

John Bale and Joe Sang have produced an excellent account of the emergence and development of Kenyan athletics. This carefully crafted text demonstrates, time and again, the socio - cultural determinants of sporting success. In offering a cogent, social scientifically based account, Bale and Sang provide a clear riposte to advocates of biological determinism. In particular, in chapter six, the environmental and racial myths associated with `Kenyan' success are carefully dissected. Besides, who are these `Kenyan' men who succeed in specific athletic events? This book provides the answers. The debunking of biological determinism is an important achievement in itself. This book, however, does more than this. It has several other virtues.

In Kenyan Running we see not only the theoretical advocacy, but also the empirical demonstration, of an approach to the study of sport that draws on geography, history and sociology. While I would have liked the authors to have been even more explicit in this regard, the book provides a very good example of the potential stemming from a blending of different disciplines. No doubt, advocates of these disciplines would have liked to have seen more of `their' knowledge base in the book, but what has been produced provides an important pointer to what inter - or multi - disciplinary research can achieve.

Bale and Sang also provide a detailed account of a century of Kenyan involvement in modern athletics and, in doing so, assess the role of tribal traditions, colonial heritage and `development' processes. In these areas they provide a solid account of the actual dynamics involved. Drawing on traditional geographical methods, but also in keeping with new geographical directions, the authors provide a series of astute historical geographical insights. They are not content, however, to explain the `success' of Kenyan athletics solely in terms of `internal' developments. The authors show how such processes have to be explained in terms of the globalization of sport.

This connection between Kenyan athletics and the global sport system is another virtue of this book. For them, the emergence of Kenyan athletics is bound up with the globalization of sport. Drawing on Wallerstein's World System theory, Bale and Sang interpret Kenyan athletics in terms of a process of `underdevelopment'. Far from western coaches and sporting aid assisting Kenyan athletics uniformily, these authors argue that aspects of the sport have been, wittingly or otherwise, `underdeveloped'. For example, and in very concrete terms, Kenyan field athletic performance has declined over time. In contrast, through a combination of `channelling', self selection and role modelling, some Kenyan men excel at middle and long distance racing. This very success, however, leads to a dependent form of development. The `natural' resources of Kenya are drawn away from the periphery to the core. In sporting terms, the core involves American colleges and the European Grand Prix circuit. Bale and Sang rightly point to the costs, as well as the well publicised `benefits', of these processes.

The debate regarding sport and globalization is complex. The Wallerstein model has been rightly criticised by Robertson and Featherstone in the mainstream literature. It is no surprise then that reservations can also expressed in the context of the study of sport. The role of cultural relations, civilizational exchanges and lived experiences do not occupy a central place in the model. To be fair, Bale and Sang are keen to address aspects of these issues. Perhaps, however, in their conclusion to a fine book, they should have shown how their approach fits in as part of the debate about sport and the global system more generally. In addition, it would have been helpful to have returned to the theme of debunking the myths and biological determinism that underpins much of the media reporting, coaching beliefs and sport science assumptions concerning Kenyan athletic success. These are, however, minor quibbles. This is a book that can rightfully claim to be both imaginative and path - breaking.

Joseph Maguire

Loughborough University

From the PGA Teaching Manual to The PGA Manual Of Golf I have had the opportunity to gain the knowledge that has help me become a good coach and teacher and not just a instructor. If you are serious about your game and want to get better I sincerly recomend that you add The PGA Manual Of Golf to your library. Coach H Turk Walker

After having some trouble with my swing, I knew that I had to better understand the basics of the game in order to improve. I got this book as a gift and it really helped me define the fundamentals of golf and improved my play. I enjoy the game more now. The concise and straighforward presentation was easy to read. The format made it easy to find just what I was looking for. I highly recommend this as a great gift to the golfer in your life!

This is one of the most comprehensive books on golf around. There is a wealth of information on virtually every aspect of the game, from the physical mechanics of making the stroke, to the mental side of playing. Everything in here is required knowledge for anyone playing golf, or someone looking to get started.

Probably my only problem with the book is the lack of exercises listed. A great many appear as pictures with short captions, but many of these drills may be helpful to a variety of players. If performed incorrectly, they may damage your game, which is probably why they were not described in detail, but given that almost every segment ends with "Listed to what your PGA instructor says", it would be nice to know that the PGA trusts its readers to do just that.

Another part that would have been nice, but not neccesary, would be a more in-depth section on club design and construction. With so many people going out to buy custom made equipment, a little more information on exactly what standards are used to determine club length etc. might have put some people's minds at ease when at the pro shop. We all trust the PGA and its professionals, but knowing what they know isn't going to detract all that much from our experience. Rather, it can help us understand why we pay more for fitted gear.

In sum, buy this before you buy any other book on golf. Then, if you still feel you need more even with an instructor, shop around.

This book was a poor choice for me.

I am taking up golf for the first time so I was looking for a book that would be very specific to the fundamentals. I wanted step by step instructions that included detailed pictures. I also wanted concise information on golf rules, etiquette, and equipment technology trade-offs.

This book has a lot of information but it depends on word after word to tell its story. Very few pictures are included to supplement the information. Therefore, it fails almost totally at my first requirement for detatiled fundamentals. The second requirement is partially met. There is information available on many topics but it is not concise.

Overall, reading this book was like sitting through a friend's vacation slide show. I listen to all the general comments and tangents(which someone else may find interesting), waiting for the specific nugget I'm interested in, but ultimately fall asleep.

If you enjoy broad discussions or want a higher level overview, this book may be right for you - but it did not meet my requirements.

I'm a 4.0/4.5 player who has been doing the Power Tennis Training program off and on for the past few years and would strongly recommend it for all players looking to improve strength and conditioning. Chu's book provides a 12 week workout plan (both weight training and court footwork drills) that is easy to follow and gets results. I find myself quicker, stronger, and more explosive after just a week or two. The program gives you more confidence in your level of fitness which translates into more confidence in your overall game. Some of the workout days take a few hours, but if you stick with the program you will be more than pleased with the results. Thanks for a great book Don Chu!

I guess my expectations are too high. This book was very remedial with a lack of content. I was hoping to gain some insight from this book, but the information was basic at the best, with poor choices for athletes. No regard to the biomechanics of resistance training were applied, and no effort to address the neural or physiological continuums that are extremely important to athletic development. The one bright spot is the section on the court drills. They are enough to get you started on agility and foot speed drills.

This book is a set of well crafted exercise patterns. I am really impressed by the way the author has touched upon key development areas, which, one can easily overlook. I am very regular with my gym schedules with a balance of cardio and weight training. Sticking to the book schedule of about 3 month program shouldn't be a motivational challenge. With just one week into it, I have not only seen the results in my court coverage and my game, but also into other "reflex" sensative indoor games like foos ball :)

This is the best investment one can make for playing serious tennis.

As a high school tennis coach and a tournament player myself, I have looked extensively for a training source that is highly specific to tennis and easy to follow. Don Chu's book fits both of these criteria. Chu tells you exactly what to do and how to do it; reps and sets are clearly listed and the exercises carefully explained. Several other books on the market promise a great deal, but Chu's book, in my experience, is the only one that promises to make you a stronger player and then shows you the steps to achieve this goal, provided you work hard. No other book or program on the market can do this in my opinion.

I just thought I would warn others that are like me. I didn't realize it until months after I bought it, it's only 24 weeks long! This book doesn't work if you are looking for a full-year runners diary, which unfortunately I thought I was buying to begin with. Apparently not all runners logs are created equal. I thought I would be adventurous this year and buy a diary I hadn't bought before (I've owned all of them). Lesson learned ;)

Happy trails.

Whether you are a top local racer, high-school or college harrier or just log a few miles every day, this is a diary to seek out and stock up on for the next several years.

The color photographs are fantastic and there are 56 weeks of diary pages, so you won't run short, as what can happen with some other more famous publications. The information/tips and inspirational quotes are impressive, with a great balance between serious racing and fitness running.

RunLog does not just lead the large pack of diaries, it blows the race apart and captures the gold medal with ease.

I have been using the RunLog for several years. Great Photos and quotes. Plenty of room for commentary on your daily runs. There is a summary log in the front to track race performances. There is also a histogram for weekly mileage for the year.

I discovered this log book 'new' at a used book store back in 1998 and since then I bought two more for the next couple of years. It not only allows you to log numerical data, but subjective data as well. It also contains a fill-in linear graph for weekly mileage, race results entries, a pace chart, and basic training information. I love the color and black and white photographs of runners inside. It's a very well thought out design as far as log books go, and the most highly-evolved. I don't look for any other runner's log book but this one.

My husband said the book was very helpful when he ran in the Atlanta 10k.

I bought this book for a Runner/Biker/Marathon-enter(er)... and he loved it! He was interested in the material, info, and said the book was a GREAT read!

Injury Prevention: Barrios takes the reader through details of injuries and preventions for most runners.The author offers cross-training to help prevent injuries and help speed up the healing process.
Recommended for all runners at all fitness levels to help understand the causes of injuries and the training protocol to prevent them from occuring again and again.

I was expecting more in-depth information on running injuries, but this booked contained less information than a lot of other general running books.

For example this morning I referenced the book on hamstring injuries, and the only information they had on hamstrings was on stretching.

Very disappointed in the content.

If you've ever ran in college, and have forgotten some of the tougher workouts that your coach forced you into, this is probably a great reference text for you. I bought this book after I ran Chicago and qualified for Boston to get myself some new insight on what harder workouts I should try on the indoor track during the winter.

Two of my favorite workouts are Frank Shorter's 800s and Castella's "400s with Fast Float workout," both of which put a new, tougher spin on doing 400s and 800s. I ran the 400m workout a week before a race to get some nice turnover and speed that I could recover by race day. Needless to say, there a great number of workouts in this book that will break up the monotony of regular speed training done on a track.

The edition I purchased had 75 distinct workouts, covering long runs, off-road/cross-country and fartlek training, as well as intervals, hills, and tempo runs. The toughest ones for me were the long run workouts. Can you imagine running 2hrs straight at 10K pace as a workout or 20 miles on hilly terrain, with the second 10 being faster than the first half? For training?! YIKES! Needless to say, some of these are a little excessive for average runners. Still, fun to attempt!

Now, keep in mind these are pro athlete workouts, so EXPECT to have a lot of pro names dropped. The authors spoke with a lot of pro athletes/coaches to get the workouts they used/created; hence the extra background discussion that doesn't necessarily pertain to the workout itself (see Pre's 30-40s 200m workout). I honestly like a little background as to why and how the workout came to be.

For the cost of the book, I think every competitive athlete should purchase this book. If you're thinking about turning into a competitive runner or shooting for a PR without having a coach to give you ideas, I think having a text like this one is a necessity. It has a short section on how to pick your workouts and how to not take the workouts line for line, pace for pace, to avoid overtraining.

Like I've mentioned, this is a good text to have for training ideas, but if you don't run more than 30mi/wk, you might not get much out of it. As it mentions in the text, having a good solid base is crucial before attempting some of these workouts in order to recover and not burnout after a couple weeks of training.

Highly recommended as a hard WORKOUT reference, not a general reference of running.

I haven't found this book very useful as a training aid. There is certainly some useful information here, but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. Sandrock seems to be more fond of name-dropping than discussing the pros and cons of various training strategies. For instance, should long runs be done at a slow pace (à la Joe "LSD" Henderson), or at a medium/hard pace (Lydiard)? This, and other interesting topics are barely discussed.

Though the book may rather be intended as a source of motivation and inspiration, I found that I had to look hard to find the good bits among all the blah-blah.

I agree, this book is for serious runners, or runners who are ready to get serious. You are not going to improve that PR by doing the same old thing. I am going to integrate these workout's in to my plan. Sandrock states in his book to build a base first,and be true to your self. None of us is Shorter, or Salazar, adapt it for you.

Mike Sandrock follows up his previous chronicles of stud runners with this well done book. Competitive runners will enjoy the chance to see what others profess to doing for their hard sessions. I thought the book gave me good ideas for new workouts to incorporate in my training (although at a slower pace of course.)

This book has plans for every week of the year and I customized it to fit my schedule. This book is a no-brainer and gives you a great program that fits every fitness level. I highly recommend this book.

this book would be great for someone interested in becoming a marathon runner. I just wanted to make running part of my lifestyle not win marathons. The book claims to be good for either. It isn't.

This program is perfect for runners of all fitness levels. There are plans for each week of the year, and you can customize them to fit your own schedule.

This book is good for someone that is looking for a plan. It has three different levels, A, B, and C, depending on what your goals are. If you just want to run (x) number of miles a week, then search the internet for plans that do just that. What I like about this book is that it offers advice on steadily improving both your running technique and distance. It has guidance on drills and tempo work, as well as advice on how to recognize and treat injuries. What I didn't like about the book was the fact that the A plan only exercised three days a week, and the B plan exercised four, but the mileage was too aggressive. Using my own intelligence, I am using a hybrid of the two. But that in no detracts from the usefulness of the book for a new runner like me.

I always find myself buying triathlon training books, then ending up being disappointed because I haven't learned anything new from it. This book falls prey to that sometimes (EVERY triathlon book has a chapter devoted to nutrition that goes over carbs, protein and fats), but it also contains a lot of really good information about technical aspects of each sport (like how to handle hills and cornering on your bike), really planning a good training program to meet your own needs (in terms I could follow), and lots of other stuff that I'd never seen in the dozen or so other books I've looked at. There is even a section on preparing for specific distances, during different seasons.
There are no references for any of the information given, so it is an easier read, but you don't know where the authors gathered the information from, which worries me a little. What concerned me even more was that some of the information that was given can actually be dangerous--the list of suggestions to make long runs more interesting included running with headphones and running at night--without any caveats.
This book was worth the money just for the new info I picked up, but make sure to use some common sense when it comes to using the advice. It might be better to use this book as a complement to other resources.

This was the 1st triathlon book I bought. It gives an overview of the equipment, types of training in chapters on swimming, running and riding, time requirments, nutrition and sample training plans.
It is NOT a training book perse. It will give the reader an idea of what it takes to start triathloning without overwhelming him and her.
I think Triathlon 101 is better but it's a personal opinion.

I found this book to be fairly helpful. I especially liked the descriptions of form drills for all 3 disciplines. The informaiton was useful. What I did not like is that since I am new to the sport of triathlon, there were phrases used that I did not understand. This was most evident in the workouts. The text would describe everything well, but then in a listing of a sample workout it would use terms not explained in the text. This made it hard to figure out what to do sometimes. Also the author says he'll show you how to have many peaks in a season, but then really doesn't ever give that information.

A fantastic book and on the "top two" of my recommended reading list for beginning triathletes. If you are going for detail and want in-depth and technical information on how to develop a training plan, go with the Triathlete's Training Bible. If you want a solid overview of the sport of triathlon, this is the book for you.

Swim, Bike, Run is written in a very straight-forward style and gives sound, practical advice. I am an avid reader of "things triathlon," so I've read just about every book out there. The most telling insight into how much I value this book is that this is the book that I consistently return to and read the night before a race. I also look to it for a "refresher" when I want to improve form/technique and when I am evaluating how my training is going mid-season. The swimming section is particularly effective and the illustrations greatly helped me on technique issues.

A great read and highly recommended.

I bought this book because I wanted some techniques to help with physical training. I thought that it would provide some short stories to compliment the information but it kinda reads like a text book, which isn't all that bad. For the price and the wealth of information that is contains it is a good buy. Also it is written by a Doctor so, you know that it has to have some basis in truth. I would reccommend it to anyone who wants to know how to enhance their Total Mind Body Training...

I have read a multitude of books on peak performance training. Many over the last few years have sections that copy from this book word for word. It is good to finally find the original.
Highly recommended not only for the martial artist, but for anyone interested in peak performance athletic training.

The book is an invaluable source not only for peak athletic performance, but for accessing your top level performance in any field. I found it extremely helpful and heartily recommend it.

The book is useful to the martial artist that is looking to avoid plateus in her/his training. However, the most recent info to back up his claims seemed to come from th 70's. This made me wonder if recent research is a basis for claims stated.

Great book, for coaches who are training young distance runners. Lots of ideas for the coach to build on as he navigates the pubescence years of both male and female athletes.

I liked how this booked emphasized how important mental training should be integrated into a good, solid training prog. The scientific aspect is easy to understand though not nearly as thorough or complex as Martin and Coe's book. The training is very conservative, but the strength training advice was very helpful.

I am a Cross Country Coach for Lakeshore Middle School in Stevensville, MI and am building a program. I found the "Training for Young Distance Runners" book to be very helpful. I have found the section on Psychology right on target. I have a son that runs High School Cross Country who runs year around and after a successful summer road racing season started the Cross Country Season doing very poorly. Using the Psychology section helped me get him back on track. The Nutrition section has also been helpful for some of my runners. I give the book a two thumbs up.

kandssteve@qtm.net Steve Nielsen

I've been running for 35 years and coaching for many so I expected to pick up a book that would give some insight into a young runner's mind or some biomechanical needs of a young runner. The book is a cursory view of coaching and training. It's fine if you are just starting out with no background. But where's the meat and potatoes?