Brain Wash
The central idea in Brain Wash is that we have fallen victim to a condition known as “disconnection syndrome.” We have created routines and a world that leads us to be emotionally reactive and disconnected from our rational-thinking brains. Stress, lack of sleep, nature and nutrient deprivation, and instant gratification in the form of technology have all led us to rely less on our higher thinking and react more from our primitive instincts.
There are many solutions to this problem as outlined in the book, and the combine to make up the Brain Wash program including 8 days of recommended actions you can take.
The program includes taking stock of your digital life, empathy in interactions with others, nature exposure, nutrition, sleep, movement, mindfulness, and finally relationships.
These are topics that I like to talk about a lot as they make up the majority of themes for creating a balanced and complete goal wheel for your life.
The chapter on nature and forest bathing was particularly interesting to me as it is a practice that’s been lost in most modern cultures but is starting to see a resurrection in research that is showing a vast array of benefits to being exposed more to nature and particularly the essential oils found in plants that produce fragrance. These “phytoncides” are linked with improving the immune system, reducing blood pressure, handling stress better, and improving mood and energy. As John Muir said, “wilderness is a necessity.”
Overall this book is a good primer on all of the subjects that it covers. Because of the brevity of the chapters and the amount of information packed into them, it somewhat feels like a laundry list of benefits and “studies show that…” which I don’t mind but takes away from making it a great book as there is too much to go into depth on in a 200-page book. For many people struggling with disconnection syndrome, this book format will be exactly what they need to provide a little bit of ammo to combat the pitfalls of our “disconnected” world.
Rating 4/5
Flow
Flow by Mihaily Cszkizentmihalyi is an essential read for anyone studying flow and world-class performers. This classic on the subject is the layman’s terms version of the decades of research that Cszikzentmihalyi did on studying and coining the term of flow state.
This book goes on a deep dive through the subject of happiness and optimal experience which is usually how flow gets defined.
It starts by exploring happiness and how we consciously process the state of happiness and then digs deeper into the state of flow and how it gets produced through various activities.
Ultimately flow requires a challenge be pushed to the limits of the individuals capabilities. Whether it is assembling widgets in a factory and striving to constantly do it a little faster, or free soloing a rock wall that has never been done before. Just about any activity or job can become flow-producing when the right conditions are met.
The Purposeful Primitive
The Purposeful Primitive - Mary Gallagher
The Purposeful Primitive is without a doubt the best book on physical training I have ever read.
This book is logically subdivided into sections on training, mindset, cardio, and nutrition.
For each section of the book, there are case studies of the “Primitives” who embody the principles of the book, sections on applying the information for yourself, and essays on the subject - which Marty is a master of writing both entertainingly and informative.
This book details the training and lives of many of the legends in strength and powerlifting, including the training programs of Paul Anderson, Kirk Karwoski, Ken Fantano, and Ed Coan just to name a few. Marty also included detailed sections of the diets aligned with his Purposeful Primitive ways including the Parillo method and Ori Hofmekler’s Warrior Diet.
Any book that goes into depth on the psychological aspects of training gets bonus points in my book and Marty certainly delivered in that sense. This book has the most detailed and useful section on mindset and applying various techniques that I’ve read - even compared to books solely on mindset.
If you have even the slightest inkling of a passion for training, you will love this book, and I suggest you buy a hard copy as you will want to endlessly flip back to different sections of this book. The stories that Marty has from his decades of training and coaching will also have you falling off your chair laughing.
Life Value 5/5
Entertainment Value 5/5
Dinosaur Training
Dinosaur Training - Brooks Kubik
Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik is an old-school mentality approach to training. Much of what Kubik writes in this book will jive with the “more is always better” modern era. Kubik is vehemently against PED use in sports and smears “druggers” constantly throughout this book. The scientific accuracy of the book is weak but the training methodology is intriguing. Kubik believes in training like the dinosaurs of past strength eras by keeping the volume low but intensity extremely high. Train primarily with singles and use the most difficult forms of lifts that you can, this includes doing squats and bench from the bottom up and using thick bars and odd objects regularly in training.
If the training style of Kubik does not interest you, the mindset section of this book is highly valuable. Full of stories of the old-school mental masters and techniques to apply for mindfulness, visualization and psyching yourself up for big lifts, this section is what turned my opinion of Kubik’s book from so-so to actually a pretty good training book.
Life Value: 4/5
Entertainment Value: 3/5
Beyond Training
Beyond Training - Ben Greenfield
Here's how I think you should approach Beyond Training instead of making the mistake I did by sitting on this book for so long: go listen to a few podcasts with Ben Greenfield, either on his own podcast or as a guest on a show like Joe Rogan. He's a quirky guy and you may not like him enough to want to buy his book. I know people who think he talks too arrogantly. I found that I came to like his writing style even more than his audio persona.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book and disappointed that I was initially reluctant to give it a shot for a long time. I had read many negative reviews about Beyond Training that said that is was nothing more than a glorified infomercial and rife with pseudoscience and biased plugs for supplements and products. Having already been unsure about Greenfield, since I know him to be a quirky and overzealous guru of biohacking and believer in earthing, grounding, and the dangers of EMFs, I didn't want to waste my time on something if I didn't really like or agree with what he had to say.
Reading Greenfield's book totally changed my mind though and I wish I had bought the hardcover of the book instead of a digital copy from the get-go since it's a biohacking bible for athletes looking to maximize their performance. I don't deny that there is some pseudoscience in this book but Greenfield does something I think is super awesome by admitting that the evidence is lacking for certain things he says or suggest but he feels better doing them and that's why he still recommends it and does it himself. How many people have superstitions or funny rituals that calm their mind or set them at ease but don't actually do anything verifiable by science? Almost everyone right? As long as it doesn't hurt anyone, I don't see what's wrong with most of the pseudoscience claims like only using hardlines to avoid wi-fi signals in your home. And if he recommends a goofy talisman to shield you from the harms of EMF, be logical and decide whether you think it's important enough to waste money on something like that or simply discard that idea and make use of many of the other great suggestions found in this book.
Some people hate on his chapter titles and say that the chapters are like really long blog posts - like many great modern business models, Greenfield gives away 99% of his material for free through blogs, podcasts, and videos and you can probably read about a lot of this book material on his blog if you don't want a single compendium of awesomness and are willing to spend many hours more digging thruogh his free material. I thought the writing style with light and informal enough to make it feel like an enjoyable conversation with Greenfield instead of a dry and humourless book of information. And the chapter titles were descriptive of exactly what they entailed; what more could you ask for?
Many people seem to think that Greenfield turned the book into a glorified infomercial with all the gizmos, products, and services he refers to in the book. I actually think it was the best thing he could possibly have done for the book. For one thing, Greenfield doesn't beat around the bush about disclaiming his affiliations and the people griping about him plugging different products and services must not know how online businesses work. More importantly though, Ben has built his reputation around being a biohacker and self-experimenter in the fitness industry and he cares deeply about quality, especially when it comes to foods and supplements, so who better than him to make recommendations to the general public about these things? You don't have to listen to his suggestions but it certainly helps those who are uninformed about the fitness industry start off on a better path than going straight for the cheapest quality product on the shelf and not getting anything of benefit out of it.
Oh yeah, I'm not even a typical endurance athlete, which is what the training section of this book is geared towards, but I think that there is enough outstanding training advice in the training chapters to up the game of any athlete. I compete in strongman and I have already started applying the information for my betterment.
Engineering The Alpha
Engineering the Alpha is your own guidebook to the hero's journey of improving your health, fitness, and vitality.
If you've accepted the call to action and are now ready to take action to build more muscle, lose fat, and become more alpha, this book is an undeniably great place to begin.
Terry Crews has stated that the diet and nutrition advice in this book has changed his life. How's that for an endorsement?