Beyond Training : Mastering Endurance, Health and Life

550 Pages·2014·4.69 MB·English

by  Greenfield

First Published in 2014 by Victory Belt Publishing, Inc.
Copyright © Ben Greenfield
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or stored in a database or
retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781628600476
The author is not a licensed practitioner, physician, or medical professional and
offers no medical treatments, diagnoses, suggestions, or counseling. The
information presented herein has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any
disease. Full medical clearance from a licensed physician should be obtained
before beginning or modifying any diet, exercise, or lifestyle program, and
physicians should be informed of all nutritional changes.
The author/owner claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any
liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a
result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented
herein.
RRD 0114
This book is for every high achiever, exercise enthusiast,
weekend warrior, gym junkie, biohacker, and health nut
who wants to achieve amazing feats of physical, mental,
and lifestyle performance without destroying their body,
mind, and life.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The inspiration for this book came from the readers and listeners of
BenGreenfieldFitness.com. Every day, your honest questions, creative feedback,
and committed engagement helped me realize that all of you have amazing
physical goals that you want achieve—and, to your credit, you really don’t want
to destroy your bodies, your families, and your lives in the process. You are the
reason I do what I do.
Thanks also to my wife, Jessa, who is an amazing woman, superhero mother,
pillar of support, and warm body for me to hug when I’m stressed out about
chapter deadlines or writer’s block. I am not sure if I should thank her for
cooking, because I probably would have written this book much sooner if I
hadn’t been pulled away to the dinner table by her nightly presentations of
aromatic cuisine.
Thanks to my twin boys, River and Terran, who are fully responsible for any
typos you may find in this book, as finding the proper letter on a keyboard is
more difficult when being attacked by two armed and caped villains who want to
engage you in brutal wrestling matches.
Thanks to my parents, who taught me how to read, write, and spell (literally
—I was homeschooled) and also served as chaperones and sponsors for tennis,
soccer, basketball, running, bicycling, weightlifting, and any other sport I
begged to do.
Thanks to Brock Armstrong, my sidekick on the podcast and trusted go-to
man for strange tasks; to Eleanor Pell, who helped me with research and
citations, which I’m notoriously bad at; to Trevor Parks, my Facebook and social
media ninja; to Marge Aberasturi, my right-hand personal assistant; to Jake
Perrin, my awesome web dude; and to the team at Victory Belt for making this
book beautiful.
Thanks to all the mentors, coaches, and teachers who have taught me about
fitness, nutrition, and healthy living—Rafael Escamilla, Kathy Browder, PZ
Pearce, Roby Mitchell, David Minkoff, Todd Schlapfer, Nora Gedgaudas, Phil
Maffetone, Dave Asprey, Peter Attia, Mark Sisson, Robb Wolf, Roger
Drummer, Jeffrey Spencer, Tim Noakes—this list could go on and on. Please
Drummer, Jeffrey Spencer, Tim Noakes—this list could go on and on. Please
never underestimate the power of sharing your knowledge—it certainly made a
difference in my life.
And, of course, thanks once again to you. You inspire many, many people
when you decide to achieve your dream. And I’m one of them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD by Chris McCormack
PREFACE: Is Exercise Unhealthy?
INTRODUCTION: How I Went from Overtraining and Eating Bags of Thirty-
Nine-Cent Hamburgers to Detoxing My Body and Doing Sub-Ten-Hour
Ironmans with Less Than Ten Hours of Training a Week
Part 1. FITNESS
CHAPTER 1: A Tale of Two Triathletes: Can Exercise Make You Age Faster?
CHAPTER 2: Everything You Need to Know About Heart Rate Zones
CHAPTER 3: The Two Best Ways to Build Endurance as Fast as Possible
(without Destroying Your Body)
CHAPTER 4: Underground Training Tactics for Enhancing Endurance
CHAPTER 5: The Five Essential Elements of an Endurance-Training Program
That Most Athletes Neglect
Part 2. RECOVERY
CHAPTER 6: How the Underrecovery Monster Is Eating Up Your Precious
Training Time
CHAPTER 7: Twenty-Five Ways to Know with Laserlike Accuracy if Your
Body Is Truly Recovered and Ready to Train
CHAPTER 8: Twenty-Six Top Ways to Recover from Workouts and Injuries
with Lightning Speed
CHAPTER 9: The Seven Best Ways to Beat a Hidden Killer That Sabotages
Your Recovery
CHAPTER 10: Everything You Need to Know to Sleep Better, Eliminate
Insomnia, Conquer Jet Lag, and Master the Nap
Part 3. NUTRITION
CHAPTER 11: Forty Easy Meals for Busy Athletes: How to Fuel Your Body
with the Thousands of Calories Needed for Endurance and Extreme Exercise
without Destroying Your Metabolism
CHAPTER 12: What Two Five-Year-Old Boys Can Teach You About How to
Track Calories and Log Your Diet the Right Way
CHAPTER 13: How Much Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat You Need to Stay
Lean, Stay Sexy, and Perform Like a Beast
CHAPTER 14: The Zen of Customizing Your Diet to Your Unique Body and
Goals
CHAPTER 15: Nine Bad Things That Happen When Digestion Goes Awry,
How to Hit the Reboot Button on Your Gut, and the Best Way to Detox Your
Body
CHAPTER 16: The Truth About Eating Before, During, and After Workouts and
Races
CHAPTER 17: The Twenty-One Best Kitchen Tools, Grocery Shopping Guides,
Cookbooks, Websites, and Local Resources for Fueling Your Active Lifestyle
Part 4. LIFESTYLE
CHAPTER 18: How to Protect Your Body from the Ten Hidden Killers in Your
Home
CHAPTER 19: The Zen of Getting Über-Fit without Neglecting Your Friends,
Your Family, and Your Career
CHAPTER 20: My Top Ten Time-Saving and Productivity Tips—Including
How to Quit Mowing Your Lawn
Part 5. THE BRAIN
CHAPTER 21: Two Ways Your Brain Breaks and Exactly What You Can Do
About It: Fixing Neurotransmitter Dysfunction
CHAPTER 22: Twenty-One Ways to Hack Your Brain: A Complete Guide to
Enhancing Your Brainpower, Creativity, Focus, Motivation, and IQ
CHAPTER 23: Ten Rules for Becoming an Ancestral Athlete
CHAPTER 24: Closing Thoughts and Additional Resources
FIGURE CREDITS