Train your body, and your mind. recovery doesn’t just happen during your appointments- it’s living the life of an athlete, every day.
Every month, we’re sharing our pick from industry experts. Each book addresses a complimentary discipline needed for the road to becoming your best athlete. We challenge you to take stock of your life; for all of us, the same patterns spill over between our personal life and our athletic life. These books aren’t about “hack culture,” but rather scientifically supported strategies and lessons from those who have walked the road before us.
The Complete Reading List
Even if you’ve only ever jogged around the block, you’ll know the little voice that creeps up during athletic performance. The Voices Within explores the psychology and sociology behind these inner voices, and how to harness them.
No matter if an athlete is in the hunt for Olympic gold, or an artist is on the verge of an artistic masterpiece, many of the same practices can be seen in those at the top of their field. In Peak Performance, Stulberg and Magness demystify these practices and demonstrate how everyone can achieve their best.
You know that little voice in your head, the one telling you it’s too hard, that you should just give up? Author and former military Special Forces officer David Goggins argues that voice signals you’ve reached 40% of your full physical capacity. Learn more about his life and work ethic, built on mental toughness and determination in this month’s pick!
Think you missed your chance at greatness because you weren’t a child prodigy? According to David Epstein, probably not. Focusing instead on the value of diverse experiences, Epstein champions the generalist over the specialist, the well-rounded over the All American. Hone your focus, whatever stage of life you’re in, and continue on the path to greatness.
Why do some people succeed, while others fail? Psychologist Angela Duckworth reveals that it is not all about talent. Sharing findings from her recent research, she shows how “grit” - a special blend of passion and perseverance for a goal - is a distinctive feature of successful people.
Together as a company, we are using this book to reflect on our own ideas and action. We cannot ignore the injustice the Black community is facing in our country. As an organization founded on helping others reach their fullest potential, we must speak up. This is not ok.
The readers follow McDougall along his journey from his initial meeting of a few tribesmen, witnessing firsthand their superhuman ability, to his search for Caballo Blanco - a strange gringo, friend of the Tarahumara, living alone in the canyons and modeling their way of life. Caballo is set on organizing a race in the Tarahumara homeland for those who embody the spirit of these running people. Finally we follow the trek to the Copper Canyons for the race itself with an unusual group of ultrarunners, for the world’s greatest race the world has never seen...
In The Champion’s Mind, sports psychologist Jim Afremow, PhD, shares the advice he uses with Olympians, professional athletes, even Heisman trophy winners. The plan described in this book details how you can be come a champion, “[...] be vitally engaged in all areas of your game and life by doing your best at what you value most. You will get the job done and rise to the occasion in your championship moments.”
Packed with previously untold stories and unparalleled insight into the psyches of the most successful and accomplished athletes of our time, Relentless shows you how even the best get better - and how you can too.
We inherently know exercise is good for us, yet many of us regard it as a chore. Instead of writing another “science-y manual” on how exercise improves your mood and brain function or can help you lose weight, McMonigal ‘draws on insights from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology, as well as memoirs, ethnographies, and philosophers’ to remind us that a sedentary lifestyle is unnatural to our biology.’
This book is a roadmap for how to succeed at infinite games. We all take pleasure in the “fleeting thrill” of a promotion or meeting a financial goal, but winning the game of life is much more fulfilling, according to Sinek, if we embrace an infinite mindset. This approach considers the ripple effects of the business and company products, asking “what’s best for us” instead of “what’s best for me.”
Wolfpack is about leadership from the feminine perspective, highlighting all the ways leaders inspire action. It’s a small book with a big message: “We have never been Little Red Riding Hood. We are the Wolves. We must wander off the path and blaze a new one: together.”
We found The Mindful Athlete after a client asked us for book recommendations on mental performance and sports mindset. During our research, multiple trusted sites and blogs referenced this book as one of the top on their list. George Mumford, who has worked with all 11 NBA championship teams coached by Phil Jackson, shares his own powerful story of finding meditation and mindfulness after having “lost his way” and weaves in countless other stories of people in sports
Following your passion is something we hear about as a goal in life. The truth is, following your passion can be exhausting. You can throw all your eggs in one basket and can take things too far, leading to burnout and unnecessary stress. That isn’t to say living a life of passion is bad either.
Ever heard the term “shrink it and pink it?” The concept that most female nutrition products and training plans are made for men and then just made smaller and marketed with pink for women? Author Stacy Sims asserts this concept is why so many female athletes struggle to reach their full potential. She states, “Women are not small men. Stop eating and training like one.”
In this book, Nick Littlehales steers clear of the simplistic “get 8 hours a day” approach and shows you his R90 Sleep Recover Program; something he’s developed over two decades as a professional sleep coach. He not only uses science and research data, but real empirical evidence gathered by coaching elite athletes, selling mattresses, and being a parent.
Even among elite athletes, only some have what it takes to bounce back after devastating injuries, conquer tough obstacles and face insurmountable odds. Leading sports psychology consultant Afremow has seen firsthand what separates good athletes from great ones. Making a comeback isn’t just about raw talent or athletic ability- it’s the mental game that counts most.
"Making it to the Olympics is seen not as the pinnacle of an athlete’s career but as a fun stop on the way to achieving other, longer-lasting dreams. Norwich, Crouse realized, wasn’t just raising better athletes than the rest of America; it was raising happier, healthier kids.
Dive into recent scientific discoveries that make sense of repetitive behavior, and how to build beneficial habits, or more challenging, modify unproductive habits. Learn from narratives of success, "from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement"
Pull back the curtain on the billion dollar industry of sports recovery. Good to Go captivates readers with an entertaining and objective view behind the abundance of options on the market, helping you make more informed decisions on your strategy.