The Gray Cook Lecture Compendium

In the world of strength and conditioning, learning how to move others not just physically, but also psychologically and emotionally is paramount to getting the most out of them. People are the ultimate performance variable, and understanding how to effectively blend knowledge of proper training with the nuances of human behavior is integral to helping athletes achieve their ultimate goals. Unfortunately, while much attention has been given to the science of physical training, little attention has been given to the science of communication.

Coach Dan John breaks down the most complicated concepts of strength training and high-performance athletics in his personal, no-nonsense, thought-provoking, and motivating style. Workout routines, Olympic lifting guidance, Highland games, track and field, and Strongman events are all covered, in addition to weight training philosophy for the general public.

In this collection of short talks, I tried to link together what I thought was crucial and important in the fitness field - and in sports in general - that sometimes don't work very well in something like a book or an article. These are all too long for an article, and too short for a book. But they're all very important principles, and these are all concepts I think need to be linked together.

What if we can make ourselves, our communities, and our planet healthier all at the same time by moving our bodies more? Movement Matters is a collection of essays in which biomechanist Katy Bowman continues her groundbreaking investigation of the mechanics of our sedentary culture and the profound potential of human movement. Here she widens her message and invites us to consider our personal relationship with sedentarism, privilege, and nature.

Move Your DNA explains the science behind our need for natural movement - right down to the cellular level. It examines the differences between the movements in a typical hunter-gatherer's life and the movements in our own. It shows the many problems with using exercise like movement vitamins instead of addressing the deeper issue of a poor movement diet.

You have two choices: Be lucky enough in middle school, junior high or high school to be taught basic body movements and step-by-step instructions in the Olympic lifts, powerlifting, mobility, flexibility, kettlebell training, and tumbling, or apply intervention five principles.

Thomas Plummer has been a trainer, owner, consultant, and finally a mentor to thousands of coaches and gym owners around the world trying to live their dreams of a life in the gym business. In The Soul of a Trainer, Thom shares this hard-earned insight not only about business, but also about a life well-lived.   

Training people in sport as a coach or in fitness as a personal trainer is certainly rewarding work. But there's a problem: What do we do next? There are countless books on diet and exercise, hundreds of machines; devices; and gimmicks to train people, and new gadgets and gizmos are popping up with every passing day.

Imagine this (go ahead, it's an easy one): You're bored with your workouts. Nothing's changing; you're not getting stronger or leaner or feeling better, and, heck, maybe you'll just take a layoff and see what happens. You know what happens. That two-week layoff lasts a year, that's what happens! Now consider this: Traffic was light and you're 15 minutes early for your dental cleaning appointment. You flip open your device and bring up your new copy of Before We Go. By the time the dental tech calls you, you've heard two chapters and are amped to get to the gym. Your mind is racing through the appointment, and it's all you can do to stay in that squeaky lounge chair.

The first book of its kind, Peak Performance combines the inspiring stories of top performers across a range of capabilities - from athletic, to intellectual, to artistic - with the latest scientific insights into the cognitive and neurochemical factors that drive performance in all domains. In doing so, Peak Performance uncovers new linkages that hold promise as performance enhancers but have been overlooked in our traditionally-siloed ways of thinking.

CrossFit trainer Ben Bergeron has helped build the world's fittest athletes, but he's not like other coaches. He believes that greatness is not for the elite few; that winning is a result, not a goal; and that character, not talent, is what makes a true champion. His powerful philosophy can help anyone excel at all aspects of life. Using the dramatic competition between the top contenders at the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games® as a background, Ben explores the step-by-step process of achieving excellence and the unique set of positive character traits necessary for leveling up to world-class. The mindset and methodology that have produced some of the greatest athletes in the world's most grueling sport can work equally well for golfers, lawyers, artists, entrepreneurs - anyone who's willing to commit totally to becoming better than the best.

How high or far or fast can humans go? And what about individual potential: what defines a person's limits? From running a two-hour marathon to summiting Mount Everest, we're fascinated by the extremes of human endurance, constantly testing both our physical and psychological limits.In Endure, Alex Hutchinson, PhD, reveals why our individual limits may be determined as much by our heads and hearts as by our muscles.

Beyond Training is for men and women who have made it out of couch potato mode and are ready to take things to the next level, whether that means shedding those last few extra pounds, finishing a 5K, or even crossing the finish line of an Ironman triathlon. Everyone from the casual exerciser to the weightlifter, CrossFitter, obstacle racer, marathoner, mountaineer, triathlete, swimmer, cyclist, runner, and biohacker will glean tons of knowledge and life-changing advice from this book.

The structures that lie beneath our skin represent a remarkable and beautiful assortment of biological mechanisms that are essential for our lives. However, we often take these structures for granted. In these 14 fascinating lectures, a basic overview of the human body, its physical features, biological systems, and general functioning will be presented for the benefit of anyone from budding medical students to curious laymen.

Most diet and workout books are focused on the wrong things: They focus on WHAT instead of HOW. The leanest people focus on how, on their eating habits, not on fad diets. Diets that rely on willpower and discipline fail. The path to results is made up of eleven small, simple, step-by-step habits. Rotating through phases of metabolic, endurance, and strength workouts yields the best fat-loss results.