Well-researched book about physical and psychological limits of human performance, that has all the ingredients I like but I didn't enjoy this meal as much as I had expected. Mostly, because there is no specific conclusion that would challenge or enrich my understanding of the subject.

This book seems to be 3 different books mixed in a blender. One presens stories of extraordinary people pushed to their limits or even beyond them (to the fatal end), the second chronicles progress of medicine and experiments that helped us understand how our bodies work, and the last one about running - combining personal experiences of the author with a sub-2-hours marathon attempt. The shifts between these 3 modes always threw me off balance. There is no strong narrative that connects different parts - one could read chapters in random order without missing a lot - and the whole seems to be underwhelming. Oftentimes there is an intriguing premise, then a build up with a lot of meandering and skipping between anecdotes, facts, and personal stories, leading to a very inconclusive resolution that doesn't really pay off.

The writing is clear and has a distinctive style of curiosity and skepticism. The author presents research results without cherry-picking, often showing conflicting conclusions, and trying to make some sense "with the reader". The number of details provided is as admirable as excruciating. Surely the author did his homework but I think more effort could go into the editing, cutting all the facts that do not support his message. Numerous digressions and shifts between threads require the reader to keep multiple pieces of information in mind to follow the author connecting the dots, but in the end a lot of dots remain disconnected and seem to be added just to show off.

If you are an avid sports fan, especially running or cycling (extra points for the appreciation of the history of record breaking), you might enjoy this book more than I did and add one star to my rating. Otherwise, it is a fascinating but not really ground-breaking read. ( )

“Over the past decade, I’ve traveled to labs in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and across North America, and spoken to hundreds of scientists, coaches, and athletes who share my obsession with decoding the mysteries of endurance. I started out with the hunch that the brain would play a bigger role than generally acknowledged. That turned out to be true, but not in the simple it’s-all-in-your head manner of self-help books. Instead, brain and body are fundamentally intertwined, and to understand what defines your limits under any particular set of circumstances, you have to consider them both together. That’s what the scientists described in the following pages have been doing, and the surprising results of their research suggest to me that, when it comes to pushing our limits, we’re just getting started.”

Journalist, physicist, and runner (as a member of the Canadian national team) Alex Hutchinson relates the history and latest scientific research regarding the limits of human performance. He is particularly interested in whether our limits are imposed by mental or physical factors. Woven in between the sports physiology is a narrative set around Eliud Kipchoge’s attempt to run a marathon in under two hours. He likens this milestone to Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile.

This is a book for people who are avidly interested in endurance sports physiology and psychology. It contains fascinating anecdotes related to other sports such as cycling, mountain climbing, arctic exploration, basketball, breath-holding diving, triathlons, and ultramarathoning. The author creatively blends together these engrossing true stories with scientific data on world-class athletes. It seems the majority of people can improve through training the body, but once a person reaches world-class levels, the mind becomes an even bigger part of the performance.

The information is imparted in an easily accessible fashion, though it will appeal most to those specifically interested in sports performance. There is no simple answer to the question of what limits us – body or brain – but Hutchinson thoroughly explores the subject in a way that kept my interest from beginning to end.
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Endurance is the struggle to keep going against a mounting desire to stop - that's true not only in physical sports but in real life as well. This book shows you how to apply it in your life. ( )

I got hold of this book because race walkers, including Canadian Evan Dunfee and Australian Jared Tallent, participated in a nutrition experiment, which was carb-free. This a good book on research into human performance, particularly sports. What food should se eat?, How do we train, intervals, routine? What are the limits of exertion and are they stretchable? What is the oxygen consumption. What does the brain think? What are our attitudes? ( )

Really interesting book about the limits of human performanace. Only thing it’s missing is a magic formula for success. I do want to go back and re-read the impact of training on a fat rich diet (same calories). ( )