For better or for worse, I am a person of extremes. In fact, if I had a life motto (and perhaps this goes to show that I do), it would be “moderation is for cowards.” I like to either do a thing and do it fully, or not do it at all. This characteristic permeates almost every aspect of my life. I think it is perhaps most evident, at least to those who know me well, in my appetites for information and stories that will deepen my understanding of human wellness (second only to good red wine and well-cooked steak). It is with this in mind that I got the idea to write a blog about the top six books that every athlete - and human - should read (and yes, I know that top five has a nicer ring to it, but I simply couldn’t cut any of these books from the list). So, without further ado, I would like to give mention to these six books, along with a description and a meaningful quote. I hope I can inspire you to read even one of these, if not all of them, in an attempt to make you a happier, healthier, and perhaps even a more thoughtful human being.
1. The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf
This book not only has to be in this list, but it has to be number one. Although I seriously considered putting another one of Robb’s books, Wired To Eat, in its place, at the end of the day The Paleo Solution is the book that quite legitimately changed my life. Not only did it change the way I look at food, but it also changed the way I look at the Western medical system and the hidden agendas which dominate the information that we are fed as facts. The Paleo Solution (which has been revised to keep up with emerging research) incorporates the latest science from genetics, biochemistry and anthropology to help people look, feel and perform their best.
“As a society, we have become so sick, weak, and broken, we accept the abnormal as normal.”
2. Move your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement by Katy Bowman
Let me start by saying that Katy Bowman is hilarious. I am convinced that there is no other person alive who could write a book which so thoroughly and approachably covers the topic of biomechanics, while also making readers laugh out loud. Katy Bowman is the author that I want to and never will be (if you’re reading this Katy - I love you, please be my friend). While I am a huge fan of all of her books (Movement Matters, Alignment Matters, Whole Body Barefoot, the list goes on), I highly recommend that all readers start with this one. Move Your DNA is funny, fascinating, and science‐based. It addresses the vast quantities of disease we are suffering from, and identifies our lack of movement as a primary cause. It also supplies corrective exercises and lifestyle changes that Katy has created for readers to recover the bodies that nature intended.
“The paradox of the modern world is this: Not only do we do less, physically, than ever before, but we also almost never do nothing. Our bodies, deprived of large movements, are inundated with subtle-yet-continuous physical stimulation from noise, light, data, etc. This constant stream of input is a two-fold stressor, as not only is the frequency of certain environmentally induced loads extremely high, the types of input we are experiencing are unnatural.”
3. Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival by Bent Formby and T.S. Wiley
Guys, this book blew my mind. Although it was originally published in 2000, much of the wisdom and realities of this book are timeless. We all know we don't get enough sleep, but what is less known are the connections between sleep, food, light, and health. This book shows that when it comes to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and depression, sleep is often at the center of it all. Based on years of research at the National Institute of Health, this book explains the links between sleep and things like why researchers can give mice cancer just by leaving the lights on, why exercise can give you a heart attack, why type II diabetes has increased four-fold in recent years, why people are overproducing sex hormones but too tired to want sex, and much much more.
“Preventive medicine is thought of as alternative medicine in this country.”
4. Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat: Why Well-Raised Meat Is Good for You and Good for the Planet by Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf
While there are other terrific books that touch on similar subject matters (such as The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith), Sacred Cow was published in 2020 and touches on the issues of nutrition, morality, and sustainability with the most up-to-date research and discoveries. In our increasingly polarized world, this book introduces some much-needed nuance. If you’re an ethical omnivore or carnivore and you’re concerned about the environmental impact of your food choices, this book is for you. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan but are considering eating meat again, this book is for you. If you’re familiar with how cattle can be part of a regenerative food system, but still worried red meat will kill you, this book is for you. If you’re open to science, then this book is definitely for you.
“Well-managed cattle can be a net carbon sink, but even in a system where there are slight emissions, the nutritional gains and the added environmental benefits of cattle (increased biodiversity, better water-holding capacity, breaking down non-nutritive foods and converting them into a nutrient-rich source of protein and fats) far outweigh the 2% global emissions, especially compared to other less nutritious yet higher-emission-producing foods like rice.”
5. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
If this book sounds familiar, it might be because I mentioned it in a previous blog article on the importance of nose breathing (insert shameless plug for my own writing here). This fascinating book provides a historical, scientific and personal examination of breathing, with a specific interest in contrasting the differences between mouth breathing and nasal breathing. This is one of those books that is not only fascinating, but also potentially life-changing without feeling overwhelming.
“One thing that every medical or freelance pulmonaut I’ve talked to over the past several years has agreed on is that, just as we’ve become a culture of overeaters, we’ve also become a culture of overbreathers. Most of us breathe too much, and up to a quarter of the modern population suffers from more serious chronic overbreathing.”
6. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Prisig
Do you have “one of these things is not like the others” playing in your head? If you do, it’s understandable. What does a fictionalized autobiography that explores the "metaphysics of quality" have to do with being an athlete, or even a human? The benefits of this book are indeed less tangible than the others, but I find them crucial for this list nonetheless. Regardless of what type of athlete, or what type of human, you are, it is incredibly important to understand the value of doing something the right way, even when that means doing something the long and hard way. While many people (in my experience, generally ones who proudly self-describe as “cynics”) have criticized this book for being pretentious and overblown, I think it’s beautiful. This book is a commentary on age-old philosophies and philosophical questions, set in the story of a father and his son taking a cross-country trip on his motorcycle.
“But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as long as the attack is upon effects only, no change is possible. The true system, the real system, is our present construction of systematic thought itself, rationality itself, and if a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves in the succeeding government. There’s so much talk about the system. And so little understanding.”
As stated previously, I hope that one or more of these books can make it onto your reading list, and can provide you with even a fraction of the benefits that they have provided me. If you do read any of them, I am always up for a good book discussion! Please reach out to LMGH to tell me why you loved them, or hated them, or anything in between.