The Ergogenics Edge: Pushing the Limits of Sports Performance

by Melvin H. Williams

In this text, the author examines, explains, grades, and recommends more than 60 substances or techniques that have been or might have been used to improve athletic performance. From supplements to stress management techniques, he weighs the effectiveness, safety, and legality of each aid.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880115459
• ISBN13: 9780880115452
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Human Kinetics Publishers
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

good past and present of legal and illegal methods

i really enjoyed reading this book. i was surprised that it not only covers all the legal aids. but it also covers the history of illegal drugs. i orginally bought this book for knowledge on diet and legal aids. but i ended up with a brief history of illegal drugs. mentioning this book to a friend has not made my reputation any better. i have had 4 people falsely accuse me of using steroids. what puzzles me is that my performance is no where near good. yet, i've been told that some bicyclists in our group are using steroids. i have never even considered using since i'm an amateur level at best.

Money well spent!

This book is a really nice book to help us all get most of the "misterious" ergogenics. How many times did we enter in a SNC/GNC store and got confused with so many options? What does creatin or anything else exactly does? Stop having false and biased advises. This book is a reliable database with good bibliographic references. First starting point before heading to any supplement store is to get your hands on this book. Guaranteed to help you spend your $$$ better there! Only "drawback" (may I use this word?) is that many of the supplements are so "new" in terms of scientific research that even this book being recent there may be drastic changes in the knowledge of the product. Make sure you do your own researches (the internet is a good point to start) on the "newer" stuff where this book may become incomplete or vague.

the best book of its kind

Mel Williams is regarded as one of the leading sports physiologists in the US, and this book shows why. I've read many guides to using sports supplements and this is the only one I've come across that's balanced and well-researched. By far the best book of its kind on the market.

The Ergogenic Edge

The increasing number of performance enhancing supplements on the shelves in the drug stores is increasing rapidly. Many people are buying those products without knowing their effectiveness or safety. This book can serve as excellent source to help athletes and coaches of all levels to get the necessary information that will help them make informed decisions regarding the use of sports ergogenics as a means to enhance performance in sport. This book discusses the effectiveness, safety concerns, legal status, and ethical issues of a specific sport ergogenic that should be considered by all the athletes prior to its use. Athletes can find excelent recommendations about what spplements to take or not to take depending of the sport they are participating. The Ergogenic Edge is organized in a way that it makes it very user friendly which makes for easy reading.