Survival of the Fittest

by Mike Stroud

Book Overview

Discover the secrets of how to perform at your best in 2019

In this fascinating book based soundly in medical science, Mike Stroud - of BBC Television's The Challenge and SAS: Are You Tough Enough? - sets out the genetics, diet and exercise that enable humans to perform at their peak. Dr Stroud - polar explorer, practising hospital physician, and a former adviser to the Ministry of Defence - analyses individual feats of survival and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0224075071
• ISBN13: 9780224075077
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Yellow Jersey
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

A user's guide to the human body

Mike Stroud's book explains in laymen's terms how the human body was designed to function and therefore how to get maximum performance from it. His premise is that society has developed too quickly for human evolution, and consequently our bodies can no longer cope with the modern diet and sedentary lifestyle. He offers as evidence the epidemics in obesity, diabetes and heart disease that we're seeing in the west. The good news, however, is that he disproves such conventional wisdom as the inevitable weight gain of middle age and the attending loss of physical ability. Once you understand that we evolved to be hunters and gatherers, to participate in a constant search for food rather than to sit in one spot and have it brought to you, then you can adjust your lifestyle accordingly. The only caution I would add to someone considering buying this book is, don't bother if you don't believe in evolution, because it is the foundation of his thesis and is mentioned on every page. Stroud is a doctor who has undertaken several world-class expeditions which have tested not only his own limits, but the limits of human endurance. Thus, he understands the theory and but can also speak from experience and the book is the better for it. He intersperses anecdotes and stories from several Eco Challenges he has completed as well as expeditions to the Arctic, ultra-marathons and marathons to illustrate his points, and that helps to keep your attention. If you're an athlete, whether professional or amateur, or if you're training for an event, whether your local fun run or a cross-country expedition, this book will help you focus your training and your diet so that, instead of fighting evolution, you're using your body the way it was intended.

So what really is stopping you?

Dr Mike Stroud is a man who understands the two most important aspects of physical fitness better than most. Firstly, he is a medical doctor (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians since 1995) and, therefore, possesses an appreciation of the therapeutic and material effects of keeping fit and participating in other physically demanding pursuits on the human body. Secondly, his personal achievements include accompanying Ranulph Fiennes in 1992 on the first unsupported crossing of Antarctica in which those two men pulled loaded sledges across the entire length of that continent. No human being - be they a former Olympic Athlete or one who used to be a supremely fit airborne solder, has a right to stay in shape just because of previous achievements and the high standards of fitness that went with their former situation. Put another way, whilst "time and tide wait for no man," the same is also true of the human body. The dreaded middle age spread will only be avoided by accepting two main principles; Firstly, there is a requirement for self-discipline in one's approach to personal fitness, condition and diet. Secondly, having "finally" decided to so something about your own fitness and health, you need to understand precisely what is required - and that is where this book comes into its own. The content, however, is not what you might expect to find at all. I was anticipating a blow-by-blow explanation of the best exercise and the most advantageous diets - but not so. Instead, we have a mini personal biography of Stroud's physical adventures and achievements and of the lessons learned during his participation in each. Every one of these lessons provides the reader with a valuable insight into another element of the overall subject for which we should be grateful - if only because we did not have to trudge across Antarctica (and elsewhere!) to learn that lesson. Please do not misunderstand this review. This is not a book confined to those who still yearn of climbing Everest or pursue some other form of adventurous lifestyle. This is a book for anyone and everyone who cares enough about their own physical and medical well-being to want to learn more about keeping themselves in good shape - both inside and outside. At the very end is a list of further works where the reader will undoubtedly find something to suit their own precise requirements. Immediately before that, however, the author echoes my own words. I am now 59 and I still go running with a pack on my back (old airborne habits will only die hard if you allow the to do so!). How often have I encountered someone (often much younger than myself) who looks at me and says "I wish I could do that." My reply is always the same; "so what's stopping you?" In the final chapter, Mike Stroud recounts Ranulph Fiennes' achievement of running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents a short time after he had suffered a heart attack! He concludes with the words; "Following our success, many

A Truly Life-Changing Book

This is definitely on my list of books that changed my life. It was in no small part responsible for me completing two marathons. Mike Stroud's basic premise is that although only a genetically gifted few can be trained to run significantly faster, everyone can be trained to run farther. Our ancestors were all cabable of covering long distances. And our bodies seem to be very well suited to it. In a broader sense Stroud also tackles nutrition, in that we should be exercising a lot and eating a lot. Only in that way can we get enough micronutrients through our system without putting on weight. I don't think the book is in print any more, so if you see a copy, you should grab it.

Human Evolution - Consequences for Health and Fitness

A great book and one I'll re-read many times!Mike uses his own ultra-endurance experiences to illustrate how human evolution impacts on everyday health and fitness issues. Well written and hugely illuminating, this book is relevant to anyone who wants to understand their body and its performance.