The Endurance Handbook: How to Achieve Athletic Potential, Stay Healthy, and Get the Most Out of Your Body Paperback – June 9, 2015

Very interesting and informative book! I can already feel that putting these principles into practice is adding years to my "active" life. Thanks Chris McDougall for including Dr. Maffetone in Natural Born Heroes, and thanks to Ben Greenfield for doing a podcast on NBH.Despite spending age 8-21 in the pool as a swimmer, I never really understood how do aerobic conditioning right. Now, at age 42, after 5+ years of working to be Paleo and shunning aerobic conditioning like longer runs, etc., in favor of more HIIT type activities and training, this book helped me understand the role of aerobic training and conditioning in my exercise and conditioning program, and how to do it to maximum benefit.I never took HIIT to the point of burnout, but now I think I can prepare my body for many more years of healthy activity using these principles. I have replaced a few of my higher intensity workouts with MAF workouts, as they are truly invigorating rather than draining. I may not be doing it exactly right, but I'm 80%+ in the right direction. And, having added this training to my schedule, I feel that when the hard workouts come, I'm not as drained afterwards and recover more quickly.Strongly recommended for any athlete from single digits through death.For non-athletes looking for a way to become more athletic, I view Maffetone's methods as the best way to start down the path, but I'm not sure this is the right book to bridge the gap as the presentation of the information is geared to enthusiastic or seasoned athletes.

While I originally purchased this book to get more details on the Two Week Test, I learned much more about my diet than anticipated. No doubt you'll make at least some food intake adjustments after reading.

A well-done book summarizing the lifestyle that will support both health and endurance excellence. The Maffetone method seems to remain controversial (unliked) but I think a lot of this can be attributed to unwillingness to put in the time it takes to develop "a great aerobic engine". It's also culturally out of sync with the high-intensity-every-workout training that often (but not necessarily) characterizes crossfit-like training programs. After a typical MAF workout one should feel energized and certainly not ready to meet "Rabdo" - that's totally out of sync with our adrenaline obsessed culture.BUT - Maffetone's training method works. Take the time to build your aerobic engine and you will soon be running (biking, rowing...) circles around the athletes who only training high intensity. It's important to note that Maffetone is not against high intensity training - it just needs to be in its place - on top of a well-developed aerobic engine. Read the book, take the time and build your aerobic engine. You will not regret it.

I had high hopes for this book. After being introduced to Dr. Maffetone and his unorthodox training philosophy in Christopher McDougall's "Natural Born Heroes" I picked up this book hoping to get a fuller exposition of his training philosophy. The book starts out on a promising note -- the secret of endurance is aerobic fitness -- but then it starts to meander and eventually you aren't sure how various topics fit together. The book could have been greatly shortened and more useful if he had focused on the central themes of his training philosophy -- train slower and don't eat junk food. Everything else, especially the references to him reading scientific articles for fun, are not necessary and seem self-indulgent. Those criticisms aside, though, Dr. Maffetone's advice about cutting out junk food and exercising smarter seem spot on.

In the year since using Phil Maffetone's MAF method, I have been able to run two marathons, including a Disney World Dopey Challenge (which consists of four consecutive days of a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon) without any injury. This is my first full year without injury and without decreasing mileage.The book helps in understanding the differences between the roles of the aerobic and anaerobic systems in run training.The book is easy to follow, and the method is clearly described. It may not be for everyone, but for now, it is the method for me.

Detail info on how to improve endurance through diet and training. A good extension of "The Big Book Of Endurance Training and Racing"

This is THE MANUAL if you have had issues with running and injuries or not being able to improve your running. Phil Maffetone gets to the heart of the matter by explaining that you are probably breaking your body down instead of building it up. You may seem more fit, but you are probably less healthy. It's the less health part that creeps up and causes injuries and in some cases death. This is a must read if your goal is to be fit AND healthy.

A few pages on the 180 rule with little detail followed by mostly LCHF diet advice. Lots of typos and very repetitive. Was expecting something entirely different. Reads like it was thrown together.