Customer Reviews

Optimum Sports Nutrition: Your Competitive Edge

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have read several books on nutrition and nothing compares to the information contained in this fantastic book. I am well educated myself having degrees in nutrition and biochemisty. I perused the information Dr. Colgan has presented and found it to be accurate in terms of the biochemical workings of the human body. Dr. Colgan has been able to convert difficult to understand material into a more eaisly understandable format. His credentials are outstanding. There is no other individual that I have come across that has his education and professional experience. Dr. Colgan is not your dime a dozen M.D. who writes a book on nutrition. He has a Ph.D in Biochemistry which is really what all of nutrition is based upon. The only thing that that I found negative was the excessive emphasis on Twin Lab products and some of the material on sports supplementation was out of date. Otherwise, the majority of the information I found to be of high quality. Both the athlete and non-athlete will find this book to be a welcome adjunct to thier nutrition knowledge and understanding.

The information contained in this book is as astounding as it is fascinating. Everything you ever wanted to know about the relationship between diet and athletic performance is spelled out in detail. I've bought several sports nutrition books through Amazon.Com, read them all, but this is the one i continue to reference whenever a question arises.

One caveat though. Michael Colgan seems to have a very close connection to TwinLab, whose products he (at least openly) endorses every chance he gets. The book is published by ARP, which is owned by Twinlab, as is the magazine AN Muscular Development in which Dr. Colgans brilliant articles appear every month.

While I was intially impressed with the book, it did gnaw on me why the book pushes TwinLab products throughout, and all other kinds of supplements. If you take all the supplements in the book your bill will be in the hundreds of dollars. Then after further research, I discovered TwinLab published and the book and the author gets paid by them to write on a monthly basis. Unfortunately that taints all the findings in the books, and explains why so many supplements are pushed. If Colgan was honest, he would have exposed his relation with the Lab upfront, which would have made me a lot less suspicious.

Easily understandable without being condesending or incomplete.More than just Vitamin A,B&C , this is a calorie and this is a carb etc. It goes how the body works and why it recommends X Y or Z. Armed with this knowledge you can make informed decisions about nutrtion. I would recommend every athlete read this book.

BUT and there is always a but, when I read this book in 95 it was out of date then on a number of subjects.Foor example creatine which is one of the most effective substances for athletes in training is discounted !.

Until this book it updated it cannot be the 'Bible of sports Nutrition'.

If it was updated it would be awsome.

This book is very informative. I found it to be very helpful in helping the athlete clear the confusion on various subjects, from nutrition, training, or drugs. The book is certainly a great learning tool, and is also helpful for consultation after being read. The only thing I might criticize, is that some of the subjects especially on supplements are outdated.

Dr. Colgan's book on nutrition deserved accolades when first published. Since it's publication there has been a wealth of published studies which deserve to be incorporated in an update of this fine book. I only hope Dr. Colgan's financial interests in TwinLab and his newsletter don't preclude the considered revision his readers deserve.

I have been a longtime Dr Colgan reader through both his columns in Muscular Development and this book. Optimum Sports Nutrition is a great book for anyone, athlete or otherwise to draw on to construct their own nutritional regimen. He goes into great detail backs up every recommendation he makes with boatloads of statistics. I only have a few quibbles. The first is his hyping of Twinlab products - he clearly has a vested interest since he works for Twinlab's parent company. Having said that their products are excellent. Second the book could really do with updating notably including creatine as an ergogenic compound. Finally, and most seriously I feel his prescription of a low fat diet/high carb diet cannot possibly suit everyone. Although this type of diet will work well I feel more EFA's are required for most people. Furthermore he fails to touch upon ketogenic diets which many people find very effective for lowering their bodyfat percentage although it is a diet only really suitable for bodybuilders and the average joe. For a great book on this subject look up Lyle McDonald's "The Complete Guide to Ketogenic Diets".

I have recently purchased this book along with Stuart Mcrobert's Beyond Brawn. So far I have been very impressed with the material available in this book. One of the more important discoveries I had while reading this book was the section about vitamin dosages. I had been suffering from several physical ailments and violent mood swings that were directly from vitamin overdose.

This book is pointed more at individuals who are very intense atheletes, but the information is helpful for even us regular joe's.

An incisive work. Required reading. Supported by an extensive bibliography, this book provides all the information you need regarding athletic performance and nutrition. And it's spelled out in exquisite detail. I've been reading sports nutrition books/articles for years and this book is the finest I've ever come across. For those who voice concern regarding his support of Twinlab products? His ethics regarding nutrition are above reproach as evidenced by the information in this book, and the honesty of his writing. I am a natural bodybuilder and can attest to their quality. And I am neither on Twinlabs nor Colgan's payroll. At this price this book is a steal. Buy it!!

This book serves as an excellent tool for anyone interested in learning more about nutrition, vitamins, supplements, and how they all fit together in the body. There is enough detail presented to gain a working knowledge of nutrition, but it isn't written on a physicians level, making it user friendly. I found this book very informative, better than most of the nutrition books I've read. The one down side is that it is a little out dated. Some of the information on supplement usage is outdated. Regardless, this is an excellent source of information for bodybuilders and other athletes.