Most Helpful Customer Reviews
122 of 132 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
His first book is WAY better, January 22, 2010
I love his first book "thrive diet" and live by it daily. So due to this i bought this book as a serious endurance athlete who wishes to learn more.
Now although they can be related, being a vegan is basically about diet in my view. Exercise is another lifestyle. So although I didn't think about it when I bought the book, a "vegan based training program" doesn't really make sense. Should have been labeled something like "a training program with a vegan diet" which is more straightforward saying that they are not the same.
It might have been my fault to assume, but I was thinking/hoping that this book would be how be became a professional triathlete and how he trained the most efficiently as an endurance athlete. My fault to assume, but it's basically how to workout at home with body resistance routines. Which helps as an endurance athlete, but not the most useful to buy a book for.
If you read his first book, the first 1/3 of this book is basically a waste. It's repeating what he said in the first book about "why a plant based diet is better for performance", but in less detail due to him needing to talk about new things in the remaining pages.
Some of the info thats new is helpful. He talks about many different things when it comes to becoming in better fitness shape. The problem with the book however is that each topic is very short and he doesn't go into detail due to his need to talk about many things.
Although I love how his first book really helped me and changed the way I fuel my body, this one is really a waste. Few things are new and minimally useful, but overall none of the diet stuff is really new. All the stuff he talks about in this book is in the first book, but in less detail.
I watched interviews of him before, and every question he tried to spin it into talking about his food line "Vega". Due to this I didn't buy his first book till I asked someone and they said that his recipes, in the first book, gave every ingredient that he used and didn't just say "use Vega + fruit". In this book unfortunately many of his recipes are just vega + a banana smoothie. And whenever he had the chance he seemed to plug his food line. If I knew that this was the case I wouldn't have bought the book at all due to the fact of him trying to sell something else after I spent my money on his book.
Take my advice, buy his first book and get another book that is targeted to the sport of your choice which is more detailed than this.
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38 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eat to Thrive, July 20, 2009
Brendan's books are a must-read for everyone who wants to thrive versus just survive. You do not have to become a radical vegan to enjoy the nutritional guidelines in Thrive Fitness. Anyone can benefit tremendously from implementing the pre-, during, and post-workout recipes.
I am training for a triathlon, and simply cannot believe how much more quickly my body recovers from strenuous exercise now that I am following Brendan's recommendations for what to eat before I work out, while I'm doing it, and after the fact.
A bit of advice to all you animal product consumers: Even you will LOVE the sport drinks, puddings, and smoothies. Try them -- your body will thank you!
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How to add a strength component to your endurance training, February 6, 2010
Before I get to what Brendan Brazier's Thrive Fitness is, let me start with what it isn't. It's not a diet plan: Thrive, Brendan's first book, already went there. And while I consider Thrive to be somewhat revolutionary in its comprehensive treatment of the vegan diet for athletes, Thrive Fitness isn't going to change the way we look at training.
What Thrive Fitness is, however, is an answer to the question "How should I incorporate strength training into my current endurance program?" This is a question I've asked myself a lot, wondering at what point the risk of injury outweighs the potential for strength gains. Brendan's answer takes the form of a set of workouts, to be done at a gym or at home with minimal equipment, that can be laid on top of one's current running, cycling, or swimming schedule.
Though a few guidelines for cardio workouts are given and some special attention paid for those brand new to running, most of the focus regarding endurance and cardio workouts is on what to eat before, during and after them. About twenty "sport-specific" recipes (energy gels, energy pudding, energy bars, pre- and post-workout drinks, sports drink, etc.) are provided, including several original versions of what eventually became Brendan's commercial Vega line of products. What's more, by incorporating new superfoods, several of the recipes in Thrive Fitness are nutritional improvements over those given in Thrive.
My favorite part of Thrive Fitness, though, is what makes it unique in a sea of other fitness books---the focus on energy, sleep, stress, and non-physical benefits of exercise, such as creativity, active meditation, and the effects of endorphins. I found that reading about these added perks, rather than the standard fat-loss, muscle-gain fare of other exercise books, motivated me more than anything has in a while to hit the gym or to get out for a run.
So would I recommend Thrive Fitness? To complete exercise newbies, no. To accomplished endurance athletes who are happy with their current strength-training regimen, probably not, though useful insights could be gleaned from the aforementioned section on the non-physical benefits and the "Fuel for Fitness" chapter, including the training recipes. But to those who have run a marathon, a half, or even multiple such events, and are looking to take their fitness to the next level by adding a strength component to their training, absolutely. Thrive Fitness provides that component in a flexible manner that can serve as either a training overhaul or a simple tune-up, whichever is desired.
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