Customer Reviews

Thrive Fitness: The Vegan-Based Training Program for Maximum Strength, Health, and Fitness

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

The first few chapters of this book are pretty solid--mostly a testimony of Brazier's vegan-based philosophy for performance athletes and weekend warriors. He presents a compelling argument for pursuing one's goals, eating right, and taking care of the body. There is a good discussion of how stress and lifestyle impact health, and how that in turn affects the body's performance capacity. Following these sections, he introduces a section on performance improvement. This chapter contains a solid regimen of exercises; however, the descriptions and illustrations leave much to be desired. If you are not familiar with how to do these exercises properly already, I would seek advice elsewhere for proper technique.

The section on incorporating vegan-athlete friendly foods into your diet was informative, albeit neither well-referenced nor entirely practical. It would be to both the author and the reader's benefit had the former been more specific about how he knows, for instance, that "maca helps lower cortisol levels, which will improve sleep quality." There should be a numbered citation to go along with this and other such statements, not just a list of references at the back of the book. Another flaw with this book is the fascination with exotic foods/ingredients and Vega-brand products. Although I have yet to read it, other readers suggest that "Thrive Diet," offers a better discussion of how to utilize more commonplace grocery fare for the rest of us who want to enjoy similar performance results.

What I wanted from this book was dietary advice on how to better operate a high-caloric lifestyle on vegan fuel, so to speak. This book, although somewhat informative, fell short.

I'm a dietitian and strongly believe in plant-based diets and that one can achieve peak physical fitness being a vegetarian or a vegan. However, if you want to understand WHY or HOW it works, this book does little to explain it, at least not in a credible way besides the fact that the author is an famous vegan ironman. The list of references is weak, consider he included an encyclopedia, referenced mostly books rather than research, and chose not to link them to where he mentioned them. On p.45 he wrote "It makes perfect sense" about his nutritional philosophy. This is how myths start; yes, it made perfect sense to ancient Greeks that gods scheduled when it rains. His dietary suggestions were fine and he should simply stick with "It works for me" instead of trying to be a scientist. He makes a living writing books and speaking on tours, he needs you to believe he knows the secrets for his career to continue. There is a list of commercial products, dietary supplements, energy bars and special water he suggests you to use. So much for being natural. Don't get me wrong, plant-base, whole foods, minimal sugars are great, most of my work involves helping people to figure out HOW to do it in their lives.

Amazing book... Brendan Brazier is such an inspirational idividual and pours so much passion into his work. The book shares so many great examples of how you can improve the quality of your life through eating the way that we were meant to eat and applying some simple principles with being active and eating for maximum energy. Highly recommended!

While the author addresses all the complaints non-vegan and vegetarians make about giving up dead animal flesh, he doesn't offer much in the way of solutions outside name-dropping his branded health supplement. This regular advertising of a packaged product goes almost directly against alot of the prescriptions for eating that he recommends... "so - should you be eating packaged food and supplements? No, unless they're his supplements." Pretty lame.

First off, I'm not a vegan by any means, and I certainly will never be.

That being said, Brendan Brazier has a lot of common sense tips to offer even experienced athletes.

The training tips are great for beginners, and the recipes are pretty cool.
I enjoyed reading it. He's a smart guy, take care of your health.

I am an Open water swimmer. I worked on my physical strength and endurance first and saw great improvement in my skill, endurance and times. Then I hit a plateau. The next step in my training was my diet and nutrition. I love the whole food approach. I feel light, energetic and strong. Learning how foods digest and effect my body has been priceless. I wanted to feel more energentic and this book help me achieve it!

I got this from the library after reading the other review comparing and favoring his first book, Thrive. It seems he got his product line going somewhere between starting and finishing the book. Many of the recipes depend on his products and/or hard-to-find items. While his points about nutrition are well-taken, it seems that much of his ideas and recommendations are based on a sample of one (his own performance). I certainly believe in figuring out what works for each person, but it gets a little old. I'm a believer in whole, fresh and LOCAL foods, and it'd be hard to do this program without a lot of flying semi-processed items in from the Amazon and tropics. The other book has some similar frustrations, but the recipes have fewer of these issues. Finally, the strength program calls for weights/bench (no room/$ in our home) or a $50 online order of another specialty exercise item, which was the last turnoff. There are good pictures, descriptions and record-keeping forms, so if you're set on that stuff, it's probably an easy and worthwhile program to follow. I haven't finished Thrive, but find it better for me.