Toughness Training for Life: A Revolutionary Program for Maximizing Health, Happiness and Productivity (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Drawing upon 16 years of research and clinical experience, noted sports psychologist Loehr presents a comprehensive training program to convert stress into emotional, mental, and physical toughness. Such toughness is needed to achieve maximum productivity, health, and happiness in life, he claims. According to Loehr, the model in this program is a "quantum leap" beyond that detailed in his previous work, Mental Toughness Training for Sports ( LJ 8/86). Here, he adapts and expands his former model to treat topics such as toughness training for kids, women, the military, and recovering from rough times. Particularly interesting are chapters on the chemistry of toughness and strengthening the immune system. Aided by numerous charts, case studies, exercises, and a glossary, Loehr combines research with readable prose to provide superior stress management advice. Recommended for general psychology collections in public and academic libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/93.
- Carol R. Nelson, Ball St. Univ. Lib., Muncie, Ind.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The bestselling author of Mental Toughness Training for Sports uses a practical step-by-step approach that combines mental and physical conditioning with the latest scientific advances in nutrition to create mind-body synergy that will help readers reinforce their immune systems, build energy levels, and toughen themselves up all around.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Reprint edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452272432
• ISBN-13: 978-0452272439
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #455,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bible of Balance, November 23, 1999

By	Colin Jensen "http://www.colinandbethany.com/... (Marin County, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We are taught through life that "we are strengthened by trials." That is not true. We don't grow stronger by adversity. We are made stronger through _healing_ from trials. The same applies to Nietzsche's popular sport/war chant "that which does not kill us makes us stronger." Anyone who has seen a homeless Vietnam Veteran knows that Nietzsche was wrong. "That which does not kill us, which we heal from, makes us stronger" is perhaps a better saying. WWII did not make us stronger. It made us dead, or at best, bitter. Yet a few were able to be strengthened by the combined process. What separated those few? What kept them alive, submissive to their captors, and able to transcend their adversity and use it to their advantage? This is the subject of Loehr's book.

How do we balance our stress and recovery cycles so that we maximize our growth potential?

This is one of my favorite books, because I, like everyone, am constantly seeking order and battling frustration...

He has other books along these lines, but this is the newest and most comprehensive.

--Colin Jensen

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A lot of theory, few specific tools, October 12, 2000

By A Customer

I picked this book up after reading an article about Loehr's program in Outside Magazine. Unfortunately, the article had more specific, day-to-day advice than this book does. Loehr's ideas are very interesting and ring true, but he spends a great deal of time justifying his theory and reviewing brain biochemistry and physiology experiments. Then he throws in some case studies and some vague recommendations - eat multiple small meals a day, target your heart rate during exercise, reframe your inner dialogue, etc. Based on the magazine article, I was expecting a program to help you identify your weaknesses when it comes to implementing these changes and structure a program around that. I was expecting a realistic look at why people fail to become tough and how to work around it. The book starts to do that, but never really follows through with specifics.

4.0 out of 5 stars Why stress is good for us, October 3, 2007

By	E. Schwartz (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm tired of self-improvement books that coddle the reader by focusing on relaxation and self-affirmation exercises, teaching us to shut out the trials of life instead of embracing and learning from them. This is not one of those books.

Instead this book teaches that stress is key to personal growth. Loehr defines a "Toughness Response" to pressure - biochemical, psychological, and behavioral - and instructs us on how to develop it. The author's sports performance background is readily apparent: the book, while easily readable, alternates between scientific discourse and a life coaching tone.

Loehr makes it clear that if we want to perform ideally under pressure, we must be willing to train for it. The essential message is that we can achieve the "Toughness Response" by carefully monitoring, understanding, and finally managing the ebb and flow of stress in our lives through discipline, training, healthy habits, and positive thinking. For those who are interested, Loehr even suggests a specific regimen in which readers take dozens of daily personal statistics from low and high pulse to productivity level to sleep quality to emotional state to exercise levels. But this book will still benefit those who are not willing to make that organizational commitment.

While it's common sense, I was refreshed by the reminders to strive for an ideal balance of challenge and rest and to make an effort to benefit from life's unexpected variety.