Roy M. Wallack

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About Roy M. Wallack

Roy M. Wallack is no mere desk jockey. A long-time L.A.Times fitness columnist, magazine editor (Triathlete, Bicycle Guide), freelance writer (Outside, Bicycling, Runner's World, Westways and many others) and best-selling author of eight books about high-level fitness ("Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100" is a legitimate best seller with 100,000 copies sold, while "Barefoot Running Step by Step" is considered the bible of the minimalist running movement), he gets out there — biking from the sea to the summit of a 13,796-ft. Hawaiian volcano in a day, debating persistence hunting with a barefoot Kalahari tribesman in a loincloth, and talking his way out of the gulag when he got caught illegally in the USSR. Relentlessly curious and optimistic, he's eagerly and naively subjected himself to crazy athletic events he isn't trained for (which is how he became the World's Second-Fittest Man —read on), and is obsessed with trying to figure out how to run and ride to age 100 or more. ("For proof, get back with me in 50 years," he says.) Here's his story:

FITNESS FOR THE LONG RUN -- AND LONG RIDE

An unremarkable Baby Boomer runner/rider/triathlete/tennis player determined not to slow down, this former collegiate wrestler started researching athletic longevity when he hit 40 -- and struck paydirt. Roy "broke the news" on several important quality-of-life, fitness-performance, and injury-prevention stories in the L.A Times and magazines like Bicycling, Runner's World and Outside that became pillars of his books and common fitness knowledge. Give him a beer or two and a couple of hours and he'll regale you with reasons why hardcore cyclists get osteoporosis (lack of weight-bearing and skeletal impact); why barefoot running will save your knees (less impact); why you're toast if you don't correct your posture; why cyclists and runners need to blast their butts in the weight room if they want to go faster; why intervals and to-failure weight lifting are like a fountain-of-youth (they spur release of hormones such as HGH), and why you need to stay of of the "Black Hole" (a detrimental training-zone almost every athlete unknowingly stays in most of the time).

Of course, Roy has used himself as a "guinea pig" for the all that cutting-edge training, technique, and nutrition trivia he's learned — somehow surviving some of the world's most extreme endurance events. Yes, I said extreme: The Himalayan 100-Mile Stage (running) Race, the Badwater UltraMarathon (135 miles in 120-degree Death Valley heat), the week-long, round-the-clock Eco-Challenge and Primal Quest adventure races, the 750-mile Paris-Brest-Paris randonnee, and multi-day mountain-bike races such as the Trans-Alp Challenge, BC Bike Race, Trans-Rockies Challenge, Breck Epic, and the event he loves the most and has done seven times, Costa Rica's La Ruta de los Conquistadores, often labeled "the hardest race on the planet."

Despite all that, Roy says that his greatest physical, mental, and emotional test actually came in 1994, when he rode 800 miles on a tandem bike from Nice to Rome with his earnest but unathletic bride on their honeymoon. The ride resulted, 9 months later, in the birth of a son, now in college, and the future Bike for Life's Chapter 12, a detailed study of the tricky issue of reconciling significant cycling and significant others. In 1999, in the name of science, he ran the Boston Marathon on five days and 34 miles of training while adhering to a radical new forefoot-landing "soft running" technique -- and almost set a new PR. The lessons learned that day in Boston became Chapter 1 of Run for Life.

SECOND-FITTEST AND TRYING HARDER

Finally -- proudly -- Roy is officially the world's "Second Fittest Man," having finished second in the World Fitness Championship in 2004. In fact, it looks like he'll be the second-fittest man for the rest of time, as the event, sort of "an Ironman with iron" that was sanctioned by the Guinness Book of World Records, was disbanded thereafter. Held in a gigantic YMCA in Plano, Texas, it included a 2-mile swim, 10-mile run, 10-mile power hike, 100-mile Lifecycle, 20-mile row, 20-mile elliptical, 500 squat thrusts, sit-ups, and hanging legs lifts, and lifting 500,000 pounds of upper-body weights. He completed it in 21 hours and 59 minutes, putting him several time zones behind Rob Powell, the Guinness Book champion, but comfortably ahead of Dan de Jager, a young adventure racer from Sacramento who couldn't swim. Since only these three people (out of hundreds supposedly registered) showed up for the contest, that guaranteed Roy the athletic immortality he'd long dreamed of. ("With great achievement comes great responsibility," he said when it was over, just before collapsing into a deep, 13-hour sleep. Bike for Life and Run for Life soon followed.)

Want more detail on the amazing Second-Fittest triumph? See Roy's TV appearance with "Brady Bunch" star Florence Henderson (and his poetry-laden induction into the 24 Hours of Adrenalin Solo Hall of Fame) by clicking on the two videos on this page.

For a look at many of Roy's best recent magazine and L.A. Times stories, go to:

https://muckrack.com/roy-wallack

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Barefoot Running Step by Step: Barefoot Ken Bob, The Guru of Shoeless Running, Shares His Personal Technique For Running With More May 1, 2011

by Roy Wallack, Ken Saxton

( 261 )

$12.99

“Barefoot Ken Bob is The Master. Long before anyone else was even talking about barefoot running, he was perfecting the art . . . Now, after twenty years of teaching, experimenting, and “merry marathoning” (as he calls it), the first and best source of barefoot-running knowledge is bringing his ideas to print. And it’s about time.” —Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and The Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Ken Bob Saxton, a pioneer of the modern barefoot running movement, has logged more miles in his birthday shoes than just about anyone I know, and he has helped countless people run barefoot. As one would expect, this delightful book, full of wit and wisdom, is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to run barefoot, avoid injury, and have fun.” —Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

"This is a wonderful guide from the Godfather of barefoot running!" —Irene Davis, Ph.D., director of Spaulding National Running Center, Harvard Medical School

Learn Barefoot Running From the Master!

Almost overnight, barefoot running has exploded onto the fitness scene. However, it involves more than simply taking off your shoes. In fact, everything you’ve learned about barefoot running is probably wrong—unless you’ve learned it from Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton. The leading instructor and proponent of unshod running, he has completed 76 marathons barefoot, survived an astounding marathon-a-month challenge in 2004, and gone on to top that with 16 marathons in 2006, including four in a 15-day period—all barefoot.

Barefoot Running Step by Step separates the facts from the hype, outlines Ken Bob’s personal techniques, and details the latest research on the newest trend in mankind’s oldest sport. Whether you barefoot run occasionally, part-time, or full-time, you’ll find methods for improving your form, staying injury-free, dramatically improving your speed and performance, and having more fun.

The Bent Knee: Here is the hidden secret to perfect running form. Learn how this crucial adjustment will keep you running stronger and injury-free for life.

Vibrams and Minimalist Shoes: Barefoot running is not a transition from shoes to minimalist shoes to bare feet. It’s the other way around. Discover why you need to run barefoot before you use other footwear.

Start From the Head: Proper barefoot form doesn’t start at the feet. Discover how to get the correct body biomechanics.

Ease Into It: Here are the steps you need to take to make the transition from running in shoes to barefoot running as painless and easy as possible.

Improve Speed: Barefoot running’s injury reduction benefits are well-touted; however a new landmark study proves that barefooting—even part-time—can make you faster.

Barefoot Running Step by Step is filled with series photos and illustrations that show you the “do’s” and “don’ts” of barefoot running, the latest research, and Ken Bob Saxton’s personal experiences and insights for running barefoot for life.

Other Formats: Paperback

Bicycling Maximum Overload for Cyclists: A Radical Strength-Based Program for Improved Speed and Endurance in Half the Time (Bicycling Magazine) Jun 13, 2017

by Roy Wallack, Jacques DeVore

( 177 )

$14.99

Bicycling Maximum Overload for Cyclists is a radical strength-based training program aimed at increasing cycling speed, athletic longevity, and overall health in half the training time. Rather than improving endurance by riding longer distances, you’ll learn how to do it by reducing your riding time and adding heavy strength and power training. Traditionally cyclists and endurance athletes have avoided strength and power training, believing that the extra muscle weight will slow them down, but authors Jacques DeVore and Roy M. Wallack show that exactly the opposite is true.

The Maximum Overload program uses weightlifting to create sustainable power and improved speed while drastically reducing training time and eliminating the dreaded deterioration that often occurs during the second half of a ride. A 40-minute Maximum Overload workout, done once or twice a week, can replace a long day in the saddle and lead to even better results.

This comprehensive program includes unique takes on diet, interval training, hard and easy training, and sustainable power. Backed by the most trusted authority in the sport, Bicycling Maximum Overload for Cyclists is a book that no cyclist should be without.

Other Formats: Paperback

Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100--and Beyond, revised edition Mar 10, 2015

by Roy M. Wallack

( 83 )

$12.99

Do You Want to Ride to 100and Beyond?
BIKE FOR LIFE!

Now with training plans, worldwide adventures, and more than 200 photos

Ride a century when you turn a century: that was the promise Bike for Life offered when it was first published. A decade later, this blueprint for using cycling to achieve exceptional longevity, fitness, and overall well-being has helped tens of thousands of cyclists to ride longer and stronger. Now, nationally-known fitness journalist and lifelong endurance road and mountain biker Roy M. Wallack builds upon his comprehensive Bike for Life plan with even more practical tips and strategies to keep you riding to 100and beyond.

Fully updated, revised, and illustrated, Bike for Life features:

- Cutting-edge workout strategies for achieving best-ever fitness at any age
- Science-based 8- and 16-week Century training schedules
- A radical new workout method that'll make you fly up the hills
- An anti-aging plan to revive muscularity, strength, and reaction time
- An exclusive 10-step Yoga for Cyclists routine
- Strategies to fix "cyclist's knee" and "biker's back"
- Advice on avoiding cycling-related impotence and osteoporosis
- Ways to survive mountain lions, bike-jackers, poison ivy, and headwinds
- Handling skills and bike-fit advice from famous coaches
- Tips on staying motivated with worldwide adventures and challenges
- The Bike for Life hall of fame: stories of amazing riders in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and up

With oral-history interviews and profiles of the biggest names of the sport, including: John Howard, Gary Fisher, Rebecca Rusch, Ned Overend, Tinker Juarez, Juli Furtado, Marla Streb, Missy Giove, Johnny G, Eddie B, Mike Sinyard, and Rich "The Reverend" White.

Other Formats: Paperback

Run for Life: The Breakthrough Plan for Fast Times, Fewer Injuries and Spectacular Lifelong Fitness Feb 24, 2009

by Roy M. Wallack

( 39 )

$12.60

In Run for Life, Roy M. Wallack says, "Run to 100. Not just live to 100 and shuffle along when you get there, but do what few, if any, have ever done: Actually run a 5k, 10k, or even a marathon on your 100th birthday." That's the blueprint for super-fit running longevity laid out by Run for Life, which combines cutting-edge scientific research with old-school knowledge for a one-two punch that fights the natural deterioration of aging and the specific problems of running. The Run for Life plan includes many ground-breaking innovations, including:

·Soft Running: An easy bio-mechanical overhaul that reduces knee-shock by 50%;

·Barefoot Running: Why it works for everyone from Barefoot Ken Bob to Olympic athletes:

·A Call to Arms: How a vertical armswing makes you run faster and safer;

·HGH Strength Training: Why hitting the weights hard stokes growth hormone release and stops age-related muscle decline as it maintains speed, power, balance, and quick-reaction time; ·The Ultra Interval: Crazy-hard 20- and 30-second all-out sprints that leave you gasping--and actually make you younger;

·High-tech Water Running: New, simple pool tools that are making champion runners--and you--faster on land;

·Yoga on the Run: A just-for-runners flexibility/warmup program designed by famed fitness and yoga guru Steve Ilg; Bionic Hips and Knees: From the frontiers of science, operations that are restoring broken-down marathoners to their 30-year-old selves

·Secrets of the Kenyans: The author travels to the Rift Valley to get tips from the Italian genius who guided them to greatness;

·Anti-Back-Pain Posture Poses: A renowned postural therapist explains how "standing like a kindergartener" makes runners faster and safer; Motivation Magic;

·Staying motivated: How rivalries, exotic running travel, far-out goals, crazy races, giving back, and groups like the New England 65+ Running Clubs keep the fires burning;

·Oral histories of the greats: Long-form interviews with running heros like Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Helen Klein, Sally Edwards, Rod Dixon, Laszlo Tabori, who recount their fascinating life stories and offer personal tips on super-fit aging.

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Fire Your Gym! Simplified High-Intensity Workouts You Can Do At Home: A 9-Week Program--Fewer Injuries, Better Results Jul 30, 2013

by Andy Petranek, Roy Wallack

( 24 )

$11.99

Challenging High-Intensity Workouts That Make You Incredibly Strong and Fast

Had it with the relentless pace, fatigue and sore muscles of Body Beast and P90X? Tired of driving to the gym every day or paying a trainer? Or do you want a break from your tedious workout routine?

Dive into Fire Your Gym and you will find a challenging, exciting, time-saving, fun and smart program that delivers striking gains in muscle size and strength, running speed and endurance, fat loss and all-round peak fitness—developed by two top authorities in the fitness world. Best of all, it leaves you with a simple, highly motivating workout system that’ll keep you super-fit for life—right from your own home.

Andy Petranek, founder of one of the world’s most successful CrossFit gyms, and Los Angeles Times fitness columnist Roy M. Wallack have created a unique, science-based program that blends high-intensity strength training, intervals and low-intensity recovery cardio. Brutally effective without beating you up, it is simply the best way to get the best results.

Other Formats: Paperback

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Healthy Running Step by Step: Modern Methods for Injury-Free Running, Injury Prevention, and Rehab Jun 1, 2014

by Robert Forster, Roy Wallack

( 17 )

$23.46

Healthy Running Step by Step will help runners of all ages and abilities understand why running injuries occur, how to prevent them, and how to speed up recovery. Injuries plague the majority of runners, wrecking training plans and cutting running careers short by decades, but they are not inevitable. Authors Robert Forster, P.T., and Roy M. Wallack explain that nearly all running injuries can be rehabilitated quicker and even avoided altogether with the right training, strengthening, stretching, running form, and diet strategy.

Drawing from Forster's three decades of training and treating Olympic athletes and more than 10,000 runners at his award-winning Santa Monica, California, physical therapy and high-performance centers, this book emphasizes that better performance is inextricably bound to injury reduction and that a comprehensive, science-based training plan with built-in anti-injury "insurance" must include these crucial elements:

Periodization training

Proper technique and footwear

Nutrition

Posture and flexibility

Strength training

This book also includes detailed, step-by-step rehabilitation matrixes for the five most common running injuries: IT band syndrome, Achilles tendonitis, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and hamstring injuries. Using these unique matrixes as your guide, you'll recover from injuries more quickly and understand what you need to do to prevent their reoccurrence.

Healthy Running Step by Step is a must-have guide if you've ever been injured, are recovering from an injury, want to prevent injuries, or run injury-free for decades to come.

Other Formats: Paperback

Be a Better Runner: Real World, Scientifically-proven Training Techniques that Will Dramatically Improve Your Speed, End Apr 1, 2011

by Sally Edwards, Carl Foster, Roy Wallack

( 20 )

$16.48

Written by marathoner and Triathlon Hall of Fame inductee, Sally Edwards, Be A Better Runner addresses every possible concern from posture and form to nutrition, footwear and race strategy. You’ll learn how to adapt running mechanics such as stride and pacing to your body type and fitness level while specific training regimens prepare you for any type of running event including sprints, distance runs, and marathons.

Co-authored with Carl Foster, the former President of the American College of Sports Medicine, Be A Better Runner Every features the latest research in the science of running. You’ll learn the latest strategies to boost your performance, train more effectively, and aid post-workout recovery. The latest research on special concerns such as running after age 40, during pregnancy, overtraining in younger runners and preventing amenorrhoea in female distance runners is also highlighted.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

Courir pieds nus (French Edition) Jul 15, 2021

by Ken bob Saxton, Roy m. Wallack, Sylvain Griotto

( 7 )

$18.99

" Barefoot Ken Bob est le maître. Bien avant qu'on commence à parler de la course pieds nus, il en perfectionnait l'art... Aujourd'hui, après vingt ans d'enseignement, d'expérimentation, et de "joyeux marathons" (comme il dit), le plus grand spécialiste de la course pieds nus rassemble toutes ses connaissances dans un livre. LE livre qu'on attendait. "

– CHRISTOPHER MCDOUGALL, auteur de
Born to Run

" Ken Bob Saxton, pionnier du barefoot running moderne, a aidé un nombre incalculable de personnes à courir pieds nus. Comme on peut s'y attendre, ce livre délicieux, plein d'esprit et de sagesse, est un guide inestimable pour quiconque veut courir sans chaussures, éviter les blessures et expérimenter de super sensations. "

– DANIEL E. LIEBERMAN, professeur de biologie de l'évolution humaine, université de Harvard

" Ken Bob a influencé toute une génération de curieux, de réflexifs et même d'auteurs et de scientifiques. Il a été la bougie d'allumage de dizaines de milliers de coureurs, qui intègrent aujourd'hui la pratique de la course pieds nus dans leur vie. Il a aussi sauvé bien des coureurs des blessures, grâce à ses conseils judicieux. "

– BLAISE DUBOIS, Fondateur de La Clinique du Coureur

APPRENEZ LA COURSE PIEDS NUS AUPRÈS DU MAÎTRE !

Courir pieds nus devient hyper tendance. Mais il ne s'agit pas seulement d'enlever ses chaussures. En fait, tout ce que vous avez lu sur la course pieds nus est probablement faux, à moins que vous ne l'ayez appris de Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton. Plus grand spécialiste du barefoot running, il a terminé 79 marathons pieds nus, survécu en 2004 au défi fou d'un marathon par mois, et a fait encore mieux en 2006 en réalisant 16 marathons, dont quatre en 15 jours, tous pieds nus.

Barefoot Ken Bob dévoile ses techniques personnelles et détaille les dernières recherches sur le plus vieux sport de l'humanité. Que vous couriez pieds nus occasionnellement ou tout le temps, vous trouverez des méthodes pour améliorer votre forme physique, éviter les blessures, augmenter votre vitesse et vos performances, et prendre plus de plaisir.

LE GENOU PLIÉ : le voilà le secret de la foulée parfaite. Apprenez comment cet ajustement crucial vous permettra de courir plus vite sans jamais vous blesser.

VIBRAM ET CHAUSSURES MINIMALISTES : apprendre à courir pieds nus ce n'est pas passer de la chaussure normale à la chaussure minimaliste, puis au pied nu. C'est l'inverse : on devrait apprendre à courir pieds nus avant d'enfi ler des chaussures.

COMMENCEZ PAR LA TÊTE : développer une bonne foulée pieds nus ne commence pas par les pieds. Découvrez comment obtenir une biomécanique corporelle correcte.

GÉREZ LA TRANSITION : découvrez les étapes à suivre pour passer facilement et sans douleur de la chaussure au pied nu.

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