THE ATHLETE WITHIN: A Personal Guide to Total Fitness
By
A solid, detailed guide for those willing to take time to work out a comprehensive fitness program for themselves. This is no lightweight effort: Simon and Levisohn begin by describing ""Four Facets of Fitness"": cardiovascular and pulmonary, musculoskeletal, psychological, and nutritional. There is dense but understandable detail: ""Training increases the number of capillaries in muscles, allowing the heart to pump more blood to where it's needed during exercise. . .increases the activity of certain enzymes in the muscles themselves, so they can extract and utilize oxygen more efficiently. . ."" and so on. The authors go on to ""The Tactics of Fitness,"" practical instructions for designing an individual program--beginning with consulting a physician. Simon and Levisohn then look at sports that can augment a fitness program and make life more fun--so-called lifesports: walking, running, swimming and biking among others. They also cover aspects of some team sports, and finally, offer extensive advice on sports injuries and sports medicine. This is not easy; but it is complete, solid medical advice on designing a comprehensive individual fitness program.