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Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
- Narrated by: Robert G. Slade
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Psychology & Mental Health
Non-member price: $24.26
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Publisher's Summary
How high or far or fast can humans go? And what about individual potential: what defines a person's limits? From running a two-hour marathon to summiting Mount Everest, we're fascinated by the extremes of human endurance, constantly testing both our physical and psychological limits.
In Endure, Alex Hutchinson, PhD, reveals why our individual limits may be determined as much by our heads and hearts as by our muscles. He presents an overview of science's search for understanding human fatigue, from crude experiments with electricity and frogs' legs to sophisticated brain imaging technology. Going beyond the traditional mechanical view of human limits, he instead argues that a key element in endurance is how the brain responds to distress signals - whether heat or cold or muscles screaming with lactic acid - and reveals that we can train to improve brain response.
An elite distance runner himself, Hutchinson takes us to the forefront of the new sports psychology - brain electrode jolts, computer-based training, subliminal messaging - and presents startling new discoveries enhancing the performance of athletes today, showing us how anyone can utilize these tactics to bolster their own performance - and get the most out of their bodies.
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What listeners say about Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Scimum
- 07-08-2020
Fascinating
The book was fascinating and absolutely compelling. The voice actor was good and easy to listen to, although occasionally made errors pronouncing European place names.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-06-2020
Very good
Excellent highly detailed , comprehensive and broadly referenced work on training and human endurance. 👍
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- 匿名
- 26-05-2020
Almost perfect
some name pronounciation errors are very noticeable which can get very annoying at times. overall, an amazing book and narrator did a good job.
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- 匿名
- 09-09-2019
Great story. Terrible narration.
very interesting. Lots of things to think about while I'm running. Slightly let down by a woefully bad narrator who cannot seem to pronounce a single name correctly. Once you get over that the content is very good. Maybe buy the book instead...
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- Emily Williams
- 17-05-2019
Well researched
Finds a good balance between anecdotes and scientific research. Author also points out potential biases and pitfalls of prior research. Uses good research to back up points made, but often doesn't manage to tie that research back into the narrative - instead leaving a 'cliffhanger' after describing a piece of research.
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- 匿名
- 20-02-2019
Fantastic!
As a runner and coach, I found this book incredibly insightful. Sad when it was finished. I will be buying the hard copy because there is so much to unpack. Brilliant!
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- Amanda
- 24-09-2018
Maybe a good read but not a great listen.
The narrator let this book down with constant mispronunciations of names and places, like Eliud Kipchoge.. aka the most famous & accomplished marathoner of our time. Five seconds research.
1 person found this helpful
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- max
- 09-09-2018
Storytelling meets science. A great book.
Endure was a very enjoyable way to absorb what would otherwise be very dense content. Alex Hutchinson’s skill to intertwine story telling with science if very engaging.
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- 匿名
- 27-08-2018
good non biased opinion of human performance
shows a good knowledge of past and furture endeavors of the human body and what the mind is capable of when it is influenced by internal and external changes
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- Rosie
- 07-08-2018
Great listening.
I loved it, will be listening again to pick up the bits I missed. So much interesting information.
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- michelle
- 11-05-2020
unfortunately I've already read this book
I have read this before, it's a good read but added nothing to my knowledge of the subject.
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- Riaan
- 25-04-2020
A very good book with lots to ponder.
Instead of offering absolute answers, the book guides and makes one curious to explore and read further, and to expand ones own thinking and hopefully performances. I thought it very good. Good production, clear and easy to listen to, but one thing I have to mention, is to check and get the pronunciation of the surnames right! So irritating, come on, it’s not that hard. Can recommend the book despite this though.
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- gudrun
- 16-04-2019
The best overview of endurance
This was the best overview of endurance in general, very well written, fun and a clever combining of the science and real life stories. Historically and academically interesting. A must read and will be my bible on the issue. Will read again!
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- Kingsley P.
- 05-10-2019
An encapsulating journey of endurance
As a Sport and Exercise scholar, beginning my academic pathway further into the world of physiology and the psychology behind it, I utterly loved each chapter of this book. It was broken down into divisions of endurance exploring what can effect performance supported by history & peer reviewed science. I like the curious venture of Hutchinson and believe he highlighted some important topics. There’s definitely a dominance in the omnipresence of Noakes and his role in our understanding of performance; it-is what it is I suppose. All - On - All a great read (Listen), which reminds me to highlight that the spoken ‘performance’ was great and easy to consume.
4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-03-2018
Great read (listen)
After recent doping allegations, this restored some of my faith in human performance. It is amazing what the human mind and body can achieve.
4 people found this helpful
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- Miss R C Ingham
- 22-02-2020
Fascinating and thought provoking
Relates to all avenues of life - not just physical exertion. A fascinating listen.
3 people found this helpful
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- I Okoli
- 08-09-2019
Good Book...Learn to Pronounce People's Names
Author is great, but narrator can learn to pronounce running legends names properly. Pre-reading prep?
3 people found this helpful
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- PCurran
- 21-01-2019
academic book
A good book but not what I expected. very academically focused. hard to stay motivated.
7 people found this helpful
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- martin cameron
- 04-06-2020
Good stuff
I found this very interesting and not too heavy on the science behind it all
2 people found this helpful
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- Joe Tietjen
- 03-06-2020
Superb summary of the field
Alex provides a fascinating and seriously useful summary of the various strands of scientific studies on the topic of endurance - and he weaves (for me) just the right amount of stories of feats of endurance (or conversely tragedies) to bring it all to life. Great book.
1 person found this helpful
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- seb
- 05-02-2021
Excellent book
Very thought provoking for any keen athlete... if you can get passed the mispronouncing of Eliot ‘kipchoog’
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-01-2021
Really Interesting
This book gives real insight into the difference between elite endurance athletes and ordinary folk.
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- Phillip
- 04-12-2020
Brilliant
I learned so much from this book, brilliantly written by Alex Hutchinson, beautifully narrated by Robert G Slade :)
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