Endure

Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

By: Alexander Hutchinson, Malcolm Gladwell - foreword

Narrated by: Robert G. Slade

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Featuring a foreword by Malcolm Gladwell

Writing from both the cutting edge of scientific discovery and the front-lines of elite athletic performance, National Magazine Award-winning science journalist Alex Hutchinson presents a revolutionary account of the dynamic and controversial new science of endurance.

The capacity to endure is perhaps the key trait that separates champions and determines great performance in any field - from a 100-meter sprint to a 100-mile ultramarathon, from summiting Everest to acing finals. But what if everything we've been taught about endurance was wrong? What if we all have more potential than we think to go farther, push harder, and achieve more?

Blending cutting-edge science and gripping storytelling in the vein of Malcolm Gladwell - who forewords the book - Hutchinson reveals that a wave of paradigm-altering research over the past decade suggests that the seemingly physical barriers you encounter are mediated as much by your brain as by your body. But it's not "all in your head." For each of the physical limits that Hutchinson explores - pain, muscle, oxygen, heat, thirst, fuel - he carefully disentangles the delicate interplay of mind and muscle by telling the riveting stories of men and women who've approached (and sometimes surpassed) their own ultimate limits.

As the longtime "Sweat Science" columnist for Outside and Runner's World as well as a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and New York Times, Hutchinson draws on his background as a former national-team long-distance runner and Cambridge-trained physicist. But the lessons he draws from traveling to labs around the world and trying out new endurance-boosting techniques like electric brain stimulation and brain endurance training are surprisingly universal. Endurance, he writes, is "the struggle to continue against a mounting desire to stop" - and we're always capable of pushing a little farther.

©2018 Alex Hutchinson (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"If you want to gain insight into the mind of great athletes, adventurers, and peak performers then prepare to be enthralled by Alex Hutchinson's Endure." (Bear Grylls)

This story will forever endure in my mind and body

This book blurs the idea of mind and body into one cohesive physical machine that begs the question of what makes a world athlete so great.

Informative and insightful

I found the content and quality of writing to be among the best. The reader, unfortunately, insisted on mispronouncing any non-English words. How hard would it have been to learn how to say Kipchoge?

No limits!

Excellent book! Clearly shows that there is almost no limits and often times it is our minds that set the limits for us.

Slow moments but a thrilling story of human limits

The last section of this book is thrilling reading for anyone who knows the thrill of racing.

The narrator does not do this book justice and there are a few errors in the speech. Great book about the limits of human performance none the less.

endurance nerd heaven

it is very well written and easy to follow. I loved that it talked about so many studies and their implications for endurance athletes. a must read if your an endurance or physiology nerd

great research and storytelling!

Alex Hutchinson did a great job with reviewing the subject and staying critical. excellent read for professionals and layman

excellent read

Facebook was excellent! Everything I expected out of it I got and then more. Show us what the human body is capable of doing it is well beyond our own imagination

Liked it but bizarre pronunciations.

Got it because I'm preparing for an Ironman and thought it would be interesting. I enjoyed it, but the reader had some odd pronunciations and slaughtered poor Eliud's name.

how far can we go

great book detailing human endurance and how much we can push the limits. takes many different angles into account

Absolutely fantastic material

You don't need to be an endurance freak to like this book. The science and psychology behind the human form is mind blowing!