Physiology of Sport and Exercise

After a lifetime of interest in learning about exercise, I finally got this: the proper textbook on the subject. Recommend this book for everyone interested in learning what science has found about exercise. This book is the opposite of all those endless magazine and internet exercise tips. The authors have themselves tested and compiled the best experimentally tested findings on the causes and mechanics of exercise and the human body. Why does muscle get stronger? Can you get faster? How? Why? Book is long and can be a bit technical. It is a textbook on exercise. It is not the end of the topic. But if you want to look at and learn about sports from the perspective of tested results, written by maybe the best teachers and minds in the field: get this book. Maximum recommend.

The book goes a little deeper into the world of humans and sport. It touches on common themes like cell/muscle anatomy, energy systems, adaptations to training, nutrition etc. If you have read on these topics in the past, you'll find this book helpful as it reviews the basics and then probes just a little bit deeper into the subjects. One of my better school books :-) It is a technical book with good illustrations and pictures. I would grade it as an intermediate level material. You can read this as a beginner but it would be a slow read as you'd have to get a understanding of all the concepts...It is like reading an upgraded version of college biology - first time it's a lot of studying, the second time you'll review and pic up on new little details...

I'm electrical engineer but I enjoy practicing and learning about sports and exercise physiology. I consider reading this book better than buying thousands of sport/fitness magazines because the last one are not, in general, scientifically founded and full of wrong (market driven an potentially dangerous for your health) information. Of course, if you are not a exercise physiologist or do not have an undergraduate degree in correlated area you can have some difficult to cope with the book, but a basic knowledge in chemistry and biology can help to overcome most of them and learn the foundations. Additionally, the book offers hundreds of references which can be helpful for further reading.

This book is excellent consolidation of reference material which is sensibly divided into logical chapters.It covers every area of sport performance in well-documented and example-driven text, colour diagrams and graphical representations. It is a generic reference book, which does not focus on specific sports activities, but uses examples from a wide range of sports to demonstrate the body's response to exercise, training and the passage of time.I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a detailed overview of the physiological responses to training, or needs specific answers to questions. An excellent index and layout also makes this a good reference book for looking up quick answers to problems. Absolutely worth the cost. Only criticism... there is a slightly schizophrenic approach to units of measure, reflecting the US imperial measurements, Keep a calculator handy to convert to SI units (eg Kgs, Kms, etc)

A good physiology exercise book is so important to understanding the body and how all of the different systems work together. This book does a great job of explaining concepts by colorful graphics and pictures. If your an advid athlete like myself you will enjoy this book. I was always chasing the new fads in exercise or trying the latest diet to trim down, they never worked. You must first understand some of the complexities of the human body. Likewise, if you want to tweak your car's engine you must first understand some of the most basic principles of a car engine before adding expensive and useless gadgets.