The First 20 Minutes

Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer

By: Gretchen Reynolds

Narrated by: Karen Saltus

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Every Wednesday, Gretchen Reynolds singlehandedly influences how millions of Americans work out. In her Phys Ed column for The New York Times, she debunks myths, spurs conversation, and creates arguments among her readers by questioning widely held beliefs about exercise.

Expanding upon her popular columns, Reynolds tackles the questions we all have and (sometimes) ask about exercise. Consulting experts in physiology, biology, psychology, neurology, and sports, she uncovers how often we should exercise, how long workouts should be, how to avoid injury, and how to find the right form, routine, and equipment for our goals.

She also reveals some surprising answers, like:

20 minutes of cardio at a time is enough to obtain maximum health benefits. (And in some cases, just six minutes is all you need.)*

Stretching before a workout is counterproductive. (It's better to just start easy, i.e., walk before you run.)

Core strength is nice but not necessary. (A six-pack looks great but actually has little bearing on performance.)

Walking improves your memory; housecleaning improves your mood. (The brain is like a muscle - it likes to exercise.)

Chocolate milk is better than Gatorade for recovery. (Providing the best sports nutrition is often the simplest.)

Drawing on scientific expertise as well as her own athletic experiences, Gretchen Reynolds will help you find the right workout for your body, age, fitness and goals. Whether your desire is to be fit for the rest of your life, to look great in a smaller dress size, or to run your third marathon in Boston, The First 20 Minutes will make your workouts work for you.

©2012 Gretchen Reynolds (P)2012 Gildan Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"[This audiobook] delivers answers to many perennial training questions [and] does a great job of myth-busting some well-established beliefs. It's a great guide for the mindful athlete who wants to gain all the benefits of physical training while minimizing downtime from injury or over-training." (Danny Dreyer, Founder of Chi Running and co-author of Chi Running, Chi Walking, and Chi Marathon)

"There has never been a better time in history to grow stronger, faster, and smarter; there has never been a more helpful book than Gretchen Reynolds's The First 20 Minutes. Smart, clear, and beautifully useful, this is the new fitness Bible for the modern age." (Dan Coyle, author of The Talent Code and Lance Armstrong's War)

" The First 20 Minutes is packed with interesting tips and insights. Pickle juice for cramps, who would have ever thought! Gretchen Reynolds once again delivers a winner." (Dean Karnazes, uber athlete and New York Times best-selling author of UltraMarathon Man)

Learn To Live Forever

I'm obviously just kidding about living forever, but this book had a lot of useful information on how to be more healthy. Some of the info I didn't need to know, but most of it did pertained to me. The narrator was excellent; one of the best I've heard. I am very happy I listened to this book and have modified my workouts because of it. If you exercise I recommend this book. I think you will enjoy it and also learn from it. .

Lost credibility imitating foreign accents.

I’m 53, and work in a workout everyday,in a gym, park or home .I like to cycle, swim and take yoga and strength training classes. I also work in front of a computer 8+ hours a day. I felt defeated after listening to this.
The recap of studies and data were interesting, but somehow I missed the connection to the first 20 minutes.
I felt the book focuses more on runners,which I’m not and in the end did not inspire me.

50/50 Great & Not Great

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Some really fascinating stuff in here unfortunately mixed with some outdated misinformation. For example, really interesting stuff on lactic acid myth, some less interesting research about more reps with less weight = more strength. With stats, you can find stats to prove so many things, it's the author/editor interpretation that is really important, and some things here were interpreted poorly. Another example, fructose vs. sucrose for athletes was really interesting/unique and interesting. Flexibility as mostly genetic was just conjecture (no research presented) and just not accurate.

Certainly worth a read, but I hope there is an updated edition in the future.

Technically, the narration is odd, the narrator attempts to impersonate accents, it's really peculiar.

Great Overall Review of Current Exercise Science

This book is a great review of the current science of exercise, diet and health.

Ok but sometimes a slog

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book is a bit boring. It basically gathers and describes studies from scientific journals regarding exercise science but the upshot is essentially nothing new - i.e., that exercise is good for us, helps us stay healthier and live longer lives. I found the book to be a slog at times. It was like work to get through it.

What didn’t you like about Karen Saltus’s performance?

The narrator used goofy, phony-sounding accents when she read the quotes from scientific researchers. Especially offensive was the phony Chinese accent she adopted when reading the quotes from an Asian scientist. Ugh.

enjoyable

very entertaining and informative. will pass this book onto like minded individuals who are also in the pursuit of being their health

Good info.

There are hundreds of good tips in this book. It dispels dozens of bits of long-held exercise dogma with plenty of hard science. I would put it in my top five books on exercise and nutrition, and I plan to download the Kindle version and will refer to it often.

difficult to listen to

What didn’t you like about Karen Saltus’s performance?

So. Many. Pauses. Her reading style reminds me of a teacher reading to a classroom full of young children and there are so many pauses at sometimes-odd intervals that I found it difficult to connect the first part of many sentences with the last. I really don't think the performer captured the style of the writer on this one.

Was The First 20 Minutes worth the listening time?

Yes, but in small doses. Just when I would get so annoyed with the slightly-to-cheerful, breathy, pause-ridden reading that I would think about abandoning the effort altogether, I would learn something interesting enough to convince me to commit to one more chapter.

Any additional comments?

The material is interesting but it really could have been expressed using fewer words.

This book doesn't translate well to audio

There is some important and interesting information here, but the narrator is not a great audiobook reader. So many of the better readers use their voice to help guide the listener to what is most important. This one seems excited about everything, which, ironically, made the book feel monotonous. She might do better with a different kind of book. Until I checked, I thought the book had been read by the author.

Excellent book on many levels

Well referenced, great topics, ground breaking stuff if you haven’t Incorporated it yet. As a physician, athlete, and coach, I really enjoyed this book, the variety of topics, the numerous studies cited, and the overall flow. Thanks much.