Ultimate Fitness

The Quest for Truth about Health and Exercise

By: Gina Kolata

Narrated by: Gina Kolata

The bestselling science reporter from The New York Times tells us what works and what doesn't when we work out

Ultimate Fitness is Gina Kolata's compelling journey into the world of American physical fitness over the past thirty years. It is a funny, eye-opening, brow-sweating investigation into fads, fiction, and the science and hucksterism of fitness training.

From the early days of jogging, championed by Jim Fixx--who later died of a heart attack--to stretching, cycling, aerobics, and Spinning, Kolata questions such popular notions as the "fat burning zone," "spot reducing," the effects of food on performance, how much exercise helps build fitness, and the difference between exercise to help the heart and exercise to change the body. She explains the science of physical fitness and the objective evidence behind commonly accepted prescriptions. Along the way she profiles researchers and mavericks who have challenged conventional wisdom, marketed their inventions, and sometimes bucked criticism only to back down from their original claims.

Ultimate Fitness spotlights the machines and machinations of the fitness industry, exposes the charlatans and gurus, and cuts through the marketing and hype not only to assess what is healthy, but also to understand what our obsession with staying healthy says about American culture today.

©2003 Gina Kolata; (P)2003 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrick Publishers, LLC.

Critic reviews

“This accessible, informative and personal memoir about fitness...touches on a range of fitness and health issues over the decades.... Most of all, she conveys her personal enthusiasm and the way it makes her feel more alive. Put this one in your CD, and you will start moving.” —USA Today

this is okay if you have no prior physical exercis

the reading of this book was quite poor, I found myself getting bored with how she was speaking.
This Book might have been beneficial between high-school and College comma however quite a poor read after having any college education. I do not recommend this book to the majority of the individuals that I know. it might be ok for a high schooler to read. I would have read this book if you have any experience with exercise comma education in exercise physiology comma or really if you played any sports in high school.

What a waste

Little more than a few, very thin NY Times articles linked together by tedious descriptions of the author's spinning classes. Frankly, it's hard for me to believe that any publisher would have gone through the trouble to publish this book. If you have almost no knowledge of even the basics of exercise, then you might find this book useful. Otherwise, it's not worth the time or money.

Pretty casual, but informative

This is more like listening to an exercise fanatic discuss her regime than a scientific expose. As a fellow fanatic, her questions made sense as did her search for perfect workouts. I really enjoyed the listen, but can understand where some might be disappointed.

Could have been good

The book is 1/4 to 1/3 about deconstructing commonly held beliefs about fitness and exercise (the valuable part) and the balance is devoted to weaving an autobiographical narrative about her love of intense exercise. Although the narrative makes it more readable, I didn't buy it to learn all about her individual exercise passions and habits--I wanted to know about what's true and false about fitness. Too bad she didn't stay on point.

Really Bad

I thought I would get something more than the narcissistic ramblings of the author. I kept hoping it would get better, but with a good hour spent on her and her husband's spinning class, it was truly a waste of time. Trust me, the time listening to this book would be better spent working out.