Sports Performance

Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training? In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle.

There is a new revolution happening in sports as more and more athletes are basing their success on this game-changing combination: health, nutrition, training, recovery, and mindset. Unfortunately, the evidence-based techniques that the expert PhDs, academic institutions, and professional performance staffs follow can be in stark contrast to what many athletes actually practice. When combined with the noise of social media, old-school traditions, and bro-science, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction.

Michael Jordan credits George Mumford with transforming his on-court leadership of the Bulls, helping Jordan lead the team to six NBA championships. Mumford also helped Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom and countless other NBA players turn around their games. A widely respected public speaker and coach, Mumford is sharing his own story and the strategies that have made these athletes into stars in The Mindful Athlete: The Secret to Pure Performance.

The first book of its kind, Peak Performance combines the inspiring stories of top performers across a range of capabilities - from athletic, to intellectual, to artistic - with the latest scientific insights into the cognitive and neurochemical factors that drive performance in all domains. In doing so, Peak Performance uncovers new linkages that hold promise as performance enhancers but have been overlooked in our traditionally-siloed ways of thinking.

If you want to be faster, stronger, and less prone to injury, it’s critical you understand how important the body’s fascia system is to athletic performance. Modern research and imaging technologies are showing us that it’s far more significant than we have long understood. That’s why Bill Parisi—founder of the Parisi Speed School—and extreme sports writer, Johnathon Allen, set out on a nationwide quest to interview the top experts in the field so they could present this new performance science in a paradigm shifting book that’s not only packed with practical information, but ...

In this book, authors H.A. Dorfman and Karl Kuehl present their practical and proven strategy for developing the mental skills needed to achieve peak performance at every level of the game. The theory and applications are illustrated by anecdotes and insights from major and minor league players, who at some point discovered the importance of mastering the inner game in order to play baseball as it should be played. Intended for players, managers, coaches, agents, and administrators as well as fans who want a more in-depth look at the makeup of the complete baseball player.

Famous three-time Grand Slam winner Arthur Ashe pointed out that many in sports fall victim to “paralysis by analysis”. Athletes on any level can experience the pain of overthinking and sabotaging their performance. Blame many traditional methods of teaching and training. How can we train smarter, not harder? If only our body and mind could perform in a way that’s more natural and instinctive. The best athletes have this quality, but many feel it is simply unattainable for them. I assure you it is not.

Basketball is the second-most popular sport in the world - an insanely complicated game built on a combination of athleticism, craftiness, rules, intangibles, and superstardom. However, while it's enjoyable to watch, the real reason it works is because it's a game of culture, art, and all the things that make us human. How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius deconstructs the sport from top to bottom and then puts it back together again, detailing its intricacies through reporting and dozens of interviews with experts.

The Mushin Way teaches tools and techniques to help you reach peak performance and transform your business and personal life. Regardless of what we want to achieve in business or in life, transformation can be difficult and we tend to be our own worst enemies. We hold ourselves back without even realizing what we are capable of. In this audiobook, you'll learn how to break through the cycle of stress and setbacks to act with clarity, purpose, and direction - achieving peak performance and transformation along the way.

Have you ever wanted to learn a language or pick up an instrument, only to become too daunted by the task at hand? Expert performance guru Anders Ericsson has made a career of studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak condenses three decades of original research to introduce an incredibly powerful approach to learning that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring a skill.

This book is for anyone looking to learn and develop quick, clever brain fixes to boost the mind and life. In this book, we uncover the practical methods used by elites to smash through barriers, overcome adversity, and gain advantages and success.

In The Champion's Mind, sports psychologist Jim Afremow, PhD, LPC, now offers the same advice he uses with Olympians, Heisman Trophy winners, and professional athletes, including tips and techniques based on high-performance psychology research, such as how to get in a "zone," thrive on a team, and stay humble; how to progress within a sport and sustain excellence long-term, and customizable pre-performance routines to hit full power when the gun goes off or the puck is dropped.

Achieve the champion mindset for peak performance. Reach new levels of success and mental toughness with this ultimate guide. Learn the "Science of Success" and prepare to excel. In this concise and highly acclaimed training guide, Peak Performance Coach DC Gonzalez teaches a blend of unique mental training technologies, sports psychology essentials, and peak performance methods that are effective and motivational. Get ready to increase your self-belief, self-confidence, and mental toughness using this powerful guide designed to help you reach new levels of success, sports performance and personal development.

Wouldn't you rather just cut out the bull* and learn a straightforward way of eating that'll help you gain lean muscle, keep your bodyfat levels low and maintain good health? A simplified strategy on what to eat, when, what to avoid to get the best results from your strength training program? Something that's easy to follow and maintain, and doesn't ban all your favourite foods, while still actually delivering results? This is it.

In The Science of Running, elite coach and exercise physiologist Steve Magness integrates the latest research with the training processes of the world's best runners, to deliver an in depth look at how to maximize your performance. It is a unique book that conquers both the scientific and practical points of running in two different sections. The first is aimed at identifying what limits running performance from a scientific standpoint. In section two, we turn to the practical application of this information and focus on the process of training to achieve your goals.

The Brave Athlete solves the 13 most common mental conundrums athletes face in their everyday training and in races. You don't have one brain - you have three; your ancient Chimp brain that keeps you alive, your modern Professor brain that navigates the civilized world, and your Computer brain that accesses your memories and runs your habits (good and bad). They fight for control all the time and that's when bad things happen. What if you could stop the thoughts and feelings you don't want? You can.

Duff Gibson has spent the better part of three decades in a hotbed of Olympic sport. Despite its mischaracterization in popular culture, the mental side of sport is perhaps the most significant aspect, and what very often makes the difference between success and failure, in particular at the highest level. The Tao of Sport explores the commonality amongst elite performers relating to purpose, passion, and growth, as a means to achieving high performance, or as a means to an end in itself.

In Faster, Higher, Stronger, veteran journalist Mark McClusky brings listeners behind the scenes with a new generation of athletes, coaches, and scientists whose accomplishments are changing our understanding of human physical achievement and completely redefining the limits of the human body.

As founder of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, California, Todd Durkin is used to pushing high-profile, high-performance athletes to their physical limit. But that's only half the battle. A crucial aspect of creating any kind of success - whether in business, sports, health, or relationships - is having the right mindset.

As a therapist, physician, and mental coach, Dr. Michael Lardon has dedicated his career to helping athletes understand and better achieve peak performance. In Finding Your Zone, he shares with listeners what he's discovered about reaching the state in which "thoughts and actions are occurring in complete synchronicity" and how this state is accessible to all, not just the few. In 10 key lessons - illustrated by personal anecdotes from his clients - Lardon teaches listeners how to access the zone not only in sports but in all aspects of their lives.