Product Description

Based on medical science, this study sets out the genetics, diet and exercise that allow us to perform at our peak. Stroud employs an anecdotal form, describing individual feats of survival and athletic prowess that illustrate the way the body functions at its best.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90732 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Mike Stroud, it would seem to most, is a very remarkable man. A qualified doctor, his fascination and involvement in the study of human performance and endurance fitness have obsessed him rather more than the average fitness fanatic. From crossing Antarctica unaided with Sir Ranulph Fiennes, to participating in countless marathons and triathlons traversing deserts and glaciers, Stroud has become his own human guinea pig, testing the limits of human strength and survival in some of the most extreme and inhospitable environments of our planet.

Yet far from simply the journal of one man's extraordinary fitness, Stroud sets out in Survival of the Fittest to tell us that we are all capable of the physical achievements usually left to realm of world class athletes. We are all able to attain such performance levels, Stroud assures us, because we are evolutionary designed to do just this.

At the heart of the book, Stroud claims that human beings have not altered genetically in the last 10,000 years, so physiologically we are identical to our ancestors. The problem is that we now have a markedly different lifestyle to the hunter-gathering times of our Cro-Magnon forefathers-–a lifestyle that simply does not match our evolutionary heritage. This, Stroud believes, is the reason why we are seeing an emergence of modern diseases such as heart disease, obesity and cancer.

Illustrating each chapter with adrenline-inducing accounts of his own expeditions and Adventures--falling through Antarctica ice into minus 40 degree water is just one that springs to mind--Stroud examines the physiological capacities of our bodies to perform and adapt to extreme situations, all the time reminding us that these capabilities are a fundamental part of our evolutionary inheritance.

This is a captivating book, not only a serious comment on the dangers of our modern "civilised" lifestyle, but also a source of remarkable facts on our human design, sure to liven up conversations and office chit- chat (this book certainly gets you talking). Although unlikely to spur you on to organise the next Polar expedition, it will give you the confidence--and quite possibly the inspiration--to become more active and to take up the challenges our genes intend us to do. --Abi Frisby

From the Publisher
Definitive exploration into understanding health and peak physical performance, now fully updated to include the Global 7 Marathons in 7 Days with Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

About the Author
Mike Stroud is a medic, doctor, and recent advisor to the Ministry of Defence on survival. He teamed up with Sir Ranulph Fiennes in 1986 for the first of their three attempts to journey on foot to the North Poles unaided. In 1993 he was awarded the O. B. E. for his part in the first unsupported crossing of the Arctic continent from coast to coast.

Customer Reviews

An inspiring, extremely enjoyable & highly educational read
Dr. Mike Stroud explores all aspects of human performance from a firm scientific and evolutionary perspective. His book draws on his own education in Medicine and Anthropology and his personal experiences as a medical doctor, a researcher in human performance, polar explorer and an ultra endurance athlete.

He digresses into many areas, (from the physiology of running and explanations for the dominance of black sprinters to the evolution of homo sapiens on the plains of Africa and deep water free divers in Polynesia), and then draws it all back together, to produce a very enjoyable, and ultimately highly educational book.

He explains the necessity of exercise in our lives, and explores the advent of lifestyle diseases in our sedentary lifestyle, from an evolutionary perspective. The overriding message of this book is that the body is built for work, which it does not do in this age of the car, the office and ready made meals, and echoes the sentiments of Hippocrates who, long ago, realised that when the body is not used, it becomes riddled with illness and disease.

This book should serve as an inspiration to us all

Inspirational!
This is a truly excellent book! Not only does Mike Stroud provide accounts of some of his astonishing feats of endurance but he also intersperses them with fascinating scientific details of human performance.

He describes his own endeavours with great openness and explains that evolution has equipped everyone with greater physical performance than most people realise.

This book will inspire you to be more active! And it will probably remove excuses for avoiding exercise. It's also a terrific read and hard to put down. It impressed me so much that I bought two more copies to send to relatives - and I also tracked down a copy of 'Shadows on the Wasteland'. Well done Mike Stroud - and thanks!

This book is my bible!
This book is absolutely fantastic. Mike Stroud is my hero, and this book is my bible. It is utterly inspiring, and makes everything seem acheivable. It is a fascinating mix of science, anthropology and biography which is completely gripping. Each chapter can be read in it's own right, which makes it very handy just to pick up and flick through. I've had this book for a couple of years now, and it's rarely on my shelf. It has spent longer being loaned out to friends, friends friends, friends of friends friends and so on, then any other book I own. Buy it, read it, be inspired and go out grab some fresh air and fun!