Product Description

Chris Carmichael's outstanding coaching experiences have convinced him that great success in any area of life is only possible if we first achieve an integrated, healthy, and balanced lifestyle. Only by harmonizing what he considers the five essential aspects of life - fitness, nutrition, relationships, career, and health - do we construct the strong, stable, and supportive platform from which we can reach for our dreams. In his "5 Essentials Program", the coach who guided Lance Armstrong to his record-breaking seven Tour de France championships, now provides the empowering tools - including step-by-step action plans-that today's men need to achieve their personal, professional, and athletic goals while performing at levels thought only possible in youth. There are many books that offer advice on making a change in one specific area of life-whether it is diet, fitness, career advancement, or relationships. "The Five Essentials Program" provides the integrated approach that really works to release the champion within and create lasting change.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #452885 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Customer Reviews

Nails the key points
Worth reading for anyone who is serious about moving to a healthy lifestyle.

I was initially sceptical that this book might be an example of someone just cashing in on their name, so borrowed a copy from the library rather than purchasing it. It didn't take long to realise that I wanted a copy on my bookshelf for future reference. It's clear that Chris Carmichael is passionate about the themes in this book and the programme it represents, and is speaking from experience - from being a lean, mean Tour de France rider he went to an overworked, out of condition and overweight business owner and had to reverse that. There's an element of self-promotion for the CTS brand, but I don't think it's unreasonable since that was the inspiration and source for the content and it isn't overdone. I've shown the book to a number of people and they have all commented that (unlike many books on this topic) even when skimming to a chapter randomly, Chris grabs their attention quickly.

The book is aimed at people who've found it difficult to stay with fitness programmes or to get the results from them that they desire. It addresses the reasons for that and aims to motivate people to "stick with the programme" while providing tips on how to deal with the inevitable problems that will crop up - family/work commitments etc. It has a whole host of information on why you should or shouldn't train in certain ways, should or shouldn't use particular forms/combinations of nutrition including supplements. The role of relationships is also covered. The idea is for you to be able to incorporate healthy practices into your life, not for example to replace time with your kids by your training regime (surefire route to an expensive divorce..). The book identifies which exercises to cut/shorten if you really have a time crisis - and why. The principle is that you own the programme and need to manage it, making informed decisions. (If you can afford it, you could of course sign up wih CTS and they'd take the weight out that aspect for you to an extent.) The book even advises how to modify the daily nutrition plans to accommodate training in the morning rather than the more usual evening session preferred by workers with jobs based around a 9am-5am day (usually the nominal rather than actual hours worked these days of course..)