Spartan Up!: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide To Overcoming Obstacles And Achieving Peak Performance In Life (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
What starts (and ends) as mostly an ad for the author's races, turns out to also be (in the author's opinion) an excellent chance to brag incessantly about how important he is and how everyone is always telling him he's such a hero and changed their lives. There are bright moments in this book, but they're far less common than they would be with just a touch less self-absorption by the author. The net result is that Joe has managed to make me want to try a Spartan Race less than I did before I read the book, if only to prevent a nickel from going into the pocket of such an egomaniac.Even if you put all the shameless bragging aside, you are still left with an advertisement disguised as a real book combined with obvious excuses and ploys. There is actually a whole little section where he tries to explain that the legal waiver he makes racers sign (in order to protect him from being responsible for what happens on the course) is actually not at all related to legal reasons and really just all about helping you out. Seriously. Is being honest that hard? You can't just admit that you don't want to be sued? I mean, who does?He also make the classic fitness fallacy of trying tell everyone that his form of training is the only really good one and all other forms are bad. At one point, he explains that powerlifters have "show muscles not go muscles". Since the author hasn't even bothered to understand what lifting is, can anyone take his opinion on anything else seriously? He makes similar jabs at virtually every other approach to fitness. It's one thing to argue the value of endurance (and it certainly has value) but it's something else to be dishonest and try to claim that no one else is doing anything good.He has an ego you usually only see out of Crossfit HQ and he makes nearly all the same fundamental fitness mistakes that Glassman does, but obviously neither would be willing to not be top dog so he just started his own little cult.The book wouldn't have lost anything essential if he'd just said that this is what he likes to do and he is healthy and lots of other people love it too and get healthier doing it. You don't have to split your time between congratulating yourself and down-talking other aspects of fitness you clearly know nothing about in order to make yours interesting. This isn't grade school. Although it does sound a little self endorsing, Joe de Sena does a great job of making you rethink your daily routine as well as life challenges and what they mean in the long run. I resonate with just about every message in this book on nutrition, exercise, daily priorities and outlook on life in general. Great motivating read, and although I do not believe you have to go to these extremes to accomplish your goals, it definitely peaks my interest to try one of the spartan races!
What do You think about Spartan Up!: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide To Overcoming Obstacles And Achieving Peak Performance In Life (2014)?
Not for your Sunday School class, but this book was amazingly motivational.
—kaz
No nonsense book about living a more fulfilling life. Highly recommended
—JacobEsque
