How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle
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About this ebook
The greatest athletic performances spring from the mind, not the body. Elite athletes have known this for decades and now science is learning why it’s true. In his fascinating new book How Bad Do You Want It?, coach Matt Fitzgerald examines more than a dozen pivotal races to discover the surprising ways elite athletes strengthen their mental toughness.
Fitzgerald puts you into the pulse-pounding action of more than a dozen epic races from running, cycling, triathlon, XTERRA, and rowing with thrilling race reports and revealing post-race interviews with the elites. Their own words reinforce what the research has found: strong mental fitness lets us approach our true physical limits, giving us an edge over physically stronger competitors. Each chapter explores the how and why of an elite athlete’s transformative moment, revealing powerful new psychobiological principles you can practice to flex your own mental fitness.
The new psychobiological model of endurance performance shows that the most important question in endurance sports is: how bad do you want it? Fitzgerald’s fascinating book will forever change how you answer this question and show you how to master the psychology of mind over muscle. These lessons will help you push back your limits and uncover your full potential.
How Bad Do You Want It? reveals new psychobiological findings including:
- Mental toughness determines how close you can get to your physical limit.
- Bracing yourself for a tough race or workout can boost performance by 15% or more.
- Champions have learned how to give more of what they have.
- The only way to improve performance is by altering how you perceive effort.
- Choking under pressure is a form of self-consciousness.
- Your attitude in daily life is the same one you bring to sports.
- There's no such thing as going as fast as you can—only going faster than before.
- The fastest racecourse is the one with the loudest spectators.
- Faith in your training is as important as the training itself.
Athletes featured in How Bad Do You Want It?: Sammy Wanjiru, Jenny Simpson, Greg LeMond, Siri Lindley, Willie Stewart, Cadel Evans, Nathan Cohen and Joe Sullivan, Paula Newby-Fraser, Ryan Vail, Thomas Voeckler, Ned Overend, Steve Prefontaine, and last of all John “The Penguin” Bingham
Matt Fitzgerald
Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports author, coach, and nutritionist. His many books include The Comeback Quotient, 80/20 Running, and Pain & Performance. Matt has also written for a number of leading sports and fitness publications, including Runner’s World and Triathlete, and for popular websites such as outsideonline.com and nbcnews.com. Matt is cofounder of 80/20 Endurance, the world's premier endurance sports training brand, and creator of Dream Run Camp, a pro-style residential training camp for runners of all abilities based in Flagstaff, Arizona. He also codirects the Coaches of Color Initiative, a nonprofit program that seeks to improve diversity in endurance coaching. A lifelong endurance athlete, Matt speaks frequently at events throughout the United States and internationally.
Read more from Matt Fitzgerald
Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance, 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Running the Dream: One Summer Living, Training, and Racing with a Team of World-Class Runners Half My Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diet Cults Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pain & Performance: The Revolutionary New Way to Use Training as Treatment for Pain and Injury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Racing Weight Cookbook: Lean, Light Recipes for Athletes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Comeback Quotient: A Get-Real Guide to Building Mental Fitness in Sport and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/580/20 Endurance: The Complete System for High-Performance Coaching Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for How Bad Do You Want It?
26 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really enjoyed reading through the all the athletes experiences in this book. It was a nice mix of personal experiences and science. Always enjoy Matt's books. He's a great asset to the running community!!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I thought this book would be plain and simple, the kind of book that pumps your spirit to try harder, even when you are not up for it. Boy was I wrong, this book is not only full of great inspiring stories, but it also has great insight on the psychological aspects of endurance. It is both entertaining and helpful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5it was mostly just stories about how people put their mind over muscle