What I've Been Reading

My Top Three:
A Long Way Gone
This is the memoir of a man who grew up as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone, a once proud and friendly country, but is now going through a civil war. After a series of attacks on villages, men and boys as young as 9 were conned into fighting for their "army". They were told to "visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you". Between that and the copious amounts of pills, marijuana and cocaine they were given, these boys turned into violent killers. Then one day a catholic organization, Children Associated with War (CAW), came to take the child soldiers away from their current state and re-unite them with their former community. This book puts life into perspective in terms of the struggles that we face in our own lives.

Gates of Fire
This book was long but definitely worth the read. This was the story of the Spartan warriors and the Battle of Thermoplylae told by the only Greek survivor (not exactly the same story that the movie 300 tells). Leading the Greek force were 300 Spartans. These men were chosen because they were all sires, which is basically men who had living sons. Should any of these men perish in battle, their family would live on through his son. An all-sire unit was essentially a suicide unit. After great initial success, they ultimately meet their match. There motivation: the man who stood at their shoulder. This book is a lesson in selflessness and believing in the greater good of a team, company or organization. Great read, highly recommended.

The Gift of Fear
This book was referenced in one of Malcolm Gladwell's books and fortunate that I was finally able to read it. This is a lesson in one of our basic survival signals: fear and trusting out intuition in potentially violent situations. Intuition is our most complex cognitive process but at the same time our simplest. This book is a step-by-step guide for individuals to trust their intuition when dealing with people and how to identify harmful character traits in those who we encounter. In the end, our goal remains the same, "avoid being in the presence of someone who might do you harm". This book is a tremendous resource on how to do just that!



Fitness Books
TRX Suspension Training. It was a basic guide to the benefits of the TRX training system. This unstable training approach allows you to perform bodyweight exercises with very low compressive forces but high muscle activation. That is a win-win in my book. Do not build an entire program around suspension training but mixing some of it in with your strength exercises will work wonders for core stability.  

Kettlebells from the Ground Up
This one was a 40-plus page guide to the Turkish Getup and ways to improve it. It breaks the move down into 7 steps and offers drills to train this complex maneuver. This exercise is a must have and great way to boost strength without losing any mobility.