Born to Walk - Mark Sisson - 2025

 

I say must read for any athlete especially endurance athletes. Scott and Rachel you should read. The title is a bit misleading because the book is very comprehensive. It talks a lot about diet and other training methods and discusses how many of the pros train. It is about walking but not totally about walking. 

The author is arrogant. I mean he put a pic of himself and his hot wife on the cover, enough said. The copy editor for this book, Tim Tate, should be fired. I was finding minor errors throughout. I almost never find errors in published books. 

The general premise of the book is stay in zone 2 heart rate or below so you can gain aerobic base and not burn out or get hurt. You should do this barefoot or in minimalist shoes. Apparently all the pros train this way. This book is from January 2025. It is probably one of the first times ever I have read a book that just came out. Shout out to Dr. Chuck the PT who I met at the sauna and told me to read this. 

This book is super well researched. He talks about Kipchoge and Goggins. He references probably at least 40 other fitness books and academic studies throughout. It is also really relevant. He talks about Jakob Ingebritsen and the lady who recently set the marathon world record (although now it was rescinded due to doping lol). 

He hates super cushioned shoes because they do not give you direct feedback and do not strengthen your feet. However he likes carbon fiber shoes and thinks they work really well, although apparently you can get the same energy gain from being barefoot adapted. 

I dont agree with all of this zone two walk talk but I think if you have never done a 5k or if you are not athletic, this could be a really good book for you to start your fitness journey. I am guilty of chronic cardio and overtraining for sure. I am also guilty of trying to beat everyone on strava and therefore overtraining and getting hurt. I feel like the author or God maybe is telling me to slow down and find more balance in my training. This book and Good Energy (the previous one I read) have really really changed my outlook on training. Here is a summary of what I have learned. Both books reference many of the same studies and talk about a lot of the same things which is weird. 

1. Apparently humans are supposed to live like our ancestors. In other words, we have not really adapted to modern life yet after living for thousands or millions or whatever it is like savages. Therefore we have to train and eat how our ancestors trained and ate: walking with some sprints and some resistance training and no ultraprocessed foods.

2. Overtraining is a real thing and is bad. Sage Canaday had heart problems. Jim Spisak had heart problems. Ryan Hall had health problems. The heart is a muscle and therefore is subject to overuse apparently. Idk, many people don’t have problems as well. 

3. Sleep, diet, exercise, community and creativity are all that matters. Or at least this is what I am beginning to understand. You dont need too much data or some complex workout. Stick to these basics and like really try at them and you will be ok. Community can mean like sitting in the sauna talking to people or going to therapy or hanging with family. Creativity can be like imaginary games with your grandson or an adult scavenger hunt. 

This book is not that long. 

He says that the biggest problem for sprinters is not wind resistance but instead gravity because all of the force they put into each step for propulsion is decreased by the power of gravity. Is this true lol?

Anyways, read this for sure and disagree. It is good to read an opposing viewpoint for once. I am definitely going to try to add what he says into my training, especially because I am a bit older now. Probably if you are under the age of 30 you can ignore his advice a lot more. 

An extremely thought provoking book, but that is why it is good to read an opposing viewpoint. 

Now I am going to try to read about dating because I understand a little bit about fitness, but I don’t really understand dating at all. Also I like to work on dating stuff in the winter. Ok peace. Thanks to Scott and Rachel for taking the time to talk to me on the ride home to Pittsburgh after thanksgiving dinner. I am forever grateful!