Gretchen Reynolds

This was interesting. It took me a while to get through, it's dense and wasn't a page turner for me. But there's a ton of information and they backed it up by explaining the studies, not just citing the sources in the back of the book somewhere. It made a case for several ideas about exercise, that we've all just taken as a given for ages, to be turned on their heads. It was thought provoking.

Reynolds provides an enjoyable and data-rich take on what science tells us now about exercise and fitness. Often authors of this kind of book insert themselves into the text too much, but Reynolds includes just enough to provide some levity.

Thanks to this book, my children and I are running intervals, brushing our teeth while balanced on one foot, and doing homeschool in 20-min increments to avoid being too sedentary. And using chocolate milk as a recovery beverage.

Great observations and facts to support the book’s basic premise—do something and you will longer and more healthy. Written by a journalist, so at times it seemed like a collection of articles, and sometimes the attempts to be punchy became tiresome. Overall, I learned some good things and finished it.

This book is very much not for me. The glib mouthing of sciency platitudes annoys me too much.