Health, fitness & sport
Books commenters say helped them sleep better, get rid of pain, train, eat better or quit smoking.
Books several people mention
Ranked by how many different people say it helped. Small numbers, so the order is a hint.
Explains the science of sleep and how it shapes learning, mood, immunity and health.
What finally improved my life and has now been working better and longer than anything before (and I implemented this after reading the book) is properly establishing my circadian rhythm/chronotype and adjusting to it.
A method for quitting smoking by changing how you think about cigarettes.
The Alan Carr's book is a great help with the psychological aspect. From the perspective of hopeless addict (three packs a day) he tells you that quitting is very easy and it turns out to be indeed so.
Argues chronic back pain stems from repressed emotions, and explains how to treat it without surgery.
I read the book anyway, and I swear, the pain began dissipating. I began to adopt a new mindset -- my back is fine, the pain is arising out of my stress and awareness of the injury, not the injury itself-- and it truly worked.
A step-by-step guide to learning barbell lifts and building strength with basic weight training.
After years of fumbling around in the gym this cut through a lot of bad ideas about fitness, exercise, strength, and health. It lead to the first real (and lasting) progress I've ever made physically.
Explores how changing the way you breathe can improve health, sleep and athletic performance.
Two useful bits that really helped me were mastic gum and mouth tape. Both of them made it much easier for me to breath through my nose at night
Explains how repressed emotions cause chronic pain, and how to treat it without drugs or surgery.
reading the book "The Mindbody Prescription" by Dr John E Sarno is what "cured" me of what I thought was RSI.
A guide to losing weight by tracking calories and weight like an engineering problem.
Counting calories really has helped me. I lost almost 15Kg, I'm on the verge of being only overweight, I feel lighter, I snore less, ...
Experiments and shortcuts for fat loss, strength, sleep and fitness with minimal time and effort.
It changed how I look, how I eat, my health, my self esteem/confidence, my mood. I am a completely different person now.
A posture and movement method for easing back pain, with exercises and illustrations.
This book fixed my posture. After reading it, I understood for the first time what it actually means to have good posture.
A self-help guide to relieving muscle pain by massaging trigger points yourself.
The only thing that really helped me at the end was a book called the trigger point therapy workbook.
Easing chronic pain and strain
Stories of back, wrist, arm and typing pain easing through mind-body or exercise-based methods. (Theme name written by AI.)
A method for ending chronic pain by retraining how the brain interprets pain signals.
I read the book on the study which is called The Way Out, and there's a film on the study as well called Pain Brain Film, and there's a podcast called Tell Me About Your Pain. I basically binge watched, listened and read all of this stuff and eventually unlearned my pain.
A step-by-step approach to finding the cause of back pain and fixing it with exercise.
The process he lays out takes work but it's based on solid research and experience and it has helped me tremendously.
Explains how repressed emotions can cause chronic back and body pain, and how to resolve it.
Then one day I saw someone on Hacker News mention Dr. Sarno's book, and it changed my life.
Explains how repressed emotions can cause chronic back and body pain, and how to resolve it.
What got me over it finally was reading and buying into Dr. John Sarno's books.
Explains how stress and suppressed emotions cause chronic back and neck pain, and how to recover.
I had very similar symptoms as you and now I am completely heeled. This book changed my life.
Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries
Sharon J. Butler
1 person says it helped them
A self-help program of stretches and habits for relieving hand, wrist and arm strain injuries.
I've definitely struggled off and on with RSI over the years and this book has been really helpful in keeping me limber
A program of simple posture exercises to relieve chronic joint and muscle pain.
The stretch opened my eyes to how my body should and could feel.
A four-step program for rewiring emotional habits to feel happier and more fulfilled.
Code to Joy (that helps you clear out the effects of traumas through a body-mind algorithm) has helped me reduce pain in many situations, but the overall pain is still there.
How repressed emotions cause physical illnesses, and how understanding this can bring relief.
This book helped me get rid of the wrist tendinitis I had for four years prior, in four weeks.
A self-help guide to preventing and relieving carpal tunnel syndrome and wrist pain from computer work.
Changed my life -- no more typing pain.
A program of simple posture exercises to relieve chronic joint and muscle pain.
This book completely changed my life. The exercise can seem a bit odd, but they worked amazingly well for me. I was almost completely back to normal within a month.
Quitting drinking or smoking
Readers say a change in how they thought about alcohol or cigarettes made quitting feel easy. (Theme name written by AI.)
An explanation of how alcohol affects body and mind, and why quitting is hard.
Alcohol explained, this changed my mind on booze.
A way to lose the desire to drink by understanding why you do.
this naked mind- second book is a reinterpretation of the first, made the biggest impact on my life, helping me stop drinking
A way to lose the desire to drink by understanding why you do.
For me, it helped a ton to understand that there were very real forces at play that were compelling me to drink, it wasn't necessarily a personal failing or weakness.
A way to lose the desire to drink by understanding why you do.
I listened to Annie Graces This Naked Mind and it helped me make a rational argument for why I shouldnt drink.
A memoir of a Broadway and Hollywood star's descent into alcoholism and her recovery.
The book, along with other influences, convinced me to never take a drink of alcohol. I never did. You can't become an alcoholic if you never take a drink.
A mindset-based method for quitting smoking without willpower or feeling deprived.
I have been around smoking friends a lot since reading the book, and have not had the desire for even a single puff.
A mindset-based method for quitting smoking without willpower or feeling deprived.
I haven't smoked in 11 years, and it's thanks to this book.
A mindset-based method for quitting alcohol without willpower or feeling deprived.
I read the book over the course of 2 days, and in that time experienced a complete paradigm shift wherein alcohol suddenly lost all appeal to me.
A mindset-based method for quitting alcohol without willpower or feeling deprived.
I've used Allen Carr's book to quit drinking... His is actually more known for his 'stop smoking' book
A mindset-based method for quitting smoking without willpower or feeling deprived.
I was lucky to find the book 'The only way to stop smoking permanently' by Allen Carr and found it surprisingly easy to quit smoking after reading the book.
Lifting, sleep, and daily habits
Stories about smarter training and small routine changes, from strength work to sleep, standing and cold showers. (Theme name written by AI.)
A training and nutrition system for building muscle and strength, organized by priority.
The biggest shift came from learning I was doing waaay too much training volume at the gym while trying to lose fat too quickly; a fine recipe for injury.
A weightlifting and nutrition program for men to build muscle and lose fat.
I've been lifting 5 times a week for a couple years now and, while I've since modified much of the book to fit my personal goals and approach, it helped me get somewhere
A strength-training approach using short, intense weekly workouts for fitness and health.
I got stronger with every passing week. Something that I was not able to do without a ton more effort in the past.
Pushing Yourself to Power
1 person says it helped them
which totally changed my thinking and led me to many other resources.
A framework for building good habits and breaking bad ones through tiny daily changes.
honestly that book changed my life. Stopped doing drugs, started eating healthy, started working out. Direct result of that book along with some philosophical reading.
Breathing, cold exposure and mindset practices for better health, energy and stress resilience.
his breathing technique really helped me. I have not done cold baths yet, just showers, but it’s been 2 years and I can take a cold shower of any duration now.
A guide to reducing the harm of sitting, with exercises and ways to set up an active workstation.
I now stand a majority of the day and have learned methods for doing so effectively without simply tiring out my legs and causing a different set of problems.
A lifestyle plan to align eating, sleep and light with the body's natural rhythms.
The first two third of the book is accompanied with practical actionable items and helped me to gain control on my sleep.
A guide to owning fewer things and finding more meaning, focus and freedom.
I've since whittled down my wardrobe significantly, throwing out a large chunk of shirts/pants/sweaters that I haven't worn in over a year and it's actually done wonders for my health.
A guide to why sleep matters and how to get better rest for performance and health.
Power Sleep, by Cornell sleep researcher Dr. James Maas, transformed my idea of naps.
Starting or improving running
Stories of taking up running or changing how they run, often to feel better and enjoy it more. (Theme name written by AI.)
A true story of a hidden Mexican running tribe and the ultramarathon built around them.
I read Born to Run and loved it. I never did the barefoot running thing. I just started running. That was four years ago. Weight is down. BP is down.
A training method for runners: do most runs easy and few hard, with plans.
It's made it a lot easier to actually go run every day, as it doesn't leave me feeling exhausted and it changes the psychology from feeling like I need to run faster
A running technique based on posture, relaxation and efficient movement to prevent injury.
I too had flat fleet, and wore arch supports for many years, but after training in barefoot running for a year I "fixed" the issue. I even ran a marathon in barefoot shoes! It sounds like an advertisement, but it was life-changing for me.
A training method for runners: do most runs easy and few hard, with plans.
It made a huge difference in my training, to run at (say) 60% of my pace most of the time instead of 90% as most of us do. I felt better, I enjoyed it more
A true story of a hidden Mexican running tribe and the ultramarathon built around them.
It is not a perfect book, but it did get me running, and in that sense literally changed my life.
A memoir by an ultrarunner who runs extreme distances, with training and eating tips.
After reading the first couple chapters, I had to put it down to go outside and go running that minute. I was soon doing marathons and ultramarathons
A beginner-friendly running guide built around walk breaks to prevent injury and build endurance.
I read Galloway's book (http://books.google.com/books?id=3kqUP3upHQ4C&printsec=f...) changed my approach and started running for pleasure. Now I log 20 to 30 miles a week for recreation
A guide to endurance running at low intensity to build fitness and burn fat.
It changed the way i look at the cardio exercise dramatically !
Eating better and losing weight
Stories of simple food advice leading to weight loss, steadier energy and healthier numbers. (Theme name written by AI.)
Ten simple food hacks to steady blood sugar, cut cravings, boost energy and improve health.
It has also completely changed my relationship with food. I started eating more, lost weight, and my glucose levels are significantly lower (and, more importantly, I know exactly how to control it).
A four-week plan to steady blood sugar and reduce cravings without giving up favorite foods.
Also have a bit more energy, less cravings, no post-lunch slump.
An argument that carbohydrates, not calories, drive weight gain, with a low-carb eating plan.
Not only it changed my life (overweight to my healthiest ever), it also led me to challenge everything about our dietary dogmas.
A weight-loss approach focused on reducing stress and inflammation in the body rather than dieting.
I've felt more like good food and less like bad food so I eat healthier without needing to muster discipline. Lost 10 kilos so far without really trying all that hard.
An argument for eating real, minimally processed food, mostly plants, instead of nutrition-science fads.
I read this book in 2007 when it came out and loosely followed its advice. It changed my life. I dropped 30 pounds, 2 shirt sizes and several inches off of my waist.
A 30-day elimination diet to find which foods harm your energy, sleep and health.
Within a couple weeks I went from having hypertension/pre-hypertension to normal blood pressure and over the course of 6 months or so I lost 40 lbs.
Living with fatigue and body symptoms
Stories of regaining energy or control over fatigue, tinnitus and gut trouble. (Theme name written by AI.)
Rewiring Tinnitus
1 person says it helped them
I found the guidance in the book Rewiring Tinnitus really helped me in this respect
How trauma changes the brain and body, and which treatments help people recover.
the book “The Body Keeps the Score” has helped me get more energy and control back.
A diet-based guide to managing irritable bowel syndrome using the low-FODMAP approach.
I mostly followed the advice of books like IBS: Free at Last! (http://amzn.com/0982063520). Now I feel much more empowered and in control.
A treatment guide for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, covering diagnosis, medication, supplements and lifestyle.
these took me from being non-functional, unable to discuss facts or details or make decisions, or go further than the sofa, to being able to go out, see people, do things (with limits).