Review
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"To be a great athlete, you need more than natural ability; you
need mental strength to keep going when your body wants to quit.
In his new book, writer Matt Fitzgerald dives into the research
behind these coping skills and highlights the top athletes who
use them. Anyone, whether pro or everyday exercisers, can use
these tactics to push further." - Men's Journal
"Fitzgerald has been writing about the psychology of endurance
performance for more than a decade now and is really one of the
pioneers in terms of trying to take this body of research out of
the laboratory and into the field for everyone to try. His latest
book examines a series of notable races through the lens of
Samuele Marcora's "psychobiological" theory of endurance. The
races make it a fun read, and the psychology is
thought-provoking." - Runner's World magazine
"At the highest level of sport, it's often not physiology but
psychology that separates the best from the rest. Matt goes well
beyond just telling stories of great athletes (though he's really
good at doing that, too) and delves deep into cutting-edge brain
science to show us all how we can strengthen our own mental
muscle." -- Huffington Post, Best and Fitness Books in
2015
"The mind is the next frontier for significant performance
gains...Mental fitness, says Fitzgerald, means becoming your own
sports psychologist and developing coping mechanisms to help you
suffer better. Which, while not entierly satisfying, is a good
start." -- Outside magazine
"A book every that every endurance athlete should own...A
page-turning read both for the narrative content and hard
information...For all athletes drawn to pushing up against the
red line to see what they've got." -- LAVA magazine
"Fitzgerald has done an exemplary job in making physiology and
psychology understandable with contemporary research framing a
creative and entertaining book that makes the subject come alive
through charismatic writing." - Canadian Running magazine
"How Bad Do You Want It? really brings to life how important
psychology is for endurance performance." -- Samuele Marcora, PhD
"Harnessing the power of the setback is a powerful motivation.
How Bad Do You Want It? recognizes the fact that we all have the
power to adapt and be better than before." - Willie Stewart
"Think of it as the mind-over-matter guide to racing.
Fitzgerald's book dissects pivotal races and features top
endurance athletes...illustrating how elite athletes rally their
mental strength -- and amateur athletes can, too." -
Austin-American Statesman
"Imagine you could get into the mind of an elite athlete and use
their skills to improve your sporting potential. That's the
premise of Matt Fitzgerald's How Bad Do You Want It?" - Triathlon
Magazine Canada
"Fitzgerald's presentation digs into the very soul of his
athletes to uncover innate traits and learned behaviors in ways
that draw the reader right into the competition being described.
This is a fantastic group of stories being told with literary
skill far beyond most sports books... All the profiled athletes
and all the masterful storytelling and all the research presented
to back up the concepts he is illustrating become a cohesive
effort by Fitzgerald to document the connections between the
showcased sporting accomplishments and the mental fitness skills
that propel those successes. Fitzgerald forms the foundation for
constructing your own arsenal." -- Oregon Distance Runner
"How Bad Do You Want It perfectly introduces the exciting new
understanding emerging in the world of sports psychology and
exercise physiology. Fitzgerald uses key examples from some of
the world's most famous and celebrated athletes...to distill down
highly scientific concepts and cutting edge theories into real
world examples and situations that anyone can grasp. A superb
book...If you want to succeed at your next race, to break through
to a new PR, or reach a new level in your running, then I highly
suggest this book. It will give you many of the latest tools and
theories for doing just that, written in a way that allows you to
apply them to your running, from the first to the last page." --
Colorado Runner
"Fitzgerald is a skilled writer and the drama and excitement of
the various races really jump off the pages. If you are feeling a
bit unmotivated about running, this would be a great book to pick
up, as you are likely to be inspired by all of the thrilling
stories." -- Run Oregon
"This fascinating book explains why perception of effort is so
crucial to maximizing athletic performance. The mental toughness
behind a dozen breakthrough endurance performances in cycling,
running, triathlon, and rowing is analyzed through spectacular
storytelling, first-person interviews, and powerful new
psychobiological theory. Fitzgerald has a gift for making
exercise science come alive with pulse-pounding stories of elite
athletes engaged in the most pivotal races of their lives." -
Saltmarsh Running
From the Back Cover
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"How Bad Do You Want It? will make you see your world as an
endurance athlete in a new way. Fitzgeralds research will help
you become your own sports psychologist." - Joe Friel , leading
endurance sports coach and author of the Training Bible series
THE GREATEST ATHLETIC PERFORMANCES TAKE PLACE IN THE MIND, NOT
THE BODY.
How Bad Do You Want It? looks at epic moments in endurance sports
to mine habits and tactics we can use to cultivate our own mental
strength.
Top athletes can seem godlike in their abilities. But no matter
how skilled they are, talent takes them only so far. The hardest
races demand that a champion rely as much on the mind as on the
body, using it to confront the fears that we all face: fear of
failure, suffering, or change, to name a few.
In How Bad Do You Want It? renowned endurance sports journalist
Matt Fitzgerald examines the psychobiological model of athletic
performance, exploring how athletes are able to overcome physical
limitations with mental might. In gripping accounts from
triathlon, cycling, running, rowing, and swimming, Fitzgerald
puts the reader inside breathtaking races, shedding new light on
what science says about mental fortitude and how anyone can
cultivate the mental strength to sur challengesin sport and
in life.
Matt Fitzgerald is a journalist, coach, sports tionist, and
author of more than 20 books, including the best-selling Racing
Weight.