Stoicism appears to be undergoing a 21st century revival with a whole host of authors translating what appeared to be an outdated philosophy into a palatable approach to modern life. William B. Irvine a professor of philosophy provides an introductory Stoic framework for the curious laymen. Utilising the works of classic Stoic authors – Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus, Irvine distils their scattered teaching into an easy to understan... []

Stoicism appears to be undergoing a 21st century revival with a whole host of authors translating what appeared to be an outdated philosophy into a palatable approach to modern life. William B. Irvine a professor of philosophy provides an introductory Stoic framework for the curious laymen. Utilising the works of classic Stoic authors – Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus, Irvine distils their scattered teaching into an easy to understand systematic approach to daily life. Within this book a brief historical sketch is provided, a Stoic perspective and criticism of modern culture, followed by a variety of mental techniques that aim to cultivate a more Stoic approach to life.In an era of over-indulgence and instant gratification, yet seemingly paradoxically rising levels of dissatisfaction perhaps the Stoics were onto something. If this sounds familiar, it may be an indicator to reframe perspectives through a different lens. []

Stephan Guyenet BSc PhD, review editor at Frontiers in Nutrition, founder and director of Red Pen Reviews and author of a plethora of academic publications also happens to be an excellent science communicator for those with an inquiring mind attempting to understanding the nuances behind the burgeoning obesity epidemic that is underway.In an era of unprecedented dogmatism, fearmongering and pseudoscientific misdirection, many become dis... []

Stephan Guyenet BSc PhD, review editor at Frontiers in Nutrition, founder and director of Red Pen Reviews and author of a plethora of academic publications also happens to be an excellent science communicator for those with an inquiring mind attempting to understanding the nuances behind the burgeoning obesity epidemic that is underway.In an era of unprecedented dogmatism, fearmongering and pseudoscientific misdirection, many become disillusioned with the idea of attaining a healthy bodyweight without immense sacrifice, shame and otherwise unhealthy habits to the point that many give up. This has left us with both skyrocketing levels of obesity and somewhat paradoxically, eating disorders.In the Hungry Brain, Guyenet breaks down the complex interactions between the brain; eating behaviours; weight regulation and more. By understanding and accepting the fact that we are not purely rational beings, while detailing the complex brain processes that cause us to be less than rational when managing our eating behaviours, we can begin to understand how to tackle the issues surrounding the effective management of weight. Alongside this, we can do it with less sacrifice, struggle and a healthier relationship with both food and ourselves. []

You may currently be, or at some point you may want to begin, reading research papers to further your knowledge and improve your service to your clients. This book is a great starting place, as it is often tempting to jump straight to the authors conclusions without considering the methodology or results in detail, which may in fact reduce the validity of the conclusions made. Understanding the complete ins and outs of research isn’t neces... []

You may currently be, or at some point you may want to begin, reading research papers to further your knowledge and improve your service to your clients. This book is a great starting place, as it is often tempting to jump straight to the authors conclusions without considering the methodology or results in detail, which may in fact reduce the validity of the conclusions made. Understanding the complete ins and outs of research isn’t necessary but understanding how to critique a paper so that you can be sure you are giving your clients the best advice is essential if extrapolating data from research. This book is set out in a step by step guide, running through each aspect of a research paper 1 chapter at a time, also making it a useful resource to quickly refer to if certain queries arise in your reviewing of papers. []

“You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.” Goggin’s talks of the 40% rule, and how most of us only ever use 40% of our true potential and capabilities. In this book you will read of facing adversity and failure, but how you are in control of your own fate, reaching deep down to defy the odds. In your career you may come across clients who are facing their ... []

“You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.” Goggin’s talks of the 40% rule, and how most of us only ever use 40% of our true potential and capabilities. In this book you will read of facing adversity and failure, but how you are in control of your own fate, reaching deep down to defy the odds. In your career you may come across clients who are facing their own struggles, or you yourself may face similar struggles and, along with advice, some reassurance can be very helpful. Which is where a story like Goggins can be useful, showing someone what in fact someone is capable of can be empowering to an individual and help them plough through a speed bump in their own journey. []

A "Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping", we as humans often face chronic stress, while a zebra’s stress is acute or episodic such as when running away from a predator. This is the premise of the title, indicating this lack of chronic stress is why animals are less prone to the same chronic-stress related diseases humans are, such as ulcers, hypertension and decreased neurogenesis. Its well known that stress has some signif... []

A "Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping", we as humans often face chronic stress, while a zebra’s stress is acute or episodic such as when running away from a predator. This is the premise of the title, indicating this lack of chronic stress is why animals are less prone to the same chronic-stress related diseases humans are, such as ulcers, hypertension and decreased neurogenesis. Its well known that stress has some significant impacts on the body, some being useful such as during exercise, but most are negative. Some of the systems affected by stress includes cardiovascular function, metabolism, growth, immune system, pain perception and sleep. All of which are covered in this book, making it a very valuable read for any personal trainer. We will often try and help clients reduce their stress levels, and providing clients with the reasoning as to why it is so important will be eye opening for many, and likely also allow a greater appreciation of the importance of stress reduction to achieve their goals and improve their health. []

“Doing something unimportant well does not make it important”. Ferris speaks of how he went from working 80-hour weeks running his own company, to working much less hours, yet increasing his profits and even taking a “mini-retirement”, based on the Pareto Principle (the 80-20 Principle). This principle states that 80% of your productivity comes from 20% of your time, and the other 20% of your productivity takes up 80% of your time. T... []

“Doing something unimportant well does not make it important”. Ferris speaks of how he went from working 80-hour weeks running his own company, to working much less hours, yet increasing his profits and even taking a “mini-retirement”, based on the Pareto Principle (the 80-20 Principle). This principle states that 80% of your productivity comes from 20% of your time, and the other 20% of your productivity takes up 80% of your time. The book is set out into four main sections: Define your objectives; Eliminate distractions to free up time; automate your cash flow to increase income; and liberate yourself from traditional expectations. Personal trainers are relentless for working long hour weeks, constantly grinding, and producing some amazing achievements, but at the cost of their own time and wellbeing. It is much harder to help others if you first can’t help yourself, and this book may help you to streamline your business, remove distractions, and make your time more efficient, allowing more time for your own wellbeing and those other projects you’ve been putting off. []

Shawn Stevenson clearly lays out the potential detriments of poor sleep, the benefits of good quality sleep, and 21 actionable ways to start improving your sleep and overall health. Each of the 21 chapters discusses a different essential strategy to improving your sleep, with the reasonings behind it, and end with a number of actionable to tips to implement the strategy into your life.As personal trainers, sleep is one of the main pillar... []

Shawn Stevenson clearly lays out the potential detriments of poor sleep, the benefits of good quality sleep, and 21 actionable ways to start improving your sleep and overall health. Each of the 21 chapters discusses a different essential strategy to improving your sleep, with the reasonings behind it, and end with a number of actionable to tips to implement the strategy into your life.As personal trainers, sleep is one of the main pillars we aim to help clients improve in order to better their health and well-being, which helps lead to achieving their goals much easier. Being able to provide clients with multiple ways they can improve their sleep quality will be very valuable, and you will probably find yourself referring these tips to many clients. It is also a very straightforward and easy to read book, thus it’s also a great resource to point your clients towards to read should they want further, easily digestible information on the topic. []

This is an adaptation on Dale Carnegie’s original 1936 book, extrapolating the same original principles to be used with social media and online communication, making them even more relevant to the modern age we live in. “Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face.”, this is the entire premise of the book. ‘Listen more than you talk’, ‘Smile’, ‘Remember people’s names’, and ‘Encourage others to talk abo... []

This is an adaptation on Dale Carnegie’s original 1936 book, extrapolating the same original principles to be used with social media and online communication, making them even more relevant to the modern age we live in. “Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face.”, this is the entire premise of the book. ‘Listen more than you talk’, ‘Smile’, ‘Remember people’s names’, and ‘Encourage others to talk about themselves’. As personal trainers’, positive interaction is fundamental to both your clients results and your business. The title may be somewhat misleading, as this book will show you how to grow as a person, be empathetic and somewhat selfless to connect with others, leading to successful relationships, and having a greater influence on others’ lives. It should be noted that, between the original version and this newer “digital age” version, the original 1936 book reads better and you get more of Dale Carnegie’s personality in the book. Yes, the newer version does provide some examples on how to apply the original concepts to social media, but for many personal trainers, we must be able to communicate on the gym floor too. Therefore, choose the version which you feel may benefit you more, but much of the original versions’ advice can be extrapolated to the modern day with relative ease. []