Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better

Not having the references is a HUGE problem. In the paperback edition the references to all the studies she mentioned were not cited. I listened to the audiobook and wanted to explore some of the articles she had mentioned for an upcoming presentation on childhood obesity. I bought the paperback and was astonished to discover she didn't have a bibliography. That is an unexcetable practice in healthcare. Completely discredits the book. Such a shame.

Amazing and informative. You won't want to sit around too long once you read this book. I thought it may be a difficult read because of research results, but to my surprise it was so beautifully woven into each section that the book just flowed . Each paragraph has a brief summary at the end which really helps you get your head around all the information you just read. Excellent book, has changed my life and way of thinking.

I am almost finished this book and I am overwhelmed with studies. Despite the info presented I feel still like I know no more or less than before. Everything seems to leave you in the middle of the road.To me it was a waste of time.

I've always been fundamentally skeptical of`conventional wisdom' as an approach to guide how I exercise and train, and what I should expect to gain from my efforts. There is a growing body of science that addresses these issues, why not use it? I'm absolutely thrilled to see this book. The author has plumbed the scientific literature and manages to distill some very complex topics, including the effect of exercise on cellular regeneration and brain health, into readable and entertaining prose. I've learned a lot already from reading just the first few chapters! Knowledge is power and I'm confident this book will help me be healthier and more fit. I'm already more motivated to get up and move just as much as I possibly can. Starting now.

The First 20 Minutes is a book about exercise physiology. It's been a number of very good years for exercise physiology since more and more research has been published about mind-body connection, and there's any number of fads and myths, which this book does a great job of debunking.

For instance, take barefoot running. It's been touted as the solution for everything related to running injuries, but it turns out that for instance, the natural walking position even when barefoot is heel striking first, not stepping on the balls of your feet. Interestingly enough, there's research showing that barefoot running doesn't solve all running injuries, and in fact may create different injuries, so choice of running footwear or lack thereof is largely a matter of personal taste.

The section on stretching is well known --- hopefully by now everyone knows that stretching before exercising is actually bad for you. What's oddly interesting is that she found research showing that most athletes overdo the warm up, wearing themselves out before the actual event.

Reynolds does a good job describing the difference between fitness and health, and points out that 20 minutes of exercise a day is all you really need to maintain health. But if you want to change your body shape, then you have to do quite a bit more (an hour a day). Worse, exercise isn't a great way to lose weight, unless you do a lot of it. She notes that vigorous intense workouts exceeding 800 calories burned do indeed give you an "afterburn", where your appetite gets depressed and your metabolic rate increases even post workout. Unfortunately, life's not fair. Apparently, this does not happen to women.

Ever wondered why women sweat less than men? This book has the answer. There's also sections on why more repetition at a lower weight is the preferred method for strength training now, and how exercise affects your brain (old hat to folks who've read Brain Rules), and how exercise affects your DNA at a deep level, provided you start early enough (in your 20s). There's also how exercise affects kids as well as older people (hint: it's good to start early, while the baby is in mom's womb!). All in all, the book is comprehensive, even more so than Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights.

I do have a few complaints about the book. First, Reynolds doesn't like cycling, so she gives cycling short shrift --- there's very little tips for cyclists that are useful, and she quotes an old study showing that 60rpm is more efficient metabolically than 90rpm. Anyone who does any amount of cycling knows that metabolic efficiency is unimportant in cycling --- cyclists are already the most efficient land animal on the planet. It's about endurance, and it's far easier to push a light weight for a long time than to push a heavier weight for the same amount of time.

With those criticisms aside, though, this is a great book and worth reading. Recommended!

Better to check this one out at the library. Each chapter is crammed with "the latest research." The problem is research tends to point every which way for a long time, before it decides on anything firmly. And the author gets caught up in this mess herself. In one chapter she's reporting that stretching before exercise is counter-productive. Three chapters later, the research is recommending stretching. There are some interesting gems here. It's just not worth buying the book since it is survey of one research study after another, and it's pretty much a muddle as the author herself notes right at the start.

Whilst this book is exceptionally informative, I am quite disappointed for two reasons. First, I agree with many reviewers here that a scientific book of this sort should provide ample reference to the theories discussed. Second, rarely a book can be so poorly written that I had to go back and forth within a chapter to make sure I truly understand the core messages. In short, this may be good for professionals and for those who are used to take notes. For amateurs and leisure readers, please give this a pass.

Never have I read a book that confirms or disproves accepted truths about exercise the way this one does, and backs up such critical (positive and negative) evaluations from clinical trials. Ms. Reynolds quotes experts in the fields of cardiac health, bone and cartilage damage, weight loss, aerobic capacity, and muscle tone (among a few of the topics in this book) to present short, clearly written summaries of the latest scientific and medical thought on these areas.

Many ideas once considered gospel by athletes are dismissed, including the benefits of carbo-loading before endurance events, stretching before running and the relation between muscle mass and strength. These results are based on clinical trials with controlled variables and a various numbers (ranging from 10 to thousands) of individuals, in contrast to results based on anecdotal evidence from a few individuals with other complicating factors. While there will be disillusionment for health fanatics, the torn down icons of thought are usually (but not always) replaced with alternative approaches for health or performance; this book has lots of practical knowledge within its covers.

My key criticism of `The First 20 Minutes' is the lack of primary citations. This is a serious shortcoming in a book that points readers to many areas about which they will likely want to learn more. Somewhat offsetting this lacuna is that more often than not she gives the names of key investigators, their institutions and frequently the name of the journal from which she found the information, so that an internet search is possible for readers who want to go learn more or simply confirm her material. But for those who are comfortable with high level newspaper-like reporting, this book I perfect. It also has a very complete index which makes it easy to re-locate information. An example of two other books reporting on health, which contain complete but unobtrusive lists of citations are The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind (Harvard Health Publications) by Prof. Peter Wayne and The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards by William Broad. It'd be great if future editions of `The First 20 Minutes' could match these two books by including this supplementary material for readers who want to go one step further.

Better to check this one out at the library. Each chapter is crammed with "the latest research." The problem is research tends to point every which way for a long time, before it decides on anything firmly. And the author gets caught up in this mess herself. In one chapter she's reporting that stretching before exercise is counter-productive. Three chapters later, the research is recommending stretching. There are some interesting gems here. It's just not worth buying the book since it is survey of one research study after another, and it's pretty much a muddle as the author herself notes right at the start.

Whilst this book is exceptionally informative, I am quite disappointed for two reasons. First, I agree with many reviewers here that a scientific book of this sort should provide ample reference to the theories discussed. Second, rarely a book can be so poorly written that I had to go back and forth within a chapter to make sure I truly understand the core messages. In short, this may be good for professionals and for those who are used to take notes. For amateurs and leisure readers, please give this a pass.

Never have I read a book that confirms or disproves accepted truths about exercise the way this one does, and backs up such critical (positive and negative) evaluations from clinical trials. Ms. Reynolds quotes experts in the fields of cardiac health, bone and cartilage damage, weight loss, aerobic capacity, and muscle tone (among a few of the topics in this book) to present short, clearly written summaries of the latest scientific and medical thought on these areas.

Many ideas once considered gospel by athletes are dismissed, including the benefits of carbo-loading before endurance events, stretching before running and the relation between muscle mass and strength. These results are based on clinical trials with controlled variables and a various numbers (ranging from 10 to thousands) of individuals, in contrast to results based on anecdotal evidence from a few individuals with other complicating factors. While there will be disillusionment for health fanatics, the torn down icons of thought are usually (but not always) replaced with alternative approaches for health or performance; this book has lots of practical knowledge within its covers.

My key criticism of `The First 20 Minutes' is the lack of primary citations. This is a serious shortcoming in a book that points readers to many areas about which they will likely want to learn more. Somewhat offsetting this lacuna is that more often than not she gives the names of key investigators, their institutions and frequently the name of the journal from which she found the information, so that an internet search is possible for readers who want to go learn more or simply confirm her material. But for those who are comfortable with high level newspaper-like reporting, this book I perfect. It also has a very complete index which makes it easy to re-locate information. An example of two other books reporting on health, which contain complete but unobtrusive lists of citations are The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind (Harvard Health Publications) by Prof. Peter Wayne and The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards by William Broad. It'd be great if future editions of `The First 20 Minutes' could match these two books by including this supplementary material for readers who want to go one step further.

Gretchen Reynolds has perfected the art form of extracting clicky headlines from tiny, tentative and uncertain results in scientific experiments. Exercise is good, movement is good, health is good- yes. But the constant misrepresentation of studies is not.

This is a good book on new evidence emerging from the study of exercise physiology and its impact on us as individuals, and on our collective (public, population) health. There are a lot of new perspectives emerging in this area, and this book summarises them well, and shows us the implications from them. These implications will and should change the way in which many of us approach working out and getting fit and staying fit. The author is not trained in medicine or science but that hardly matters here- she's interviewed so many good scientists working in this field, and read the relevant papers, so that this book is an excellent review of the cutting edge research in this area.

As far as health goes exercise is good for just about everything- you stay fitter, younger, stronger. Your brain works better. You stay insulin sensitive and you reduce your blood pressure and your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks and stroke) and death. You live fitter, longer, and with more capacity to function and greater equanimity. Your brain works better and your risk of developing dementia drops significantly. In short in terms of maintaining and developing your personal health and personal ability and function you need to exercise.

Reynolds describes well our relationship to exercise and how it has changed since our ancestors emerged. Basically as humans we are meant to walk a lot (about 8-20 miles) a day. We used to get this either as hunter gatherers, or in our working lives- the idea of "too little exercise" was just not an option for most of our forebears. In the twentieth and twenty first centuries our work is not naturally physically active
and we need to make a positive decision to be active. Reynolds describes well why we should make such a decision in terms of improved function and health, and reduced risk ( or at least significantly delayed onset) of many serious diseases.

Exercise has many components, and our exact forms of exercise depend on our goals. Reynolds describes three main goals from exercise:-
1. Cardio-respiratory fitness- heart and lungs work well- aerobic capacity-measured by our ability to use oxygen (Vo2 max)
2. Strength- weights and resistance
3. Athletic training- improving beyond basic fitness levels- usually in sports specific ways.

She's interesting on the inter-relationships between these three. The old idea that there is a continuum from aerobic workouts to weight training workouts is demolished- having strong muscles boosts our cardio-respiratory fitness significantly. Just concentrating on aerobic and endurance exercise is flawed, and no weight training does not give you big muscles- just toned and effective ones.

Most of the benefits of exercise come from getting moving- the exact form and amount does not matter too much- the benefit is greatest at the start of the exercise programme. In many cases exercises over prolonged periods may not be providing a large amount of increased performance. This is where the high impact interval training (HIIT) seems to come into its own being brief, powerful, and effective at getting significant increases in fitness and power.

Stretching is largely debunked. The idea of good and bad foods for exercise is reviewed well and with great humour. The chapter on tendon problems is a very useful overview. The chapters on the influence of brain on fitness and the road back from fitness to brain function and development is a good description- basically to move is to think and to think is to move. Perhaps the solution to many of our problems will be found on a walk or a run, not by sitting and editing another document. If you are not moving and exercising you are probably not thinking as clearly as you could be.

Once you have read this useful book you will firstly want to exercise, and secondly want to review what you are already doing. All readers will come away from this boom with a renewed sense of why exercise matters, and some ideas about how to do it more effectively- for better results in shorter time. In time there will be some specific workouts based on the science described in this book.

This is a very useful book that is worth reading and acting on.

Good review of current research on the benefits of exercise. Not sure I'd call the science "surprising", as much of it ends up confirming common sense, or being inconclusive.

On the other hand I was surprising that there is no bibliography, given how many studies the author references. Not that I'd have checked any of them...

Each chapter ends with some practical advice, but don't expect any convenient shortcuts.

For being a book that references scientific research, I've seen middle school essays that have been better referenced than this book. When writing what is intended to be informative research based literature on exercise or the effectiveness of a workout, I would expect some sort of bibliography and reference guide. But this really is just a messy culmination of the authors first hand experience with reading studies, and she was not hard pressed to include references so that her readers could verify for themselves all of the studies she made reference to.

In conclusion, just because a book says "science" on it, doesn't mean there is actual hard scientific evidence in the book.

Usually I read the one star reviews first . I must say they almost scared me off . But I'm glad I got the book.
it is excellent the only problem is that there are no research sites in the back of it .
As a holistic doctor for 35 years and the author of the three-step heart care I found new cutting-edge information on exercise science that I will be using with my patients there is one thing you might need a dictionary because she has a penchant for using words that most people never heard of .

Gretchen Reynolds compiles, examines, and explains, the most up-to-date research on exercise, nutrition, and health. The book does contain a lot of facts and data from noted researchers and Reynold's biting sense of humor does a nice job of keeping the information sounding dull. Just when my mind would start to feel a little bogged down by the fact, there was a nice little zinger suggesting more people include cat-burgling as part of their dynamic warm-ups.

Reynolds also recognized that her readership cuts a broad swath from the dedicated endurance athlete constantly training for the next marathon to the more casual person taking Zumba classes and walking or jogging a couple of days a week. She offers information and suggestions for both groups, and everyone in between on ways to improve effectiveness whether the goal is to get a faster time in the race, or have better overall health.

Well worth the read.

I heard the author interviewed on NPR and thought that this product might provide some interesting insight in the design of my personal training plan.

At first I found the author's personal quips amusing and the conclusions interesting. However as I read further into the work I found more and more studies quoted about subjects I happen to have personal experience in. It those instances it appeared that the author either tends to cherry pick research results to prove her point (or worse to sensationalize her writings) or that her conclusions involve a leap of logic the quoted research does not necessarily support. In either case these shortcomings tend to lead me to question her other conclusions thus rendering the entire work amusing but fairly worthless to this reader.

Finally the total lack of a bibliography (which one would think necessary given some of the claims the author espouses) makes it impossible to cross check her work even if I were so inclined.

This read like a high school research paper. At one point the author sites a study from 'a few years ago'. The corny jokes do not help the lack of content between cited research. The author draws no conclusion, makes few connections. This is merely well organized data.

Which is fine I guess.

So, is this a book for athletes, the average "Joe", anti-agers, couch potates looking for longevity? Surprise! It's really none of the above. I just finished this book and am still at a loss as to who the target audience is. There is a lot of information in here, reportedly from scientific research, which is quickly contradicted by other research in the next paragraphs. After reading this book I understand I am to: Use a pedometer to get my daily steps up to some unspecified level...10,000, 20,000, 30,000 steps? Exercise before breakfast and stand more. Interval intensity cardio train and weight train...? how long, how often. Rest....when? Keep a diary and exercise to music. Forget crunches alltogether or do them as instructed on page 145 (easily the most useful information in the book). Other than the crunch directions, this is stuff that is all over Yahoo and AOL "news" every day. Nothing new here, and very confusingly presented.

This review is for the audiobook reader: Karen Saltus. She inhales at every sentence loudly and breathy. It's so irritating I may not get thru it. I can hardly hear the content over her over exaggerated pauses and loud inhales!!

Having just read: The First Twenty Minutes, which was quite revealing in the importance of running like exercise for health and cognitive function even in the elderly.
Many of the revelations need to be understood in contest... I cannot blame the author for her ignorance as regards this... plus full context would have turned this book into an encyclopedia... Her revelation about, too much flexibility not being such a good thing for performance in some contexts, is exampled in the book, (too much flexibility and tendons will not be very usable to recover elastic energy) her book inspired me to read:
Pose Method of Running: (to gain such contest)
The carbs and protein of the Pose book begin at page 111. By page 125 you can see the most important concepts and drills to take advantage of them.
1 You do not push yourself along.
2 You lean forward so the action is somewhat like hoping downhill, contact is always on the ball of the foot.
3 Forward leg is simple dropped to the ground rear leg is simply unweighted and lifted vertically. Much is made of taking advantage of free energy from the elasticity of the tendons etc... Foot bounces off the ground like a ball and you like the ball just keep going...
Concepts to me (and most) are not intuitive at all but once revealed are simple, but revolutionary.. this should be taught in second grade... and we all would be running like and as healthy as Kenyans. This was interesting as I was partly motivated to buy this book by having just read: The First Twenty Minutes, which was quite revealing in the importance of running like exercise for health and cognitive function even in the elderly. The rest of the book is interesting, but to me, only after understanding the concepts that begin at page 111... perhaps starting at page 99 is a good place to start... surviving 12 pages of warm up before getting to the good stuff.

Driven by a family history of heart disease and diabetes and a job that is high stress and low in physical activity, I have made exercise a regular part of my life. I started with 20 minutes a day and gradually built from there.

But, at times, it is not always easy to get up and get it done. Is it worth it? How much exercise do I need? What type of exercise do I need? Not easy questions with all the competing information out there.

The First 20 Minutes tackles these important questions. Ms. Reynolds seeks to provide today's best answers to these questions by reviewing what science is currently telling us about exercise. She reviews what science says about its benefits, how much we should do, and what type we should do. And she uncovers a number of surprises uncovered by science in recent year.

In doing so, she has written a book that has helped me hone my exercise program and encourages me to keep it up.

While I think the book is worth buying and reading in its entirety, the greatest benefits will be gained in reading first chapter of the book (which may take more than 20 minutes).

My fuller review and "take homes" is at: [...]

This book is essentially a random sample of some of the latest research publications on health and fitness. Most every chapter follows the same pattern: challenge a popular convention or opinion (5%), survey research disproving the results (90%), conclude by indicating that none of the research is conclusive (5%). Net effect? We know that we don't know, but you've also spent 90% of your team reading about inconclusive studies. Unfortunately, I think this pattern does a larger disservice to the reader than then help us make better and more informed decisions.

Skip it.

This book was a superb example of extremely poor writing. If she tried any harder to write a book lacking flow it could be possible. All the studies she wrote were so small that they could not be accepted as scientific fact. Additionally she wrote about a study that shows afterburn is not existent then in the next writes about a study that shows afterburn is true. Not the book I hoped for!

This is an interesting book with references throughout to many studies on exercise and fitness. The book is full of information and is an easy read. My biggest criticism - the book has no footnotes or citations for any of the studies referenced in the book. She makes many claims that the research is recent. What does that mean? Recent when she started writing the book or recent shortly before the book was published? I have read many books about fitness and health, and I would say this one is written with the reader in mind. However, I have a hard time swallowing much of the support for her science as I really am not sure where the facts came from.

Review by Robert Hopper, Ph.D.

In this thoroughly engrossing book The First 20 Minutes, NY Times blogger Gretchen Reynolds serves an important role as the translator of the scientific research on exercise, health and fitness into terms everyone can understand. While the book offers a wide variety of advice for those who want to learn more about exercise, there is a central theme. In 10 chapters she weaves a narrative around a simple notion: most of the health benefits accrue during the first 20 minutes of daily exercise. And the exercise doesn't need to be vigorous. She cites a number of studies to show that small amounts of exercise can help people be healthier, have sharper minds, live longer and even have better dispositions.

In the final chapter she exhorts readers to "move it!" For those at the lowest end of the fitness scale--those who get no exercise--just standing or periodically walking in the office can provide some health benefits. She cites new study presented at a recent ACSM meeting to support this idea.

For those who attain the important level of 30 minutes per day of walking, they gain the majority of health benefits available from exercise.

And for those who workout longer and more vigorously, or who participate in vigorous sports, they maximize the health and fitness benefits of exercise.

Most poignant and personal was her lament about how being a writer on exercise leaves her precious little time for exercise. Thus one should not be surprised to learn she puts the research into personal action. At work, instead of sitting she stands and paces while on the phone, and puts reading material on a music stand so that she can be upright. Of course she still runs, but not as much, now jogging companionably with her two dogs, without concern for monitoring heart rate or achieving a personal best. She knows this level of activity will provide all the benefits she seeks from exercise.

If you want to understand the relationship between exercise, health and fitness, this book is a great read.

The worst thing about exercise isn't doing it, it's doing it and not getting ideal results. Gretchen has taught me many, many evidence-based health 'tricks' and exercise models that I'm excited to incorporate into my schedule. She makes the science easy to understand and gives actionable solutions for redirecting my ineffective habits and turning them into healthful, impactful activities. The First 20 Minutes is an engaging and educational read and Gretchen makes it all the more enjoyable by keeping the book personal with interesting and unusual tips that make me want to give up my active couch potato ways and see true results from my exercise and activities.

Ms. Reynolds, using her skills of bringing clarity to often confusing and competing data on exercise and fitness along with her wit and humor, has written a book that is a must read for everyone. Whether you are a weekend warrior, lifelong exerciser, or just beginning your fitness journey you will benefit from "The First Twenty Minutes." As a tenured professor of Exercise Science, a researcher, and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, I will recommend this book to my students (even require it), friends, family, and anyone that wants to know more about exercise, fitness, and health.

What Ms. Reynolds has captured here is what is too often missed in other texts and books aiming to address similar topics: the why of it all. She addresses the questions we have all asked at one point or another: Should I stretch? What does the term "endurance" mean? Are carbs really that good for me? Are they bad? From the opening chapter where she clears the fog on the meanings of health, fitness, and performance to answering questions of nutrition, Ms. Reynolds uses personal stories and a quick wit to help us understand why the research in this field is important and why we said care. She answers the "So what?" gaze that looms over us all when statistics are cited ad nauseum.

Reams of research comes out everyday espousing the benefits of exercise. Unless you are an avid reader of academic journals (and an amateur statistician) you will have a hard time keeping up with, much less understanding, it all. Ms. Reynolds' book brings the science to a level we can all understand. Her work is based on that science and not on common mythologies around exercise or the "this works for me, you should do it this way" attitude so pervasive in diet and exercise books today. This book fills a huge void in exercise and fitness literature and more importantly, does it with a smile on its face.

This book provides a fascinating review of the latest exercise science that starts answering why it is exercise is so beneficial for our health. It is a must read for anyone interested in prolonging the length an quality of life. However, the author does not provide full citations to any of her sources, which in my view, impacts the credibility of the book. That said, I will be changing my exercise routine in a variety of ways based on this book.

Reynolds's book offers some food for thought when it comes to exercise, health, and fitness, but her writing borders on embarrassing. Her editor would have been wise to remove the personal comments littered throughout the book.

Reynolds also has an annoying habit of citing "a recent study" as if the latest research is the best. There is little counterweight to many of her stipulations, making it difficult to judge the true value of these many, seemingly random, scientific studies she so quickly references. I am uncertain how she derived her title when she so frequently concludes there is not enough evidence to reach a definitive conclusion. Some of her revelations, like the value of weight-training, have been around for at least 15 years.

The book probably does offer nuggets of wisdom, but really should be used as part of a person's long study of exercise, health, and fitness, not as a final authority. Sadly, this book offers an example of why journalists frequently make poor authors. Get a used copy or from the library.

This book ought to be required reading for everyone in the industrialized world! It brings home the results of recent scientific research on the negative health impacts of our modern lifestyles -- then leads us positively through steps we can take to improve our quality of life. Written in an easy-to-read conversational style.

Because the author is a New York Times columnist, she is an excellent writer who doesn't mince words. She offers lots of great information for a wide range of athletic abilities. Her writing is motivational without being cheesy. As a physician, I found lots of great and practical tips to offer to my patients. Great info about many of the "myths" that abound in exercise science.

I enjoy reading the Well column, so picked up this book with eager anticipation. As an avid recreational runner (who doubles as a PhD engineer), I tend to spot-check references. Unfortunately, the first formula in the book, the VO_2_max calculated from 1 mile run, turns out to be incorrect in a somewhat subtle way. The significant difference is that "your resting heart rate" should actually be "submaximal exercise level heart rate", based on the source research paper. Many folks will use the (incorrect) formula on p121 and find themselves at Lance Armstrong level VO_2_max numbers, which unfortunately turns out to be incorrect.

For this reader, this error makes the remainder of the information in the book questionable, despite it being an entertaining read.