Video Fitness

Lift With Your Head

by Chip Conrad

LIFT WITH YOUR HEAD: The Training and Movement Philosophies of the Physical Subculture
Written by: Chip Conrad - $21.95 available at http://physicalsubculture.com/the-book/

I typically do not write book reviews but I recently picked up a book that deserves some recognition. I attended a Kettlebell and weighted leverage club seminar in October where I met Chip Conrad. If you have never attended one of his seminars they are fun but also kind of mentally challenging for me. At the beginning of the seminar he asks you to think and come up with your own definition of Fitness and Strength. As I began to ponder these questions and quickly come up with an answer I secretly hoped he would not call on me. Thankfully he did not call on anyone in class and instead told us to seriously consider what fitness is and what strength is. To be honest I didn’t have my own definition of fitness and strength and although I’m working on my definitions I left the seminar scratching my head with a new book under my arm.

This book is honest, humorous and philosophical unlike any other fitness books I have. Some of the musings are from why people exercise, physical aesthetics versus physical strength and fitness, obligatory fitness, responsibility of oneself, ending self destruction behaviors/mantras, to finding the joy, humor and celebration for life and movement.

The benefit of this book goes far beyond his detailed exercise instructions (which are in black and white). Conrad’s view of fitness is not about a perfect body. It's not about being strong and having big muscles. It's about being happy with who you are, and seeing your body as a useful apparatus with the ability to increase the quality of your life through movement.

Here is the table of contents:
Part 1 Philosophy of the Physical SubCulture
Intro
Routine versus Ritual
Seeing Results
Fitness Plan
Process of Visualization
10 Habits of Highly Effective Fitness Freaks
Know Your Options
Who’s To Blame
Problem Areas
Play
Gender Strength
Contemplating Strength
Physical SubCulture Program Design

Part 2 The Tools and Moves of the Physical SubCulture
Some of the exercises: deadlifts, squats, goodmornings, cleans, overhead presses, swings, windmills, presses, farmer’s walk, Turkish getup, burpees, sandbag, tire and car work, program design and other miscellaneous exercises.

This is one of my favorite quotes:
“Exercise is the love of the body, the intended purpose of the body, not an obligation to it. “


Angela Horswill
ang_horswill@yahoo.com
12/6/07



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