The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer Hardcover – April 26, 2012

Very good book. The style is a little wordy for me. Similar to 'The Power of Yoga', I'd have preferred to have more bullet points and less history of scientific discoveries. Therefore, I summarized the key points myself:1) Inactivity is the greatest public health threat of this century. A great deal of the physical effects that we once thought were caused by aging are actually the results of inactivity.2) Although 'Health' and 'Fitness' are often automatically joined together, they are different things. 'Health' is a slippery term, often defined by its absence (it's 'unhealthy' to have high LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a wide waist or actuall illnesses, from cold to cancer).Physical 'Fitness' refers to cardiovascular or cardiorrespiratory fitness(includes measures of lung function). It is a measure of how efficiently you transport oxygen to laboring muscles to maintain movement. A fit person has a robust heart, strong lungs and sturdy muscles. But it doesn't mean he is 'healthy' (he can still have high cholesterol or ulcers).3) How little activity can people get away with? The best available science indicates that, in order to improve your health, you should walk or work out lightly for 150 minutes a week. You can split them almost any way you want. 30 minutes a day can be split in 3 walks of 10' each. Other option is to do 75 weekly minutes of more vigorous aerobic exercise plus weight training twice a week.4) Almost all of the mortality reductions are due to the first 20 minutes of exercise, which drops your risk of premature death by 20%. (If you triple that minimum level, you drop your risk of premature rate further, but only by another 4%). However, this is true if you're looking for health benefits, but not if your objective is fitness.5) If your objective is to improve fitness and performance, you must overload the muscoloskeletal and cardiovascular systems, i.e.: you will have to push your body somewhat, increasing the intensity or frequency of your usual workouts. Aerobic exercise (endurance) is the wellspring of fitness and may be the single most important determinant of how long you live.6) Exercise has been endurance-centric for quite some time, but now there is evidence strength training is also important. It changes the dynamics of aging by combating loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) and building bone, which we start losing at middle age. Squats are considered by some scientists the single best exercise. And Yoga (or Pilates and its variations) have been shown to prompt muscular remodeling almost as readily as working with weight machines does.7) The benefits of exercise appear to be curvilinear: they rise precipitously when you first start exercising, level off as you do more and, at some point, drop if you overdo things (although when the break point occurs differs by person). And then you may develop injuries and need to stop for a while. But the good news is that reductions in exercise don't have to strip you of your hard-won health and fitness gains as long as you don't stop completely (once a week seems to be enough until you can get back on track).8) Sitting adversely affects the health of even the well-exercised. Even if you exercise one hour a day, it does not counteract the ill effects of sitting for the rest of the day. It's important to break up the long hours of sitting, even if it's for a two-minute stroll. This was probably the most shocking discovery for me, who felt very virtuous by exercising every morning before my one hour drive to work followed by 8 hours sitting on a chair!9) Exercise by itself is pretty useless for weight loss since, as a species, we're astonishingly efficient at compensating for the loss of calories. It was discovered that, for example, people relying on exercising to burn out calories sometimes, without deliberate intent, begin moving less during the rest of the day. The body, and especially in the case of women, also has hormonal mechanisms to maintain body fat, such as recalibrating the appetite and increasing the desire to eat after exercise, as well as affecting the rate at which the body burns fuel (acylated ghrelin, leptin and insulin are the key hormones intervening in the process).10) However, although exercise doesn't aid much in weight loss, it is helpful in weight control or maintenance in the long term (even brisk walking). Exercise not also helps to reduce weight regain but to keep visceral or abdominal fats in check. (They contribute to metabolic problems, diabetes and heart disease).11) If you want to lose weight: work out before breakfast and include eggs in your breakfast. Emerging evidence also suggests that, unlike bouts of moderate-vigorous exercise, low-intensity ambulation, standing, etc. may contribute to daily energy expenditure without triggering the caloric compensation effect. Just get rid of your chair!12) Exercise helps to get better brainpower, pushing the onset of dementia by several years. It has a prophylactic effect against the buildup of anger and helps handle stress. It speeds the brain's production of serotonin alleviating anxiety and depression. And it has great influence on kids' brains, improving test scores and IQ.People who have been active in their twenties, no matter what their activity levels are now, have longer telomeres, a reliable marker of younger cell age. (Telomeres are the minuscule protective caps at the end of the DNA strands, often compared to the tips of shoelaces and serving the same purpose: to prevent fraying and tattering).Those points summarize my key takeaways from the book. It's also interesting that the author questions some myths, such as the need for stretching and warming up, the benefits of massage (she says it actually impairs the removal of lactic acid) or immersing in ice to ease muscle soreness. There is no correlation at all between wearing the proper running shoes and avoiding injury. You don't need special food or drinks: real food is fine and chocolate milk is the best post workout drink. Vitamins not only are not helpful, but they may undercut the exercise's benefits (since they prevent the induction of molecular regulators of insulin sensitivity and endogenous antioxidant defense - the body 'decided' it wasn't needed). The best remedy for muscle cramps is pickle juice!And, finally, avoid over drinking: you don't need to stay ahead of your thirst. If you're thirsty, drink. If not, you're sufficiently hydrated. Hyponatremia (water intoxication) is what causes deaths at marathons, not dehydration.

I purchased The First 20 Minutes for my Kindle on whim. At $13.64 it was an expensive whim (price now is $12.99). Published in April of this year in hardcover and digital by Hudson Street Press (a division of Penguin), The First 20 Minutes provides more in depth chapters on many of the exercise related topics Reynolds covers in her blogs for the NYT ("Phys Ed" for the Well Blog) and articles for magazines like Outside. Subjects include the value (or lack thereof) of stretching, sports nutrition, weight loss and exercise, endurance, strength training, burnout and injury, the relationship of exercise to the brain, genetics and fitness, and longevity.Each chapter begins with an anecdote, usually results of a "recent" study that fly in the face of common sense or conventional wisdom, then proceeds to take the reader through several other studies on the subject, with comments -- often wry or ironic -- from researchers, and some comic aside or an autobiographical comment from Reynolds. Here's an example of Reynolds' subtle humor: "In a study that might well have gone viral if more teenage girls subscribed to the British Medical Journal, scientists in Denmark discovered that those of us with sturdy, muscular thighs, typically conferred by strength training, live longer than those with stick figure slender thighs. Contrary to popular belief, thunder thighs are desirable and healthy."The First 20 Minutes is well-written and readable, exactly like Reynolds' magazine and blog writing. Indeed, as is typical of books by journalists, many of these chapters are expanded and/or updated versions of previously published articles.The book is marketed as as a "how to" and while that's not exactly misleading, readers should be prepared for meandering chapters which report on study after study, many of which contradict each other, are tentative and provisional, or are limited in applicability to the average reader. Helpfully, each chapter concludes with concrete suggestions ("take-aways") for the reader. Reynolds has a flair for science writing for the lay reader, and makes a big effort to connect the science reporting with the how-to aspect of the book, but a reader who doesn't care about the "why" and just wants exercise and fitness tips should borrow this title from the library and read the last two pages of each chapter.The First 20 Minutes has all of the limitations than any science reporting does. Reynolds says in the genetics chapter: "This chapter is out of date. It would have been out of date if you'd read it the week I finished it." But that is true for the entire book, really. In chapter after chapter Reynolds reminds us of once widely held but now discarded beliefs (like that stretching cold muscles is a good way to prevent injury, or that straight legged sit-ups are the best route to abdominal strength, or that you can keep doing the exact same exercise routine and expect to keep improving fitness). Those discarded beliefs of yesteryear hang like ghosts around The First Twenty Minutes, reminding the reader that even "recent" studies may be outdated before long.Reynolds has reported on masculine bias in subject selection, so I was glad to see that she was usually careful to state the genders of the study participants. And she goes to some lengths to talk about the way gender specific factors, like estrogen, impact (often positively) fitness and health. She was also good about signaling the fitness levels and ages of study participants. Many studies are done on super lean, super fit, super young male college athletes, and those results aren't always directly applicable to the average person, especially if they have different goals. For example, stretching doesn't improve (it actually hurts) performance, and flexibility doesn't seem correlated at all with athletic ability or reduction in rates of injury. But stretching might still help some people meet some goals (reach a soup can in a bottom drawer?).The overall take-home message is clear. Here's how one doctor put it: "Do you want to live to be a hundred? ... being active is the best, easiest, and cheapest way to decrease all-cause mortality and increase functional life span. People who don't exercise are at greatly increased risk of dying earlier than they need to."The First Twenty Minutes is a quick, interesting, and informative read. I'm not sure how much of it will stay with me, but if you are interested in this topic, I recommend checking it out.

I bought this book because I know I am not sufficiently active and I was curious about the possibility of being able to exercise effectively in only 20 minutes. There is so much more than that in this book that is significant and important to us all. The book distills, with references, the most up to date studies on the effects and benefits of both exercise and simple daily activity and gives specific advice on how to take advantage of their results. Many of them are surprising. Because of this book, I have started running. Because of this book I will no longer work for hours in front of my computer without regularly getting up and moving around. Hopefully, because of this book I will become healthier and live longer. I will try to convince as many people as I can to read this book. You should read this book. It will change your life.

Other comments have said this book contains conflicting theories and hence lacks useful conclusions. I didn't find this. It does cover a broad range of topics, so I can see why some might find it lacks direction. But there is a common theme to all the subjects - that activity is essential for health. Any "conflicts" are just honest and accurate quoting of studies - things are rarely as straightforward ase we would like.Of particular interest is that you can be sedentary without realising it - doing an hour or more of exercise every day doesn't change the fact that many hours of sitting down does you harm (you are still sedentary despite the exercise!)This book is full of essential information and inspiration (assuming you are inspired by facts more than by shallow, emotive arguments.)If you are sitting on the fence about whether to start exercising, buy this!

Great book, strongly recommend. I read this book a few times to get a full understanding of the content and loved it. Good writing style especially when describing study results. I was looking for ways to lose weight better, but the author described so well the benefits on health and longevity, and brain function, that I realised that the weight loss benefit for me at my age is secondary. Good information of benefits across the range of exercise options and good info on exercise differences between males and females, and younger and older people.

This is an interesting and well written book . It's concept intrigued me and it has proved to be an interesting read.The author has gathered and compiled a huge amount of information about dozens of exercise and training myths and then compares the myths with data from research institutes around the world.The author also has a sense of humour apparent from short quips and anecdotes . I was also able to buy this book as a used version which upon receipt had obviously never been opened.

Useful summaries at the end of chapter. Fairly readable but if you are not used to reading summaries of scientific studies it may be a ‘read in stages’ book rather than in one go.