Natural Born Heroes

"The million-selling author of Born to Run takes on the rest of the body. Everything you've been told about exercise is wrong. Cancel the gym membership, dump the protein shake and immerse yourself in a Boy's Own story of a group of English poets and academics and local shepherds who resisted the Nazi occupation of Crete using ancient Greek fitness techniques. Including John Pendlebury, a one-eyed English archaeologist, and Paddy Leigh Fermor, this motley crew exploited the innate versatility of the body's natural movements and resources to re-create themselves as physical weapons. They ran, crawled, jumped, climbed, swam and lifted, taking to heart classical concepts of paidea and arete (heroism and strength). Soon, they developed almost superhuman strength and endurance - most notably smuggling a kidnapped German general to Egypt under the nose of a Nazi manhunt. Chris McDougall, whose cult classic Born to Run has sold 160,000 copies in the UK alone and still sells on, takes us to pioneering research laboratories in Germany, an assault course in the Brazilian jungle and Parisian parkour routes, exploding common exercise myths (such as that fat prevents fitness - it's actually a brilliant energy source) and proving these techniques can be used by anyone, anywhere. Already being exploited by the likes of CrossFit, and used by people from Bruce Lee to Johnny Cash, the 'natural movement' trend is poised to revolutionise the way we think about strength, fitness and our own bodies."--Publisher's description.