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Rating: 
Summary: A lot of theory, few specific tools
Review: I picked this book up after reading an article about Loehr's program in Outside Magazine. Unfortunately, the article had more specific, day-to-day advice than this book does. Loehr's ideas are very interesting and ring true, but he spends a great deal of time justifying his theory and reviewing brain biochemistry and physiology experiments. Then he throws in some case studies and some vague recommendations - eat multiple small meals a day, target your heart rate during exercise, reframe your inner dialogue, etc. Based on the magazine article, I was expecting a program to help you identify your weaknesses when it comes to implementing these changes and structure a program around that. I was expecting a realistic look at why people fail to become tough and how to work around it. The book starts to do that, but never really follows through with specifics.
Rating: 
Summary: Groundbreaking!!!
Review: Using competitive sports (particularly tennis) as a model, "Toughness Training for Life" defines toughness as 4 principles: flexibility, responsiveness, strength and resiliency which apply to everyday life and to a person's physical, mental, emotional and overall well-being. The overall effect one is looking for is creating balanced waves of expending and recovering energy and the avoidance of under- and over-training. There are some real world examples of out-of-balance lives (for example, overtraining physically, undertraining emotionally) and specific steps to correct the problems.There are 2 other principles that I found particularly useful: 1) If you're having fun, you most likely are in-balance and operating at IPS; conversely, if the fun stops-pay attention and 2) Pain is merely a signal of an unmet need - interpret it correctly and respond appropriately and the pain goes away. If you've ever heard the cliched wisdom about drinking plenty of water, getting enough rest, finding the silver lining in every cloud, etc. but wondered why or how it helps, "Toughness Training For Life" explains it thoroughly. Using a modified version of Maslow's pyramid, all aspects of toughness are covered, including specific sections on the physical, mental and emotional components plus special sections on the education system and on toughness for women. Highly recommended! Also try; "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" (another paradigm of happiness); "Egoscue Method" (more on physical alignment); "The Bodies Many Cries for Water" (a very overlooked recovery strategy) and "Mastery" by George Leonard.
Rating:
Summary: Groundbreaking!!!
Review: Using competitive sports (particularly tennis) as a model, "Toughness Training for Life" defines toughness as 4 principles: flexibility, responsiveness, strength and resiliency which apply to everyday life and to a person's physical, mental, emotional and overall well-being. The overall effect one is looking for is creating balanced waves of expending and recovering energy and the avoidance of under- and over-training. There are some real world examples of out-of-balance lives (for example, overtraining physically, undertraining emotionally) and specific steps to correct the problems. There are 2 other principles that I found particularly useful: 1) If you're having fun, you most likely are in-balance and operating at IPS; conversely, if the fun stops-pay attention and 2) Pain is merely a signal of an unmet need - interpret it correctly and respond appropriately and the pain goes away. If you've ever heard the cliched wisdom about drinking plenty of water, getting enough rest, finding the silver lining in every cloud, etc. but wondered why or how it helps, "Toughness Training For Life" explains it thoroughly. Using a modified version of Maslow's pyramid, all aspects of toughness are covered, including specific sections on the physical, mental and emotional components plus special sections on the education system and on toughness for women. Highly recommended! Also try; "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" (another paradigm of happiness); "Egoscue Method" (more on physical alignment); "The Bodies Many Cries for Water" (a very overlooked recovery strategy) and "Mastery" by George Leonard.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of theory, few specific tools
Review: We are taught through life that "we are strengthened by trials." That is not true. We don't grow stronger by adversity. We are made stronger through _healing_ from trials. The same applies to Nietzsche's popular sport/war chant "that which does not kill us makes us stronger." Anyone who has seen a homeless Vietnam Veteran knows that Nietzsche was wrong. "That which does not kill us, which we heal from, makes us stronger" is perhaps a better saying. WWII did not make us stronger. It made us dead, or at best, bitter. Yet a few were able to be strengthened by the combined process. What separated those few? What kept them alive, submissive to their captors, and able to transcend their adversity and use it to their advantage? This is the subject of Loehr's book. How do we balance our stress and recovery cycles so that we maximize our growth potential? This is one of my favorite books, because I, like everyone, am constantly seeking order and battling frustration... He has other books along these lines, but this is the newest and most comprehensive. --Colin Jensen
Rating:
Summary: Bible of Balance
Review: We are taught through life that "we are strengthened by trials." That is not true. We don't grow stronger by adversity. We are made stronger through _healing_ from trials. The same applies to Nietzsche's popular sport/war chant "that which does not kill us makes us stronger." Anyone who has seen a homeless Vietnam Veteran knows that Nietzsche was wrong. "That which does not kill us, which we heal from, makes us stronger" is perhaps a better saying. WWII did not make us stronger. It made us dead, or at best, bitter. Yet a few were able to be strengthened by the combined process. What separated those few? What kept them alive, submissive to their captors, and able to transcend their adversity and use it to their advantage? This is the subject of Loehr's book. How do we balance our stress and recovery cycles so that we maximize our growth potential? This is one of my favorite books, because I, like everyone, am constantly seeking order and battling frustration... He has other books along these lines, but this is the newest and most comprehensive. --Colin Jensen
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