I read this book from cover to cover. Here's why it's brilliant and why the negative reviews are misguided.
1. The book is clearly the result of a lifetime of research into health, fitness, and well-being. It covers a range of topics, and it weaves together a big-picture perspective with a nuanced account of physical processes. For example, you'll learn about how the body deals with digestion generally (big picture) and *why* specific practices like extended fasts can be helpful for weight loss (nuance). This, by the way, is really hard to do - most health books will give you the big picture, which is interesting but doesn't help you operationalize the knowledge, or the nuance, which gives you a laundry list of tips without a holistic explanation of why they are effective. Negative reviewers complain that it's long - um.... yeah, he's covering every single topic related to the body, what did you expect? This is specifically designed to be a live-with-it, learn-with-it, read-what-you-need type of book. If you were expecting a weekend read, then you didn't do any research into the design or intent of this book.
2. The book combines peer-reviewed scholarship with the author's experience as a fitness coach. I'm a college professor, and the negative reviews related to the use of scholarship are completely absurd. The studies he mentions are behind a paywall, yes - academic publishing is an industry, and the vast majority of studies are behind paywalls - welcome to the marketplace. The studies he mentions are not in footnotes, yes - this is not a university-press-style textbook, it's a synthesis, so the standards of citation are entirely different. If he did include the footnotes, people would complain that the book is too much of a textbook. The studies he mentions have not been duplicated, yes - this is a major problem *in the sciences as a whole*. Again, the author is not responsible for problems proper to academic research - problems about which most of the negative reviewers, with all due respect, know nothing.
3. The book spans the conventional and the unconventional. There are really compelling pieces of advice here - pieces of advice that are embedded within a broader framework of health and fitness. Negative reviewers claim the advice is weird, and then complain that the advice is obvious - ok, which is it? It's an invalid critique, because the author always begins with more established, well-studied methods and then moves onto less established, cutting-edge methods. This is a good thing - we want to understand both the orthodox and the avant-garde. Again, it is rare to find a book that offers both - you typically find orthodoxy in textbooks and experiments in biohacking publications.
4. The book is extremely well-organized. I write for a living, so I'm hyper-aware of how a book is structured, how it flows from topic to topic, and how it positions the reader. The author begins with a big-picture explanation, then moves onto operational practices; from there, he begins with conventional/accessible practices and then moves onto experimental/niche practices. Readers also have the choice of reading one chapter at a time, out of order, which makes the book very compelling - follow your interest and hop around between topics - the print version of surfing the web. I jumped around before deciding to read it from cover to cover.
5. The book has heart and personality. Through jokes and anecdotes, the author ensures that this does not read like a textbook. It's playful, which is necessary if one is not to take oneself too seriously. Some of the negative reviewers took issue with the tone - I would much prefer to feel the presence of the author than to read a dry textbook.
All in all, the book is a masterwork on health and fitness. It is well-researched and well-structured. It is playful and pleasurable to read. At the heart of the typical negative review is a fundamental misunderstanding of scientific study, book composition, and authorial tone. At the heart of the book is a lifetime of research into health and fitness, a spirit of inquiry and play, and a sense of empowerment that you can feel energized, strong, and, indeed, boundless.
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Boundless: Upgrade Your Brain, Optimize Your Body & Defy Aging
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Reviews with images
The Biohacking Bible
This is a Masterpiece. I refer to is as the “Biohacking Bible”. Ben Greenfield did a great job on putting all his years of research and self-experimentation together, this is a book that will serve doctors, nurses and anyone else in the medical fields, it also serves curious readers like myself that are getting into the world of Biohacking.This is not a book that you have to read from cover to cover, you can read the chapter that’s most relevant to what you’re working on in your personal life or whatever you would like to dive deeper into.From fixing a leaky brain, hacking sleep, optimizing sex, optimizing your immune systems, recovering at the speed of Wolverine, smart drugs, nutrition, exercise, looking beautiful, living a long life, and personal fitness, this book has everything we need to become Boundless.I honestly believe if this book was published a few years ago, I would’ve been able to help extend my mother’s lifespan. She passed away at age 55 from Breast Cancer.That’s how powerful this book is, it has the ability to save peoples lives and help us live our best life’s in our physical bodies.I recently got into a car accident, so Chapter 12 has been really helpful for me as I recover from those injuries, also Chapter 7 on sleep has helped me better my quality of sleep and reduce insomnia symptoms.I am a student of Ben Greenfield, I took his 7 week program “The Longevity Blueprint” that he put together with Mindvalley. This book complements everything I learned on that program and expands on everything I heard about on podcast and blogs.Thanks to this amazing piece of world, now I’m able to have intelligent conversations with my girlfriend, who’s going to medical 🏥 school.Thank you Ben Greenfield for experiment on yourself and spreading your discoveries to better humanity.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2020
This is a Masterpiece. I refer to is as the “Biohacking Bible”. Ben Greenfield did a great job on putting all his years of research and self-experimentation together, this is a book that will serve doctors, nurses and anyone else in the medical fields, it also serves curious readers like myself that are getting into the world of Biohacking.
This is not a book that you have to read from cover to cover, you can read the chapter that’s most relevant to what you’re working on in your personal life or whatever you would like to dive deeper into.
From fixing a leaky brain, hacking sleep, optimizing sex, optimizing your immune systems, recovering at the speed of Wolverine, smart drugs, nutrition, exercise, looking beautiful, living a long life, and personal fitness, this book has everything we need to become Boundless.
I honestly believe if this book was published a few years ago, I would’ve been able to help extend my mother’s lifespan. She passed away at age 55 from Breast Cancer.
That’s how powerful this book is, it has the ability to save peoples lives and help us live our best life’s in our physical bodies.
I recently got into a car accident, so Chapter 12 has been really helpful for me as I recover from those injuries, also Chapter 7 on sleep has helped me better my quality of sleep and reduce insomnia symptoms.
I am a student of Ben Greenfield, I took his 7 week program “The Longevity Blueprint” that he put together with Mindvalley. This book complements everything I learned on that program and expands on everything I heard about on podcast and blogs.
Thanks to this amazing piece of world, now I’m able to have intelligent conversations with my girlfriend, who’s going to medical 🏥 school.
Thank you Ben Greenfield for experiment on yourself and spreading your discoveries to better humanity.
This is not a book that you have to read from cover to cover, you can read the chapter that’s most relevant to what you’re working on in your personal life or whatever you would like to dive deeper into.
From fixing a leaky brain, hacking sleep, optimizing sex, optimizing your immune systems, recovering at the speed of Wolverine, smart drugs, nutrition, exercise, looking beautiful, living a long life, and personal fitness, this book has everything we need to become Boundless.
I honestly believe if this book was published a few years ago, I would’ve been able to help extend my mother’s lifespan. She passed away at age 55 from Breast Cancer.
That’s how powerful this book is, it has the ability to save peoples lives and help us live our best life’s in our physical bodies.
I recently got into a car accident, so Chapter 12 has been really helpful for me as I recover from those injuries, also Chapter 7 on sleep has helped me better my quality of sleep and reduce insomnia symptoms.
I am a student of Ben Greenfield, I took his 7 week program “The Longevity Blueprint” that he put together with Mindvalley. This book complements everything I learned on that program and expands on everything I heard about on podcast and blogs.
Thanks to this amazing piece of world, now I’m able to have intelligent conversations with my girlfriend, who’s going to medical 🏥 school.
Thank you Ben Greenfield for experiment on yourself and spreading your discoveries to better humanity.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Fabio
Muitas dicas sobre como aumentar a longevidade
Reviewed in Brazil on March 27, 2021Grégoire
Le top et il m'en reste à découvrir
Reviewed in France on February 8, 2020