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Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for Truth about Health and Exercise
The bestselling science reporter for The New York Times tells us what works and what doesn’t when we work out
Ultimate The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Health is Gina Kolata’s compelling journey into the world of American physical fitness over the past thirty years. It is a funny, eye-opening, brow-sweating investigation into the fads, fictions, and science of fitness training.
From the early days of jogging, championed by Jim Fixx— who later died of a heart attack—to weight lifting, cycling, aerobics, and Spinning, Kolata questions such popular notions as the “fat-burning zone” and “spot reducing,” the effects of food on performance, how much exercise helps build fitness, and the difference between exercise to help the heart and exercise to change the body. She explains the science of physical fitness and the objective evidence behind commonly accepted prescriptions. Along the way she profiles researchers and mavericks who have challenged conventional wisdom, marketed their inventions, and sometimes bucked criticism only to back down from their original claims.
Ultimate Fitness spotlights the machines and machinations of the fitness industry, and cuts through the marketing and hype not only to assess what is healthy, but also to understand what our obsession with staying healthy says about American culture today.
Ultimate The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Health is Gina Kolata’s compelling journey into the world of American physical fitness over the past thirty years. It is a funny, eye-opening, brow-sweating investigation into the fads, fictions, and science of fitness training.
From the early days of jogging, championed by Jim Fixx— who later died of a heart attack—to weight lifting, cycling, aerobics, and Spinning, Kolata questions such popular notions as the “fat-burning zone” and “spot reducing,” the effects of food on performance, how much exercise helps build fitness, and the difference between exercise to help the heart and exercise to change the body. She explains the science of physical fitness and the objective evidence behind commonly accepted prescriptions. Along the way she profiles researchers and mavericks who have challenged conventional wisdom, marketed their inventions, and sometimes bucked criticism only to back down from their original claims.
Ultimate Fitness spotlights the machines and machinations of the fitness industry, and cuts through the marketing and hype not only to assess what is healthy, but also to understand what our obsession with staying healthy says about American culture today.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
9 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Gina Kolata
32 books103 followersKolata graduated from the University of Maryland and studied molecular biology at the graduate level at MIT for a year and a half. Then she returned to the University of Maryland and obtained a master’s degree in applied mathematics. Kolata has taught writing as a visiting professor at Princeton University and frequently gives lectures across the country. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 8, 2007
This book is fine when it comes to the historical information. But when she goes all gee-whiz-how-fit-I-and-my-fabulous-husband are, she loses me. I don't care about your spinning class, Gina!
August 12, 2016
Review from my old book log:
This was listed as the Book of the Month over at Lose the Buddha [which was a great blog, but is no longer available], and a quick look at the reviews led me to believe I might find it interesting. I found it fascinating. Kolata writes about the most popular myths around diet and exercise, mining out the grains of truth hidden inside the marketing hype. Personal experience is mixed with interviews with researchers throughout the book. Heart rates, runner's highs, and personal trainers are all discussed, as well as the history of fitness as a fad at various times in the last couple of centuries. Some of it can be a bit distressing, as when she cites research that shows that a small fraction of the population is truly unable to derive significant benefits from training, or when she shows how little a person really has to do (and how much he has to pay) to earn and maintain certification in personal training. The book is educational without being too academic, and those who are really interested can check out the articles cited in the notes at the end of the book.
This was listed as the Book of the Month over at Lose the Buddha [which was a great blog, but is no longer available], and a quick look at the reviews led me to believe I might find it interesting. I found it fascinating. Kolata writes about the most popular myths around diet and exercise, mining out the grains of truth hidden inside the marketing hype. Personal experience is mixed with interviews with researchers throughout the book. Heart rates, runner's highs, and personal trainers are all discussed, as well as the history of fitness as a fad at various times in the last couple of centuries. Some of it can be a bit distressing, as when she cites research that shows that a small fraction of the population is truly unable to derive significant benefits from training, or when she shows how little a person really has to do (and how much he has to pay) to earn and maintain certification in personal training. The book is educational without being too academic, and those who are really interested can check out the articles cited in the notes at the end of the book.
May 28, 2007
A mixture of a history of ideas about fitness and exercise in the US, including the rise of the Fitness Industry, and descriptions of scientific studies on various fitness-related topics. I'm not an obsessive exerciser, but the book has a lot of interesting tidbits about fitness and exercise fads, myths, and truths. This book won't appeal to everyone, and the author's personal interest in Spinning, specifically, gets tiresome, but it's worth a look for anyone interested in learning more about health and fitness history and theory (this sort of complements other readings on diet and food history).
February 15, 2011
Will reading this book make my stomach look like the one on the cover?
I'll let you know!
I'll let you know!
December 18, 2016
I found this book to be boring through most of it. Very dry, historical recountings of the history of various aspects of fitness. It lacked flow and personality (unlike another science writer, Mary Roach).
That being said, there were aspects of the book that really challenged my perspective on the fitness world. I have been steeped in the world of gyms, diets and body-building for over 15 years and I'm now questioning "wisdom" that might have just been clever marketing. Not a total waste of time to read, but tedious.
That being said, there were aspects of the book that really challenged my perspective on the fitness world. I have been steeped in the world of gyms, diets and body-building for over 15 years and I'm now questioning "wisdom" that might have just been clever marketing. Not a total waste of time to read, but tedious.
May 11, 2024
Might be better named “Gina Kolata tells you more than you’d ever want to know about how she likes her Spin class.” Gave up halfway through and put the book in the recycling. She’s normally a good writer, so I don’t know what happened here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2017
Interesting, but uneven. It was not as inspiring as I'd hoped it would be (i.e. it didn't get me to exercise.)
August 25, 2021
I felt misled, I thought this was a scientific book, but it was a lot of stories that seemed to go on for ages with a little bit of science at the end. Just read the last chapter and the references.
March 13, 2023
Refreshing
A refreshing look at exercise from the viewpoint of an investigative reporter, not someone with a new gimmick, diet, or program to sell
A refreshing look at exercise from the viewpoint of an investigative reporter, not someone with a new gimmick, diet, or program to sell
November 9, 2023
Very informative and thought-provoking.
January 23, 2014
This book was, as others have noted, a fast read. I breezed through it, and even at the moments when I paused to say aloud, 'This isn't a great book,' I kept the pages turning. Which says something for it.
It is a blend of the history of the fitness movement, the author's personal involvement in fitness activities, and scientific inquiry into fitness (What's the most effective way to train? Does exercise really make you healthier?) These kinds of weavings can be hard to pull off (I should know; I tried to write one). Sometimes it feels as if the strands are being fused because none of them, on their own, are quite compelling enough to carry a whole book. But what's the rationale for mixing them together? Maybe a book all about the best way to train would have been too wonky. Maybe a book all about the history of fitness would have been too academic. Surely a book all about Ms. Kolata's devotion to Spinning classes and weight rooms would not have worked, though I find her sometimes-a-tad-robotic account of her obsession with exercise amusing. I'm not totally convinced they add up to a whole that is more than the sum of their parts.
Maybe the problem with trying to tell a story about exercise is that it's hard to find the plot. It's like telling a story about eating (though, come to think of it, a lot of authors have managed to do that). Exercise is a routine; it feels good, to a lot of people; it is probably good for you; etc. There isn't a lot of conflict there. People don't live and die by it (at least, not very quickly). Interestingly to me, the most engaging part of the book was the near-to-last chapter about the business of the fitness industry, a Jessica Mitford-like piece of muckraking that shed light on the seamy, unregulated world of commercialized fitness regimens and the people who profit from them. Finally, a little controversy, a little human drama.
In truth, I sought out and read this book because I've thought about trying to write something about exercise myself, and I wanted to see how someone else had approached it. I don't think it answered my biggest question, which was something like, 'How do you make going to the gym interesting to read about?' There were a few strands in the book that might have led somewhere interesting if they'd been teased out. At one point, Kolata raised the question of why regular, adult people—people who like to exercise but will never be athletes—are willing to expend so much time, effort, and money to have quasi-athlete-like experiences? (She devotes a lot of time to a four-hour Spinning ride.) That's kind of an interesting question. There's also some class and gender stuff involved in the history of it all. Kolata touched on the fact that weightlifting, in its origins, was a working-class activity, but has become less so over time, but she didn't go into the class dimensions of exercise today. And just yesterday, when I was outside and everyone around me was running in their special Lululemon outfits, I remembered how Kolata quoted a running enthusiast from the '60s who was arrested by the cops on an early-morning jog—because in their 1960s minds, the only reason a grown man would be running down the street would be if he'd stolen something.
Maybe I read this book because it's January and I'm in the post-holiday, it's-still-winter exercise doldrums, and I wanted something that could reenergize me about the idea of doing hard workouts again (without making me go out in the dark and the cold and actually, you know, exercise). And, come to think of it, that little hit of sporty-person identity affirmation is probably the main reason why anyone would pick up a book about fitness. Which, if I keep on thinking about it, might provide some clue as to how to write effectively about exercising?
It is a blend of the history of the fitness movement, the author's personal involvement in fitness activities, and scientific inquiry into fitness (What's the most effective way to train? Does exercise really make you healthier?) These kinds of weavings can be hard to pull off (I should know; I tried to write one). Sometimes it feels as if the strands are being fused because none of them, on their own, are quite compelling enough to carry a whole book. But what's the rationale for mixing them together? Maybe a book all about the best way to train would have been too wonky. Maybe a book all about the history of fitness would have been too academic. Surely a book all about Ms. Kolata's devotion to Spinning classes and weight rooms would not have worked, though I find her sometimes-a-tad-robotic account of her obsession with exercise amusing. I'm not totally convinced they add up to a whole that is more than the sum of their parts.
Maybe the problem with trying to tell a story about exercise is that it's hard to find the plot. It's like telling a story about eating (though, come to think of it, a lot of authors have managed to do that). Exercise is a routine; it feels good, to a lot of people; it is probably good for you; etc. There isn't a lot of conflict there. People don't live and die by it (at least, not very quickly). Interestingly to me, the most engaging part of the book was the near-to-last chapter about the business of the fitness industry, a Jessica Mitford-like piece of muckraking that shed light on the seamy, unregulated world of commercialized fitness regimens and the people who profit from them. Finally, a little controversy, a little human drama.
In truth, I sought out and read this book because I've thought about trying to write something about exercise myself, and I wanted to see how someone else had approached it. I don't think it answered my biggest question, which was something like, 'How do you make going to the gym interesting to read about?' There were a few strands in the book that might have led somewhere interesting if they'd been teased out. At one point, Kolata raised the question of why regular, adult people—people who like to exercise but will never be athletes—are willing to expend so much time, effort, and money to have quasi-athlete-like experiences? (She devotes a lot of time to a four-hour Spinning ride.) That's kind of an interesting question. There's also some class and gender stuff involved in the history of it all. Kolata touched on the fact that weightlifting, in its origins, was a working-class activity, but has become less so over time, but she didn't go into the class dimensions of exercise today. And just yesterday, when I was outside and everyone around me was running in their special Lululemon outfits, I remembered how Kolata quoted a running enthusiast from the '60s who was arrested by the cops on an early-morning jog—because in their 1960s minds, the only reason a grown man would be running down the street would be if he'd stolen something.
Maybe I read this book because it's January and I'm in the post-holiday, it's-still-winter exercise doldrums, and I wanted something that could reenergize me about the idea of doing hard workouts again (without making me go out in the dark and the cold and actually, you know, exercise). And, come to think of it, that little hit of sporty-person identity affirmation is probably the main reason why anyone would pick up a book about fitness. Which, if I keep on thinking about it, might provide some clue as to how to write effectively about exercising?
December 11, 2017
The author was/is a science writer for the New York Times. The book is a review of the science and history behind the fitness industry. The book was eye-opening for me because I’ve always assumed the “basics” for fitness were grounded in solid scientific research. As it turns out, very little of what I’ve thought was “true” is, in fact, proven.
Fundamentally, there is substantial scientific evidence that going from no exercise to four or five 30 minute sessions of any moderate exercise are enough to move a person to significant health improvement over the complete non-exerciser. After that, there is little or no evidence of any improved benefits to health or longevity.
The author makes a key point that health is not the same as fitness and one has to do a lot more exercise to become “fit” than one needs to do to gain health.
The author makes the same claims about strength training. A moderate amount builds you up to your natural base, but after that, you need to do a lot more and a lot more specific training to make substantial gains.
On consideration, these statements just make common sense (as uncommon as that may be).
One very interesting discovery the author relates is to do with why 220 beats per minute is considered the maximum heart rate for humans. It turns out this was not based on any “vast and thorough” research study. It appears the two scientists who “discovered” the rate found it by examining 10 papers on maximum heart rates. The sizes of the individual studies is not provided, but the author states they were small samples. She goes on to add they were limited in that they were all men, white, under sixty-five and predominantly young. She implies the studies may have had their own internal biases because the samples were taken at cardiac centers and not from a random sampling of the population. The stated bias is (at least) the two most likely people going to a cardiac center for testing are cardiac patients (who will not represent the general public) and young athletes, seeking to find out the limits of their fitness training.
Because the two researches were US government employees at the time and were presenting their findings at a symposium, they had the imprimatur of truth/fact. Over time, the “findings” were repeated enough they gained the status of gospel (“urban legend”). I think the story is particularly interesting because I’ve seen posters with the 220 number on walls at my gym and at my cardiologist.
Other than establishing that most of what I thought about exercise is marketing and misunderstood science, the author spends most of the time discounting the hype-sters of the fitness movements/fads. Again, this is pretty much just more common sense…
All in all, a very interesting book and I highly recommend it.
Fundamentally, there is substantial scientific evidence that going from no exercise to four or five 30 minute sessions of any moderate exercise are enough to move a person to significant health improvement over the complete non-exerciser. After that, there is little or no evidence of any improved benefits to health or longevity.
The author makes a key point that health is not the same as fitness and one has to do a lot more exercise to become “fit” than one needs to do to gain health.
The author makes the same claims about strength training. A moderate amount builds you up to your natural base, but after that, you need to do a lot more and a lot more specific training to make substantial gains.
On consideration, these statements just make common sense (as uncommon as that may be).
One very interesting discovery the author relates is to do with why 220 beats per minute is considered the maximum heart rate for humans. It turns out this was not based on any “vast and thorough” research study. It appears the two scientists who “discovered” the rate found it by examining 10 papers on maximum heart rates. The sizes of the individual studies is not provided, but the author states they were small samples. She goes on to add they were limited in that they were all men, white, under sixty-five and predominantly young. She implies the studies may have had their own internal biases because the samples were taken at cardiac centers and not from a random sampling of the population. The stated bias is (at least) the two most likely people going to a cardiac center for testing are cardiac patients (who will not represent the general public) and young athletes, seeking to find out the limits of their fitness training.
Because the two researches were US government employees at the time and were presenting their findings at a symposium, they had the imprimatur of truth/fact. Over time, the “findings” were repeated enough they gained the status of gospel (“urban legend”). I think the story is particularly interesting because I’ve seen posters with the 220 number on walls at my gym and at my cardiologist.
Other than establishing that most of what I thought about exercise is marketing and misunderstood science, the author spends most of the time discounting the hype-sters of the fitness movements/fads. Again, this is pretty much just more common sense…
All in all, a very interesting book and I highly recommend it.
March 1, 2013
Written in 2003 by the science reporter of the New York Times, this is a great survey of the subject. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of fitnes, from the state of the science to the state of the industry. The chapters that bring in the author's personal story are well done. She describes her focus on spinning and trainers in that area.
The things that I want to remember from this book is that A) to be fit does not take much activity - only about 20 minutes a day of light movement. B) To change my looks or my performance will take intensity. I want to focus my intensity on both my strength training and dance. C) It is often a surprise to people that they enjoy intense physical effort and it may take some time to find the activities that one person may enjoy. As Gretchen Rubin points out "What makes you happy may not make me happy. What makes me happy may not make you happy." It took me many years to find how much dancing makes me feel happy.
The things that I want to remember from this book is that A) to be fit does not take much activity - only about 20 minutes a day of light movement. B) To change my looks or my performance will take intensity. I want to focus my intensity on both my strength training and dance. C) It is often a surprise to people that they enjoy intense physical effort and it may take some time to find the activities that one person may enjoy. As Gretchen Rubin points out "What makes you happy may not make me happy. What makes me happy may not make you happy." It took me many years to find how much dancing makes me feel happy.
September 22, 2011
This wasn't as good as I expected it to be, having read lots of very interesting and very readable Gina Kolata pieces in the Science Times over the years.
The chapter on exercise addiction, "Is There a Runner's High?" was really fascinating, and a lot of it was new information to me. I liked the parts about exercise pioneers or entrepreneurs like Joe Weider and Bob Hoffman (and Jack LaLanne and Charles Atlas, who are mentioned in passing a few times), but most of this book and the findings and anecdotes in it were really not all that interesting to me I guess.
There's a lot about "spinning" in this book (which I had never even heard of before), so if you're interested in spinning (or regular cycling), you might like this book more than I did.
I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 2 because of how great that addiction chapter was and because I did like some other parts, too.
The chapter on exercise addiction, "Is There a Runner's High?" was really fascinating, and a lot of it was new information to me. I liked the parts about exercise pioneers or entrepreneurs like Joe Weider and Bob Hoffman (and Jack LaLanne and Charles Atlas, who are mentioned in passing a few times), but most of this book and the findings and anecdotes in it were really not all that interesting to me I guess.
There's a lot about "spinning" in this book (which I had never even heard of before), so if you're interested in spinning (or regular cycling), you might like this book more than I did.
I'm giving it 3 stars instead of 2 because of how great that addiction chapter was and because I did like some other parts, too.
July 30, 2011
I thought I would learn a lot about "the truth about exercise and health" but I really didn't. What a boring and disappointing reading experience. Kolata, a self-proclaimed "exercise addict" appears to have written this book to gloat about oh-geez how awesome and ultra-fit she and her husband are. She goes on and on and on about Spinning until I was ready to barf. And when she starts explaining what a leg extension machine looks like, or how she does "real" bench presses, and "real" weight lifting (unlike all those female sloths out there in the gym, I guess), I couldn't help myself but start flipping pages and scanning the text as fast as I could to be done with it. This book is only good for anyone who knows nothing at all about exercise and fitness. A real waste of my time.
February 17, 2012
Half the time, I felt like I was reading a Spinning memoir. She goes into great detail about things like what she and her husband wore to their spinning events and how much sweat was wiped off the bikes afterward. The science reporting in the book is fragmented and feels like an afterthought--almost as if her publisher made her throw some science in there because no one wants to read a book about what it's like to sit on a stationary bike for four hours.
It was a quick read and I appreciated the journalistic parts of it. It would have gotten more than two stars from me if she could've woven the facts and fictions into an interesting story like she was trying to do with her Spinning history.
It was a quick read and I appreciated the journalistic parts of it. It would have gotten more than two stars from me if she could've woven the facts and fictions into an interesting story like she was trying to do with her Spinning history.
April 22, 2008
I normally have several bones to pick with any of Gina Kolata's NYT articles on public health, fitness, or epidemiology. So I read this expecting to throw it across the room many times.... I didn't throw it once. The book had a great balance of solid reporting with personal anecdotes. And it makes me have more respect for Bill Haskell than ever before.
May 20, 2008
Some interesting info, seems well-researched, but too heavy on the personal anecdotes. It seemed like she wanted to write this book b/c of her personal obsession with spinning. Fair enough, but don't describe each class with such excruciating detail. Still, I did try a spinning class after this (still didn't like it- I'll stick to the old school step aerobics).
February 25, 2010
One of the most valuable thing I learned from this book is the origin of fat-burning vs. cardio training (low intensity vs. high). Low intensity fat-burning workouts are something of a farce. Ultimate Fitness renewed my childlike excitement over my heartrate monitor, my grown-up toy that is instructive.
May 12, 2010
Interesting, although I didn't find it as insightful as her previous book, "Rethinking Thin" - probably because there is, as Kolata notes, much less solid research and study on exercise issues. Still, it's a good read for anyone curious about how much of our current knowledge about exercise and fitness is scientific fact, and how much is simply BS.
July 19, 2011
This is a must read for anyone embarking on any type of fitness journey. The author is a fitness addict but is also a science reporter. I found she combined the two wonderfully and informatively in this book. Aim for your fitness goals with your eyes wide open after reading this book. There are benefits but they may not be what you think they are. Highly recommended!
July 30, 2011
This is a must read for anyone embarking on any type of fitness journey. The author is a fitness addict but is also a science reporter. I found she combined the two wonderfully and informatively in this book. Aim for your fitness goals with your eyes wide open after reading this book. There are benefits but they may not be what you think they are. Highly recommended!
September 1, 2007
Interesting book by a science writer on the history of the fitness industry and the science behind it - while I enjoyed lots of the stories wound around the history and science-talk, I wished that it had come to more conclusions, rather than just considering lots of questions.
Read
May 20, 2008I unexpectedly got the abridged version from the library. probably would have been better to seek out the original form because I really enjoyed this book. think I'll try her book on Influenza next.
May 15, 2009
I'm officially giving up on this. I've renewed it from the library 3 times and still haven't managed to get through it. I guess that means it's not that great! I really liked it when she talked about herself and her own experiences but the other stuff, not so much.
January 24, 2012
A reread from 2004. Much of it was familiar but still relevant. There's a lot we don't know and just a little that we do. You probably need to workout with intensity and probably need strength training to see results.
Also, Spinning is cool.
Also, Spinning is cool.
October 29, 2014
Gina Kolata is a skilled journalist. I would hazard a guess she could write about any topic and manage to make it interesting. Having said that, in Ultimate Fitness she chronicles the history of fitness in America, detailing the major players and trends in the industry.
September 20, 2007
A great book with lots of facts and cited sources - she cuts through a lot of the junk.
December 9, 2009
Enlightening. I felt it was not as well organized as her other book, Rethinking Thin. But she frames each chapter with her own experiences as either a reporter or an exerciser, and I enjoyed that.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews