The Everyday Athlete: How to Balance Work, Family, and Fitness for Life

Art Trapotsis uses practical examples to bring the struggle of balancing family, work, friends, and fitness to life in a very relatable way - and its definitely a struggle I relate to!The author also makes a convincing case for the importance of all four of these parts of life to any adult - it really is a four legged stool.The book provides very practical guidelines and simple and useful frameworks that have already helped me, giving me a better sense of where I am 'over doing it' vs. where I I should be more focused. The book is also a very easy and enjoyable read with its funny anecdotes while being pithy and to the point.This is not a book for someone looking for sport-specific training plans, dietary advise, or detailed explanations of the body's response to training. If you are looking for that there are a lot of other books on those topics. It is rather a good guide to people looking to balance fitness and well being within an everyday life.Would recommend to any 'in a relationship with kids' people who make or would like to make fitness a real part of their life.

So as someone in his 40s who's been looking to 'get back into it' for a little while now, the title resonated incredibly strongly. 'Everyday athlete' is exactly the concept to describe so many of us who aren't necessarily out to win overall gold medals anymore but still want fitness in our lives to keep us healthy and active as long as possible. The key: goal-directed fitness, for everyone. In an extremely conversational yet succinct style, Trapotsis covers numerous angles on the subject (balancing with work, spouse/partner, friends, children) and provides several informal quizzes to assess where you are in your fitness journey. If 'getting into it' and making a change is something you've been meaning to do for awhile then this book could be just the thing to crystallize your own thinking and catalyze the motivation to actually put a plan into action.