WIN: Achieve Peak Athletic Performance, Optimize Recovery and Become a Champion

by James DiNicolantonio, Siim Land, Tristin Kennedy

Foreword by Ben

"WIN is undoubtedly one of the most evidence-based books on athletic performance.

It teaches you the underlying pillars to physical development and fitness, such as nutrition, muscle growth, fat loss, body composition optimization, recovery, supplementation and so much more.

Not only are there specific protocols that have been formulated in the book, but all the recommendations are backed by a wealth of scientific evidence.

This book is suitable for both beginners, as well as advanced athletes, complete science nerds, body builders, the average Joe or Jane wanting to lose an extra few pounds, as well as top tier elite athletes.

If I had this information available to me when I was competing, I know that it would have given me a significant advantage. I hope you enjoy WIN as much as I have!"

What you will learn and what is covered in WINHow to improve athletic performanceHow to lose weightHow to build muscleMeal plansRecipesHow to support the immune systemHow to improve sleepThe most evidence-based supplementsAnd A LOT MORE!

Table of
Chapter 1: Train to Win
Chapter 2: Hydration and Electrolytes
Chapter 3: Peak Neutralizing Acid to Hit Peak Performance
Chapter 4: Hot and Cold Protocols for Improving Performance and Recovery
Chapter 5: Optimizing Macros and Food Choices for Performance
Chapter 6: Resistance Training and Muscle Growth
Chapter 7: Weight Loss Strategies and Rehydration/Refeed Protocols After Weigh Ins
Chapter 8: Biohacking Strategies for Improving Athletic Performance and Recovery
Chapter 9: Immunity
Chapter 10: Supplements for Improving Performance and Recovery
Chapter 11: Sleep, Rest and Circadian Rhythms
Chapter 12: Recipes and Meal Plans

Many books have been written about physical performance, but they all have a different focus. You can find great information on bodybuilding, endurance, or just general weight loss. However, few books tackle the topic in an all-encompassing way. This is what WIN is about – providing a manual for overall sports optimization, that not only covers training but also nutrition, recovery, sleep, supplementation, and biohacking. In this book, you will learn about the science, application, and nuances of achieving any of your fitness goals.

Genres: Health, Nutrition, Fitness, Sports, Nonfiction

559 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 28, 2021

Reviews

[paul Sweatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend!!!!

I am a health coach and I read books like this one all the time to keep up with what's going on in the world of health and fitness. WIN is by far the best,no BS, one I've read in a while. Some of the recommendations may go against what you believe to be truth but all of them are backed by science. A lot of what is out there is just someone's opinion that was made 'fact'.

[Bojana Milasinovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didnt get immersed in the book immidiatelly, but after a while I really liked it- it can be used as a general guidance and understanding how the body’s metabolic processes work and it is for a wide audience, not only professional athletes.

[Quratulain · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Training in fasted and fed state
Ingesting carbohydrates post-exercise promotes protein synthesis
Leucine appears to be the most vital amino acid for mTor and muscle protein synthesis. 2.6-3g of leucine per meal
Excess protein doesn’t appear to cause the same spike in blood sugar through gluconeogensis as eating carbohydrates or sugar does.”
Space protein 3-5 hours apart
Consume 30-40g of protein 1-3 hours before bed to offset the catabolic effects of their overnight fast.”
Implement glycine supplementation
Kidney disease not undergoing dialysis: 0.6g/kg. Plant protein.
Kidney disease getting dialysis: 1.2g/kg Animal and plant protein
Strength training: 25-40g of protein before and after workout
Organ meats like liver have a much more appropriate iron-zinc to copper ratio than muscle meat.
Methionine is most abundant proteinogenic or protein creating amino acid.
Carbohydrates store as glycogen : 100-150g in liver and 500g in muscle cells
High muscle glycogen has positive impact on exercise performance.”
Consume male syrup or orange juice 30-45min items prior to exercise. Starches 1 hour prior to intense exercise. Consume 25-75 g of carbohydrates are consumed 30-60 minutes prior to performance.”
Keto adaptation raises the threshold at high the body starts to burn glycogen, it appears to not be inherently superior to burning primarily glucose.”
Fiber isn’t essential but it’s still advisable to eat some fruits and vegetables for their bicarbonate forming substances and other phytonutrients.
Ketogenic diets have been shown to lower partial pressure of CO2 in the arterial blood and decrease breathing rate.”
Overtraining and overreaching in training lead to significantly reduced sleep duration.
Sleep deprivation: decreases pre-exercise glycogen stores- impaired performance.
Inadequate sleep: insulin resistance, increases fat cell insulin sensitivity by 30%- weight gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome. Reduces reaction time and accuracy, increased muscle soreness and pain; promotes muscle loss; promotes neurodegeneration.
Circadian rhythms controlled by: light, temperature, magnetism, movement and food.
Don’t do hard physical activities after at least 4hours before going to bed.
Blue light from sun increases alertness, improves mood, and has antibacterial effects.”
Mouth breathing even at rest is considered abnormal because it hints at subconscious adaptations to improperly developed nasal airways, chronic stress, and incorrect breathing.”
Melatonin: cherries, tart cherry juice, kiwis,
Sodium restriction increases nighttime adrenaline levels and impairs sleep.”
Extending sleep prior to a night of sleep deprivation improves performance and protects against the negative effects of sleep loss- Sleep Banking.”
Best time to nap is 12pm-2pm
Creatine monohydrate in conjunction with resistance trainings increases lean body mass by 2-5 lbs within 4-12weeks
Creatine from food or endogenous production from glycine, arginine, and methionine. 3-5g per day Creatine
Addition of carbohydrate or carbohydrate and protein to a Creatine supplement increases muscular retention of Creatine.”
Dose: consume 0.3g/kg/day of creating monohydrate for 3 days followed by 3-5g/d to maintain elevated stores.
Maximize Creatine retention: consume 35g carbohydrates with 50g protein
Creatine side effects: hair loss. Increases DHT
Whey protein promotes glutathione production which is the body’s main antioxidant.”
Casein is better at inhibiting protein breakdown whereas whey is better at promoting muscle synthesis.”
EAA supplementation is superior to just BCAA supplementation. Taking BCCAs alone may lead to increased muscle protein breakdown because the body will try to pull the missing EAA from its tissue to fulfill the stimulation for muscle protein synthesis.
Most of the evidence with BCAAs is for reducing muscle soreness and speeding up recovery.”
Elevated levels of blood BCAAs is associated with obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes because of leucine keeping mTor activated chronically which also leads to insulin secretion.”
Brown adipose tissue controls BCAA clearance and uses BCAAs for thermogenesis in the mitochondria during cold exposure.”
Restricting sleep from 8hrs to 6hrs for 8 days heightens pro-inflammatory cytokines.”
During exercise, NK cell activity increases but it drops to a minimum 2 hours later and returns to pre-exercise levels in 24hrs.”
Moderate to intense exercise up to 60 minutes is beneficial.
Antioxidant supplementation before exercise can interfere with mitochondrial biogenesis, which is a key adaptation to endurance performance capacity.”
Glutamine, sulfur foods, collagen
Lean muscle tissue burns 2-3 times the amount of calories than fat mass.”
Very low calorie diets <800 do result in fat loss but also make you lose a substantial amount of lean muscle.”
Brains daily demand of 110-120grams a day. After Keto-adaptation the brain can cover 50% of its energy demands with ketone bodies.
Combine resistance training with high protein intake (2.3 g/kg) is more effective in lean mass preservation and fat loss compared to a low protein control group during 2 weeks of low calorie dieting.”
Exercising during low calorie intake attenuates the loss of fat free mass.”
The less muscle mass someone has the greater the level of blood glucose and fat storage they will have.”
Chromium picolinate has been shown to help with lean muscle tissue maintenance during dieting.”
Leptin is a hormone that gets secreted by the body’s fat cells and it’s often referred to as the satiety hormone. When you’ve received enough calories and nutrients leptin is supposed to send an message to the brain to stop eating.”
Most satiating: potatoes, porridge, fish, red meat, some fruit.
The quality of food you eat determines the quantity of food you eat.”
Ultra-processed food diets result in 500-600 higher calorie intake a day, leading to significant weight gain compared to unprocessed foods.”
The body adapts to a lower energy intake by increasing mitochondrial efficiency, adaptive thermogenesis and decreasing metabolic rate.”
Most sustainable weight loss programs do not recommend an energy deficit more than 20-25%.
Intermittent energy restriction seems to be more sustainable and effective in the long run.”
One of the fastest ways to lose water is to go into a hot bath or hot tub.”
Moderate dehydration of 3-4% of total body weight impairs muscle endurance but less likely to impair strength and power.”
You lose less electrolytes through sweat when you are heat acclimated although you will lose a significant amount of electrolytes to get to this point.”
16:8 group lost 5x more body fat. Not optimal for muscle hypertrophy.
PSMF:800-1,000 calories per day with nearly all protein. Refeed frequently with complex carbohydrates (fruit, potatoes). 20-50g of carbs allowed
When fasting: 4300-7000mg sodium per day.
Sugar craving- pickles, pickle juice, salt, pastured milk, toasted Ezekiel bread dipped in EVOO and salt; dark chocolate with or without chocolates, salted jerky

[Jennifer Shirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow--that was A LOT of information. Some of it, I wished I had known when my daughter was competing in sports in high school. Maybe it would have saved her from injuries as well.
But you don't have to be in competitive sports to glean a lot of great overall health information: supplements, fitness, immunity, sleep.
I work-out regularly, so I have heard a lot of piecemealed information on those subjects. But it was nice to have everything straightforward and bullet pointed for me. I earmarked quite a few pages to go back to and review. If you really want to get serious about your health and workouts, there is a great wealth of information here.

[Daniel Wilches · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I love the book: it has lots of great information and kickstarters for fitness enthusiasts such as myself.

The only downside was that I was hoping more info on how to structure my workouts but with the info on the book, you can easily navigate the info that is on the internet.

A must read if you are starting on your fitness journey.. 🏋🏻

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful with laying out best ways to reach my peak athletic performance. It’s not very well written though. A lot of it is repetitive and unless you’re a scientist or doctor, about half of it is difficult to follow. I got the gist of it though. I would like a condensed version for average people like me that are trying to apply these principles to their physical fitness journey.

[Abby Storer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great information regarding performance training and nutrition ! All the references are helpful and inspired more questions and research

I refer to this often for my own training and for my clients !!

[N Pavlov · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential guide for anyone looking to achieve peak performance, whether you're an athlete or not. Filled with actionable biohacking tips, though some recommendations may require further scrutiny. Highly informative and detailed

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, research-based reference for both competitive and casual athletes.

[Kasey Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of very specific information. Some applies to you, some doesn’t. I took away several actionable items that I integrated into my health and wellness practices.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super detailed filled with lots of good information.

[Joe Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend for any athlete looking to improve their performances. I'm a runner and this had a lot of helpful tidbits about salt intake, nutrition in general, sleep, recovery and lots more.

[Savanah 2J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a textbook. Liked it. Truly a lot of information in one book.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative! Learned a lot. 📖

[Bnjmn Mich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best all around fitness/wellness/performance book I’ve read to date. Packed with all sorts of information for the professional athlete, the workout dad, the fit mom, the college student looking for gains, the person looking to lose weight and make serious lifestyle changes etc. excellently done.

[Gale Glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read for the high level athlete looking for an edge

Would highly recommend for any athlete looking to gain a even the slightest edge over the competition. Very solid strategy backed with supporting information. Highly recommend.

[Ayoub Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing