Publishers Weekly
04/03/2023
In this useful program, husband and wife Kelly and Juliet Starrett (Deskbound)—founders of The Ready State company, which provides personal training services—share “instructions on how to prepare your body for whatever comes its way.” The authors detail 10 ways to make the body more resilient, focusing on how readers can achieve greater ease of movement and improve overall health. Eschewing intensive workouts, the Starretts focus on boosting mobility through simple exercises. Sitting for long stretches of time, they suggest, leads to knee and back pain, and they describe activities for engaging affected muscles, including lying down and raising one’s leg at a 90-degree angle to stretch one’s hamstrings. To fight neck and shoulder stiffness, the authors recommend lying down with a small ball under one’s shoulder and repeatedly raising one’s arm over one’s head. Additional chapters tackle sleep and diet, encouraging readers to maintain a consistent sleep schedule and eat 800 grams of fruit and vegetables per day. Helpful illustrations demonstrate how to perform the exercises and the low intensity of the workouts will appeal to those intimidated by more demanding regimens. Even couch potatoes will be motivated to get moving. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"Built to Move is more than an admonition to get up and move. It’s an incredibly layered but easy-to-follow guide, happily logical and progressive, full of pragmatic wisdom. It’s got everything you’d expect from a good fitness book, including useful sidebars and wonderfully personal anecdotes that are oddly relatable....Why do we buy fitness books? [...] Because we’re looking for inspiration, for motivation, for a reason to change. For once, we have a book that offers up just that — fundamental physical change, for all the right reasons."
—Tyghe Trimble, Fatherly
“Whether you are a professional athlete, a serious weekend warrior, or, like most people, just trying to fit it in, Juliet and Kelly are there every step of the way. The Starretts have created an accessible path for helping us all live a more fulfilled and pain-free life. There is a time and a place for getting obsessed with how much weight one can lift or have fast someone is, but we all need the basics to build our foundations upon true principles spelled out in Built to Move.”
—Gabrielle Reece, professional athlete and bestselling author of My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper
"Built to Move is the definitive guide for building an all-around healthy and high-performing body and mind. What makes Built to Move so valuable is not just the extensive real-world experience that went into formulating the protocols it describes, or the rigorous peer-reviewed scientific studies those protocols are based on, but its elegant simplicity. Built to Move makes exactly clear what we all need to do, and when, and how, so that anyone can reach their health goals, regardless of current fitness, income level, or life demands. [This] should be (self-) assigned reading for anyone looking to enhance their mental or physical health and performance."
—Andrew Huberman, Professor of Neuroscience, Stanford University & Host of The Huberman Lab Podcast
“Every time my body asks, 'What did you do to me?' I go to the Starretts for answers. They’ve opened my eyes to simple and astonishingly effective approaches to back pain, hamstring pulls, and sore Achilles tendons. Now they’re offering my personal dream come true — a way to get ahead of the injuries before they happen.”
—Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run
"Juliet and Kelly Starrett have given you a detailed, accessible road map to help you move through life feeling better, stronger, and more confident than you ever imagined, no matter where you're starting from. There is no body this book will not revolutionize."
—Melissa Urban, cofounder of Whole30
“Built to Move is a must-read for anyone with a body—that is to say, you. The Starretts have written a sweeping yet easy-to-understand and practical guide for anyone who wants to live healthier in the 21st century, from professional athletes to those well beyond retirement age. The book's strength lies in how it blends the authors' decades of cutting-edge practice with breaking science to help us live longer and better. Critically, Built to Move inspires action. It changed how I live my life, and I'm better for it. It'll do the same for you.”
—Michael Easter, bestselling author of The Comfort Crisis
"Built to Move is a game-changer. Most fitness books stop at the proverbial gym door; the Starrett's crash through that door and show that the most important work for better health happens outside the gym, and it's available to literally everyone."
—David Epstein, bestselling author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
“The Starretts are the epitome of what a Spartan is. I LOVE that they are so focused on mobility. Maintain mobility and you’ll be able to do anything. Built to Move is an amazing book.”
—Joe De Sena, Founder and CEO of Spartan
“Through practices that are engaging, introspective, and fun—yes fun!—Built To Move is the roadmap we have been waiting for that will revive what has always been your most valuable birthright: to move your body with confidence, pride, and play.”
—Jen Widerstrom, Celebrity Trainer, CEO, Author, Speaker
“Built to Move is a long overdue compilation of essential practices we all need to feel vital and functional. This simple guide is the body’s operational manual that we were not given at birth. This is not a training resource; this is a life tool to be implemented now and used forever. You’ll find yourself having fun brushing your teeth on one leg, deep breathing while walking, and activating muscles while standing in line…You’ll start to feel alive and vital the moment you implement these tools into your daily life.”
—Rebecca Rusch, 7-Time World Champion, Emmy Award Winner, Speaker, Entrepreneur
“Built to Move provides a daily living manual that can be implemented on a long-term basis. I’ve watched for years how Kelly and Juliet delivered their knowledge of movement, mobility, and injury reduction for the Army’s Rangers. Now you can use this [book] to maximize your athletic performance and significantly enhance your comfort for a healthy life. We are all built to move!”
—Mike Ferriter, Lieutenant General (Retired), US Army Ranger, President & CEO National Veterans Memorial and Museum
“Kelly and Juliet have long been at the forefront of translating complex health and fitness concepts into practical, accessible tools that can help us move better. They are masters in this domain and Built to Move distills their vast knowledge into widely applicable daily habits and tools that won’t just help you move better but live better as a result.”
—Kate Courtney, Mountain Bike World Champion, World Cup Overall Winner, Olympian
“The Greek philosopher Aristotle was quoted as saying, ‘Life is movement.’ If this is true, then we have been living less capable lives in recent years. Kelly and Juliet Starrett are not going gentle into that good night but raging against poor movement by providing a framework to live a more robust life. Through the implementation of their daily routine you can reclaim function and find your best self.”
—John Welbourn, former NFL footballer and Power Athlete
“Built to Move should be the standard movement practice we all start living by and teaching future generations.”
—Matt Vincent, Highland Games World Champion
“All of us, athletes and everyone else, need strategies for daily living. This book has amazing, life-changing insights on how to stay active and pain-free.”
—Georges St. Pierre, 2 Division UFC Champion and Actor
"We take it for granted that our complex bodies will just keep on going forever in excellent condition, which is like buying a Ferrari and leaving it sitting out in the weather all year long, for years on end, and expecting it to just continue to work perfectly. This book needs to be the curriculum for any human who moves and desires to move well. Read it. Your body will thank you."
—Ben Greenfield, author, coach, and speaker
"Eschewing intensive workouts, the Starretts focus on boosting mobility through simple exercises....Helpful illustrations demonstrate how to perform the exercises and the low intensity of the workouts will appeal to those intimidated by more demanding regimens. Even couch potatoes will be motivated to get moving.
—Publishers Weekly
