Before I read The Ultimate Athlete Handbook, I first skimmed it to see how the content was laid out. As an avid reader and writer, this matters to me on both sides. First as a reader, I like to see how the book will read and if all of the content is able to be accessed easily and intuitively. As a writer, I like to see how the content has been laid out, what the titles of the chapters are (if there are chapters) and how the pages connect and have been linked with transitions, media and paragraph structure.
What I really like is how the table of contents only contains 4 chapters and from my experience working for a gym, having played sports my whole life and being an avid reader, the 4 chapters that Melissa has chosen are the important areas of fitness in sports so I already knew this was going to be a useful guide.
Diving into the content itself, I was really pleased to see that she’s explained what each of the important physiological elements are. For Mobility she doesn’t just say that it means you’re “more flexible”. She actually talks about what Mobility is, why it’s important and then includes quite a few stretches, drills (along with videos) and even a sample combination of the drills in order to create a mobility routine – love it!
She takes a similar approach for the other elements – Warm Up, Strength Training, etc. She also includes some recommended reading so you can get more information on the various topics from other people in the ultimate community to get a different perspective. I think that’s so great because she’s not claiming that what she’s written is the be all and end all – it’s a guide, it’s her perspective but the way she lays it all out, it’s easy to follow and easy to get an idea for just how important all of the fitness elements are in ultimate and in becoming a better player.
Age really is just a number and The Ultimate Athlete Handbook will help you with your game – whether you’re 15 or 50.
I would recommend this handbook to any level ultimate player. Read it. Learn from it. Apply it. And become a better player and athlete.
Buy online: https://www.theuap.com/store/K3ZuLSAu.