Find Fitness Inspiration In These 4 Sports and Wellness Audiobooks

Whether you're an avid sports enthusiast or someone just looking to adopt healthier habits and become more physically active, finding inspiration is a crucial element for staying motivated. 

 According to a recent report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and Sports Marketing Surveys USA, 242 million people in the US took part in sports and fitness activities in 2023. This marked the highest levels in the survey's history. Moreover, more than three-quarters of executives at sporting goods manufacturers feel that their industry has a strong future. SFIA president and CEO Tom Cove stated that we went from just under 73% of Americans participating in one of over 200 activities in 2018 to 78.8% in 2023.

 Based on these findings from the SFIA, it's clear that people are increasingly getting into fitness and sports. Still, some others may be struggling with finding their motivation, while more may not know where to even start; approximately 65 million Americans (or 21.2% of the population aged 6 and older) self-reported that they did not do any physical activity in 2023. Fortunately, accessible resources like audiobooks can offer tips and wisdom and provide some much-needed motivation. 

 So, if you're still not sure how to begin your wellness journey, this post will help explain some of the benefits of using audiobooks for fitness inspiration and share four title recommendations:

 The benefits of audiobooks for your fitness journey

One of the advantages that audiobooks offer over other resources is their flexibility and convenience. Unlike traditional or digital prints, audiobooks can be consumed while you multitask other activities, whether chores, a workout session, or a morning walk. At the same time, its format allows you to always have access to an audiobook — or two, or ten — while on the go and across multiple devices.

 Nowadays, you can easily find audiobooks with insights from field and niche experts and spanning different genres. The collection of sports audiobooks featured on Everand expands beyond just biographies and includes guides on essential things to getting fit like diet, sleep, exercise, and mindset to help you stay fit like professional athletes. For example, titles like Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness by Suza Favor Hamilton and Sarah Tomlinson offer insight into the minds of some of the most gifted athletes and coaches in sports history, while David Hernandez's Carb Cycling is a straightforward guide to the carb cycling diet for those looking to achieve weight loss goals without compromising essential nutrients like protein.

 With so many sports and wellness audiobooks available, it can be overwhelming to sift through generic tips and advice to find applicable knowledge. Below, we'll be sharing four titles to help you find fitness inspiration:

 The Right Call by Sally Jenkins

In sportswriter Sally Jenkins' The Right Call, she delves into the astonishing inner qualities in the industry's greatest coaches and athletes. Instead of focusing on workout tips and fitness hacks, Jenkins highlights crucial principles like conditioning, practice, discipline, culture, and intention in shaping elite coaches and playmakers. Based on her insights on Washington Post Live, Jenkins highlights that what makes a really great athlete isn't muscle necessarily, nor is it built-in advantages like height or agility. Instead, Jenkins emphasizes that everything a great athlete does is a decision, whether a three-point shot from Steph Curry or Patrick Mahomes making a great pass.

The Examined Run by Sabrina B. Little

Philosopher and ultramarathon runner Sabrina B. Little's book about running also examines some key ideas in virtue ethics and how they relate to her experience in training and racing. Little's focus on ethics and sport is a holistic approach to sports and fitness. In her Psychology Today piece, Little talks about envy as an "unhappy self-assertion" that is detrimental to healthy sports competition. Instead, Little insists that sports should be about striving together and calling each other to higher standards for constant improvement.

 It Takes What It Takes by Trevor Moawad and Andy Staples

Mental conditioning coach Trevor Moawad has helped professionals in various fields, from Fort Bragg to Harvard Business School. In It Takes What It Takes, Moawad shares his formula to help these industry elites become top performers: neutral thinking. Moawad defines neutral thinking as a high-performance strategy that focuses on judgment-free thinking, especially in pressure situations, which can be fairly common in sports. Once you get the hang of it, Moawad explains, you'll feel calmer and more aware, eventually more set up for success.

 The Plant-Based Athlete by Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke

Finally, Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke offers science-backed insights on adopting a plant-based lifestyle to achieve endurance, flexibility, sport, training, or lifting goals. If you're looking for more practical advice, The Plant-Based Athlete shares over 60 recipes alongside insights from famous plant-based athletes and scientific research. These recipes are positioned as a lifestyle upgrade and supplementary fuel to power your daily workouts.

 Ultimately, there are different ways to approach your sports and wellness journey. The audiobooks recommended above offer a more holistic approach to staying fit and motivated. If you're interested in enhancing your fitness journey, you may also like our previous post explaining how mindfulness enhances Pilates, whether you're a seasoned Pilates practitioner or new to the discipline. This includes numerous benefits like enhanced body awareness and concentration, which can help set you up for success.