Spartan Up

An introduction to Spartan Races (races meant to challenge, to push, to intimidate, to test) from one of the "founding few" and creators, Joe De Sena.

When Joe De Sena took part in the Utatek endurance race, held in Quebec in the middle of winter, he had to cover 350 desolate, frozen miles by iceboat, skis and mountain bike, hiking through knee-deep snow or climbing icy mountains without a rope. When he explained to people what he had done, they said he was stupid or suicidal. He saw it another way: he had accomplished more than he ever knew was possible. Taking on big challenges shows you possibilities you didn't know existed. With that experience in mind, De Sena set up Spartan Races, a series of extreme obstacle events. Whether over three miles or marathon distances, competitors are faced with a series of challenges, from crawling through mud under barbed wire to carrying a heavy sandbag, to push them beyond their limits. De Sena shows how with a simple philosophy - commit to a goal, put in the work, and get it done - people can achieve remarkable things. Whether you are up for the challenge yourself, or just want to learn more about life at the extremes, this book is for you.

From the best-selling author of Spartan Up! a complete 30-day workout and diet plan to help you reach peak performance Joe De Sena designed the Spartan races to test overall conditioning: strength, flexibility, endurance, and speed. His signature take-no-prisoners approach to achieving physical and mental fitness has taken the endurance world by storm and inspired millions. Now in Spartan Fit!, De Sena breaks down that approach and gives readers the tools they need to conquer the course — and life, including: • A 30-day workout and diet plan to prepare for the Spartan Sprint — or to just get you in shape • Full-body workouts requiring no gym, no weights • How to build on one race to the next • Inspiring, motivating stories of Spartans A complete Spartan training guide, Spartan Fit! will arm readers with the strength, knowledge, and grit to never question their potential again.

Lysander had to leave his roots as a Helot slave far behind him, when he discovered his true identity as the descendant of a Spartan warrior. The training is ruthless and now he faces his toughest challenge. Sent to the mountains with nothing but a goatskin flask, he and two other boys must prove their ability to survive before they can return. Facing starvation, wild animals and the elements, Lysander discovers that his real enemy is in fact one of the other boys, sent to sabotage his trial. From his vantage point in the mountains, Lysander can see another threat on the horizon - the Persians are invading. He must prove his worth as a Spartan and return to the village as soon as possible in order to warn of the attack. But who is Lysander fighting for - to save Spartan honour, or to protect the Helot slaves, whom he used to live among?

“If you’ve been looking for something different to level up your health, fitness, and personal growth, this is it.”—Melissa Urban, Whole30 CEO and New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Boundaries “Michael Easter’s genius is that he puts data around the edges of what we intuitively believe. His work has inspired many to change their lives for the better.”—Dr. Peter Attia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlive Discover the evolutionary mind and body benefits of living at the edges of your comfort zone and reconnecting with the wild—from the author of Scarcity Brain, coming in September! In many ways, we’re more comfortable than ever before. But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged lives actually be the leading cause of many our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort. Easter’s journey to understand our evolutionary need to be challenged takes him to meet the NBA’s top exercise scientist, who uses an ancient Japanese practice to build championship athletes; to the mystical country of Bhutan, where an Oxford economist and Buddhist leader are showing the world what death can teach us about happiness; to the outdoor lab of a young neuroscientist who’s found that nature tests our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety; to the remote Alaskan backcountry on a demanding thirty-three-day hunting expedition to experience the rewilding secrets of one of the last rugged places on Earth; and more. Along the way, Easter uncovers a blueprint for leveraging the power of discomfort that will dramatically improve our health and happiness, and perhaps even help us understand what it means to be human. The Comfort Crisis is a bold call to break out of your comfort zone and explore the wild within yourself.

“[A] monumental history . . . explaining . . . how Sparta’s early strategic role in the Greek world was inseparable from the uniqueness of its origins and values.” (David Hanson, The Hoover Institution, author of The Other Greeks) For centuries, ancient Sparta has been glorified in song, fiction, and popular art. Yet the true nature of a civilization described as a combination of democracy and oligarchy by Aristotle, considered an ideal of liberty in the ages of Machiavelli and Rousseau, and viewed as a forerunner of the modern totalitarian state by many twentieth-century scholars has long remained a mystery. In a bold new approach to historical study, noted historian Paul Rahe attempts to unravel the Spartan riddle by deploying the regime-oriented political science of the ancient Greeks, pioneered by Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Xenophon, and Polybius, in order to provide a more coherent picture of government, art, culture, and daily life in Lacedaemon than has previously appeared in print, and to explore the grand strategy the Spartans devised before the arrival of the Persians in the Aegean. “Persuasive.” —Thomas E. Ricks, New York Times Book Review “Rahe thinks and writes big. . . . The Spartan Regime breaks important new ground.” —Jacob Howland, Commentary “An important new history. . . . The story of this ancient clash of civilizations, masterfully told by Paul Rahe . . . provides a timely reminder about strategic challenges and choices confronting the United States.” —John Maurer, Claremont Review of Books “Rahe’s ability to reveal the human side beneath [an] austere exterior is one of many reasons to read this beautifully written, meticulously researched, and deeply engaging book.” —Waller R. Newell, Washington Free Beacon “A serious scholarly endeavor.” —Eric W. Robinson, American Historical Review

Full of passion, courage and magic, Spartan is an enthralling novel of the ancient world.

"This is a book that scholars will read with pleasure, and a book from which advanced undergraduates and graduates will gain a sense of what Sparta was like as a culture, and (just as important) the nature and state of play of contemporary Spartan studies. And it will be accessible for the well informed lay reader as well."—Josiah Ober, author of Political Dissent in Democratic Athens "Paul Cartledge's aim, in this powerful collection of essays, is to shed light in dark places, to demythicize... Cartledge is shrewd, realistic, and far from starry-eyed. Over a quarter-century's exhaustive research, now updated, has gone into these densely documented and tightly argued essays. These Spartans, in the last resort, are exploitative slave-drivers, obsessed with keeping their serfs down (by annually killing off any resisters, among other things)... Modern idealizers of cold baths, black broth, mindless discipline and long route marches should read this book and, hopefully, have second thoughts."—Peter Green, author of Alexander to Actium

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Steven Pressfield brings the battle of Thermopylae to brilliant life.”—Pat Conroy At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army. Day after bloody day they withstood the terrible onslaught, buying time for the Greeks to rally their forces. Born into a cult of spiritual courage, physical endurance, and unmatched battle skill, the Spartans would be remembered for the greatest military stand in history—one that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale. . . .

A Spartan warrior-in-training decides to leave school—and the girl he loves—in this fantasy novella by the New York Times bestselling author. I'm Logan Quinn, the deadliest Spartan warrior at Mythos Academy. At least I was—until the day I almost killed Gwen Frost. Professor Metis and Nickamedes say that I'm fine, that Loki and the Reapers don't have a hold on me anymore, but I can't risk it. I can't risk hurting Gwen again. So I'm leaving Mythos and going somewhere far, far away. I know Gwen wonders what's happening to me, whether I'm safe. I can't tell her, but this is my story.