by Dr. Michael Layton, D.C.
http://www.amazon.com/ | $24.95 | 4.5/5 stars
When my "editorial staff" read my original book review, they asked, "Really? Is that the best you can do?" This prompted me to take note, and this past week I finally had time to sit down and trully read the book, cover to cover, in several sittings. This was something I claimed unable to do in the previous review - WRONG.
Dr. Layton's book has given me treatment ideas for my sore lower back, my tight IT bands in my knees, and my beaten feet. Its given me a concise form to incorporate bouldering into my training program without overwhelming my climbing performance. I'm going to try out the recipe for energy gel blocks and bars on page 132, and use the calorie calculations a few pages later to help me reach a lower target weight this summer. And I found a huge motivational lift reading the short essay, "Grades, Partners, and Mental Games" on page 175.
A client looked it over after I finished my cover-to-cover read on a three day trip to the Palisades, and commented that he really appreciated the plainspoken language and the numerous photos that do the best job, he felt, of depicting exercises or concepts outlined in the text.
And that's what I think it Dr. Layton's strength in this book - he's managed to write something useful across the experience spectrum, assuming that you've at least tide into a rope at the local gym, and that the book doesn't exist in a vacume without dozens of other references available.
Climbing Stronger is a worthy edition to anyone's reference collection - and I'll urge you to get a copy, take the time to read it through, and pick out the gems that will work best for your goals.
