Every Day Is Game Day: Train Like the Pros With a No-Holds-Barred Exercise and Nutrition Plan for Peak Performance

I liked this book. Easy to read. Some great exercises and programs are laid out and ready to follow. Great info in this book for athletes or regular people trying to get fitter

Background: I was on the Core Performance program back in grad school a dozen years or so ago, and I got great results. Eventually life intervened; I was out of the gym for years, and when I got back in a couple years ago, I was mostly doing just the big compound lifts a la the Starting Strength program: squats, deadlifts, bench, etc. But as 40 has recently come and gone, I've lost flexibility while gaining aches and pains. So when I started poking around for a more functional exercise program, the first thing I did was check and see if Mark Verstegen had published an update to Core Performance. And here we are.First, the good: as expected, there are tons of creative, functional exercises that have you working multiple body parts in various planes of motion. My first day at the gym with EDIGD left me sore in places I didn't even know I had. So far, so good.Now, the bad: that first workout took me over three hours at the gym, and that's after I omitted a few things because I needed to get home. A lot of that is due to the workout sheets - really, the most important part of the book - being so utterly difficult to read and counterintuitive that one almost wonders if the authors purposely made it inscrutable, just to mess with us. Others have noted this as well. Also, because the exercises are unique, there is a lot of flipping back and forth from the sheets to the exercises. I imagine I might be able to get my gym time down to two hours or so (not including transit, getting changed, showering up, etc.) once I get the program dialed in, but even then, if you multiply two hours in the gym by the (minimum) five days per week the program has you working out, that's ~10 hours a week in the gym. If you have that kind of time, then I'm sure this program will get you in amazing shape. Sadly, most of us don't. So I concur with the other reviewers who say that this book is NOT for the weekend warrior who wants to hit the gym for an hour three times a week. I didn't deduct any stars for this - the book pretty clearly advertises itself as a more hardcore version of Core Performance, and it's not the book's fault that I'm probably not its target market (which I'd imagine is professional or hardcore amateur athletes, coaches, and personal trainers). But I am deducting half a star for the borderline-unreadable workout sheets.And take off another half a star for the first few chapters of the book, which read like a poor man's Tony Robbins. It's basically just self-help pablum that, at best, seems like filler to make the book a little longer. If you expect me to spend 10 hours/week on your workout plan, then please don't waste my time with the self-help filler.Finally, I'm deducting a full star for what I consider to be an egregious promotion of bro-science: the idea that you need to eat lots of small, frequent meals to keep your metabolic fire burning, to borrow a metaphor that both this book and every fitness blog from circa 2006 uses. The problem is that studies have long since debunked this as a myth, albeit a useful one that helps sell lots of protein shakes and nutrition bars. The "lots of small meals" advice was taken as gospel in the early-to-mid 2000s, when Core Performance was written, but I would've hoped that by the time EDIGD was written, someone of Verstegen's caliber would've known that this has been debunked. Or at least known that, at best, it is questionable advice for most people's goals (e.g. studies show that people operating at a caloric deficit - presumably for weight-loss purposes - lose more weight if they eat fewer meals per day).So why am I making such a big deal over that one error? Because I'm relying on Verstegen for his expertise, and if he muffs what seems like a layup, it calls into doubt the rest of his advice. (Also suspect, in my view: his advice to eat whole-wheat bread, most of which has the same high glycemic index ranking as white bread – about 70.) It's like the thirteenth chime of the clock: not only is it wrong in and of itself, but it casts doubt on the twelve that went before it.In sum, if you're into functional fitness, have 10+ hours per week at minimum to spend in the gym, and are careful about not merely accepting everything Verstegen says as gospel (particularly in the nutrition realm), this is a worthy addition to your library. If you're a coach or personal trainer, you'll find some truly creative exercises that challenge the body in new and unexpected ways. For me, I'll probably borrow a few things from EDIGD and rely mostly on Mike Boyd's functional training books, which provide a more flexible program design for those of us who want to retain or increase functional strength but can't commit to 10+ hours a week in the gym. Half a star each deducted for the weirdly out-of-place self-help talk and for the workout sheets that require the Rosetta Stone to decipher; a full star deducted for the nutrition bro-science. Three stars.

This book is excelent and has lots of useful information, as long as you have the correct expectation. This book is not for beginners nor for those folks who just want to train 2-3 times per week. There are better books out there for this type of audience, including some books by the authors like "Core Performance Essentials" (for begginers and people wanting to work out only 30min 3x per week) or "Core Performance" (for people who want to go to the level above).Many ideas from this book will be familiar to those who have read a book from the "Core Performance" series, but you will also find new material. The program consists on 7 units: "Pillar Prep", "Mov Prep", "Plyometrics", "Movement Skills", "Medicine Ball", "Relative Power", and "Energy Systems Development (ESD)".The workout lasts 15 weeks and there is some room to choose your weekly schedule which consists in 5-6 training days. The days are classified as "Power" (at least 3 such days per week), "Movement skill" (at least one weekly day), "Regeneration" (at least one weekly day), "Complementary" (optional activities like yoga, pilates, etc), and "Off days" (at least 1 per week).I have not yet tried the workout, but it seems quite good, but I would not try it unless you already have a good fitness base. Some of the exercises (such as those in "Movement skills") seem to specifically address athletes (including "tactical athletes" like military personnel, firefighters, etc.).A challenge with this workout is the variety of equipment it requires. For example it requires a wall where you can throw medecine balls. I'm not sure this is easy to find, at least without disturbing neighbors and I guess most gyms won't allow it. Also you have power days where you have to lift weights and in the end you have to do some ESD by, for example, doing 50 yard sprints a certain number of times. This is not something to do on the treadmill, so you need to find a gym which is conveniently located near a track field or near some place where you can perform your ESD. Also you are required to use elastic bands with weights in some lifts. I'm not sure if gyms allow this for "security reasons".The book has some typos (at least the kindle version). For example there are 7 types of "Regeneration sessions": "General Regeneration", "Self-massage", "Flexibility", "Upper back/shoulder pain", "Low back pain", "Hip pain", and "Knee Pain". But the description of the "Self-massage" and "Hip Pain" sessions are missing, while the description of the "Low back pain" session appears repeated 3 times.

Amazing book, really drives home the performance aspect of training.

I've been waiting for this book to arrive and it did not disappoint! The 1st half of the book is the theory, principles, and foundation, which is really great content and reveals the pillars of this system for the high performer. The 2nd half of the book is the movement library with an exhaustive description of key performance exercises for the athlete, including innovative stretching and mobility work, sprint and agility work, strength/power work, and much more. This is a No BS book with a ton of great information and key concepts for those high performers that want to get to the next level or those who desire to become a high performer. This is the 1st book I've purchased from these authors and have to say this is outstanding work. I read a lot in this topic and this is a great book for every athlete and serious fitness enthusiast. I know I'll continue to use this as a valuable resource in my own training library.

I appreciate the insight on nutrition, movement , and stretching that are very different than what I had been used to.I wish I had followed these tips in my athletic career, I could have been better and more proficient.

Great book to further training knowledge.Learning from the best around and opens your eyes to new ways to look at training and nutrition.Would recommend.

Mark's view on training is wholesome and comes from a performance perspective. I've enjoyed reading this book.

Very practical and a lot of take home points in this book. It is broken down well and easy to read and understand.

even if you disagree with EXOS philosophy, it's good to get to know philosophy behind their system.

Excellent book. Very well structured and easy to use. Would definitely recommend.