Finding Ultra, Revised and Updated Edition: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself

Rich Roll

May 2012 · Sold by Harmony

About this ebook

An incredible but true account of achieving one of the most awe-inspiring midlife physical transformations ever

On the night before he was to turn forty, Rich Roll experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he could see where his current sedentary life was taking him—and he woke up.

Plunging into a new routine that prioritized a plant-based lifestyle and daily training, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months—from out of shape, mid-life couch potato to endurance machine. Finding Ultra recounts Rich’s remarkable journey to the starting line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. And following that test, Rich conquered an even greater one: the EPIC5—five Ironman-distance triathlons, each on a different Hawaiian island, all completed in less than a week.

In the years since Finding Ultra was published, Rich has become one of the world’s most recognized advocates of plant-based living. In this newly revised and updated edition, he shares the practices, tools, and techniques he uses for optimal performance, longevity, and wellness, including diet and nutrition protocols. Rich reflects on the steps he took to shift his mindset and leverage deep reservoirs of untapped potential to achieve success beyond his wildest imagination, urging each of us to embark on our own journey of self-discovery.

Ratings and reviews

This is one of several books I've read which were written by addicts turned fitness fanatics. Some of these guys are narcissists extraordinaire, who relish the notion that the reader is eating up and hanging on every minute detail. Every vegan who writes seems bound by the honor code to trumpet the affects of the diet as nearly supernatural, and every run is spun as an epic tale. The chapter on the Epic5 got so tedious, I finally skipped to the end, only to discover that the book abruptly ends. Meh...

Supposedly About Diet & Exercise, Actually a Story About Coping with Mental Illness - Long story short; Rich was sheltered by his wealthy family. They obviously see he isn't like the other kids and channel his compulsive behavior into a positive activity (swimming). Rich goes to college and decides alcohol was a more enjoyable outlet for his awkwardness and neurotic disposition. This leads to predictable issues. Rich's compulsive disorder is then focused toward cost prohibitive diet & exercise.

As a middle aged, aspiring endurance athlete, I was reading in hopes of finding something useful to my own goals. Rich is a great athlete but his ideas about nutrition and training are not universal.

About the author

Rich Roll has been featured on CNN and has been named “one of the world’s 25 fittest men” by Men’s Fitness magazine. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Cornell Law School. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children and, when he isn’t training or competing, manages the entertainment boutique Independent Law Group, LLP.