60% of Americans don’t exercise, and the majority of people who join a gym stop going after six months. The high intensity six-pack abs approach pushed by the fitness industry only caters to about 10-15% of the population and there’s a reason for that: it doesn’t motivate people for the long term. In Fitness without Fear, Fleming surprises readers by showing them how to ditch the '“no pain, no gain” mentality and still make great progress in their personal fitness without spending all of their time in the gym. The main purpose of this book is to educate people on what fitness really is, giving an approachable strategy for living a fit lifestyle. This book helps you make sense of your fitness journey and will answer the questions: * Is walking actually good exercise? * What are the benefits of practicing good posture? * Can I lose weight and get in good shape without killing myself in the gym? * How fit do I need to be? Fitness without Fear will debunk many myths and haphazard approaches that are circling around exercise and health, giving readers hope that proper movement can assist them in living a better life. "This is a tremendous book that makes fitness training accessible and relatable for anyone, regardless of their knowledge or experience! Sara does a wonderful job of explaining what to do, how to do it, and why it works." -Dr. Alex Hoffman, President Lionel University "I have been in clinical practice for 25 years and the majority of the patients I see are suffering from overuse injuries. If everyone read Fitness Without Fear and applied its teachings, I would probably be out of business!" -Dr. Allen Ashforth, Chiropractor " Fitness Without Fear is the book I needed as a preteen, starting on my fitness journey. It's the information we all need to cut the Gordian Knot of training confusion. Fitness Without Fear is a must have for everyone." -Tom Furman, Author of Armor of War "Sara has the unique ability to see everything from the minute details in technique, to the large scale overall view of competitive strategy, and make it understandable to anyone. Fitness Without Fear will teach you the basics and all you need to know to advance to the next level." -Kristine Kobza, International Powerlifting League World Champion In Fitness Without Fear, Sara contextualizes exercise as something that everyone can and should do, in a way that doesn't require specialized equipment, apoplectic trainers, or a do-or-die mentality. I wish I had Fitness Without Fear 20 or so years ago, when I was overweight, sedentary, really tired, and not really sure what to do about any of it. I'm glad I have it now because even after decades of getting my money's worth out of my gym memberships, Sara offers valuable insights and guidance for focusing on why movement is so important, and why everyone can do it. Social media (and television commercials and even ads in magazines, if anyone reads those anymore) is rife with promises of quick and easy fixes for perfectly sculpted and enviable bodies. And who hasn't seen those eternally recycled memes and rants proselytizing "no pain, no gain" and "strong is the new skinny" that feature sweaty, brooding Beautiful People? And all of these messages are inflected with a hyper-competitive nature about winning and being the best and crushing competition and turning heads. This noise makes it super easy for the casual observer to just give up on the idea of exercising to be . . . healthier and mobile. Fitness Without Fear does a spectacular job reframing why exercise is valuable and does it in gentle encouraging ways: Sara will tell you about figure competitions and marathon running and strength sports. But that's not the point or the focus of her book. Sara will convince you that--more fundamentally--exercise is necessary not to look good in a bikini, but so you can have good (safe) posture while bringing in the groceries, or go hiking in a park on the weekend, or take your kids to Disney World. In other words, exercise will allow you to do everyday stuff, and feel better doing it. Sara has read the scientific journals so that you don't have to--you can track down her citations if you want, but you can also just follow Sara's calming and affirmative direction: don't run a marathon if you don't want to, but pay attention to the benefits of getting up and just walking. It's okay to start slow, as long as you start. Sara reminds you about posture, gives you some concrete advice about constructing a simple training log, and offers up multiple exercises and stretches you can do at home to build endurance and strength with very little equipment. After Sara lays the foundation, she gives you additional tools: how to build a simple workout, how to develop a goal and a plan to reach that goal, and how to stay motivated. Even though I've been keeping a training log for years, and am pretty fearless (now, anyway) when it comes to trying new exercises, she still has great t