The Misplaced Artwork of Working: A Journey to Rediscover the Forgotten Essence of Human Motion

Eye opening…
Beautifully written narrative including both anecdotal and scientific support for optimal running form. I think this book and Shane’s perspective represents a revolution in how we look at running.Now when I go out for a run, instead of worrying about pace, I think about the subtle yet powerful cues that Shane suggests. Running has become a practice of movement and presence. It has opened a whole new world.

Amazing results!
I haven’t finished reading this yet but I also got it on audible for my daughter to listen to. A month ago she could barely run a half mile. Tonight she ran a little more than 10K in a little over an hour. She has only ran 3 or 4 times. Each time she far exceeds the first time. She is SO excited at how easy it has been. She said that her lungs used to give out before her body. But now she comes in hardly breathing hard at all. She said that she had NO idea she had the capability to run like this. My younger daughter is in an extreme fitness program in an international search and rescue program. She’s been working out with a trainer for months. The daughter who has listened to the book has passed her up in running with very little effort. She’s glowing.

Brilliant concepts , buried deep in a memoir with not much info on how.
I’m really glad I found this book and applaud the author for bringing these concepts out. Lots of good stuff in the book. The thing is he takes you very much the long way around to these concepts, buried as they are a format which seemed to me to be 80-90% memoir and 10% factual nuggets. I do appreciate the context, but it’s a bit much. But again, the concepts – super stuff I wish I’d read a long time ago.I’d hope to see this author put out a more concise book at some point, perhaps more of a practical how to (now that we already have the Moir part squared away). Ideally a workbook that addresses the specific journey one might follow to good form as a function of where they’re starting from (which deficiencies to tackle first, for example maybe some photos os what good/bad looks like, etc…). Until he comes out with such a workbook, I’d definitely recommend this. Just brace yourself for taking the long way around to the ideas.

This was the most interesting boring book I have ever read.
This was the most interesting boring book I have ever read.Unfortunately, this book is full of ‘filler’.If you had to write a guide called, ‘How to make an instant coffee’, and the objective was to clearly explain the steps involved in making a cup, you might start your guide like this…’First, boil some water in a pan….’If you were Shane Benzie, you would start it like this,’I was on a plantation in India when I met a guy called Raj….’OK, so the book wouldn’t be a great read if it were just a list of procedures, but I feel that the book becomes quite boring as the author fills page after page with unnecessary tales of how he researched running…. His mantra could be, ‘Why write an interesting and informative chapter in 4 or 5 pages, when I can do it in 30?’There is a chapter about him doing research in the Arctic…. All I can remember from this chapter is how he broke his leg and, like a superman did not go to the doctor for a week… Woaw…. But I have absolutely no recollection as to what the point was with regards to his conclusions about running technique, as each chapter is supposed to be about his journey of discovery.The book starts well, and I was pleasantly surprised, as it was a lot better than Born to Run, which was a hyperbolic, driveling yawn fest, that reminded me of a badly written magazine article.The information about technique was useful and interesting, but I really feel that this could have been far more enjoyable, more to the pont and seem a lot more informative if it had lost at least a quarter of its content, if not half. I really wanted to enjoy it and learn from it, but the constant introduction of new characters and situations gets overwhelming and repetitive. It obscures the interesting and useful information that the book contains…. I would read this book and find my eyes becoming heavy, or my mind wandering….The techniques could have been accompanied with an anecdote and the points made clearly, but in half the time, and with half the pages.I guess the publishers insisted on a certain word count, or certain amount of pages in order for it to be sold.All of Shane’s points could have been made in a 15 or 20 minute youtube video. His points are important, and with his help my running has improved…. I just wish I had been able to enjoy his writing as well as his advice about running….3.5 stars. But .5 is not allowed.

Excellent book

I have been struggling with injury and want to get back my love for running. The logical approach, the simplicity of how to run with elasticity and the way Shane makes the story engaging gives me great hope this will work for me.The book is light on for images in describing something that is very much look and feel – e.g. I had to google a tensegrity model and wasnt sure if I had the right one to understand what was described, but regardless this is a great book to help you think about your form, with a data driven approach that resonates with me.