Overview

From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Outlive comes a radical exploration of the science of heat adaptation and sweat therapy to tap into the evolutionary superpowers that we've forgotten we possess. What if the key to thriving in a hotter world isn't avoiding the heat--but harnessing it? In Hotwired, bestselling author and science journalist Bill Gifford takes readers on a fascinating exploration of the power of heat to improve our performance and our health. Combining cutting-edge science, personal discovery, and practical insights, Gifford reveals how heat adaptation and heat therapy such as sauna can make us healthier, stronger, and even happier, by unlocking the body's built-in tools to promote longevity and resilience. Through innovative research in evolutionary biology, physiology, and thermoregulation, Gifford uncovers how humans evolved to excel in sweltering conditions--and how we've lost touch with this ancient advantage. He plunges into the steamy world of Finnish saunas, serves as a test subject in cutting-edge heat labs, and tackles a grueling 100-mile bike ride under the blazing Texas sun--to show how temperature extremes can expand our physical and mental limits. He even explores how infrared sauna therapy may fight depression more effectively than medication--and how many people are rediscovering the power of communal wellness through the use of social sauna. Whether you're looking to perform better, extend your healthy lifespan, adapt to a warming planet, or tap into the human connection that forms when we sweat together, Gifford reveals the incredible benefits of reawakening your body's natural adaptability to heat and cold. You'll discover how sweat is more than a cooling mechanism; it's central to peak performance. We were born to sweat, and sweating makes us stronger. Hotwired shows how short-term discomfort transforms into long-term power. It's a thrilling call to reimagine heat--not as a threat, but as a tool for survival and strength.

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9780063448025

Table of Contents

Reviews

""In Hotwired, Gifford delivers a highly researched, rigorous examination of a potent, underutilized hormetic stressor: thermal exposure. This book moves beyond anecdotal claims...and provides a critical synthesis of the evidence demonstrating how hyperthermia can enhance endurance, improve metabolic health, and generate the protective physiological changes necessary for extending healthspan."" - Peter Attia, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlive ""Read this book! Hotwired is a masterpiece of story-driven science that unpacks that health benefits of heat, and ultimately reveals how sweating together can not only make us healthier, but happier and more connected."" - Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow, New York Times bestseller and founder of the Blue Zones ""Hotwired is a gripping investigation into the power of heat and how it shaped our evolution and can still transform our physical and mental health today. Bill Gifford makes the science come alive, reminding us that the path to a stronger body and mind often runs straight through discomfort."" - Michael Easter, New York Times bestselling author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain ""Hotwired is revelatory, a fascinating exploration of heat as a fundamental pillar of health. With scientific rigor and narrative grace, Gifford illuminates how thermal stress activates our deepest biological pathways toward resilience, metabolic optimization, and authentic longevity. This is essential reading for anyone committed to understanding the potential transformative alchemy of their own physiology."" - Sara Szal, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure and Women Food and Hormones Fascinating. Gifford shows--through science and sweat--that heat isn't the enemy. It's a superpower we've forgotten how to use. - James Nestor, New York Times Bestselling Author of Breathe ""Gifford skillfully navigates the many strands of aging research to create an entertaining narrative of the perils of getting old."" - Kirkus Reviews

""In Hotwired, Gifford delivers a highly researched, rigorous examination of a potent, often-underutilized hormetic stressor: thermal exposure. This book moves beyond anecdotal claims...and provides a critical synthesis of the evidence demonstrating how hyperthermia can enhance endurance, improve metabolic health, and generate the protective physiological changes necessary for extending healthspan."" - Peter Attia, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlive ""Read this book! Hotwired is a masterpiece of story-driven science that unpacks that health benefits of heat, and ultimately reveals how sweating together can not only make us healthier, but happier and more connected."" - Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow, New York Times bestseller and founder of the Blue Zones ""Hotwired is a gripping investigation into the power of heat and how it shaped our evolution and can still transform our physical and mental health today. Bill Gifford makes the science come alive, reminding us that the path to a stronger body and mind often runs straight through discomfort."" - Michael Easter, New York Times bestselling author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain ""Hotwired is revelatory, a fascinating exploration of heat as a fundamental pillar of health. With scientific rigor and narrative grace, Gifford illuminates how thermal stress activates our deepest biological pathways toward resilience, metabolic optimization, and authentic longevity. This is essential reading for anyone committed to understanding the potential transformative alchemy of their own physiology."" - Sara Szal, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure and Women Food and Hormones

""Gifford skillfully navigates the many strands of aging research to create an entertaining narrative of the perils of getting old."" - Kirkus Reviews ""Bill Gifford's terrific Spring Chicken gives us a riveting account of the most important change of the last century-the doubling of our lifespans-and an intimate vision of what it will take to not only keep that trend going, but keep ourselves healthy and vibrant as we age."" - Steven Johnson, New York Times bestseller of How We Got to Now ""Spring Chicken is a masterful exploration of the fantasy and fact surrounding one of the most fundamental questions of humankind: why do we age?"" - David Perlmutter, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grain Brain ""You need this book. I grabbed it like a life preserver, and that's exactly what it is. Spring Chicken demolishes the worst hoaxes in anti-aging treatments-like crushed dog testicles, human growth hormone, and Suzanne Somers-and leaves you with the good news: by adopting a few easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow discoveries, you might just deactivate the time bombs in your fat cells and learn to follow in the springy, ""successfully aging"" footsteps of a 92-year-old pole vaulter."" - Christopher McDougall, New York Times bestselling author of Born to Run ""Spring Chicken is an utterly marvelous book - a guided tour of a fantastic, counterintuitive landscape (that happens to be your body), and also a whip-smart guide to living a longer and healthier life. With this book, Bill Gifford joins the ranks of Mary Roach and Bill Bryson as a science writer supreme, illuminating our world in a page-turning style that is as entertaining as it is enlightening."" - Daniel Coyle, New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code

""Bill Gifford's terrific Spring Chicken gives us a riveting account of the most important change of the last century-the doubling of our lifespans-and an intimate vision of what it will take to not only keep that trend going, but keep ourselves healthy and vibrant as we age."" -- Steven Johnson, New York Times bestseller of How We Got to Now ""Spring Chicken is a masterful exploration of the fantasy and fact surrounding one of the most fundamental questions of humankind: why do we age?"" -- David Perlmutter, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grain Brain ""You need this book. I grabbed it like a life preserver, and that's exactly what it is. Spring Chicken demolishes the worst hoaxes in anti-aging treatments-like crushed dog testicles, human growth hormone, and Suzanne Somers-and leaves you with the good news: by adopting a few easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow discoveries, you might just deactivate the time bombs in your fat cells and learn to follow in the springy, ""successfully aging"" footsteps of a 92-year-old pole vaulter."" -- Christopher McDougall, New York Times bestselling author of Born to Run ""Spring Chicken is an utterly marvelous book - a guided tour of a fantastic, counterintuitive landscape (that happens to be your body), and also a whip-smart guide to living a longer and healthier life. With this book, Bill Gifford joins the ranks of Mary Roach and Bill Bryson as a science writer supreme, illuminating our world in a page-turning style that is as entertaining as it is enlightening."" -- Daniel Coyle, New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code ""Gifford skillfully navigates the many strands of aging research to create an entertaining narrative of the perils of getting old."" -- Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Bill Gifford is a veteran magazine writer and editor who writes about extraordinary athletes and cutting-edge health science. He is coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Outlive, which has sold more than two million copies, as well as the New York Times bestseller Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (Or Die Trying). He is a longtime contributing editor at Outside, and his work has appeared in Wired, Bloomberg Businessweek, Men's Health, Bicycling, Slate, and others, as well as in Best American Sportswriting.

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