Go the Distance: The British Paratrooper Fitness Guide

What better way to start the new year than to get fighting fit? Major Sam McGrath of the legendary Parachute Regiment has put together this easy to use and inspirational exercise guide that is perfect for everyone - from the couch potato civilian to the aspiring Para recruit. Major McGrath previously ran the selection course for the Parachute Regiment - the brutal 'P' Company and he draws on his vast experience to create a step-by-step guide to improving fitness through easy to follow exercise programmes. But this is more than just an exercise guide - it offers advice on how to choose a gym or personal trainer as well as healthy eating. The book also sets out five aspirational challenges for readers to aim for if they follow the exercise programmes including a 10 mile race and the gruelling Fan Dance around the Brecond Beacons. If you can do that then you know you really are Para Fighting Fit!

Sam McGrath was the youngest soldier to achieve the rank of major since the Second World War and has been running the selection course for the crack Parachute Regiment for the last three years. In his spare time he organizes the Para 10 - a 10-mile charity race which anyone can enter as long as they are prepared to run in combat boots while carrying a rucksack. This year he also completed the Bob Graham Round for Help for Heroes, an endurance challenge in which participants climb 42 peaks in the Lake District with a combined vertical ascent of 27,000ft over 72 miles in just 24 hours.