9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bootcamp Abs - "Hoo-yah", May 13, 2005
This review is from: Boot Camp Abs: Get Rock-Hard Abs with Former Marine Captain Charla McMillian (Paperback)
Bootcamp Abs is impressive well crafted edgy read that's offers probably the best nutritional advice and workout routines I've ever seen. For the past 10 weeks, I've been following the prescriptions found the book and can say I'll never pay for another gym membership or read a "fad diet" book again. At 34, I've lost 21 lbs and have reduced my 3 minute run to just under a 8 mins mile pace. I might not be ready for a marathon, but I feel great and know I'm in the best shape of my life.
One of the secrets that surprised me was that the exercises and workouts require no gym or weight lifting equipment. The exercises and the workout routines only use your body as resistance. I'm amazed the impact my own body has had on muscle development in my chest, arms, legs, and abs. All I've needed these weeks is my local workout area, running path, and self-motivation to keep me going.
My favorite part of the book is the second half of the book. It zeros in on fully explaining what good nutrition is in very practical and easy to understand ways. The author does a great job dispelling the myths of "fad diets" and stresses the importance of good "lower-GI" carbs, protein, fiber, unsaturated fats, dietary supplaments, and daily water intake. While good health is work unto itself, the book does a great job simplifying the nutritional guidance into 8 Direct Orders that when the are committed to memory are easy to follow.
Overall, the book has a good healthy dose of military edge. I enjoyed the "Hoo-yah, Yes Ma'ma/Sir!" approach the book. Every time I refer back to the book for more detail, I get inspired knowing the workouts and nutritional guidance I'm following is close if not the same as the men and women of the Marines and other armed forces. The workouts and nutritional guidelines are spot on (I can truly attest). If your serious about building a stronger body, developing better cardio, and getting those six-pack abs, Bootcamp Abs is the right way to go. Hoo-yah!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BOOT CAMP ABS, June 17, 2005
This review is from: Boot Camp Abs: Get Rock-Hard Abs with Former Marine Captain Charla McMillian (Paperback)
Is your gut flat or flabby? Are your love handles quickly morphing into spare tires? You need a little discipline in your life! Who better to dish out that discipline than a Marine?
Meet former Marine captain, Charla McMillian, personal trainer and owner of FitBoot - Basic Training for Professionals. McMillian is a certified National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) specialist and combines her NSCA credentials with her boot camp experience to bring a total body fitness idea to the page. The result, BOOT CAMP ABS: Get Rock-Hard Abs.
McMillian's approach to losing those extra pounds and firming your soft abs is an all-encompassing change of diet and exercise routine that, while rigorous enough to require conscious commitment, can hardly be classified as "fad." McMillian reminds us of age-old diet and exercise requirements that will produce the desired body we're all striving for, without following recent trends of dangerously removing necessary dietary needs, tough on the body and impossible to maintain for a lifetime.
BOOT CAMP ABS starts with a detailed "orientation," where each new "recruit" is given the skinny on the biology behind the enviable six-pack, has all her questions about abs answered, and receives strict orders to "report to medical" to get an all-clear on the program. Finally, the orientation takes the new recruit through a series of assessments, including body mass index measurements and a couple of practice exercises, to create a baseline of health for monitoring growth and achievement down the road.
As for the workouts themselves, McMillian has designed three levels of workouts for varying levels of fitness. She then guides the reader by specifically laying out what exercises to perform each day of the new regimen, according to which category the new recruit falls under. This specific guideline of daily exercise is the book's strength. Rather than simply tell the reader to perform certain exercises, McMillian tells him exactly which exercises to perform, including how many and how often.
After beginning the exercise portion of the new routine, the recruit is instructed to work slowly and methodically through the latter portion of the book, which details diet recommendations and restrictions to go along with the exercises for best results. McMillian painstakingly explains the biology behind what we put in our mouths and how it turns into fat or fuel. This section of the book is incredibly informative, but if her orders are not followed and the reader attempts to "ingest" all of the information at once, she might find herself overwhelmed and bored by the complexity.
BOOT CAMP ABS follows a strict exercise routine and not quite as strict diet to create the perfect abs for the reader. With the detail and science behind the book, along with the many charts, logs, and worksheets to begin and monitor performance, it is difficult to imagine failure at this program. Worth its weight in functionality, BOOT CAMP ABS will likely be a staple on any fitness conscious reader's shelf.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Ab and General Fitness Book, March 1, 2006
This review is from: Boot Camp Abs: Get Rock-Hard Abs with Former Marine Captain Charla McMillian (Paperback)
This book might not seem to be good at first. Not many colored pictures, no fancy book design, just simple straightforward diagrams depicting different Ab workouts. However, when you read through the entire book you learn everything you need to know about general health(how to eat right, what to eat, when to eat) and how to finnaly get those tight ABS you've always wanted while being able to show them off from your correct diet. Thats whats so nice about this book is that its straightforward. You want to lose wieght? Eat these things, workout using these routines, and use your common sense. I've been on the program for two weeks and can tell the workouts are very effective. Plus since there are a multitude of Ab workouts when you become more advanced you can start to make your own programs from the workouts. I'm in pretty good shape and use to do martial arts and find these workouts just for the ABs very good and when i finnaly get back into shape I can go harder using the book as a guideline. Thats whats so nice about it. If your a beginner you'll start off slow. If your advanced you've got some nice workouts to target your stomch muscles too. Every level is in this book. But just like anything, you have to use your common sense and know that its gonna take devotion and time to get the results you want. The book is only a guideline. You have to stick to it or nothing will happen.
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