Bottoms Up! [Paperback]

Joyce L. Vedral (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1993

Vedral has created a total exercise programme that burns even more fat than her best-selling Fat-Burning Workout. She uses the secrets of champion bodybuilders to show how to change your shape into a tight, toned, perfect body.

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; 1ST edition (July 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446394211
• ISBN-13: 978-0446394215
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #741,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the fads and go with the BEST!, May 1, 2000

By 

M. Mercedes (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bottoms Up! (Paperback)

I have struggled with my weight all my life, especially since I turned 40. For three years, I religiously used a Nordic Track-- 5 days a week for 40 minutes--and it still did NOT change my body shape like this book did in three months! Vedral is so right. Put on the muscle and watch your metabolism change! Without consciously going on a diet, I lost 30 pounds. You can forget weighing yourself. Measure progress through the inches that disappear and then go shopping for beautiful sexy new clothes! At one point, I actually GAINED weight but LOST two dress sizes! Who cares what the scale says when your legs look great in a mini-skirt? Who cares what the scale says when you can sleep like a baby at night? Do this workout and your clothes will start hanging on you in a matter of weeks, even if you don't change your diet.

Forget the tempting Info Commercials with all those expensive gadgets, gizmos and pills. You don't need to waste your hard-earned money on a space-hogging Nordic Track, Total Gym or Susanne Sommer's Ab machine. I have tried it ALL and bought hundreds of dollars of worthless stuff that ultimately didn't work. NONE could do what this book did for me! (Example: I tried the Total Gym and found it very disrupting to have to stop and change the mechanical setup from exercise to exercise. I tried the Ab machine and it was awkward and boring.)

All you need with Vedral's workouts are some hand-weights and a simple exercise bench that you can fold up and slide under the bed. You can pick these up cheaply at any yard sale. Don't fall for the unhealthy fad diets and the " fat buster" pills that only make your wallet thinner. Vedral says the truth. There are no shortcuts. If you want to stay healthy, vital and beautiful you gotta exercise and eat right.

The hardest part is to START exercising. Once you start this workout, it is almost EASY to begin to eat right. When you work so hard, you are automatically motivated to stop eating fatty foods. When you give your body what it needs, the destructive cravings for unhealthy foods begins to vanish. It's almost magical. Your body wakes you up, and says, "Hey, listen to me now. I don't want that soda, give me fresh juice... I don't want that ice cream, give me a slice of watermelon instead." Your bad cravings STOP, your colon is stimulated, waste moves faster out of your system, and your skin begins to glow with health. When you exercise first for your health, the weight automatically does down. It's miraculous.

Something AMAZING happens to your body AND mind when you start to work out with weights. Your posture changes and you feel deeply connected at the core. Not only will you slim down and become firm and shapely, but you will gain an almost spiritual sense of what I can only call "centering," a kind of inner balance... like one sees in martial artists.

I DO suggest that you go slowly and DO NOT try and keep up with the instructions in the book. Even you are already exercising, you will be surprised at what this workout will do. Start with one set of exercise (not three) until you are comfortable, then add another set for a couple of weeks, then the third set after a month or more. Use very small weights in the beginning. I jumped right in with 10 lb. weights and did it all vigorously the first day and was so sore I couldn't move for a week. Dumb. Go slowly and gently and you will be up to target at your OWN speed. It doesn't matter HOW long it takes. You may feel like you have two left feet, but don't give up. After a couple of weeks, it gets SO much easier. This workout is good for anyone from teenager to senior citizen.

My only criticism (and it is an important one) is that the book SHOULD have some stretching warm-up and especially a cool-down to stretch out the muscles at the end. She has said that these ARE included in the Bottoms Up video, so I am glad to hear that. If you want to use the book only, be sure to do some basic stretching out at the end. Once you get good at it and don't rest between sets, you will find that the Lower Body part of this workout is strenuous enough to keep your heart rate up and give a decent aerobic workout too.

I originally bought this book because I admire the gutsy, no-nonsense, compassionate author. Vedral is a model of American rags to riches and her Bio is inspirational and heartwarming. She now has a website where you can buy her exercise videos (they're not here on Amazon.) I just ordered The Fat-Burning Workout Video Vol 1 and the set of 3 Definition: Upper, Middle and Lower Body Workout Videos and can't wait to get them! She also has 6 different inspirational audio cassettes to motivate you even more. (I ordered all six.) Check out the Before and After pics too!... LOVE yourself. Buy this book. You are worth it!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!, July 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bottoms Up! (Paperback)

I have tried everything.But this book is the best if you really want to loose inches, try these exercises they really hurt, I thought I was in such good shape, oh my gosh, did I feel muscles I have never felt before. I have her video, which is also great. I really have to admit, I thought this would be just another diet book and exercise thing, but it helped me so much. I also liked in her book how she encouraged you, with paragraphs that said if your 10lbs or 20lb or 30lbs etc. over weight this is how long you should expect it will take for you to loose the weight and inches. A great book, I have bought quite a few for my friends that wanted the same results I got. I felt like Joyce the author and I became friends she just knows how to relate to you in a matter that makes you really want to give it a try, and it's not a long program so you will have the time to do it. Good Luck!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exercise program that actually delivers!!!!, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bottoms Up! (Paperback)

Following the birth of my second child, I thought I will never get rid of this extra weight. It was hard with the first but this time I really put it on in the hips and thighs... My friend is a personal trainer and she said get this book.. I stuck to the work out and within weeks I had lost a total of 6 inches and can see the difference. For women who are frustrated with empty workout promises buy this book. You will love it....