Customer Reviews

The Core Program: Fifteen Minutes a Day That Can Change Your Life

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As an orthopedic physical therapist, I found Peggy Brill's program to be sound and complete.Most importantly, focus is paid to balancing the body's muscle strength and flexibility while strengthening muscles most important to good health and wellness. Her asides are excellent and the pictures of her exercises look great. I have already used some of her examples ie posture and correct ergonomics while at the computer for home exercises for my patients. She has pulled some of the best Pilates based exercises and Yoga postures to make her program current, unique and fun. She is a great advocate for the physical therapy profession, and I will highly recommend this book to my own patients.

Wow! I can't belive how much better I feel after only three weeks. When I was growing up, my dad was always pulling my shoulders back and telling me to sit up straight. After the first week of the Core, three co-workers complimented me on my posture. Two of them are now reading the book.

There are clear instructions and good photographs of each exercise. I had to refer to the book the first two or three times I performed the program (which was annoying), but quickly got the hang of it without refering back to the book. There are modifications for every exercise to match your current abilities.

Just so you know, I'm no altheltic, small thing. I'm 30 lbs overweight and was not exercising at all before I began this program. After the second week, I started on the next level, the Intermediate Core. The third and final level is the Ultimate Core with progressively 'harder' exercises. For those who know yoga, Peggy Brill recommends and shows the moves for the sun saluation. For those not familiar with yoga, don't be afraid.

Peggy explains her life experience and physical therapy training. She talks about injuries: how to avoid them, and how to recuperate from them. She walks you through a self-test to determine your own core areas of weakness. One of the last chapters covers weight training (free weights and gym equipment). My only complaint about that chapter was that she did not include alternatives to using gym equipment. She, ever so briefly, recommends healthy eating, sleeping positions, sitting posture, and the standard 20-30 min 3x/wk cardiovascular workout.

One thing that I noted right away with her introduction was that she didn't say you "should" or "might" feel better, but that you "will" feel better. I cannot deny that, for me, that is so true.

I took my body measurements at the end of the second week and then again at the end of the third. I've lost 3/4" in my waste and 1" in my hips in one week. That's all the motivation I need to do this for 15 mins 5x/wk. I'm actually doing it closer to 7x/wk because I've felt so much better since I started.

I don't know you or your lifestyle, but I'm recommending some of these exercises to my 85 year old grandma who is hunched over from osteoporosis. She'll be so thrilled that I am activly seeking a way to prevent that disease from affecting my future!

Good health!

AT LAST A BOOK THAT ACTUALLY HELPS ME. EVERYONE SAYS THEIR PROGRAM WORKS, BUT I'VE ACTUALLY FOUND SOMETHING THAT REALLY DOES WORK. PEGGY SPEAKS MY LANGUAGE, I CAN RELATE TO HER STORIES. HER EXERCIES ARE EASY AND NOT BORING, THE PICTURES OF EACH EXERCISE REALLY HELPED TO DO THEM CORRECTLY. SHE KNOWS HER STUFF. I'M SO PLEASED I FOUND THIS BOOK. I THINK OTHER WOMEN WILL BENEFIT FROM IT ALSO.

I was very pleased with the content of this book. I've spent quite a bit of hard-earned money on fitness books and videos that boast of amazing results.

I've tried it all: weights, yoga, pilates, & various forms of cardio workouts, but haven't been able to stay consistant due to time constraints. As a busy women, I usually don't have time to spend on hour plus videos and books with long, complicated instructions. Before this book, I was racking my brain trying to incorporate yoga, pilates, and strength training. I just became stressed out instead.

The Core program mixes some yoga & pilates with strength work, so I experience well being in addition to toned muscles. I also walk regularly, go for a spin on my bike/inline skates, and do some extra yoga. I find this combination fits easily into my schedule; I don't have to stress about when to do it.

In short, I would suggest this book to anyone. Also, for those readers who find Peggy Brill's explanations complicated, I recommend taking a look at Pilates Body by Brooke Siler. Lots of people LOVE this book, but I found it very time consuming; I've owned it for two years and haven't used it much for this reason. Peggy Brill's Core Program is much easier to comprehend, & the participant can't become injured (I think that if someone wants to learn pilates, a certified instructor is the only way to go!)

I had back surgery earlier this year and had resigned myself to living with a certain amount of pain. This book really changed that. After following the program for 3 weeks, I feel better than ever. I'm sleeping better, have no pain, am standing taller and walking straighter. I have recommended this book to every woman I know. I believe in it. Any woman with pain should at least give this a try. (...) It is written in easy to understand language and the exercises are easy to follow. And there are no sit ups!!!

I started the Core Program four days ago and started feeling results after the first session. I already feel better aligned and much stronger. I can feel muscles forming too. The only "complaint" I have is the amount of reading prior to the exercises but realize the importance of the information. I can't wait to get past the first three weeks so that I can start on the next level. This book is wonderful and very timely for me. I am very glad I purchased it.

I am a personal trainer and was actually introduced to the book when one of my elderly clients brought it to me and asked me to help her learn and remember the exercises. I was totally impressed with the program and bought the book for myself.
I have since incorporated this program into training with most of my clients. I haven't found anyone, yet, who cannot benefit from at least some part of The Core Program.
What a well written book!! I'm excited to see what her new book holds in store!

I am 40 years old and have been running 20-25 miles a week for about 3 years. You'd THINK I was in great physical shape! And yet I was developing some nagging pains - sore lower back, constantly stiff left hamstring, intermittently painful right knee. I attributed this to running too much or too hard.... or me just getting old or not stretching enough. I tried yoga classes, but that just seemed to make my hamstring worse! and I am just not calm enough to devote THAT much time to deep breathing and such.

Then I saw an article about Core Training in my running magazine. It explained how strengthening your "core" could improve your running and reduce injury by 'shoring up your foundation.' It made sense!
Then I stumbled on Ms. Brill's book and decided to give it a try.

Well, I have been doing the program for 4 weeks now (I am up to the intermediate level) and absolutely LOVE it! I feel so much stronger, I have no aches and pains, and my running HAS improved!Now I feel fit ALL over.

This is DEFINTELY something that I will do for LIFE.

I bought this book last November and read it through completely. I also performed the basic tests that determine each person's level of fitness. This week I finally got around to starting the actual Core Program and I can't believe how good I feel after each session. The most appealing thing about the program is that you don't have to be young and fit to do it and it's designed particularly for women. I have experienced immediate relief of hip pain and discovered that some of the strength building exercises I had been doing with hand held weights are not good for me. This book is really life changing. I wish she would make a tape!

After having two children and spending three months during one of my pregnancies on strict bedrest, my muscles were weakened in my torso. My posture was horrendous, and I was starting to have pain in my knees after sleeping all night. I would occasionally have lower back pains that I had never had before either. So I started looking for something reasonable to help me strengthen my "core" in hopes I would feel more flexible and stronger.

I bought this book about a year ago, and I was diligent in using it the first few weeks. I've used it off and on, but it never "stuck". The problem for me was one of discipline PLUS I found this book inconvenient and hard to follow while trying to execute the exercises. The information in it is so very detailed that I kept fearing I was doing an exercise wrong only to end up spending an hour doing exercises and re-reading, re-reading, re-reading the details/fine print. What was supposed to take only about 15 minutes took up way too much time. Someone more knowledgeable about physical therapy would appreciate this book a bit more because they know the "lingo" and understand the mechanics better than I do.

It would be GREAT if this book had a companion video! I would rate the program 5 stars then, but as it is, it's too wieldy to use for the person looking for something straightforward and effective.

Still, worth checking into!