The Exercise Myth [Hardcover]

Henry A., M.D. Solomon (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 150 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; 1st edition (September 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151294585
• ISBN-13: 978-0151294589
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,582,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an important book, September 27, 2007

By 

Russell Farris (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Exercise Myth (Paperback)

While working on The Potbelly Syndrome, I found lots of evidence that exercise could not prevent or cure obesity, diabetes, or heart disease. When I read Dr. Solomon's excellent book The Exercise Myth, I learned that exercise was not only useless, it could be dangerous. Dr. Solomon points out that fitness and health are not identical. People in good health can improve their fitness by exercising, but there is little chance that people in poor health will improve their health by exercising. Russ Farris, co-author of The Potbelly Syndrome The Potbelly Syndrome: How Common Germs Cause Obesity, Diabetes, And Heart Disease

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fitness does not equate to health, January 24, 2009

By 

John Cain (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Exercise Myth (Hardcover)

The main point of the book, using many referenced studies, is that just because you are fit does not mean that you are healthy. When I read that I immediately thought of Jim Fixx, who died at age 52 of a massive heart attack in 1984 (according to Wikipedia). That is the same year that this book was published. The author pointed out that Jim Fixx was a proponent of running. He quotes him as saying that runners typically believe that more running is the answer to medical problems rather than going to the doctor (page 102). Evidently Mr. Fixx died after the manuscript went to press. That was ironic.

The author shows, for example, that marathon runners do not have an immunity to atherosclerosis (see page 112). He sites Dr. Virmani, who studied marathoner autopsies, and says that he "found that severe coronary atherosclerosis is the most common cause of death in marathon runners".

The author does recommend, for those who want to achieve a degree of fitness, a daily regime of a one-mile walk at 3 MPH twice a day. Although he says it is only needed for those who want to do some exercising, or for those who are completely sedentary (there is a small risk of heart disease among those whose exercise consists only of going from one room to another).

2 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars nonsense, April 22, 2005

By 

J. Arturo Siordia "averageguy" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Exercise Myth (Paperback)

This book starts from senseless and worthless arguments, as are the suggestions that the frequently used and widely held as very usefull tes, the stress or exercice test, with several outsatanding papers acknowledging the benefits of such test, is used merely for economic benefit of doctors.