The Female Body Breakthrough: The Revolutionary Strength-Training Plan for Losing Fat and Getting the Body You Want [Paperback]

Rachel Cosgrove (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 10, 2009

The ultimate guide to strength training for sustainable fat-loss, increased energy, and healthy body image for women who want to be in great shape, look amazing, and feel sexy and empowered

The key to losing fat and getting a strong, sexy body can’t be found in the pages of some fancy diet book. It can’t be found in a magic pill. According to strength coach, Rachel Cosgrove, the key to shedding fat and keeping it off can only be found on the strength-training floor. After trying—and failing—diet after diet, hundreds of women have turned to Cosgrove and her revolutionary Fit Female strength training program to finally get the fit, strong, and healthy bodies they’ve always wanted. Her clients have lost up to 70 pounds, dropped up to six dress sizes, and drastically changed their body shapes and muscle-to-fat ratios.

Now any woman can get the same results with The Female Body Breakthrough. A program for every female who is tired of starving herself, exercising for hours with no results, and feeling bad about it all, this revolutionary plan uses a combination of innovative strength training and sensible nutrition. The 16-week program includes:

• A 2-week Bodyweight-Only Jumpstart Phase that will help women adjust to strength training while seeing results in just days

• Over 100 fully illustrated warm-up moves and innovative strength-training exercises using everything from dumbbells and barbells to bands and straps

• A comprehensive nutrition plan including nutrient-timing strategies that work with workouts, satisfying foods that promote optimum health and energy, and even an indulgent snack every day

• A Do-It-Yourself guide to program design so women can craft a program that works toward her personal goals and with her schedule

Written in an accessible, girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone, The Female Body Breakthrough delivers doses of motivational advice, testimonials from real Fit Females, and all the know-how any woman needs to get a strong, healthy body.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

RACHEL COSGROVE is co-founder and co-owner of Results Fitness in Southern California. She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Coach, and a U.S Triathlon Coach. She has written for Women’s Health, Shape, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and many other fitness publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; 1 edition (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605296937
• ISBN-13: 978-1605296937
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rachel Cosgrove owns a facility with her husband in Southern California called Results Fitness. At Results fitness they currently work with over 200 members, 70% of which are female, ranging from soccer moms to triathletes to fitness competitors. These clients are real people who have demanding jobs, families and a limited amount of time to commit to a fitness program, yet Rachel and her team consistently deliver results and drive her clients to reach their potential physically and mentally. This hand's on practical experience with the women at her gym is what inspires her and keeps her continuing to fine tune her methods, documenting every workout and the progress the clients make at Results Fitness. She thinks of it as their own laboratory where she can figure out exactly what works best to achieve the ultimate fit female body, getting feedback and seeing the progress her clients are making daily.

A competitive fitness competitor, Ironman triathlete and power lifter, Rachel, draws from her own experience as an athlete, and combines it with science and modern training methods to help her clients achieve their goals. She has learned how to push herself and therefore knows how to motivate and get the most out of her clients and other females.

Rachel not only has the education, professional experience and her own athletic pursuits, but she is also a woman who has struggled with her own weight and her own body image issues and has grown through it and is now on the other side. Over the years she has worked hard to reach her potential physically and emotionally, and it wasn't easy and still isn't, but it is worth every effort. She has floundered for years in search of the best ways to get and stay fit, lean, build muscle and have optimal health herself. She has read every book, talked to every expert and attended numerous seminars on the subject and continues to do so. She has been on a constant quest to discover what works for females to be fit and above all feel good about themselves. Her passion is sharing this knowledge with other females who have had the same struggles and give them the confidence and tools they need.

Rachel is in high demand as a featured 'expert' in magazines with her own column in Women's Health Magazine and features in Muscle and Fitness Hers, Oxygen, Shape Magazine, Fitness Magazine, Men's Health, and Men's Fitness. She is also a highly sought after fitness and motivational speaker. She has her own website at www.rachelcosgrove.com geared specifically for women. And a website set up to support those who read her book at www.thefemalebodybreakthrough.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great guide, heavy on the sisterhood December 20, 2009

By Jenn B.

Format:Paperback

I have read and admired Rachel Cosgrove since reading New Rules of Lifting for Women and bought a subscription to Women's Health when I saw her name begin to appear regularly. Her new book is very solid: well-researched nutritional advice, common sense and rational approach to health and fitness, and full of useful photographs and descriptions. The reason I subtracted a star I think may be attributed to her editors rather than the author herself. I enjoy reading Ms. Cosgrove because she's smart, reasonable and walks the walk. I do not read her because she's a woman. I "trust" the advice of people who know what they are talking about because they're educated, well-researched and respectful of their audience. Their chromosomal make-up doesn't usually factor in for me. I don't know if this makes me an anomaly, but someone on Ms. Cosgrove's team felt it important that the reader understand that she gets women because we share body parts.

By the end of the second chapter, I was twitching every time I read the word "girl", "feminine" or a double-dose of exclamation points used to stress the fact that she's fun! friendly! and you don't have to sacrifice femininity to be strong! I found myself skimming sections and actually felt like I was betraying Ms. Cosgrove's hard work in creating what is, in fact, a solid health and workout plan. I lost 75 pounds following the guidance she and her husband set out in New Rules and was looking for her advice on getting to the next stage. I appreciated the fact that some issues that are unique to women (i.e. hormones) were in their own chapters and given the time they deserve. However, I wish they had dialed back the "sisterhood" factor to a 6-7 instead of a 10. Well, at least the cover isn't pink. . .

65 of 70 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good on strength training, lots of cons February 15, 2011

By carolyn

Format:Paperback

An overview of the book:

Chapter 1: "secrets" of being a fit female and real life examples.
Chapter 2: the author's story and more real life examples.
Chapter 3: why steady-state aerobics doesn't work.
Chapter 4: decide what you want and write it down.
Chapter 5: think about how food makes you feel.
Chapter 6: how PMS and hormones affect workouts.
Chapter 7: how to measure your starting line (so you see progress).
Chapter 8&9: three phases of nutrition over 16 weeks.
Chapters 10&11: three phases of workouts over 16 weeks.
Chapter 12: the importance of stretching and foam rollers.
Chapter 13: conclusion (followed by references and an index).

Pros:
- This book covers weight lifting, cardio, nutrition, and motivation, which is pretty much everything you need in the fitness picture.
- There is a good discussion, with references, about the need for weight lifting (presumably focused at women who have a bias against it).
- Most of the secrets of being fit are pretty basic, but probably need repeating (think positive, keep a journal, manage stress, anticipate obstacles, etc.) The secret of exercising in the morning was poorly worded. On the surface, it seems stupidly rigid. The underlying message -- you'll never regret working out, but you will regret not working out -- was valid.
- The nutritional and workout guides are progressive, which makes progress possible and more likely.
- There's a discussion of common muscular imbalances that women have (and I nodded my head for almost all of them) and how these workouts and stretches would help address them.
- The warmups and workouts look straight forward and challenging.
- A lot of common nutrition and workout obstacles and issues are discussed.

Cons:
- The nutritional plan is a little extreme (except for four splurges a week). Of course, soda, juice, and processed foods are gone. In phase one, so are bread, pasta, and crackers. In a later phase, dairy and nuts go, too. That leaves meat, beans, vegetables, and fruit. In addition and in an obvious contradiction to the prohibition on processed foods and dairy, two scoops of whey protein must be ingested after every workout.
- The need to number and letter everything got confusing. There are 15 secrets and 14 workout principles. There are workouts A and B for weeks 1&2, 3-8, and 9-16. Within workout A for weeks 1&2, there are exercises called 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B. Within workout B for weeks 1&2, there are also exercises called 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B, but they are completely different exercises. The problem is repeated for the next two sets of workouts A and B. Then you get to the metabolic exercises, which has a whole set of 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D exercises.
- My knees started to hurt looking at the warmup, and there wasn't any mention of modifications.
- A home gym will not have all the equipment. These workouts require dumbbells, Swiss balls, a exercise tube or band, a sturdy bench for step ups, a cable pulley machine, a chin up bar, and an Olympic bar in a squat rack. Kettlebells and weighted bars and balls would be nice, too.
- The pictures of the exercises are spread out over 60 pages. A one-page summary of each workout in pictures would have been helpful, particularly given the confusing charts.
- The rants about aerobic exercise are unhelpful and diminish the author's credibility. While aerobic (steady-state) exercise may not be the best way to lose weight and become fit, there are lots of people who exercise that way and are quite fit.
- The relentless references to girls and ladies (and the bitch acronym) were probably intended to be cute, but weren't.

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From a male Personal Trainer February 13, 2010

By James R. Freyensee

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a male Personal Trainer with the majority of my clients' females, I found Rachel's book to be the best complete training book for women I've read so far, and I've read all that I could find. I have purchased this book many times and have given it to my new clients before I start them on a fitness schedule.

What I found so great about her book is, first of all, she's a woman. She had many of the problems women have such as image disorders, eating disorders, that "time of the month" problems, and disorders of the mind when thinking that running is the fastest way to lose bodyfat. She doesn't write for the "Cover Girl" models, but for everyday women that you'll see at the mall, stores, gyms, or PTA meetings. She is a Sports Nutritionist, (CISSN) that addresses the very important nutritional aspect of being fit.

I'm not saying that I understand every problem that a woman brings to me during a training session, but her 16 secrets in her "Fit Female Credos" address a lot of the problems that hold back a woman from mediocrity to success. They should be read frequently, and my male clients could learn a few things from that Credo!

I have a minor disagreement regarding her statements that women don't need isolation exercises that hit the arms or shoulders, and define those muscles more. In my experience, most of the women that I train, that have been successful in losing body fat into the low 20% range, there is a request for an isolation "arm" or "shoulder" workout. This is especially true when summer is approaching and sleeveless clothing is being worn. We use these workouts when my clients have been up most of the night with kids, or not feeling up to a strenuous workout. This is such a minor point that I still think her book is the best, and she sets a very good example of a successful fit female.