Customer Reviews

The Intrinsic Exerciser: Discovering the Joy of Exercise

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The psychological issues that help and hinder aspiring exercisers deserve more attention. Almost all exercise books offer a few superficial remarks, and some offer a few real insights, but this is the first book I've found that focuses entirely on psychology. I hoped that "The Intrinsic Exerciser" might be something larger and more coherent than the piecemeal wisdom that has been haphazardly accumulated through the years. Instead, when I read the book from cover to cover, I found the whole to be less, not more. The book's insights, while good, are lost in the cynical formulas and cliches that give self-help books a bad name. All the major shortcomings of "The Intrinsic Exerciser" are stereotypical self-help imperatives:

1. It promotes a complete, one-size-fits-all system and vilifies alternatives.

First and most appallingly, the author presents his system as an exclusive and unrivalled solution. He condemns all "extrinsic" motivations for exercise - health, longevity, attractiveness, etc. - as useless and even psychologically harmful. Yet there are many people who exercise regularly and love it, despite thinking hard and often about extrinsics. The author's advice is to "Expunge the extrinsic. Avoid any information or products that are primarily Outside-In or extrinsic-oriented." Given that many people have succeeded at their exercise goals using "Outside-In" methods, the author's unqualified insistence that every individual should abandon those methods and adopt his philosophy goes too far.

2. It revels in unnecessary neologisms.

"Inergy." "Exerimaging." "Feelization."

Quiz: The author uses these words because:

a) The concepts can't be explained concisely in standard English.
b) Having its own word makes a concept seem legitimate and important.
c) Using made-up words makes old ideas sound new.
d) b & c.

If you answered d), congratulations.

3. It cites many authorities and studies, for no good reason.

"The Intrinsic Exerciser" is chock-full of mentions of scientists, studies, and universities. Twenty pages of this slim volume are consumed by notes and a bibliography, even though it's a pop treatment aimed at people who are unlikely to take advantage of them. "The Intrinsic Exerciser" does not pretend to be a serious examination of ideas; it contains no acknowledgment of incompleteness or difficulties, no examination of alternatives. Why dress it up with citations? In fact, since the author's advice is to "expunge the extrinsic," why cite so many studies showing the extrinsic benefits of exercise? The citations are only there to create a sense of authority and scientific validity.

4. It makes difficult changes sound miraculously easy.

Certain facts of life are unavoidable, such as how much one weighs and how other people evaluate one's body. For many would-be exercisers, emotions related to these facts are the biggest obstacles to fitness. The author's prescription is to become unaware or unconcerned about these facts, a mental trick he offers no help in achieving. This dodging of difficult issues is the most disappointing aspect of "The Intrinsic Exerciser," and its breezy, shallow optimism makes the elisions rankle. This is another hallmark of a cookie-cutter self-help book: warn against attempting the difficult, and in its place prescribe the impossible.

I give "The Intrinsic Exerciser" two stars because it's encouraging to see a book dedicated to this topic and because it contains some sound insights. I hope that better books are on the way. Instead of a road map to a generic psyche, a better book would provide tips on learning to navigate one's own psyche. A better book might even offer practical suggestions on how to grapple with social issues such as embarrassment, instead of telling the reader to just think of something else. Above all, I am looking forward to the book that rejects the dystopian ideal of an inner life free of variegation and dissent and talks about how to play politics in the society of mind.

First of all, David Huebel (see his review) is dead-on about this book. Yes, the phony words (inergy, exerimage, and, gaack, feelization) are silly. Yes, it ignores many issues that are most important to those who need help most -- those who don't exercise. Yes, it dresses up some common and important ideas (especially "visualization") in fancy clothes by giving them those new, silly names. Still, there are some nice ideas, the book is a quick, pleasant read, is easily accessible, and offers some nice bits of inspiration.

I think one of the most valuable ideas, that of breaking exercise sessions down into small tasks ("Just come and get dressed. Sign in. Do the smallest thing. Just get yourself used to coming in and getting on the treadmill."), doesn't really get enough credit.

So why have I read the book twice? The first time I read it out of curiosity. The second for research on some writing I'm doing to help women get into fitness.

So, who should read this book and why? It's a good choice if you're looking for inspiration to get into (or back into) exercising. It offers some good suggestions about how to focus on what exercising means to you and how to overcome some of the difficulties and learn to enjoy exercise. That said, it's a poor choice if you're already skeptical about exercise and self-help books, mainly because of the points David Huebel cites in his review.

All in all, three stars, although I'd still put it on a recommended list for beginning exercisers.

This is a great book to take and read on the plane. It's a quick, easy read and shares the secret of those of us who've been avid exercisers for years and years...and that's the joy that you experience in the moment, while you're exercising. This book teaches you how to connect with your thoughts, feelings and perceptions as you exercise, which ultimately will lead to your becoming a person who exercises for the fun of it, not because of health, weight or appearance issues, and that's the key to life-long exercising success :-)

This is a book I recommend so highly, I actually have link to it on my website.

I have read about 30 book on fitness and nutrition and saw this in an article in Shape magazine. This book is not like the typical book about why you need to lose and all the benefits of exercise.This book talks about a new way of finding more joy and interest on exercise it's not about sweating for 30 minutes and hating it's about using different techniches with your mind how to make fitness more enjoyable.

This book, although needing to be developed further, appears to be one-of-a-kind as it hypothesizes that the reason many people are aversive to exercise is that they have never really learned to enjoy an activity that would keep them active.

The author is so right in Chapter 1 Outside-In:The Extrinsic Approach to Exercise where he acknowledges that exercise can help you live longer as well as reduce your risk of coronary artery disease, obesity, diabetes and overweight. By now everyone knows that losing weight by exercising more and changing your diet is advisable, however, nobody seems to be doing it (the author points out that only about one in five our us exercises regulary). Why not? The author's opinion is tht the message to exercise more simply "doesn't connect with your mind, heart and soul." He makes the point "Clearly, simply providing people with information doesn't work, and, in fact, overemphasizing the benefits of exercise can produce strong feelings of guilt, anxiety and frustration which result in even less motivation to exercise." The author concludes from this that people often become so overfocused on outcomes (results) they they "ignore the process of developing positive, inner experiences with movement and exercise." He feels that "becoming a regular exerciser requires a transformation from an Outside-In focus to an Inside-Out experience."

In Chapter 2 Inside-Out: The Intrinsic Approach to Exercise and Chapter 3 The Intrinsic Exerciser:An Overview the author describes how we are "hard-wired for movement, living in a body that wants to move." He promotes the type of behavior that is "becoming part of who you are" and enjoying activities for their own sake far removed from external and internal pressures. Thus the goal would be not extrinsic outcomes such getting an athletic scholarship or losing weight but simply enjoying an activity for how it makes one feel. Thus the desire to continue in that activity would be reinforced.

Whereas Part I of the book, "Moving from Outside-In to Inside-Out" describes the benefits of transformation from an extrinsic to an intrinsic exerciser, Part II, titled "Four Steps to Developing the Intrinsic Exerciser Mindset" has to do with the process itself. Unlike a previous reviewer, I found it very helpful to explore the following questions the author concludes the book with:

" Do I see myself as an exerciser, and how do I want my movement to feel? (Vision)" (Chapter 4 Step 1:Activate the Intrinsic Exerciser with Vision)
" Do I base my feelings of exercise success on my own criteria? (Mastery)" (Chapter 5 Step 2:Stay on Track with Mastery)
" Do I get into it when I move my body? (Flow)" (Chapter 6 Step 3:Stay in the Moment with Flow); and
" Do I connect exercise with my other life needs? (Inergy)" (Chapter 7 Step 4:Feul the Physical Fire with Inergy

This is an important book, one that has been long overdue. It's most significant point is that "To become a regular exerciser over a long period of time you must learn to love moving your body." It is a point that seems so simple yet is far too often overlooked in a "society full of exercise wannabees with guilt complexes and high anxiety." It's just that I would have liked to see the author address this subject with even greater depth.