Customer Reviews

Lean, Long & Strong: The 6-Week Strength-Training, Fat-Burning Program for Women

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is wonderful! Finally a book that tells you realistically that you can succeed at working out and getting the body you want. Wini's focus is not on spending hours in the gym, but on setting up a systematic approach to your workout to get in and get it done, by doing it right! I was sick and tired of going to the gym and wasting time not knowing what exercises to do. Following the Synergy sets in Wini's book helps you to complete a balanced workout in a short amount of time. The pictures are wonderful and her explanations of the exercise help you to really focus on the target area. She has multiple exercise for your core, legs, arm, and stretching exercise for your whole body. The best part is that you can do the workouts at the gym or at home and only need simple equipment. The main difference that I have noticed is that I am actually looking forward to working out because I know exactly what I am going to be doing and I am getting a good workout and making the MOST out of my time.

I think this book is wonderfully well written and well thought out. I do have one suggestion which is to take the book to your local Kinkos and have the binding cut off and three hole punched. This allows for moving the six week programs around to suit your needs at the time. I did this for $1.50 which added greatly to the user friendly aspect of the book.

When you first see the cover of this book, you may feel intimidated by Wini's buff body - but as soon as you open the book, Wini's warmth and positive tone give you the impression that you too can be fit and strong! I picked up this book about 11 weeks ago and have been working with it ever since. The changes in my body are amazing - especially in my arms and legs. I finally have some biceps and my butt is very firm. My midsection, which is my weakest spot, has been gradually reducing and I am now at the point where I can easily wear a bikini and not look like a fool.

I am a big fan of workout books, but usually my interest wanes after about 6 weeks. This year, I have been determined to really trim off that last bit of flab and build some muscle - this book is a great starting point. The information is sound, the pictures are great and the descriptions really help you to perfect your form.

I would recommend this to anyone who would like to get in shape - it really is a pretty darn good book.

I love this book so much that it's falling apart! The workout makes me feel strong, connected to my body and serene. I've never successfully followed an exercise program from a book for any lenth of time before. I got it about 6 months ago and have been pretty faithfully using it since. The combination of weights, yoga and stretching provides a lot of variety and it seems a very balanced workout, aside from the cardio. I do Wini's workout 4-5 times a week, and usually add 30-40 minutes of fast walking on a treadmill 3-4 times a week, sometimes not even on the same day. I've followed her advice to do the workout with intensity, and it's really worked for me. I use a roll-up mat, a few free weights, a CD of relaxing music for focus, and that's it. No getting dressed up and going to the gym, no giant machines. It's not for hard-core fitness folks, but there's enough here to challenge most of us.

I loved BOdy Change but found the workouts weren't always convenient for the amount of time they took. I loved Body For Life because it gave me an alternating schedule for workouts but 6 days a week was just too hard to maintain.

Wini has taken the best of her last book and made it do-able for the average woman. I'm a working mom and now have focus in the gym on my 4 days/week schedule. Not only that, it's so effective and a great powerful use of my limited time.

The stretches are an added benefit and as I'm learning from my mom, an essential thing for women to practice to aid in aging without pain. These workouts are completely balanced and the stretches just reinforce the time we need to focus on ourselves.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see the long term results. Thank you, Wini!

No need to spend a fortune on a health club or expensive equipment. This book presents several no-frills effective exercises to get in shape. The photos are superb and I like the expert additional exercise as I progress. I appreciate the Squeeze Factor & Breath Factor tips she writes for each exercise, as well as safety tips and imagery ideas for better posture. A great book from a sculpted fitness expert. Highly recommended.

I'm in good overall health, but sedentary. I do occasional aerobic exercise and stretching on my own. It has been a while since I did a strengthening workout, but I'm not completely new at it.

I think this is a great book, with exercise routines that are easy to do at home with little investment. I like the combination of stretching with strengthening, and I like her suggested workout schedule. I like that she gives alternate versions of the exercises so you can tailor your workout without having to reinvent the whole routine. Being very interested in nutrition, and self-taught in healthy eating, I agree with and applaund the nutritional information given in the book too.

It's not for the absolute beginner though. She does give easy and hard versions of each exercise, but the easiest exercises may still be too hard for some beginners. With a little imagination, exercises that are still too hard can be made easier (like doing a ball exercise on the floor), but not all these solutions are spelled out in the book.

Though I do very easy ab exercises semi-regularly, when I did the basic ab routine in the book, I injured my abs somehow and couldn't exercise them for a week. I have continued to use the book, including the ab exercises, but I don't use a ball anymore.

This is a book for otherwise healthy people that are just out of shape. If you have a specific medical condition, please talk to a physical therapist about a personalized exercise program.

This is a beautiful book. The explanations are clear and beautifully illustrated with photos by the very fit author ... she is an inspiration. She divides the workouts in a variety of ways ... there're workouts for the Core, Lower Body, and Upper Body; and each focus area has a basic, intermediate, challenge and express workout so you can start at your current fitness level and build up in 6-week increments. In addition, each level has variations for beginners and advanced exercises ... it is very thorough. The nutrition chapter is a solid, basic plan for a lifetime ... not a diet. The only drawback is that the exercises do not always specify exactly which muscle you are working altho she does give you pointers on how to find certain muscles and feel them working. This is a great resource and very good value for the money. Highly recommend it for all fitness levels.

Bravo! I am a single parent and a full-time student who doesn't get to the gym as often as I would like. "Lean, Long and Strong" is a wonderful answer to my hectic schedule. I have been running for at least 10 years but I don't feel as toned as I should be - the easy to follow step-by-step diagrams has enable me to achieve my goals of staying fit without the added expense of a personal trainer. Thanks Wini for a fabulous book!!

As Wini says in her intro, this book is about working out smarter, not harder. This book guides you through four 12-minute strength-training workouts per week and also advises you to do three additional 20-minute cardio workouts per week to strengthen your most important muscle, your heart. There are three levels of workouts--basic, intermediate, and challenge, and if challenge is too easy for you, then surely you already know how to keep in shape and don't need this type of book anyway. The workouts can all be done at home with just a few pairs of dumbells, an exericse ball, a mat, and a decent set of workout clothes. It adds up to just 108 minutes per week, a totally doable amount of time for even the most busy among us.

I was a little bit skeptical at first. I thought an hour on my elliptical was surely better than 20 minutes. I thought I was getting enough strength training through the resistance settings on my elliptical. But, I also have to admit that it was awfully hard to get motivated to actually do that hour on the elliptical. Even when I only did 30 minutes, my workout routine was sporadic at best. But I told myself I was exercising (I was, sometimes). I told myself I was eating right (I was, sometimes). I told myself it was enough (it wasn't). Once reality finally reared its ugly head and I knew I had to make some changes, I began looking for something that I could do regularly, not just for a month or a year but for the rest of my active years. Wini's book seemed like it might fit the bill.

The exercises are well-photographed and well-described, with Wini herself demonstrating each exercise and explaining what to watch out for. The routines will take longer than 12 minutes when you are first learning the exercises, and in the interest of full disclosure, I will say I haven't completed a workout in 12 minutes yet--it's more like 15-20 minutes, but it's still a short, intense workout. Once you know how to perform all the exercises, you can use the "At A Glance" pages, which show smaller pictures of all the exercises you will perform in one routine, all laid out with no page turning required. Personally I have bookmarked all three of the basic routines so I don't have to waste any time flipping through the book. Wini's writing style is friendly and encouraging, with little affirmations placed throughout the book, things like, "Start from where you are. It is the only place you can." So true!

I have now been doing Wini's basic fat-blasting program for four weeks, plus walking and doing 20-minute workouts on my elliptical. I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in my bathroom mirror this morning, wearing only my underwear, and I did a double-take. Not only am I already able to do more reps with better form, not only is my daily routine getting easier and less tiring, not only are my clothes getting looser...I could literally see the difference in my abdomen. Now, do I look like Wini after just four weeks? No, of course not. I think I can safely say I will never look like Wini! But I am so pleased with my progress. I highly recommend this book!

UPDATE: I am seven weeks into this program now, and I was able to move on to the intermediate workout after just one six-week cycle in the basic program! Basic was difficult for me at first--I thought I'd be stuck there for at least a year. I am also following some of her nutritional recommendations, particularly recording everything I eat, eating "closer to the source", and increasing my water and fiber intake. It's not a diet--Wini is right in that diets set us up for failure by being far too restrictive--it's making some healthy changes I can live with. I feel better, I've dropped a dress size, and who knows? Maybe I'll even be able to graduate to the advanced routines someday!