The A-List Workout: Top Hollywood Trainers Reveal the Body Shaping Secrets of Their Celebrity Clients [Hardcover]

Alyssa Shaffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2006

Want a Hollywood body like Angelina, J. Lo, Jessica, or Uma? Here's the inside scoop!

How do Uma Thurman, Penelope Cruz, and Jennifer Garner manage to look so sleek and sculpted on and off the red carpet? They do it with help from today’s top fitness coaches. Now, in The A-List Workout, you can get your own bodacious bod with help from the same trainers behind Hollywood ’s A-List physiques.

Fitness magazine’s Alyssa Shaffer takes you inside Hollywood’s top gyms and fitness spas to get the inside scoop. Each chapter of The A-List Workout focuses on a different goal, whether you want flat abs, toned arms, or a buff butt. You get the actual exercise regimens prescribed to the stars--explained step by step--along with their diet and motivation tips. And you get an exclusive 12-week workout plan designed by Shaffer--herself a certified trainer--that combines all the best techniques described in the book.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Celebrity fitness secrets--revealed!

Jessica Simpson's lean, long legs, Sheryl Crowe's sculpted arms, Angelina Jolie's, well, everything . . . What's the secret to these celebs' buff bodies? It's not genetics, and it's not luck: They work hard for their beautiful physiques under top Hollywood trainers, and now you can too!

In The A-List Workout, ten of the most in-demand celebrity trainers have come together to give you their favorite exercise plans and tips--the same advice superstars pay top dollar to get. Each trainer outlines easy-to-follow plans that target a specific body part--abs, legs, butt, arms, and more--and then each plan is synthesized into full-body workouts for beginners, all-over toning, trouble-zone busting, or weight loss. With The A-List Workout, you'll get your dream body by learning how to:

• Set realistic, attainable goals to keep you motivated
• Design a fitness plan that fits in with your busy schedule
• Save money by using common household items for workouts
• Target a specific problem zone, such as your butt or thighs
• Begin an exercise program--even if you've never worked out before
• Follow a diet plan that won't leave you deprived

Get a hot Hollywood body--without spending a fortune on a celebrity trainer!

• Flex Hilary Swank's shapely arms through Rich and Helene Guzmán's exercises
• Have Jessica Simpson's sexy, strong back with Mike Alexander's coaching
• Show off Paris Hilton's flat, firm abs after getting in shape with Teddy Bass
• Strut in Victoria's Secret models' legs with instruction from Joe Dowdell
• Flaunt Uma Thurman's muscular shoulders with Christel Smith's workouts
• Get Mandy Moore's lithe, flexible body with Ashley Borden's stretches
• Learn Queen Latifah's exhilarating cardio workout with Jeanette Jenkins
• Stay as thin as Donatella Versace with Larry Krug's satisfying diet plan

About the Author

As fitness director for Fitness magazine, author Alyssa Shaffer has worked with dozens of celebrity exercise gurus, and she's assembled the best and most-respected to divulge their secrets in The A-List Workout. In addition to being a certified personal trainer by the American Council on Exercise, Shaffer is an award-winning freelance writer and has contributed health and fitness articles to Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Health, Redbook, Tennis, Men's Health, Biography, and Cooking Light.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071467866
• ISBN-13: 978-0071467865
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fitness pro reviews A-List workout., February 4, 2007

By 

Eric O. Odera "Audio programs for your fitnes... (www.ericodera.com , NY, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The A-List Workout: Top Hollywood Trainers Reveal the Body Shaping Secrets of Their Celebrity Clients (Hardcover)

The book's cover may deceive you.I guess they've got to do something to get your attention! Upon reading the book I liked the simple fitness tests recommended, these are: 1 minute pushups, I minute situp test, and the 1 min chair squat.How simple, but still powerful! this is really helpful for the lady who doesn't have time to go through all the appointment setting, finding a baby sitter and the list goes on.

While looking at the different exercises, I was impressed by the author taking her time in educating consumers on how to purchase a balance ball.They even have illustrations on the different body parts, and their corresponding exercises. Yes, there are a whole bunch of people who don't know the difference between the biceps femoris, and the arms' biceps.Thank you Alyssa!

Jeannette Jenkins's contribution is superb, she has some gutt wrenching,body sculpting, fat burning circuits that surely bring results.
Kudos to Jeannette for showing us that the human body is the number one gym in the whole planet.

I really appreciated some warm up information that Alyssa shares. Especially in regards to warming up the shoulders.This is something that I always emphasize to my clients-the shoulder is a weak joint, so one needs to be cautious with it.

This is not a quick fix, the trainers featured in the book are highly educated and experienced, it is a definite pick for anyone who wants to get in shape.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good workout book!, March 27, 2007

By 

Laura Swim "Fitness Guru32" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The A-List Workout: Top Hollywood Trainers Reveal the Body Shaping Secrets of Their Celebrity Clients (Hardcover)

Don't be decieved by the cover! Something about the name and the picture on the front threw me. I thought it might be one of those books of how the celebrity worked out and never really explaining the workout to the reader, just so the author could make a quick buck.

This is very well written with weekly workout routines and every exercise has photos to follow up on. They separate your goal into different routines.

What I love most about this book is that they don't use the default strength training moves! They use band resistance (or tubing) and do different, unique moves to tone the body! This is really a workout you could do at home in your living room. You don't need a treadmill, if you have a nice place to walk and run or jump rope even!

The star's trainers, for example, Mike Alexander (Jessica Simpson's trainer) writes a whole section for abs and the exercises he uses. In another chaper, another trainer writes about the best shoulder toning moves.

I felt like the nutrition section wasn't gimmicky or to hard to follow. They were real in their advice, following a natural whole foods diet with fish and lean meats to get your protien.

All in all- I might have an addiction to buying diet and fitness books, but this is a great one to add to my collection. Especially because I love using the Physioball (think that big, pop resistant workout ball) and resistance tubing!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An orchestrated approach culled from the successful experiences of celebrity stars., June 17, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The A-List Workout: Top Hollywood Trainers Reveal the Body Shaping Secrets of Their Celebrity Clients (Hardcover)

Alyssa Shaffer is the fitness director of Fitness Magazine, and here interviews top celebrity trainers who reveal how they work out to achieve their maximum body style. From developing attainable goals to keep you motivated and exercising to incorporating a fitness routine into a busy schedule and targeting specific problem areas, THE A-LIST WORKOUT is no single program, but an orchestrated approach culled from the successful experiences of celebrity stars. Black and white photos throughout explain exercise routines.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch