Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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

This is a great book. Full of useful exercise and nutrition hints. The workouts are challenging, but fun. I can't wait to track my results.

i like this book. it's informative and brings the workouts from several top trainers together. there are great pictures and there are several different pieces of equipment (including your own body weight) utilized in the exercises. there's a good discussion on nutrition. i refer to the book frequently. like now when i'm focused on my arms. well done!

This is a great idea book. I took it to the gym and used the techniques. It is a great beginners book.

What a fantastic book. It's clear, easy to follow, and very motivating! I look forward to whipping my body into shape this year with help from this book.

This book is great. It is a really concise workbook that gives you all the information, definitions and a workout plan. I wish there was a dvd to go with it!

Very good book, lots of great excercise ideas, and understanding of how the muscles work, and how they work for the celebs

Yes, there's a lot of solid info, tips and exercises in this book. But here's why it's not worth the money:

Pretty much all the useful info about cardiovascular fitness, the benefits of strength and flexibility training, human anatomy and diet can be found for free online on any creditable fitness website. I've seen all this info online, including the non-customized, middle-of-the-road, low glycemic diet regime, on various sites. If you want this kind of info in book form, you're better off getting Dr Oz's You on a Diet, because you'll get this info and then some in a better layout, plus the emphasis there is on educating you about your health needs, and not looking like some celebrity.

Now, about the layout: Ugh. This is what's really rendered this book useless for me (thankfully, it was a gift!). After the intro about health and the benefits of exercise and a moderately useful "fitness baseline" test to determine just how out of shape you are, the book gives you various 12 week-long workout plans, for different fitness levels and then for different target areas. More about those in a second. In the second half of the book, there's separate workouts designed by different experts for different target areas, plus interval training and stretching, which in theory could be done independently of the workout plans in the front, but would give you a very limited workout, or a rather overwhelming one if you attempted to do them back to back.

You could instead just follow these 12 week-long workout plans in the first part of the book, which obviously attempt to incorporate bits and pieces all these experts' routines in a more comprehensive way. But the problem is, you end up flipping throughout the book to find the exercises you need to do on a particular day (except on rest days). For example, the beginner's workout starts out on Monday with an exercise series on pg 84, then sends you to pg 94, then to pg 104, and then 114, and so on. I suppose after a while you could memorize the routine - that is, unless you just give up and go get some workout DVDs or join a gym (I did try copying the pages to make a little handy packet, but the book's page size was too wide for my copier/printer).

As for the expert routines: the exercises and routines in this book are not exactly new or innovative. You could find these exercises - or ones comparable - online as well. The only thing that makes them at all special is that some celebrity's done them too. The exercises are good, and if done properly, will get you results. But some routines are less practical for the average person than others. For example, I think most people could do Jeanette Jenkins' interval cardio workouts, as the first one requires no equipment and the other requires only one pair of light weights. Ashley Borden's stretching too only requires a mat. But from there things get more complicated. Most of the target area workouts require more than one piece of equip - at least a stability ball, and there's several exercises that call for a medicine ball and/or resistance bands as well. For the "Alluring Arms" workout alone, you'll also need two sturdy chairs and a sturdy bar that can support your weight, plus *all* the other equip I've already mentioned, as well as a partner. Good luck with all that.

I don't see how this book could be that beneficial for anyone: advanced exercisers should be familiar with all this already, while beginners would likely just feel overwhelmed, confused and discouraged. I don't mind the idea of using celebrities as motivation for fitness. But you still have to set realistic goals for yourself, and I don't think this book helps you do that. Frankly, if you need a starting place for your fitness routine, ignore the celebrities for now, and get Dr Oz's book instead to educate yourself about your own fitness needs. Then I would suggest searching online for exercises best suited for your needs and goals. There's also many DVDs that offer equally effective workouts, but in a more accessible way (plus music, visuals and someone to motivate you) and usually require less equip. Or you could just get a gym membership and do these same kind of exercises (and a wider variety of exercises too) with top quality machines and equip that you don't have to store somewhere in your home.