Customer Reviews

The Metabolism Advantage: An 8-Week Program to Rev Up Your Body's Fat-Burning Machine---At Any Age

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Right up front, please do not take my mediocre rating of this book as a similar pan of John Berardi himself. Based on what I know of him from his articles on "testosterone.net" and elsewhere, I am sure that he knows and understands a hell of a lot more than he can pack into a book aimed at the diet-and-weight-loss demographic. This book is obviously his attempt to branch out from the hardcore muscle and fitness crowd and reach a broader audience.

Pros: The book has a lot of good basic info on the roles of nutrition, diet and exercise in achieving personal fat loss and figure shaping goals. If I had a friend who had no clue where to begin, this is one book I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. And Berardi's writing style is encouraging and entertaining - he knows how to write for his audience without being dull, pedantic or overly self-important (always a plus).

Also a "pro" is the book's emphasis on interval training for cardio health and fat loss. Berardi makes a very good case for this relatively new protocol which may help many people stuck on treadmills for the last 20 years understand why they are still pudgy, and what to do about it. I couldn't write a better, more convincing and usuable cardio/aerobic routine if I'd had a month to write it.

Cons: The book's format and content has Rodale Press all over it. Rodale Press publishes "Men's Health" and "Prevention", 2 magazines that have been recycling a set of 30 articles each - supplemented with various "factoids","breaking news", and "helpful hints" boxouts - over and over for the last 25 years. And with the exception for the advice on interval training, "The Metabolism Advantage" is really just a repackaging of the diet and exercise advice from a prior book, "The Abs Diet", as well as every "Men's Health" diet and exercise article from the past 5 years. If you've read that book, you don't need this one. In fact, if you've read ANY other recent exercise and diet book (including the ones by Oprah's trainer Bob Greene), you don't need this one. I suspect that Berardi, left to his own devices and not forced to shoehorn his book into the Rodale Press "house style" could have written a much more helpful and innovative book than what we have here. But Rodale Press isn't about innovation - it's about the same mainstream fitness and health thinking that have dominated self=help and fitness magazines since the dawn of Pritikin and Ornish.

This last caveat especially applies to the actual weight training routines in the back of the book: they are a total rehash of the same articles that "Men's Health" (and "Men's Fitness" and "Exercise for Men Only" and all the other non hardcore fitness mags) have been churning out for at least 25 years. While the emphasis on free weights over machines is good, these routines are boring, linear, one-dimensional and self-limiting; any average trainee will plateau (or burn out) on these exercise and routines very quickly and will need to look else where for more sophisticated advice. Some of the exercises are worthless, but they are included because they are always included in material like this. Some (like the Overhead Squat) are difficult-to-impossible for the average beginning trainee to perform safely and properly without proper personal coaching, yet they are presented here as if they are no more complicated or productive as the worthless ones. As I said about, Berardi obviously knows a lot more about resistance training than he tries (or is allowed) to include here, and so the book in that sense is something of a disservice to the reader.

Still there is more good than bad about the book; I plan to purchase it when it comes out in trade paperbook to share with my friends who have been stuck on the treadmill for the past 20 years.

John Berardi's "The Metabolism Advantage" is a home run. I speak from first hand experience of John's teachings through his published articles, website, DVDS and now this brand new book.

I have struggled with my metabolism, buying into the so called normal "Slowing down with age" process over the past 10 years. The concepts in this book have opened my eyes to new beliefs that shatter the old school thought process of "Everything goes to hell after age 40."

Utilizing the concepts detailed in this book I have dropped 37 lbs in the past 14 weeks and decreased my body fat% by 13 percentage points. I am well on my way to achieving my new lifetime weight goal of 190 lbs with a 10% body fat. This success is due to many factors that John explains in the book.

John is a scientist. A scientist who has the ability to coach a layperson what they need to do to achieve their nutritional and physiological goals. This book is a goldmine for those people who are committed to making positive change in their long term health.

I endorse this book wholeheartedly and I wish John great success.

Michael A. Howard
Worcester, MA

As a personal trainer with over a decade of certified experience, I have been following Berardi's work for many years. Over the years, Berardi has proven to us in the professional fitness community that he is committed to changing lives.

This is not a book written by a trainer who happens to train a Hollywood celebrity, and therefore decides to "cash in" by writing a book for his/her ego.

No, with his book The Metabolism Advantage, the general public can begin to benefit from just the right combination of science and real life application from someone who has proven his dedication through years of similar work.

So how will you benefit by reading this book? For those of you struggling to lose weight, Berardi helps you understand how to build a better fat-burning "engine". Not only will you lose fat while training but you will also learn critical habits to keep that fat-burning furnace going while you are not exercising. For many looking to lose fat, this may be the "aha" moment that will change you body forever.

You will find detailed, step by step eating and exercise plans, plus plenty of recipes. I won't go in to more details about this part only to say that you have everything you need to succeed.

My advice to you is that by purchasing this book you are receiving a distillation of years of experience from someone who not only knows the science behind what he preaches, but also someone who genuinely cares about your success.

i have been using this book for a month and a half now. I love it! I love the recipes (I like to cook). The workouts are streamlined. I am used to going to the gym, but I have cut back on time and lost weight. I considered myself healthy, I am not skinny, but a healthy weight. However, I was looking for more definition and less belly/butt-fat. I have gained muscle and lost fat. I have lost a total of 5 pounds. (oh, and it would be more...but I allow myself 2 evenings to have alcohol and limited portion, but anything goes dinner once a week) It's not a ton, but like I said, I was pretty healthy before and I have allowed myself limited freedom so I never binge-eat. I have noticed an increase in my energy. The thing I love most about this diet is the recipes (this book is not for someone who does not have time too cook). I have learned how to incorporate healthy ingredients into every meal. I am never hungry. Since this book is designed for men, I have found that I take most 2-serving meals and turn it into 3-serving meals. That way I get dinner for my husband and I plus lunch the next day. I am no skinny-mini, but I weigh less than I have in years and I can see myself using these priciples forever!

I read the book in only a day, easy to read and enlightening about the importance of speeding up your metabolism after your 30's. I had followed Bill Phillips "Body for Life" program for several years, with good results, but halted progress. I suspected already I could not loose more fat since I was not able to gain anymore muscle with the BFL system, due to restricted calories and fat intake. That's when I bumped into this book and decided to buy it. For three weeks now I have been trying this program of excercise, nutrition and NATURAL supplements and the results are already there.
It is great to eat lean protein with avocado, olive oil, and other healthy fats everyday, but I find a bit diffucult to restrict my carbs to the post-workout hours, and breakfast, I hav no problem eating vegetables, but cutting on fruit and dairy is hard. Nonentheless my body is begining to show changes, and my metabolism is going faster, since I feel hunger like I felt when I was 18 years old (I am 44 now). The theory on resistance training and interval cardio training was already familiar to me, but I had not been previously convinced of it's relevance to speed up metabolism. I am now, and it is all for the best, I have not lost weight, but I have lost 3 pounds of fat. If you are over 30 and you are experiencing difficulties loosing fat with a restricted calorie intake which in turn makes more difficult bulding new muscle, this book will let you undersand why, and it gives also the cure. A plus, which I find very important: the book provides several meal recepies which are really tastefull. I have not been disappointed of my purchase.

I bought this book because I have been a big Berardi advocate for a number of years now. I have been following Dr. JB on the internet for a while and have gathered most of the tips he talks about in this book via the web. I agree with his premise that people can speed up their metabolism if they follow his recommendations.

Unfortunately I feel like most of the people he is trying to reach with this endeavor will not make it through the 8 week plan. Why? Because the meals are too complicated and require too much time to make. He has a daily menu, which is nice, but some meals take over an hour to make and for people who are used to eating fast food or microwave dinners, asking them to spend 30 minutes or more in the kitchen preparing 1 meal is just not reasonable.

I consider myself to be a fairly healthy eater most of the time, but even I couldn't bring myself to spend that much time in my kitchen every single day and night.

Bottom line, great information, but I think most people will have a hard time implementing his suggestions.

Every once in a while a book comes along that is life changing. In my opinion, "The Metabolism Advantage" is one of those books. Dr. Berardi has successfully taken the best information from his "Precision Nutrition" program (www.precisionnutrition.com), his eBook "Gourmet Nutrition", and his book "Scrawny to Brawny", and put it all together in an easy to follow guide on how to speed up your metabolism; fantastic! "The Metabolism Advantage" is a complete nutrition, exercise, and supplement guide that equips anyone who is willing to apply Dr. Berardi's principles, with the tools to burn more calories, build muscle, and improve their health and well being. You own it to yourself to get this book!

Many books have been written on diets, exercise and various combinations. This book written by John Berardi, PhD, is organized and written so well that if you have the desire to improve your health, you cannot fail. However, this program is quite complex and will require a lot of discipline to succeed.

Being a physician who studied many aspects of diet and exercise, the program makes perfect sense. Dr. Berardi gives an introduction into the basic science of metabolism in a clear, concise method. He goes on to discuss the advantage of diet, supplements, and exercise to fight the battle of the bulge. Unlike "Body for Life" which engineers the dietary program to include supplements by EAS, this book utilizes real food with some supplementation. When to eat your meals in relation to exercise, whether your workout is in the morning, afternoon or evening is possible with the various plans outlined.

This book will show you the tools to carry out the methods and he will inspire you by his methods of teaching.

In this book you will learn the following:
The 90% Rule of following this plan.
The 7 Rules of nutrition.
Why dieting makes you fat.
How you can eat more, and weigh less.
Why calorie counting does not work.
The 5 essential nutritional supplements.
Metabolism boosting exercises.

Step by step, the author will outline how you will accomplish your goals. There is even a self assessment to determine how ready you are:
Are you ready to change?
Is your environment supportive of this change?
Is your social circle supportive of this change?

Recipes are included on how to prepare the healthiest meals. Schedules on how to time your meals according to your lifestyle are suggested.

There is additional support that the author provides on his website. However, many of the features are by subscription. However, there are a lot of accessible areas that include Blogs (i.e. Nutrition Team Blogs, Product Support and Discussion, Goal Specific Discussion, Sports Performance, Exercise Science) and Exericise demonstrations (through Quicktime streaming). To get complete access to the website and a more in depth experience to the Metabolism Advantage, you will have to pay $97 (as of this writing).

This book has a solid foundation and will work if you have the motivation. If you have a very busy lifestyle, it will take a great deal of organization to make it work. However, what this book does is transform your life through a change in lifestyle rather than a short term goal of weight loss.

This book gets my vote as the best diet + workout program because:
- it has the latest science to back it up (check out the authors website)
- unique, practical & efficient advice on planning meals (shopping, cooking, storing)
- efficient workouts that don't hog multiple machines with weirdo exercises
- health is valued as much as results
- provides social support via web forums

Its what you'd get if a naturopath, doctor, nutritionist and bodybuilder brainstormed with any arguments resolved by scientific research.

I have been working it for a few weeks. This is no gimmick. It is an engine for a true overhaul of one's health. I definitely recommend it.