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116 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Promising; worth a shot, June 11, 2002
This review is from: Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness for Time-Crunched Adults (Paperback)
The interesting argument in this attractive and thorough (and well-researched, by the way) fitness training book is the idea that anaerobic exercise will promote the release of the Human Growth Hormone in our bodies and thereby lead to weight control and a reversal of the metabolic slow down associated with aging beginning in our middle years. Anaerobic exercise (as contrasted with aerobic exercise) is sprint training, not endurance training. When we sprint we use muscle fibers that Campbell identifies as "fast type IIx" as opposed to "slow type I" used in long distance running. The use of these "fast twitch" muscles leads to the increased production and release of the growth hormone. Since it is all the rage in some circles (e.g., Hollywood) to take injections of the growth hormone at a cost of about $12,000 a year (it is not effective taken orally), a program that allows us to produce the growth hormone naturally would be a godsend. Our bodies as we grow older produce less and less of the growth hormone and this has been linked to what Campbell calls "somatopause," the well-known phenomenon leading to weight gain, middle-age spread and a slower metabolism. I have little doubt that if my body would produce more growth hormone I would be able to control my weight and perhaps look and feel better. I feel pretty good as I am, but since I gave up playing basketball five years ago, I have gained about 12 pounds. It's worse than that, however, because I have lost probably about ten or 15 pounds of muscle mass, so in fact I am now carrying around 25 to 30 more pounds of pure fat! I was able to control my weight with the sort of ease that Campbell describes in this book when I was playing basketball (which is sprinting and more) three times a week. I could (as Campbell claims he can) eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and never had to worry about my weight. I realized in a flash while reading this book that indeed what I had been doing playing basketball was anaerobic exercise. The essence of Campbell's program--or at least the part that interests me--calls for no high fat foods one hour before anaerobic training and no sugar foods for two hours afterward. This will stimulate fat-burning. I know from personal experience that this is true. When you're doing some serious anaerobics three or four times a week, you just naturally eat less, and less often. I always thought this was because my system made me less hungry because it didn't want to divert its energies to the digestion of any more food than was necessary. But perhaps it is the release of the growth hormone that leads to the desire to eat less. Regardless of how this works, it does work. But the problem for someone older than Campbell (he's fifty) is that it is very, very difficult to engage in a training program that involves sprinting because it too easy to pull, tear or strain muscles which take a relatively long time to heal. This is the "catch-22" of growing older. It's hard to exercise enough to get into and stay in shape because you're always coming up lame. However, Campbell presents a carefully balanced and well-thought out program that just may allow those over fifty to get into shape and exercise anaerobically on a regular basis. (This program will definitely work for those younger who are in good health.) He uses the trendy word "synergy" in the title because he believes it is the synergistic effect of the total program, including weight training, proper diet and the combination of anaerobic and aerobic exercise that leads to fitness and an increase in the production of the growth hormone. Bottom-line question: Will this work? Quick answer: I don't know. Campbell himself is the very picture of health with the well-muscled, but lean body of a decathlon champion. When I was fifty I too was in great shape (although I was not as strong as Campbell), and looking back I can say that it was playing basketball on a regular basis that did it. I can no longer play basketball but perhaps I can sprint and weight train. I'm going to give it a try.
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74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not perfect for everyone, April 2, 2006
This is a very good book...depending on what you are looking for. If you are new to fitness and looking for a cookbook that tells you some basic theory and gives you concise workouts to follow as well as good illustrations of exercises...this book is worth it.
The reason I give it 3 stars is because I have been at this for over 5 years, read fitness books galore, worked with trainers and am constantly looking for new ways to spice up my workouts and increase their intensity. The only really new thing in this book is the Sprint 8 interval workout. I read about the Sprint 8 in a magazine and integrated it into my workout. I loved it and bought the book to see how else he applied the Sprint 8 to other aspects of conditioning...he doesn't. His plyometric and weightlifting workouts are pretty much standard stuff (not bad, just not innovative). When all is said and done his workouts still requires you to spend at least an hour a day in the gym, 6 days a week. I have however, found that integrating the Sprint 8 running with Crossfit workouts for strength are very complemetary and make for an efficient workout program that can get you in and out of the gym in 30 mins with the same results as spending an hour in the gym.
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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blimp out or bulk up? Fitness for combating middle-age, May 7, 2002
This review is from: Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness for Time-Crunched Adults (Paperback)
Why, oh, why, do we blimp out after 30? Even when I was active, lifting weights and exercising regularly, I still found I gained weight steadily after 35 years old? Is it just in our genes? Author Phil Campbell reveals some interesting scientific findings here, and he provides practical 3 to 5 hour a week work outs designed to combat middle age spread. The cover picture is of the author who looks rather like a super-fit version of former President Clinton. It certainly seems to work for him--and he is fifty. Campbell discusses how growth hormone, banned from drug-free athletic competition, is responsible for keeping that middle-age spread at bay. But short of illegal injections in Mexico, what can a middle-aged person do to boost their growth hormone naturally and reap the fitness benefits? New medical discoveries show that you can significantly increase GH naturally. Very specific forms of exercise, some nutritional supplements, and adequate sleep, will increase levels of the hormone naturally, even in older people. Some interesting findings are that eating properly before and after exercise can either boost or inhibit growth hormone. For example, if you eat a Big Mac, fries and then go work out, and two hours afterwards, down the supersized coke or drink Gatorade, you can kiss results goodbye. The combination of high fat before and high sugar after exercise prevent the release of tiny amounts of growth hormone, which puts on muscle and improves athletic performance. The exercise programs here range from about 3.5 hours for beginners up to 5 hours for enthusiasts. But at first blush, the workouts seem excessively technical. They range from aerobics, to "plyometrics" which are exercises that boost fast-twitch muscle--the muscle type that fades away with age. And then there are weights. The book shows Mr. Campbell tossing javelins, doing karate kicks (another of his areas of expertise), bounding and otherwise flying about. This can be discouraging if you are a couch potato, but dream of being fit (me, for example.) The "Strategic Fitness Plans" are five different fitness levels- based on your age, your current fitness status, and training experience. If you intend to follow this program, you should visit your physician first if you are tremendously out of shape. Some of the exercises here can get you hurt if you don't go at them correctly (the bounding can whack your ankles.) And a personal trainer, if available, would be a real asset. There is a lot here--flexibility, fast movement (sprinting, fast cycling), weights and more. It seems complicated at first, but a complete exercise program should at least contain stretching, aerobics and weights, so here you are adding the fast-twitch stimulating exercises to combat that middle-age metabolic monster. If you are SERIOUS about wanting to beat aging and get or stay in the best shape, and are noticing that age is beginning to take a toll, this book could be very helpful. I predict Campbells
s book will become the next exercise fad best-seller.
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