168 of 170 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent book!, March 22, 2001
By A Customer
Sculpting Her Body Perfect is one of the best women's weight training books I have ever read. There is a lot of great information about isolation versus compound exercises, push-pull muscles, cardio training and weight training intensity.
Sculpting starts by outlining why women's body sculpting is more challenging than men's body sculpting, and provides reasons why women should do weight training. He then moves to his body sculpting program, which he claims will provide tone but not bulk to women's bodies. There are three phases, and in each phase you weight train 3x per week, with cardio 3-5x/week. What changes is how the weight training is structured.
Phase one is a body conditioning phase, and includes three full body days. Each day includes one exercise per body part, changing the exercise for each day. (E.g., for day 1 quads you might do squats, day 2 lunges, and day 3 leg press.) For each exercise you do 3 sets of 15 reps, at 75% maximum weight. Each body part is worked 3x per week. This stage is to build muscle -- he stresses that you can't shape muscle unless you first have muscle. He recommends staying with this phase for 3-6 months, and says you will reach 50% of your potential with this phase.
Phase two is the toning and shaping phase, and lasts at least 6 months. Here the body is split into two: e.g., day 1 - chest, back, shoulders and calves; and day 2- biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings and abs. You still do weights three days a week, but alternate day 1 and day 2. Each body part is worked 3 x every two weeks. You use two exercises per body part in a superset, still doing 3 sets of 15 reps for each exercise. The intensity of the weights is increased in this phase. The goal is to create muscle symmetry and proportion, and he says you will reach 90% of your genetic potential with this phase.
Phase three is targeted body sculpting. The body is split into three - e.g., day 1 - chest and back, day 2 - shoulders, biceps and triceps, day 3 - legs and abs. Each body part is given three exercises in a superset. You still do 3 sets of 15 reps at high intensity, and you are still training 3 days a week, but now each body part is worked one day per week. He claims you will reach your full potential at this stage, but he stresses that you need to have gone through the first two phases for this approach to work.
Overall, it is a great book - well written and seems very well researched. The weaknesses are that there is nothing about diet, there is a strong preference for gyms over home workouts, and he doesn't provide exact workout schedules (but he does provide examples.) I would love to see a video series that uses this approach.
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90 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great advice for any woman who works out, March 16, 2000
By A Customer
Before I joined a gym six months ago, I had not worked out for five years. I began weight training with a personal trainer, but after my sessions were up (and I ran out of money) I was nervous about being able to maintain a steady routine on my own. I purchased this book and was very impressed with it's training advice and recommended workout routines. There are many exercises with pictures and explanations that that have proven to be very effective for myself. This book also explains how to work out intelligently- how to incorporate cardio exercises, how to allow muscle groups to recuperate, and how to concentrate on the muscles being utilized in each exercise. The routines suggested are designed for a woman's body but do not lack in intensity and endurance. This is a fantastic book for any woman who just joined a gym as well as those who would like to improve upon their current routine. I'm very pleased with my results and I attribute them to the advice and information provided by Mr. Schoenfeld.
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59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply the Best Fitness Book I've Ever Read, June 7, 2000
Fitness is my passion and I'm always reading books and articles about fitness. After a while, a lot of the information starts to sound the same. What a refreshing relief to have found this book! This is the first book that I can say that I really learned something from in years. It is divided into three parts; body conditioning, toning and shaping and advanced bodysculpting. While there is good info throughout the book, I found the advanced bodysculpting chapters to be of particular benefit. These chapters show how certain exercises can be combined to achieve optimal definition. The sample routines are great and demonstrate exactly how to incorporate the concepts into a total fitness program.
Overall, the book is very well written and easy to understand. It's a great reference that I'll use time and again.
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