Customer Reviews

Sculpting Her Body Perfect - 3rd Edition

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The first half of the book is pretty basic info that I did not find as useful as someone might who is new to resistance training. The latter half of the book outlines how to sculpt your body. For each major muscle group the author classifies exercises into three categories depending on what parts of the muscles are being worked. By doing some or all the exercise he suggests, you can sculpt your body. What I find really useful is to know each of the categories so that I can ensure that I am working all parts of my back, for example. Now I can see that there may be times that I was doing two exercises that were working the same areas. When developing my program, I will refer to each category and make sure I have selected exercises that will cover all the categories.

The book does have some flaws. The author stresses at the beginning of the book that it is important to know what muscles you are working so that you can focus on them while exercising. But when he illustrates each exercise, he does not tell you which specific muscles you are working. Most other books will list the latin names of the muscles you are working, and some even illustrate the specific muscles, which is quite useful. He suggests a limited number of exercises for each category. Some of the exercises he mentions you can't find in the book (such as "spider curls"). When you look at the illustrated exercises, he does not tell you what category it is working. You have to keep referring back to an earlier page to figure that out. There are so many more exercises you could do for each of the categories but he does not mention them. It would have been nice if he had a chart of exercises that you could do without having to illustrate all of them. The book does not have an index either.

Conclusion: I don't think the book warrants the rave reviews it's received on amazon.com and could have been organized better, but half of the book has useful info. When I first started to read it I was going to return it because the first half of the book wasn't telling me anything I didn't know already. The body sculpting section has good info that I will incorporate into my program, so I have decided to keep the book.

I'm really shocked that no one mentioned the fact that Brad says wearing high heels is a good way to work your calves! No mention whatsoever that high heels cause bad posture, increase your risk of injury to ankle/knee/lower back. There are so many other ways to work your calves!

Also, the book shows overhead shoulder presses with the bar behind the back, which is widely considered to be dangerous. Several of the pictures for squats & lunges show the front knee bending beyond the ankle & toes. Even a basic body sculpting class at a gym will give you that form pointer. Further, deadlifts, which can be really dangerous if done improperly, are shown with the head down & back rounded--totally wrong form.

I'm not a doctor or PT or weight training snob...But I've used three different PTs before, and have spent not an insignficant amount of time reading various strength training sources on the
web, and I've never seen any of these moves/forms recommended.

I bought the book b/c I thought it would help me come up with my own routines. It does seem helpful in that regard (hence 1 star as opposed to 0), but the egregious errors make me worry about everything else in the book. If you're using this book, go to a *good* PT to check your form!

I was so excited to read a book especially designed for women, however once I opened it up it didn't take long before I was disappointed. This book gives many techniques that can only be done in a gym, on many different machines. If you enjoy training at home, on you own equipment, you will find that many of the exercises cannot be done without specific machines. The author shows a photo of a woman doing the exercise and then gives a VERY BRIEF description of what she is doing. He never addresses proper form of the exercises or what to be sure not to do in order to achieve maximum results and prevent injury. This book also seems to be focused towards women body builders or health competitors. Aproximately every chapter has a short story on a female weight trainer and they are all competitors. This told me alot about the author's goal of the book, because he seems to think that "perfect" is more bulky than I think the average woman pictures herself. In the cardio chapter the author tends to take off with his vast knowlege of training, and begins to lose the reader with his terms and points that he is trying to make, without giving you some background to what he is talking about. He also is ever sure to point out all of women's short comings and why she will never be able to train at the same level as a man wether it be weights, or cardio exercise (as if that was our goal). Bottom line, this book is aimed at satisfying the more Golds Gym, die-hard iron pumping, G-I Jane type, not a woman who wants to have a sleeker, sexier, but very feminine physique.

Brad Schoenfeld does a wonderful job with this book. It is well thought out -- and moves you from the beginning exercises to the advanced. I have been doing the beginner exercises for about 8 weeks now and have seen a tremendous improvement in my body -- and my energy as well.

It is imperitive that you have access to a gym to work out. Or else you will have to have an extensive gym in your home.

I really learned a lot from this book -- and have every intention to continue my work outs. I know that I can get to the advanced levels -- but I am moving slowly so that I don't injure myself.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about starting a weight lifting program. I have learned more from this book than from the "personal trainers" at my gym.

Kudos to Brad!!

I expecteded this book to contain exercises which I could do at home, but they required professional equipment, which I can not access. If you want a book to each you how to use exercise equipment, buy it, otherwise, don't.

Over the past year, I had went through a very difficult period in my life and wound up gaining more than 20 pounds. I had always been thin and this really had a traumatic impact on me. Combined with all the other hardships that had happened, I was very depressed about my life.

Although my personal problems resolved, I still carried the extra weight. I tried several exercise programs and diets but none really worked and I felt frustrated about everything. I started to believe that I would never be able to get back to where I was.

Then, I was reading Fitness magazine and learned about Brad's book. I was skeptical but decided to give it a try. Upon reading it, I immediately got a good feeling. His words were really motivational and I realized all the reasons that my workouts never really worked. The program was easy to follow and the sample routines were extremely helpful.

After a little less than 3 months, I have followed the program religiously and my results have been nothing short of fantastic! I feel I'm in the best shape of my life. I am back to being a size 4, but my clothes fit even better than they did before. I have more energy and I have muscle tone in places that I didn't even know muscles existed! I am indebted to Brad and his message for helping me regain my self-image and feel great again.

Ok, this is a book for women that really want change and are willing to work for it. I feel very sorry for you women out there that say, "Why should we look like models, it's men like the author that make us feel ugly!" Having a healthy body does not mean you have to look like a model. What makes "you" happy is what is important. It make me happy to not jiggle... Since I have started using this book, about 1.5 months ago, I have defintion in my arms, shoulders, my back is broadening, and my thighs are showing signs of muslces. It makes me happy, and I am not doing it for anyone but me. I really like it because it really doesn't take a lot of time. It's hard and short. That's much better than wasting your time on a lot of non sense exercises getting you no where. I am 36 and I have lost 1/2 inch from my things, and 1 inch from my waist. Oh! Let me tell you to judge by the tape measure. I hve noticed I put on 2 pounds, but my measurements have gotten smaller.... GREAT BOOK! Lee