Customer Reviews

Start Strong, Finish Strong: Prescriptions for a Lifetime of Great Health

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

 

 

I am a 68 year old retired R.N. and purchased this book two days ago. I have not read the entire text, so you may wonder why the five star rating. The reason is this. At the very beginning of the book, there is very illuminating information about motivation and habit formation. Believe me when I say this information has given me my own PERSONAL REASONS to enter into a fitness/health program. Motivation has always been my one, and most glaring obstacle to achieving optimal health. I applaud the authors in recognizing this very fact, and for addressing the issue with insight and understanding at the very beginning so the reader is armed with the answer to "why am I doing this" question. If one doesn't have a ready answer to that, any program is due to fail. So, pull this book off the shelf, glance at its sensible, and well-researched pages, and buy it. Never before have I had tangible ways to get motivated towards a healthy lifestyle. Thankyou, Doctors

I went for this book because of my particular history, and I was disappointed. I was fired from a job in April, 1968 for obesity and hyperlipemia. Ken Cooper's original book "Aerobics" had been published in March and became my bible in my odessey back to health. As I have aged I have developed leg and foot problems that make a treadmill or road work very painfull to use. So I recently bought "The Aerobics Program for Total Well-Being" to try to integrate the elliptical trainer into my program and was surprised to find that I had bought an antique published in 1985 before there were elliptical trainers. Then I went to the next book, this one, and found it to be a "rah, rah, let's exercise." I don't need to be convinced to exercise, I need specific data; and I found this book lacking.

Dr. Cooper has made and continues to make an incredible contribution to the collective body of intelligence on health and aging. It's just too bad so many adults choose to ignore his scientifically proven prescription for longevity and health. He's the "Father of Aerobics", but his true legacy will be the contribution he's making now for the next generation of Americans - our children - who are plagued with epidemic levels of obesity and associated poor fitness and health. For the first time since data have been kept on the topic, the projection on longevity is that it will actually decline - and decline significantly - in the U.S. in the next generation unless the trend in childhood obesity is reversed. Thank God Dr. Cooper turned down the invitation to become the U.S. Surgeon General in 2006 and began, instead, to focus on the problem at the state level in Texas where some progress can actually be made. As for this book, everything you need to know about living longer is there. The one thing it cannot teach you is the discipline to actually live the program. No book can do that.

I found the book helpful except for the tables on pages (unnumbered)370-374.
Page 370: No labels for the horizontal axis (5th what?).
Page 373: Same here, however I must assume these are years for age. And, assuming again, the values in the body are likely times (minutes and seconds?).
I first read Ken's "Aerobics" in the 60's and continue to be guided by it.

Its an excelent book guide to be in shape all the time, Its easy to read and undestand.

Efrain Vigil

Its my first contact with a book of Dr.Cooper and I strongly recommend it to everyone who wants to grow old in good physical and mental condition!

An invaluable reference. Distills so much of his four decades of being on the forefront of health and fitness research into simple, practical concepts that are easy to understand and apply. Really puts it all together for those over 35 that want to stay healthy into their senior years.

My doctor told me last spring that I had to start exercising and eating a little more sensibly. I dawdled for a while, and then decided to order a couple of books to see if they would help. I got a book by Dr. Weil, and also Start Strong, Finish Strong. Both books are exceptional, and they did the trick. Im 63 and I could follow the recommendations easily. Good common sense stuff in this book. Nothing faddish. I like what the Cooper's are saying, and I've been heeding their advice for a couple of months now. My physical is in early February, and I'm not worried about it. :-)

It may be easy to start a new healthy life style with a bang but not so easy to stay the course in the same manner. START STRONG, FINISH STRONG shows and encourages you, in a very clear way, how to do that. The book provides steps on how to start healthy habits, stay motivated and not slack off.

The story of Rick, who weighed 500 pounds and lost 300 pounds by learning to develop good personal habits, shows that anyone can change his or her personal life habits for the better and achieve whatever goal desired.

START STRONG, FINISH STRONG by Kenneth H. Cooper, Tyler C. Cooper and William Proctor is a very helpful book to teach you how to make a positive lifetime change for healthy and happy living.

Fafa Demasio

I found this book disappointing. It was to "soft and fuzzy" for my personal preference. I had expected a lot more discussion of studies/science of aging and how to best prepare for one's advancing years. Additionally, I felt the book was an advertisement for the services and products of the Cooper Institute and attempting to influence readers to get a lot of medical scanning/testing done. Testing that hasn't been demonstrated to be scientifically valid and may cause people to under go alot of unnecessary costs and stress when compared to benefits provided. This impression was further reinforced after I read the book, "Overtreated: Why too much medicine is making us sicker and poorer" by Shannon Brownlee. A book I would strongly recommend in lieu of this one.