Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Body Book: 4 Weeks to Your Best Abs, Butt, Thighs, and More!

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is very detailed with colored pictures, perfect for beginners, intermediate and advanced. Many different workout routines for at home or gym. Also includes info on pilates, yoga, cardio, stretching, workout myths, proper form, the human body, and recipes. You will never get bored with this book, plenty of variety and inspiration!

Great book. Descriptive color pictures on how to perform the exercises is very helpful. This book walks you through each body part. You can work through a program of one particular part or a whole body work out program. One downfall, the whole body work out is meant to be preformed in a gym; wish this wasn't so. The other programs show you exercises for home and gym.

I just wanted a book that would help me get started. I'm a smart girl with a little gym experience who just wants to be healthy, I didn't want a book that talked to me like I was dumb, a fitness addict, or someone who'd never sweat a drop in their life. Thankfully, this book was that. Honest information, non-stigmatic, and encouraging with lots of pictures and great workout ideas. Love the personal testimonials, love the yoga section, and love the perfect amount of exercises offered to the reader. Minus one point for too many "don't I look awesome coming out of the pool?" pictures and not enough information on fitness routines you can do at home or how to adapt your routine to a non-fitness oriented environment. Maybe next edition?

This is a pretty exhaustive workout guide for women. It is a good balance of giving you tips to be successful at working out and eating right (For example, how to avoid injury, how to make the most of your workouts, and how to avoid the excuses for not working out.) as well as giving you day by day, week by week workouts to try.

It starts off with some general information about working out and fitness and then helps you to assess where your fitness level is at so you can decide if you should start with the beginner, intermediate, or advanced workouts. Because it offers all three, it is a great book for a variety of women, regardless of the current level they are at. It then goes on to help you develop a total body workout with helpful color pictures of the movement of each exercise to help you learn each exercise with ease. In addition to the expected strength training you'll find advice for cardio as well as short yoga and pilates routines. It truly does offer a lot of variety to help you develop a personalized tailored workout.

The one challenge, as others have mentioned, is that as written many of the exercises require access to a gym so if you plan to do these at home you may need to purchase more equipment than you already have or make modifications. A lot of readers seem to be doing the later already, but it would be easier if the book gave you suggestions as to how you might adapt these exercises if you don't have access to the machine recommended. They do provide a section near the end of 'do anywhere' workouts, but do not indicate if these exercises can be substituted for others in the total body workout that require a machine. I do have access to a gym so I haven't had to make any modifications, but certainly wouldn't have found this book as straight forward if I had to.

The only thing I wish was different about this book was that I wish the illustrations of the total body exercises were available as tear out cards or flash cards. The first few times you are doing a workout it can be a bit cumbersome to flip around to the different exercises a workout entails (since they are not all on one page) and would be easier if you could simply spread cards out on the floor. Many fitness magazines do this and I find it much more user friendly.

Overall though I have been pretty satisfied with this purchase and enjoy having help designing a workout for myself and making sure I am doing the exercises properly.

This book is a fantastic way to beat workout boredom. There are many different strength training and cardio routines in this book. There's even a nutrition section with recipes. The total body routines helped me to breakthrough my plateau and gain great muscle tone Before this book I relied on workouts from fitness magazines. Now, I only rely on this book for my great routines.

Best investment I've made in my journey towards a leaner, toned, sexier body. There is so much information in this book that has helped me understand and achieve my goals that no other $2000 + machine could ever do. I feel great and knowledgeable about the exercises I am performing now - you really can do your fitness at home and look like you work out at a gym...WITHOUT THE EXPENSIVE MONTHLY FEES!!!

Unfortunately (because I don't want to) I do have to agree with another review I read about some of the exercises using "gym" equipment, but, there are ways around this and it isn't that big of a deal; you just have to be creative and modify some of the moves. Regardless, there are TONS of exercises that don't require machines or other equipment.

You will want to invest in some dumbbells (anywhere from 5 lbs-15 lbs, but I would wait until you get a feel for the exercises that use weights, you may need to increase or decrease depending on your starting strength). You will also want to invest in a stability ball and maybe an exercise matt for the floor. All of these items are relatively cheap compared to other exercise equipment - anyway you look at it it is a smart investment.

This is a must read and a must have for anyone looking to get in shape and be healthy. I am so so glad that I made this purchase and finally found exactly what I have been looking for. I have recommended this book to all of my friends and family members...you will not be disappointed!

As a Pro Trainer, I've learned one of the key elements to any successful fitness program is variety.

Any woman who needs variety in their workouts will get it from this book.

Ok for begginers, great for intermediate exercisers.

Joey Atlas - The Wizard of Fitness
www.ButtHipAndThighMakeover.com
www.AbsOfStoneCoreOfSteel.com

This book contains easy to understand information for all fitness levels.
The running program in particular is well devised and delivers what it promises. All of the information is useful and current,its like having a years subcription to a fitness magazine rolled into the one book. Excellent product.

The 400 page color atlas exemplifies the American style of big and luxurious. The book is encyclopedic on woman's exercises and has full chapters on yoga and weight training that suits women. Its print and design are neat. That is in addition to its wealth of information.

Though the book begins with a scare that BMI greater than 25 exposes people to cancer, hypertension, and other diseases, the book still reflects on long and deep experience of its authors on body shaping. That is demonstrated in the extensive number of exercises and approaches to active living. The authors' reliance on the information of the American Cancer Association, without exerting thorough research on the multifactorial nature of the causes of diseases, trivializes such scare.

The only barbell exercise in the book is the Romanian deadlift in a 45 lb bar. The rest of the exercises are done with machines, dumbbells, and bodyweight. I guess that is a practical solution to many people who lack any structured training or education in the field of fitness. The resistance training exercises are done by modern machines and dumbbells. Many photos were shot in exotic places as if the authors were living in a dream state far removed from real life.

Though the fitness industry in many parts of the world has geared towards large scale corporations that reflects on leasing expensive fitness machines and planning for making profit on few decades rather than few weeks, as was the case not long time ago, the book's reliance on expensive and extensive training equipments puts the reader is state of despair and confusion. Since most of the gyms that could afford buying diverse and expensive machines are located in crowded cities with congested traffic, many folks are discouraged from committing to such hassle of fighting traffic on the roads, parking lots, and on access to machines inside the gym.

The book has well done and accurate anatomical diagrams that depict the muscles involved in the targeted exercises. Had the authors educated themselves on the feasibility of training the spinal muscles as a central theme to resistance training they might have turned their book into a reliable and authoritative academic reference. Unfortunately, the emphasis on isolated muscles precludes the book from the genre of rigorous scientific references and limits its scope to folklore fitness training.

Mohamed F. El-Hewie
Author of
Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training

This book should be called the complete exercise book. This book touches on everything. There are sections for the abs, upper body, thighs, hips & butt individually and a complete total-body program as well. They provide ways to do various exercises at home and in the gym. There are even recipes for delicious low-fat meals. The color pictures looked great too. This a well put together book.