The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Author), (Author) "This book, which combines medicine, exercise science, and weight training, is the result of a collaboration between a pair of physicians with a long history..." (more)
Key Phrases: fashion throughout the exercise, three full seconds, first inch, Slow Burn, Jim Fixx, Protein Power (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Personal trainer Hahn and his physician co-writers, who previously authored the bestselling Protein Power, purport to have discovered the secret to strengthening heart and bones, enhancing flexibility, burning fat and improving athletic performance. This "revolutionary method of strength training that far exceeds the benefits of almost any other kind of exercise" is the Slow Burn-a "tough but short" workout consisting of measured lifting of heavy weights to the point of complete muscle exhaustion. For those with access to gym equipment, the weight should be "so heavy that for the first second or two you feel like you won't be able to budge it" (readers sans gym memberships work with their body weight and a few small free weights). Before describing any Slow Burn exercises, however, the authors spend 70-odd pages trying to debunk most common assumptions regarding exercise and diet. Not all exercise is beneficial, they argue, and some exercise can be downright harmful (jogging, the authors insist, causes, "bad knees, damaged hips, and weak backs"). Similarly, the old dictate "eat less, exercise more" is not the simple weight loss solution it seems, and the book provides all sorts of evidence to explain why (the pages are liberally sprinkled with footnotes and scientific terminology).This book seems more like a good argument for strength training than it does a full-blown revolution, but the exercises are easy to follow and should improve fitness when practiced appropriately.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Fitness trainer Hahn joins with two doctors to help readers build muscles and burn calories by slowing down the weight-lifting workout.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (December 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767913868
• ISBN-13: 978-0767913867
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,752 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, good workout, but we couldn't stick with it, January 23, 2006

By	Ricardo - See all my reviews

Both my wife and I tried the Slow Burn workout for about a month and I thought I'd share our experience. We're middle age and in better shape than average. We ended up switching to another workout routine but not because Slow Burn wasn't working for us "physically". It was working, but it ended up not being a good "psychological" fit for us.

Slow Burn, the book, is good. The author lays out his case logically and makes it easy to get started. He anticipated and answered about every question we had and provided good, practical advice. The home workout described can be done with just a modest investment. As others have said, though the workout is designed to do just once a week for 30 minutes (that's what attracted us initially), if done properly it's very intense.

The book actually lays out two different routines, one for the home with basic equipment, and one for the gym with weight machines. We worked out at home. The first week, as suggested in the book, we did the workout 3 times to speed up the learning process, then switched to 1/week once we were comfortable with the routine and had figured out the appropriate weights. Having a partner really helped with the time-keeping for each exercise. The book recommends getting a metronome. We didn't have one but I think it would help, escpecially if working out alone. The 2nd and 3rd week sessions went well. We were left drained and wobbly but in a satisfied way. But then a few days after the 4th week session we admitted to each other we really weren't looking forward to the next workout, and agreed to make a change.

An intense workout just 1/week sounds good, but at least in our case we learned we prefered a lower intensity routine we do more often. Maybe it has something to do with our age. As we grow older we like a daily routine more. After getting recommendations from friends and some trial and error we settled on the Joe X routine which we do each morning now. Joe X takes more time overall than Slow Burn each week but it keeps us motivated and lifts us up instead of wearing us out. We also looked at 5-Factor Fitness and Body for Life. Though we ended up doing something else, these two programs also seem good and are worth considering. I guess the point I'm making is we're all different and the physical side of fitness is only part of the issue. Like a diet, the best workout routine is probably the one that you can stick with, and it may be different than the next persons.

208 of 214 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good workout, decent book, February 13, 2003

By	Todd (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

So, as people have noted, slow lifting has been around for a while, but this book, along with Power of 10, is really trying to bring it more into the mainstream.

The book is split into two parts: The "Why" and the "How". The first part, the "Why" section, explains why the Slow Burn workout is good for you. The benefits they describe aren't exclusive to slow lifting; they can apply to any sort of strength training. And whiel some of the benefits they describe are pretty well known to people who weight-lift, it's good to remind all those people packed into the 5:00 Spinning class that strength training isn't just for massive guys in spandex with no body hair.

The book also made some pretty surprising (or outrageous) claims -- for example, that an aerobic exercise like running barely improves your heart at all; it just makes your leg muscles more efficient for future runs. Or that lots of stretching does you more harm in the long-run than good. (Come to think of it, I do know lots of dancers with dislocated joints.) And I would tend to believe them, except for the fact that the tone of this whole section totally turned me off. Frankly, it sounded less and less like an exercise book and more like an infomercial. Hey, guys, if your facts are persuasive enough (and they seem to be), I should be able to figure out on my own that the Slow Burn program is good without you screaming at me to "Join the Slow Burn Revolution!" every third paragraph. Enough with the hard sell!

Anyway, the second half of the book, the "How" section, describes several Slow Burn exercises to perform. And they include two sets of exercises: one you can do at home without much equipment, and one you can do at the gym with machines. I focused mostly on the second section, and found the descriptions to be pretty helpful. They include photos of each exercise at the "start" and "end" stage, along with a list of pointers to remember.

I do have some complaints with this section, though. They give you several odd rules to follow -- for example, to do exercises in exactly the order they describe, to spend the first three seconds lifting the first inch and the remaining seven seconds lifting the rest of the way, or to only spend a minute resting between exercises -- without really telling you why any of that is important. That kind of information would have really been helpful. Especially, say, if I needed to improvise or change my routine in any way.

But anyway, all of this is well and good, but it doesn't really matter unless the program works, and so far, it's been working really well. I've been doing a slow lift routine, once a week, for about a month now, and there's a noticeable improvement in my physique. I've definitely gained muscle in my chest and back, and my abs are regaining some definition, too. I also feel great the day after. I'm sore in a "I worked out pretty hard" way, not a "Jeez, I think I tore a tendon" way. Could I have gotten the same results if I had worked out with an old "25 minutes of cardio, 45 minutes of lifting three-to-five times a week" routine? Probably. But, unlike the 3-5 times a week routine, this one I can actually do and still have a life outside the gym.

"Okay," you're thinking, "There's gotta be a catch." Right? Well there is, kind of. The catch is this: This workout saves you _time_, not _effort_. Sure, it's only a 30 minute workout per week, but it's not the same 30 minutes you spend on the stairmaster. This is the most intense 30 minute workout you'll ever have, and it requires some willpower and discipline to see it through. The whole point of the technique is to bring your muscles to failure as soon as possible, and you can't do that if you quit because it's starting to get hard or you don't feel like working. So ask yourself this: Are you not going to the gym because you have other things you'd rather do with your time, or are you just lazy? 'Cuz if it's the latter, there's no exercise book out there that'll help you.

Oh, and I'm not quite sure why so many reviews around here are focused on the diet. The section on diet is this tiny little 5-page appendix at the end, and it's a pretty moderate, "Try eating more protien and fewer carbs" approach than anything crazy. Personally, I haven't really changeed my diet at all.

129 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars slow burn/low carb, March 10, 2003

By A Customer

I'm relatively new to the slow burn workout program, but can say that so far, it's working well. I enjoy the workouts--amazing!--and I already see results from the workouts in myself and in my husband. It's obviously not a quick fix. You HAVE to be committed to doing the exercises correctly and regularly. But it does work. In this book and in The Power of 10 by Alan Zickerman, the authors make it clear that this is not a 'too good to be true' exercise program--I'm not sure why some of the one-star reviewers say the authors imply otherwise. The authors are very forthcoming with the fact that this is a lifestyle change rather than a quick-fix miracle cure.

Additionally, I've read Protein Power and been a low-carber for about 3 years now. Low-carbing, too, is not a quick fix, but a lifestyle change. I also wonder if critics of low carb eating realize that this is the same method of eating that is recommended to avoid and treat diabetes. When my mother and young cousin were both diagnosed borderline diabetic, the diet advocated by their nutritionists were low carb diets. Because this diabetes runs in my family and in my ethnic group (I'm African American) I find that it only makes sense to hedge my bets by adopting this healthy way of eating.

All in all, both the low-carb way of eating and the slow burn method of working out are excellent for me and my family. We have more energy, more strength and we look good! :-)