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5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Just say "Now" to fitness Dec 04, 2008
By Anne E. Korsmo
"Anne"
Just Say Now...to Fitness
I have waited for weeks to write this review. My Grandma always said, "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything." So I'll start with the good.
This book accurately conveys the conventional wisdom about fitness and weight control. You can understand the exercises from the text and pictures. There is a clear program of exercise set out. It will seem fresh and interesting to someone who has never taken a physical education course at any level, never listened at all to the many sources of diet and exercise advice on radio and television, avoided any contact with Oprah, never listened to their mother.
But the book's dense text is unnattractive (needs more paragraph breaks). The minimalistic graphics are of beefy men, exclusively. The author says eat less, exercise more, because it will work, and it is the only plan that will work. Okay, true.
Enough said. Take a walk or a hike. Go biking with your friends. Skip this book.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Fills a niche, need more professional layout Feb 10, 2009
By James G. Snyder
"taiji dreamer"
When I first got this book I must say that I wasn't very impressed, the type face, layout and line drawing weren't the professional level that has become the norm, especially in a field littered with books ghostwritten by half of Hollywood and their personal professional trainers. Most of the books that fill this niche have photos designed to titillate, give some trainer's trademark shtick, and sells some overpriced piece of equipment that pauses in homes before moving to the garage sale circuit.
However, once I read through it I must say that I do think this book fills a role in the inexpensive overview of getting people to the gym - prescription. While Gregory Sherowski does sound like a traditional long term gym rat, he was actually quite informed and up to date. The number of sports coaches and personal trainers that advise people to exercise in the mode that they learned long ago proves that most trainers and coaches can't read. The field of research and experimentation around diet, physical exercise and therapy changes daily and I noticed that most of the recommendation that Gregory made were up to date.
Many reviewers were upset with the diet advice in this book but I would suggest that this is just about the right level for this book. Basically eat a balanced quality and exercise more. This is not a diet book, (of which there are thousands yearly that promise weight loss and fitness if you eat color coordinated juices modified by your mother's astrological blood type)
Most importantly the key summaries of each short chapter which addressed why people don't actually get started, and how to avoid early pitfalls, were just that, short sweet and pithy. Many people may be off-put visiting a gym worrying about violating gym etiquette. No one wants to seem stupid asking a question of the long term gym rats--true they often treat newbies like pond scum, so this book fills that void get you up to speed.
Eventually once you've been there awhile you'll develop our own exercise system, your own unsubstantiated opinions based on the system that works for you.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Great For Guys Like Me Feb 09, 2009
By Bob Dog
"My Thoughts"
I feel like this little book on fitness was written for guys like me. I mean exactly for guys like me. Mr. Sherowski has skipped most of the glitz, glamour and complexity to get right at it: "Here is what you have to do in simple terms." He makes very practical, basic suggestions, that are exactly right.
We have all read the articles and we have all gone on diets or programs that haven't lasted. What we need is motivation and a simple strategy, and for a grown man and for many grown women, keeping it simple means less mental stress, and less intimidation.
I have used this book to begin my own fitness program. I'm three weeks in and I'm four pounds lighter. But the most important thing is Mr. Sherowski's advice to avoid everything that you can't enjoyably work into your ongoing lifestyle.
I can't disagree with previous "Vine" reviewers (who have invested the standard 90 seconds to prepare their reviews!) who accurately noted that the graphics and text layouts are minimal. Its as if you are reading a college thesis, rather than a major market publication. But again, I see this as another manifestation of the theme of the book. Keep it simple. Save the glitz for those infomershals.
I give high marks for the very detailed listing (with the little cartoon strongman demonstrating!) of lifting and stretching exercises. Take the time to read the text. Its simple and too the point.
I also give high marks for the comments with regard to middle age, which seemed to written exactly for this "40ish" reviewer. According to Mr. Sherowski, its all about the quality of life.
2/13/09 update: Four weeks in and I'm nine pounds lighter. It was a good week.
2/22/09 : Five weeks - eight total pounds lighter. No problem. I'm still on program. 3/6/09: Seven weeks in - nine total pounds lighter. I feel great. 4/8/09 Twelve total pounds dropped since mid-feb. I feel good about staying on plan. The key is to incorporate this healthy lifestyle into ...my life! Its feels so good right after a workout. 5/22/09 Down 17 total lbs. I think its all about learning to live with life's little discomforts.... and my daughter dragging me out on the road to run a few times every week! 6/23/09 Down total of 21 lbs. so far. Not much change, but consistency feels good, when it appears I've been able to incorporate these changes into my lifestyle. Being healthier is great, but for my fragile male ego, its all about things like my other daughters co-worker telling her I looked hot.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Ho-Hum, Just More Of The Same Fitness Mumbo Jumbo Jan 10, 2009
By Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man
"Jimmy Moore"
I was hoping this book would be different than the thousands of other titles just like it out there on getting healthy and fit...but I guess that was asking too much. Yes, exercise is important and that message comes through loud and clear in this book by Gregory Sherowski. Unfortunately, he is stuck on the conventional wisdom that grips so many people in his profession. Just eat less calories, smaller portions, and exercise more especially with cardiovascular movements to create a calorie deficit and you'll lose weight. I'm sorry, but that's DEAD WRONG!
If someone truly wants to "Just Say Now...to Fitness," then the best thing they can do is start with fixing their diet. Sherwoski wants people to eat a diet with upwards of 55% carbohydrates in their diet! Are you crazy, man? If I ate that many carbs, then I'd balloon back up to 400+ pounds again like I weighed in 2004. How about encouraging LESS carb intake to control insulin, the fat-storing hormone responsible for obesity and disease? That is a plan of action that will get people started the right way towards a fit lifestyle.
Then, when they get their metabolism working properly burning fat for fuel rather than sugar/carbs, the right kind of exercise can be highly effective in burning stored body fat. High-intensity, interval training is an amazing way to blast fat giving people short bursts where the pounds will fall off while building endurance and muscle. And to focus on those muscles even more, a moderate amount of "slow burn" resistance training for as little as 15-30 minutes a week is adequate to exhaust the muscles and build them stronger and faster than you ever thought possible.
This book was a nice try, but there's nothing new in it. Read GOOD CALORIES BAD CALORIES by Gary Taubes and THE SLOW BURN FITNESS REVOLUTION by Fred Hahn if you truly want to learn about what a healthy diet and fitness regimen is all about.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Why this book hits the mark: Dec 17, 2008
By M. Stone
"Frater Iustitia Omnibus"
This book is dollar for dollar the best fitness bargain on all of Amazon.
* For under $15 you get an end to end overview of fitness culture
* You get detailed instructions on performing dozens of exercises
* Pros and cons of gym vs. home training
* Weights, cardio, body-weight, machines, stretching and even diet are covered
* 70 pages of Apendix which included a template for an exercise log
One thing I like about this book is the line drawings. Some will find it "cheap" no doubt, however they are functional, and have all the charm of the 1970's karate courses one could purchase through mail-order. I was not put off by the illustrations one bit.
In fact, in a world where you can barely get a fitness book for under $30 or a single workout DVD for $35, it would be hard to argue agains the value of this little utilitarian tome of beginning physical culture.
Yes it is a book for somebody new to exercise to be sure. So it would only appeal to 80% of Americans. :)
Long story short, there is more than $15 worth of information here, and certainly everything you need to get you well on your way to being fit. In fact, if you worked out an hour a day, sticking strictly to what you find in this book, you would not have to suppliment this book, to continue seeing gains in your second year. How's that for value?
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