The Merck Manual Of Medical Information (Merck Manual of Medical Information, Home Ed.)

This reference book is easy to use and understand. When I first leaned of this home edition version of the Merck manual I was hesitant. Over the years many books have been published that are medical in nature, some published by doctors, but the content is watered down or so vague that a layperson doesn't derive much information from it. Some books are actually condescending in attitude, some patronizing. So many books briefly skim symptoms and then caution to call a physician for more information.

Recently my son was diagnosed on the phone by our pediatrician with chicken pox and it was made clear that they did not want to see him for a physical exam. I was given a tiny bit of information by the office staff but was still curious for more information. I spent over an hour surfing the Internet looking for information but found watered down information, repeated many times over on multiple websites, including some written by physicians intended for laypeople to use. I looked at my parenting books written by doctors (one titled "The Portable Pediatrician", no less) and was still lacking any substantial information. When I consulted the Merck Manual home edition, (which I had forgotten I bought recently and had not yet used), I was surprised at the level of information given. There are many details that I had not found elsewhere, such as number of days from exposure to outbreak, how long it takes the pox to change from first appearance to crusted over, about how long the infection lasts, and treatment suggestions. Reasons why some children have a mild outbreak vs. a severe outbreak were even provided, something I had not found anywhere else.

The information here is not dumbed down in that it is not so vague that it is not useful. There is a lot of information here but it is written in a style for the layperson to understand. I appreciated the writing style, which presents information to the non-physician without putting on airs.

Anyone who, like me, prefers to gather information and learn about things rather than making a call or office visit to their doctor to get just one opinion will appreciate owning this book. At about 1500 pages it covers many illnesses and ailments. If you are interested in this book I suggest you buy it so that you have it at your fingertips 24 hours a day, for whatever may arise. I am not suggesting this take the place of a doctor, but I know from working with physicians that there are certain calls that are non-emergent in nature that are not appreciated when the office is closed!

If you are looking for a book about children's ailments that encompasses not only western medicine but lists an array of other treatment methods, I suggest Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child: A Practical A-To-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Infants and Children by Janet Zand. I found this to be an excellent companion to the Merck manual, home edition. The Merck manual gives more information about the disease or ailment itself through a Western medicine viewpoint while the Zand's books' specialty is sharing treatment options grouped by category (herbal, homeopathic, western, etc.).

This hardbound 1,509 page authoritative health care encyclopedia will serve you well. Designed for home use, it covers every major medical/health care topic. Complete table of contents, and well indexed (over 11,000 entries) to make finding the information easy. Major topics range from Anatomy, Drugs, Bone, Joint and Muscle Disorders to Disorders of Skin, Eyes, Immune System, and Children's Health Issues. Many informative tables are provided. You'll find clear, easy to understand answers to most of your health questions. Even though I am a health professional and have access to the standard Merck Manual, I keep this volume at home for ready reference and refer to it often. Well worth the price. There are many books on the market about health care topics, but this one IS AUTHORITATIVE !

Buy The Merck Manual Of Medical Information (Merck Manual of Medical Information, Home Ed.) Now

Let me start with my own qualifications for reviewing this invaluable book: 25 years' editing and indexing of professional medical texts and reference books; 20 years of creating "translations from the medicalese" for the rest of us; 3 years as consulting reviewer for an online health publication.

In this work, I use both the "senior" Merck Manual, which is written for professionals (though many nonprofessionals have been referred to it by librarians and such), and this recently developed "home" version, which I can't praise highly enough. It is literally the first text I have encountered that provides essential medical information in terms the average educated person can understand, WITHOUT writing down to people. It covers all the basic diseases and conditions and many unusual ones, including prevention where prevention is possible. Clear, understandable charts cover such topics as common blood and laboratory tests. The index is superb, so finding things is easy, whether you are coming at the topic by way of some medical jawbreaker your doctor has mentioned (myocardial infarction) or by way of what most people call it (heart attack). Any household would benefit from having this reference on its bookshelves. Even as a professional, I look in this edition first and tackle "Papa Merck" or a specialized textbook only if I need more than the basic information.

Read Best Reviews of The Merck Manual Of Medical Information (Merck Manual of Medical Information, Home Ed.) Here

This is a wonderful summary of general medical information written in simple terms so this is a great addition to the family. It is very current in describing medical understanding of a variety of illnesses, and it provides a solid foundation upon which you can start doing more research on the Internet for the condition that you may be interested in finding about. It even suggests temporary remedies and puts you in charge of how you are treated by the medical profession. This is a must have book to keep around!

Want The Merck Manual Of Medical Information (Merck Manual of Medical Information, Home Ed.) Discount?

This book acts as an excellent source of information for both the consumer and the professional. The book's format is easy to understand, yet it provides enough information to make a good understanding about a broad range of medical issues. I would recommend the book to anyone who is looking for a good source of medical information.

Read More >>

The Teenage Body Book

This book is incredible! I am 40 years old and know this book quite well. As a pre-teen, this book was a gift from my best friend's mom. I learned many things through this book that my mom had a hard time explaining. This book made it easy for me to explain topics to my own daughter (who is now 21) and who felt freely to talk to me about any subject, and still does. This book I passed to my daughter who remembers reading it as a pre-teen. We reference things in the book today since i have a step-daughter who is a pre-teen. I will now purchase a book for her very own. To the moms out there, do yourself and your child a favor and purchase this book. It is a great reference for the both of you.

I purchased this book for my nephew so that he would gain an understanding of the pysical and emotional changes he would be going through. The material was presented in a tactful, educational, yet interesting to a teen boy manner. I just asked my nephew if we should pass this book to his newly 13 year old nephew and he said "yes!"

Buy The Teenage Body Book Now

I bought a copy of this for my boys when they were about 12 and 9 years old.That was nearly 30 years ago,now I am getting one for my grand-daughters. I think it was one of the very best purchases I ever made! The title is a little decieving,as it covers far,far more than just their changing bodies,and in a plain language that they can understand and relate to. Kids get so much mis-information from one another,but my kids and their friends would check to see "if thats really true" in 'The Book'! So glad it is still around!

Read Best Reviews of The Teenage Body Book Here

My mother gave me this book when I was a teenager. I am now 42 years old. She never said anything about it-she just left it in my room. I was so relieved that I didn't have to go to her with those embarrassing questions (well I just wouldn't have asked). She was right to trust this book to help answer the many questions I had as a teenager. I remember my friends sleeping over and how we would pour over the information in this book. I am now the mother of a first grader but I am planning on purchasing this for her to have someday. I will do just as my own mother did-just leave it in her room for her to read. This book was reassuring and informative.

Want The Teenage Body Book Discount?

Read More >>

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

It is amazing how complicated we have allowed our diets, and our understanding of our diets, to become. Even Pollan's most recent book In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto which seemed to be a pretty simple premise ended up being a (wonderfully) complicated journey through our food system. So when I read that this book was coming out, I wondered if it was necessary given the wealth of information already covered. The answer is: yes, this book is necessary.

While there are a million other guides to a healthy diet running around out there, few manage to boil down the essentials in such a usable way. Pollan takes the essential and fascinating information that he wrote about in his previous book and simmers it down into a succinct (the book is basically 70 half pages long) "manual" of rules for eating. While this book retains some of the bones of its predecessor, it is by no means a Cliff's Notes version. This manual is essential reading all on its own.

Food Rules is broken down into 3 sections (and this will sound familiar to those that read In Defense of Food): 1What should I eat? (Eat food) 2 What kind of food should I eat? (Mostly plants) and 3 How should I eat? (Not too much). Each section includes 20 or so rules that you can pick and choose from in order to eat a healthy diet. Some of the rules overlap (Avoid food products that contain ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce and Avoid ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry, for instance) and some seem like such common sense that it is almost laughable to include them, but that is why this manual is so important. It distills all of this complex information that we see and hear every day and turns it into something relatable. We know, somewhere in our minds, that certain grains and oils are better than others. Pollan gives us an easy rule to help know which ones are best. We know that most breakfast cereals are little more than desserts and Pollan gives us an easy rule to know which ones are safe. Some rules are humorous (it's not food if it arrived through the window of your car) and some are serious; some rules are easy and others require a bit more dedication. But what this manual has is a wide range of useful tips that can be applied to any life at any time. This is no complicated diet; this is a little pocket book of sensible, realistic rules to help you eat your best.

I picked up Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, because I have been searching for just this type of book for many of my clients as a New Year's gift. I read the slim book quickly in a bookstore and it is the perfect present for my clients who are not eating healthy diets (but who have confessed they wish to.)

I am an interior designer/organizer and see how my clients eat all the time when I redesign and organize their kitchens. Pollan's In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma are both excellent, but can be intimidating. Not Food Rules--it is short and easy to understand.

The book is divided into three parts and has 64 chapters or rules. The following will give you an good idea of what the book is about: Part I, What should I eat? Includes such chapters as "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food", "avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients", and "avoid foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup".

Part II, What kind of food should I eat? Includes "Eat mostly plants, especially leaves", "eat your colors", and "the whiter the bread, the sooner you will be dead."

Part III, How should I eat? Includes "pay more, eat less," "eat less," and "limit your snacks to unprocessed plant food."

For those of you who desire a healthier diet, Food Rules is a terrific guide that makes understanding what to put into your body simple to understand and implement.

Finally, if healthy eating is a new concept for you, you will find the clever chapter titles easy to memorize, thus making the concept of healthy eating a simple one to learn.

Highly recommend.

By the author of the award winning book, HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT and SELL YOUR HOME FAST IN A BUYER'S MARKET

Buy Food Rules: An Eater's Manual Now

If you got in on the ground floor, you chewed every page of The Omnivore's Dilemma, (464 pages, $8.00 at Amazon).

If you were a second responder, the first Michael Pollan book you read was In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, (256 pages, $7.50 at Amazon), which boils theory and anecdote down to a tasty, healthy feeding strategy.

If you're new to the topic or haven't paid attention --or love Pollan's work and want to spread the gospel --here's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual (137 pages, $11 retail, $5.50 at Amazon), a skinny paperback that says pretty much everything you'd find in his longer books.

Or you can consider Pollan's reduction of his message to seven words --"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" --and read nothing more because you know how to crack that koan and adopt a way of eating that just might save your life.

Why, you may wonder, does a clearly written 256-page book need to be boiled down to 64 general principles?

Two reasons.

Those of us who read about food have, in the last few years, been swamped by the language of nutrition. Antioxidants. Polyphenols. Probiotics. Omega-3 fatty acids. But you can know all about this stuff and still not be able to answer the basic question: Yeah, but what should I eat?

Then there are those who have never heard Pollan's message. They're the folks on the coach, eating pre-packaged snack food, sucking down sodas, serving vegetables as an afterthought. In short, people who are devotees of the Western diet --which is, says Pollan, "the one diet that reliably makes its people sick!"

Pollan wants to help both groups --and break the cycle of self-created disease.

And the quickest way to do that is through lessons so simple even the guy chowing down a Hungry Man ("It's good to feel full") meal can understand.

"Food Rules" may be short, but it's elegantly organized. Part I addresses the question: What should I eat? (Answer: food.) Part II asks: What kind of food should I eat? (Answer: mostly plants.) And Part II considers: How should I eat? (Answer: Not too much.)

These are un-American answers. Advertising trains us to shop in the center aisles of supermarkets. We've been brainwashed to believe that fast food is food. Because we're so busy, we're encouraged not to cook for ourselves. And that way of living works for us --right up to the moment we're overweight and diabetic.

But if we break the cycle?

"People who get off the western diet," says Pollan, "see dramatic improvements in their health."

What does Pollan tell you in these pages? Here's a sample:

--"Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."

--"Don't eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce."

---"Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot...There are exceptions --honey --but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren't food."

--"Always leave the table a little hungry.'"

--"Eat meals together, at regular meal times."

--"Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car."

--"Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk."

Pollan would have you only eat junk food you cook yourself. He'd like you to buy your snacks at a farmer's market. He'd like you to use meat as a flavor enhancer, a condiment, an afterthought. And he'd like to see you hurt the bottom line of pre-packaged food companies by paying a little more for real food that's worth eating.

I can imagine a great many of of you nodding in agreement. And feeling superior. And still buying several copies --to send, anonymously, to loved ones who are eating themselves to death. I can think of no better gift.

Read Best Reviews of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual Here

Clever little book. . . . Michael Pollan has written a book of rules about eating, with brief text elaborating the statements. On first glance, it looks like a slight volume with little substance to it. However, it turns out to be a pretty interesting book.

In his introductory comments, the author notes a few undeniable truths--Western diets (e.g., processed foods and meats, lots of fat and sugar, etc.) lead to lots of health problems; traditional diets tend to be healthier than the so-called Western diet; when one leaves the Western diet, one tends to get healthier. Following are a number of rules (64 in all). The author's hope? (Page xix): "My hope is that a handful of these rules will prove sufficiently sticky, or memorable, that they will become second nature to you. . . ."

Examples?"Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce" (Page 17). "If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't" (Page 41). "Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food" (Page 53). "Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi" (Page 73). Examples? Yogurt, sauerkraut, soy sauce. . . . "Pay more, eat less" (Page 99). Cheap food in large quantities (supersize me??) is normally not so good for one. "Buy smaller plates and glasses" (Page 115).

In a sense, if one can keep a number of these apothegms in mind and follow those that seem most sensible, one might end up better off! So, a book that looks like a one trick pony ends up being much more satisfying than one might expect.

Want Food Rules: An Eater's Manual Discount?

I love Pollan's previous book and I was looking forward to this one. I got my hands on it as soon as I could, but sadly, I was disappointed.

This book is just a (really)watered down version of In Defense of Food. Don't waste your time or your money on this book, especially if you already read his other books. It was kind of a sell-out thing to do: publish a book that takes exact passages from the last book he published, increase the font size, add a ton of blank pages and big pictures and then sell the thing for $11. Um... why? He should have just published an article in the NY Times magazine instead of a whole book. Why waste all that paper?

Thank goodness I work in a bookstore and didn't actually have to buy the thing to read it. If you really think you want this book, I suggest flipping through it first, or getting it from a library. It's not worth $11.

Save 10% Off

Read More >>

Smart Exercise: Burning Fat, Getting Fit

I bought this book because it was recommended in a mens' fitness magazine as being one of the best fitness books of the decade and I don't regret it. I've read a lot about diet and exercise and after a while it all sounds the came, but Mr. Bailey's book tackles the subject of exercise in a more in-depth manner. He doesn't just tell you that low-intensity full-body exercise is good for burning fat. He explains why in a convincing manner and the explanation goes beyond the "standard" stuff you tend to see in magazines. And it's not just about burning fat either. He explains what are the best ways to work out so that you can improve your aerobic fitness or how to train your short-term engery system for sprinting, etc...

Beware that there is some discussion of biochemistry -so you will see references to scary-sounding terms like the Krebs cycle, glucose, lactic acid, pyruvic acid, and triglycerides. However, he doesn't go into horrible, boring detail about these subjects. In fact, having some familiarity with this from previous biology classes, I think I might've enjoyed a little more in-depth treatment of these areas, but then that depends on what you're interested in. Don't worry -it's not super-complicated. He doesn't go through all the steps of the Krebs cycle for instance. He gives you enough to illustrate the points and to show that he knows what he's talking about.

Some might find his cute humor style annoying. For instance, he talks a lot about making you a "better butter burner". And he sometimes makes up silly stories that are not true to illustrate a point. It didn't bother me, but some people might be bothered by his lack of political correctness. He is quite liberal in his use of the word "fat people". He is pretty consistent in calling them "fat" rather than "unfit". Not being into political correctness, I found this amusing rather than offensive.

One other caveat is that the book is a little bit depressing at times in that it talks a lot about fat people (his phrase, see above :-) don't burn fat well, have a smaller range in which they can rest, have difficulty exercising at the proper intensity for results, and basically are just at a tremendous disadvantage while fit people burn fat well and have many advantages in getting fit. Might be depressing to you, but if it's true, you need to know so that you can take the right steps to get on the slow road toward fitness.

I enjoyed this book so much I gave it to all of my personal training clients for Christmas last year. If you have seen those health rider infomercials then you probably recognize Covert. You will be pleasantly surprised with his knowledge of exercise physiology and his great analogies and explanations of how your body burns fat and what it takes to keep it off. Covert has a knack for taking the most complex, scientific subjects and breaking them down so anyone can understand them. Some topics can get a little heavy but for the most part you will learn fact from fiction and get a few laughs along the way. Whether you are ready to get back on track, a weekend warrior or a hard core fitness enthusiast you can learn something from Covert. Take that four letter word D-I-E-T out of your vocabulary and get ready for realistic solutions to maintaining your health and exercising smarter.

Buy Smart Exercise: Burning Fat, Getting Fit Now

Get smart and fit with Covert Bailey's Smart Exercise. This well known fitness author has produced several great books over the last decade. Bailey's clear perception of excess fat as a lack-of-fitness problem is very useful. Although a few very heavy-eating fit people might be overweight, in general "being fat" is a state of not being fit. Attaining fitness will reduce and end fatness. Becoming fit, in Bailey's view, occurs at the level of the muscle cell. Aerobic exercise involving breathing heavily is the key type of exercise for allowing muscles cells to train to burn fat. Building muscle and making that muscle an efficient furnace of calories is the key to being trim. As Bailey says, use aerobic exercise to "be a better butter burner."

The basic Slimming Partner movement recommendation is to move under your own power, especially walking, for at least an hour per day. Although walking is a wonderful, healthy activity for everyone, Covert Bailey would probably urge activity more demanding than walking, such as adding wind sprints to a walk. For someone quite overweight and out of shape, wind sprint would mean just a faster walking pace, maybe with some uphill. Bailey feels that the, the normal walking pace people choose is too slow to provide big fitness and weight control rewards. He advocates higher levels exertion as a way to become fitter faster, supporting his ideas with a fairly detailed view of how muscles train on the level of the cell.

The book's analysis of training at the level of the muscular cell is informative and useful in creating positive mental images of the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise. Graphics are provided that help understanding of fairly complex subjects, energy metabolism with ATP and cellular enzymes. Bailey quickly and clearly states these subjects in ways most helpful to the person wanting to lose fat: Train your aerobic system, which he also calls your fat-burning system. This is easier to do if you can mentally visualize your trained muscle cells pulling fat out of your system and burning it as fuel.

In general, this book is an excellent addition to the library and reading list of anyone interested in becoming less fat and more fit.

Read Best Reviews of Smart Exercise: Burning Fat, Getting Fit Here

This book really will help you be smarter about how you exercise. Smarter, at least, in the sense of targeting your exercise program to reduce fat. Bailey doesn't spend a lot of time talking about cardoivascular fitness as a goal unto itself or building a hard body or other exercise goals you might have. I think he assumes these subjects are by now thoroughly covered by others. And although he does talk some about diet, this is no diet book. He focuses on the correct exercise approach to getting rid of fat.

For the most part, this book succinctly describes Bailey's account of the biochemistry of burning fat. He describes how fat is (and isn't) burned by the body and how to increase its fat-burning efficiency.

The book is somewhat technical and therefore dry for those not fascinated by biochemistry. Bailey tries to make up for this with insufferable cleverness. But the book is well worth toughing it through. It's not terribly long, and an investment of a couple of hours will arm you with enough knowledge to structure your workouts for maximum fat-burning efficiency, if that is one of your goals. Which kinds of exercise increase the body's ability to burn fat? Which kinds of exercise actually burn the fat most efficiently? They are not the same kinds of exercise, and both kinds need to be developed. There are also sections on improving athletic performance that are probably insufficient for serious athletes but which are very helpful for active amateurs like me.

I read the book about a year ago, and, although it wasn't the most entertaining book I've ever read, it has really helped my understanding of how to train and (yes) how to burn fat. I've really benifited from it.

Want Smart Exercise: Burning Fat, Getting Fit Discount?

Covert Bailey is a master at making physiology easy to understand for the average person. If you are looking to improve your health and get into better shape, then you should have this title on your bookshelf. It does a great job of helping you to understand what works and what doesn't.

Much like Bill Phillip's book Body For Life, this book stresses that exercise is the key to reducing fat and improving overall health. It explains why diet alone won't help you to lose weight permanently, and what the benefits of cardiovascular exercise are.

When you finish reading this book, you will have a basic understanding of how the human body works, what makes people gain weight, how muscle is formed, how fat is formed and how to take it off permanently. Medical techno-babble is translated into terms that absolutely anyone can understand. His humor and amusing metaphors make for an enjoyable reading experience as well.

...This book is worth way more than it sells for. It is packed with useful information, good science and great advice.

Save 24% Off

Read More >>

The Ultimate Fit or Fat

Covert Bailey has finished off his Fit Or Fat series with The Ultimate Fit or Fat. This small book, only $11, quite adequately summarizes what you need know to achieve fitness and escape fatness, Bailey's quest for over 20 years now.

Covert has always been keen on the physiology of fat burning, especially in the role of fat-burning enzymes. He covers these in more detail in some of his earlier works but summarizes by advising that aerobic exercise should be "gentle enough so that the muscle burns fat rather than sugar," but "hard enough to stimulate the growth of new fat-burning enzymes.

The basic enhancement of fat burning enzymes takes place during and after exercise, as they replenish muscle tissue's stores of glycogen, sugar ready to be used. He reminds us that when we exercise aerobically, such as in fast walking, we best stimulate fat burning enzymes and with them, fat loss. But he also again makes the point that even better conditioning and fat burning may be accomplished with wind sprints, simple sub-minute bursts of greater exertion. Wind sprints are defined as short bursts of more intense activity, such as jogging for a walker or actually sprinting for a runner. He notes that it is in the recovery phase of these sprints where the most fat burning actually takes place.

Please check the actual book for guidelines, as these can be important depending on your age and condition before pushing up your intensity.

Nutrition, a topic vital to weight control, is little covered in this book and addressed better in earlier works, such as Fit or Fat Target Diet. He does admonish readers to stop "putting grease on top of your food." He focuses here instead on upping your metabolism with aerobic activity, wind sprints, weight training and cross conditioning. The book presents a complete set of weight lifting routines using your own body weight to provide resistance. He offers ways to calculate approximate body fat and determine heart rate for safe and effective exercise.

Covert Bailey converts your pace for covering a mile with moderate exertion into an interesting metric of your general health. He quite correctly shows how your ability to cover a mile in say, 12 minutes or nine minutes does give a strong indicator of your general health and well-being, physical condition, and body fat. As a side benefit, his focus on pace and the benefits of wind sprints can quickly lead one to move a bit faster during daily exercise.

All in all, this is an excellent volume for anyone plagued by overweight. Especially at a time when book stores are overflowing with questionable best sellers on food types and overweight, Covert Bailey's basic and well-stated grounding on our daily activities and fitness being the real cures of fatness have a renewed importance.

While there are more advantages than disadvantages to living in an age where we can get so much information about anything, it's a relief to read something simple and sensible about exercise and fitness. Bailey never makes you scratch your head trying to figure out what he means or undermines his own credibility with impossible promises.

I also love that the program he outlines is so simple and straight-forward. In case you can't translate into the latest fitness lingo, he's advocating interval training as the keystone of losing fat (with cross-training and weight-lifting playing a supporting role). I've been doing all of the above for a while and seeing results, but now I finally understand that it's not a good idea to push myself so far I hurt.

Although Bailey is emphatic that this is not a book about dieting or nutrition, again, his good sense comes through even there. This book is anti-diet in the way the American public has come to understand it. Bailey doesn't advocate that we eat like pigs and cautions against over-indulgence, but basically advocates a straight-forward eating plan where we stay away from fats and sweets. He cautions that while exercise is ultimately how we'll stay fit and healthy, we can eventually undermine that if we eat badly. Again, pretty reasonable.

A word of warning: this is not for people who want to look like size 0 supermodels or brawny weightlifters. This is for people who want to get or stay in good shape and sustain it for the rest of their lives. He has some very good (and simple) tools for figuring out just how fat you really are and what you should weigh. A lot of people will be surprised to find they only need to lose 5 pounds, not 15, and that losing that extra 10 will make them less fit, not more.

Buy The Ultimate Fit or Fat Now

I am a high school health/nutrition teacher and included "The Ultimate Fit or Fat" on my optional reading list. (Each student has to read at least one book from the optional list.) Some of the students chose the fit or fat book, word got around about how much they liked it, and I would guess that at least 80% of the students ended up reading it. I'd see students with tape measures using the book's body fat test on all their friends. A couple of parents even called me to find out what kind of "magic" I had used on their kids because the kids were actually recommending that the parents read the book. This book is excellent. I'm going to make it REQUIRED reading from now on.

Read Best Reviews of The Ultimate Fit or Fat Here

If you've read any of Covert Bailey's earlier books, this one will seem very familiar. Many sections are lifted word-for-word from previous versions of Fit or Fat. But if you're not yet a "Covert convert," this is the only one of his books you need to read. The information is straightforward, accurate, easy to understand and, most of all, helpful. There's also a healthy dose of humor. You'll be healthier and happier if you get with and stay with Covert's program.

Want The Ultimate Fit or Fat Discount?

Covert Bailey remains a strong proponent of the fitness-health connection, and is an entertaining writer. Overall this book is pretty good. There are several pieces of misinformation though:

1. He makes the common "low intensity exercise" mistake of depicting fat-burning vs sugar-burning as a black and white issue. At higher exercise intensity levels, you don't suddenly switch to burning sugar instead of fat, you just burn a higher percentage of calories from sugar. But since you are also burning more total calories, you'll burn more fat than when exercising at lower intensities, AND burn more sugar. Further, higher intensity exercise leaves the metabolism higher so continues to burn calories after exercise (he mentioned this effect for weight lifting but missed it for other types of anaerobic exercise).

2. In addition to his incorrect prejudice against swimming (mentioned by another reviewer), he also incorrectly states that bicycling burns little fat. At slow speeds bicycling is comparable to walking in rate of calorie (and fat) burning, at higher speeds it is comparable to running. Just check any of the calorie calculators on the web to confirm this.

3. I think he is still missing one of the main points of the value of weight lifting, which is to reverse the continual muscle loss that occurs with aging in sedentary people.

Save 25% Off

Read More >>

You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises

UPDATE: There is now a companion app for iPhone available on the app store! Search for "You Are Your Own Gym" on iTunes. This app goes great with the book since it allows a user to use timers for the workouts.

INTRO

This is an awesome book with a great introduction using the author's military experience. I've been using the workouts for a short while and already notice my ass getting kicked by stuff I wasn't doing in the gym.

PRO'S

* The 10-week workout plans are awesome, and the beginner workouts will challenge strong guys that come from a weight training background. They are written in such a way that a beginner can jump in and get in shape with less than an hour a day (usually 15-30 minutes). They are very detailed and describe which exercises to do on which days. They also describe what type of set/repetition methodology to use, such as: ladders, tabatas, interval sets, etc. Slowly the workouts transition from high-volume/low-intensity to high-intensity/low-rep and finally alternates between the two rapidly. It may remind a lot of people of P90X, except it's a fraction of the price and with more sensible theory explained.

* This book is an excellent fitness reference with over 100 bodyweight exercises categorized by one of the following types:

PUSH, PULL, LEGS, and CORE. In addition to this, there is a set of exercises that develops all of the body's muscles.

* The theory behind the programs are also included so that users can formulate their own programs.

* Almost all of the workouts in the book can be done inside with minimal equipment. Great for people who travel or are on a budget.

* People who weight train at the gym a lot will notice they are getting more range of motion and working out more muscles. E.g. If you do squats at the gym, the side lunges and 1-legged Romanian dead lifts will hit other muscles you neglected while improving stability.

* Diet theory and suggestions are included in a dedicated chapter, but not so much data that it overloads the reader. The main emphasis of the book is still on exercises.

BOTTOM LINE

Great job Mark on putting together these 10-week programs. This is a great book and I hope to buy another copy from the next edition of "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren!

The lack of quality editing greatly harms this otherwise wonderful book. Whoever edited the book should have known that to lose weight is not to "loose weight." But, because the contents of the book are so valuable, I won't take any stars away from my opinion of it.

I'm told a second printing is in the works (may be out by now) and hopefully all these messy things will be fixed. That doesn't help those who bought the book in its current state, however. Get the second printing if you can wait.

Now to the contents of the book . . .

I was very impressed by the fact the author, Mark Lauren, says straight out that he doesn't train movie stars. He trains men and women to survive, to be able to function well in life. That's what's really needed. The good looks, the great body, come as a side effect but is not the goal.

Lauren says, "I want you to understand, unlike many other fitness authors, I do not train movie stars, television celebrities, models, or other personalities whose livelihoods hinge on being fit. I train those whose lives do. For a decade I've used bodyweight exercises to create the leanest, strongest, most confident people of our civilization."

"This book comes to us at a time when, despite their best intentions, most people are too crunched for time and money to devote enough of either to attaining their fitness goals. In this age of information we are bombarded with incorrect advice, useless gadgets and pills, and pure hype. The methods outlined by Mark Lauren are proven and time tested. I know because I've seen his results. I've commanded the best of the best, and Mark's training has helped make them that way. Now he has honed his program into one for every man and woman." That's what John T. Carney Jr., Colonel USAF says in the forward. And that pretty much sums up what you'll get from the book. And that's a lot!

This is powerful stuff. It really spoke to me because I'm all about functional training. I don't care so much about the shape of my butt as the shape of my health. I care less about the numbers of the circumference of my butt than the numbers of my blood pressure. The fact that these exercises make me look good is just a wonderful side effect!

Mark says that in less than two hours per week you can get as fit as an elite warrior. I follow the PACE program of Dr. Al Sears and the way he trains and his philosophy works hand in glove with what you'll learn in this book. In fact, let me recommend Sears book to you. Pace: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution

Mark says, "The popularity of training equipment, systems, and fad diets is mostly the result of marketing --not a genuine attempt to help a generally out-of-shape society reach higher levels of fitness and well-being. In this age, where our homes and gyms are cluttered with fitness gadgets, the simplest and most effective method for developing strength and losing fat has been largely overlooked ---knowing how to train using nothing more than your body."

He adds, "Most weight training exercises isolate only certain muscles, requiring a fairly small portion of your body's total muscle mass, unlike bodyweight exercises that incorporate many at once. These exercises have the added benefit of being much more demanding of core strength (6-pack anyone?) than exercises that require weights and machines."

The heart of the program is interval strength training. This is one area where these exercises work well with PACE.

Many people are turning from aerobics (cardio) and other forms of exercise because of injury and discomfort as they age. The author says, ". . . things like running are extremely high-force, damaging to your knees, hips and back." Oh, is this ever true! And when you get my age, you'll really feel it if you've spent a lifetime pursuing these activities.

Even Kenneth Cooper who started the aerobic era now says it's a bad thing.

Mark says, ". . . interval strength training is superior to aerobic activity in burning fat, as well as building strength, speed, power, and even cardiovascular endurance. All this in far less time than tedious 'cardio' sessions."

I like the fact this is a no-nonsense book. Moreover, Mark doesn't limit the information to men like many military and fitness writers. He writes to both men and women and treats both equally. He gets lots of points with me for that and I appreciate it. We all face survival and the need to function in daily living, regardless of our sex.

There's also a nutrition section in the book. No recipes. Just some good, solid nutrition advice that's pretty much on the mark as far as I'm concerned.

In some of the exercises you will need some sort of equipment. But it's equipment most anyone has around the house such as a broom or telephone book. You won't need any equipment with most of the exercises, however.

Frankly, in the few exercises that suggest a phone book, I'd rather use dumbbells. But, if you're in a hotel room, a phone book is handier.

I put a bar between two chairs to do the chin-ups. You can also use a broom, anything that won't break.

He gives all sorts of ways to work out. I like the Tabatas: 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest, for 8 rounds, for a total of 4 minutes. It's a total 15 minute workout. On the days I do PACE, I use a different interval. But the results are great!

Of the exercises Mark says, "Many of these 111 exercises I developed and named myself, others are little known gems, and still others are classics modified in new ways. Each exercise description detail a single repetition. Obviously, you should do multiple repetitions for multiple sets with rest in between sets. For more advanced athletes, typically each set should be done until you hit muscle failure and cannot do another rep."

There are also variations at the end of some of the exercises. You can make them easier or harder. And yes, these exercises are safe and effective for both young and old. If forty is so far in the rear view mirror that it's disappeared from view, as in my case, have no fear. If I can do it, you can do it. And if you're young, you would be well advised to get going on this right now. These exercises will keep everyone who does them functioning for life and able to take care of themselves in any event.

If you've done power yoga, you've done many of these exercises. One of his exercises is simply a combination of the sun salutation, down dog and the cobra. If done in a flow, as in power yoga and as the author advises, it's a powerful exercise that works almost every muscle. Mark calls it "Dive Bombers" and says it's for the "pectorals, triceps, deltoids and core."

He also rates the exercises from 1 to 4 with one being easy and 4 being the most difficult. Many are combinations and almost all of them can be modified.

Very good photos of each step of the exercises are presented. Then the author gives us his program. You can select how you want to set up your program. He gives you a number of workouts or you can do your own.

There are programs for endurance, power, intervals, supersets and undulating. They cover a number of weeks. Then you change off. Fact is, there is a program here for anyone. But, you can always do things your own way.

At the end of the book there's a helpful appendix called "The 6 necessary training principles behind any successful program." There is another one called "The science behind the program." There is also a useful appendix called "Household Equipment", which as it sounds describes items around the house you'll find useful in some of the exercises.

I opened this book expecting to find just another workout book by another fitness "guru". What I discovered was a wonderful adventure written by a no-nonsense guy who knows what he's doing and who presents it in a really great way. He trains for function, not beauty. And function is what gets us through life and helps us survive when called on to do so.

Highly recommended.

Susanna K. Hutcheson

Buy You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises Now

Just started using this exercise book and being a 50 year old woman found the excercises not only easy to use but am noticeing faster results than my old regimine at the gym where I was using the equipment. I have more time being able to do them at home which is a big plus in my busy schedule.

Read Best Reviews of You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises Here

I always remember a football player friend telling me many many years ago that after he had been injured, he'd been put on a special program where he was only allowed to use bodyweight exercises to build strength and that he had originally laughed at the idea but after a couple of months of it was astounded to feel stronger and fitter than he'd ever felt in his life. This had always stuck in my head and I had often wondered about the validity of bodyweight exercise vs pumping weights.

So when I saw this book I thought it looked interesting enough to buy. I could never have envisaged the way it would change my life. When I was younger I had been a gym junkie and runner but now at the age of 40 hadn't done any real exercise for a few years. But this book has changed EVERYTHING! His workouts are amazing! The variety of exercises is staggering and after 20 weeks of exercise, 5 days a week, I am STILL not bored! My body has gone from a flabby out of shape lump to firm, toned and lean as hell. Everyone I know has commented on the amazing transformation.

I started on the intermediate 10 week program and followed it religiously every day making sure I was quite careful with what I was eating as well you DO need to lay off the junk food if you want to see results but hey, that should be no surprise to anyone. Then I went into the advanced 10 week program and am now just about to finish that. My strength gains have been phenomenal to say the least. I feel lean, mean and agile probably more than I have ever felt in my life. I hoping to progress right through all the 10 week programs right through to Elite and then I'll start making my own up.

If you only buy one book on strength exercises, this should be IT! As long as you are disciplined and stick with it, it WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! Guaranteed!

Want You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises Discount?

I used to be super fit, cycling 50 miles a day, going to a body building gym (owned by a former Mr Great Britain) and a tonne of other sports. My resting heart rate was 40bpm in the morning. I've since grown up, got busy and become a lot less fit. I just started going to the gym again and I thought I was making decent progress and wasn't going to give this type of exercise the time of day. After a short period of time I was pressing 90lb dumbbells and feeling good again. This body weight stuff looked too easy. Big mistake. I've only just started this program but I can already tell it is a lot better for my body and it makes the gym feel easy no matter how hard you push it at the gym.

Can you, mr big gym man, do a spiderman? I doubt it. The compound exercises and techniques like ladder and so on combine together to give you a much more practical type of fitness. I don't know about you, but when lifting, hauling, pushing things in the real world, I don't get to support my back against a seat back and use an isolated muscle! This type of fitness will really grow your stabilizing muscles so much more.

At first, I laughed at exercises like burpees. Really not laughing after even just 20 of them, never mind 50 100.

Really looking forward to being able to do some of the level 4 exercises like the spiderman and that one where you do a push up but also lift your legs!

I don't care if some of this stuff is like yoga but renamed, or exercises that have been taught for centuries. It is well thought out and communicated in such a way as to make it accessible to everyone.

ps, I just calculated that I would create $600,000 of savings by putting my $45 gym membership in a good growth stock mutual fund for the next 40 years (accounting for inflation so the $45 would increase by 3% also).

__________

I just came across my review and had to add to it for my experience one year or so later. For most of this year, I was saving my business and trying to spend the very little down time I had with my family. So with all of that, I neglected the plan and doing so definitely affected my health and how well I was taking care of myself. I've only just got gotten back onto the First Class plan (plan 2 of 4) and I'm on week 7. I feel so much better than I did 7 weeks ago and it that short amount of time, I've progressed much quicker than I ever did at pushing iron around. Now, when I have a busy week at work, I'm more careful to get that session in, even at a lunch break, because I know I need to in order to be 100% at work and home.

FUNCTIONAL: This time around I've really appreciated the functional side to this fitness. I moved office this week and wasn't ever afraid of injuring myself from lifting incorrectly or having to carry heavy, awkward objectives. You can get strong at a gym but the compound exercises set me up perfectly for all the full body lifts, pushes, pulls and holds I had to do. To me, that's functional. Even if you're a specialist in some sport and functional means something else to you than it does for me, I think having a strong core, better flexibility and balance along with the proficiency of having practiced lots of full body movements in the program makes for a real-world functional body. You can't rely on the guidance and support of a machine when lifting heavy goods so why would you train by using a some type of squat machine in the gym?

He has an iphone and android app and to be honest, that is what has made a huge difference this time around. I don't need to find the table in the book/ebook and then refind an exercise if I'm not sure about it and all that jazz. I put my iphone in my armband, turn the app on and press 'Start workout'. It then guides me through the whole thing with timers and rest periods along with pictures and writing on each exercise and type of workout (ladders/tabatas/supersets etc.). This solved my biggest frustration so now all have to think about it doing the work! Having said that, I would strongly recommend reading the book first, then getting the app. I've recommended the app to many friends and without reading the book, they want to pick and choose exercises from it but I know they don't. The understanding you gain from the book shifts your perspective on the body weights so you take a more purposeful approach rather than throwing in a few body weights you pick from an app.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, David.

______

Just came across this and had to give it another update. I mentioned in the last update that I was in week 7 of of plan 2 of 4, that's the First Class program. I finished that up and then went into and completed the Master Class program. I didn't mention his periodization before and I think that is a big part of the success of his programs. In his traditional programs you basically change your routine every 2 weeks. So for two weeks you may be focusing on endurance, then for 2 weeks you may focus on strength, then power and so on. Not only does this work with your body so you don't plateau but it's also mentally beneficial too. It gives you a bit of a break and provides different short-term goals. One week you're trying to stay consistent and hit a high number of reps then you do a strength block and you're trying to hit some low numbers before or by the time you fail and cannot do any more.

This plan is now my winter training plan and I use the exercises throughout the other seasons for my core. I've made this switch only because I've started cycling again after a 9-year hiatus and that requires very sport specific training. I only have time to train for one thing each day so it's cycling now. However, I'm really missing my upper body strength as I had gotten to the point where I coud do one-arm pushups quite easily and handstand pushups were also a brease. I'm looking forward to getting back into it here soon. When early spring comes and I'm putting more focus back on cycling again, I'll make sure I don't completely turn this program off again but rather do maintenance during the cycling season instead.

Lastly, I've had a personal trainer for my cycling and he has prescribed for me specific workouts according to my cycling goals and my weekly schedule. To be honest, the YAROG is almost on par with this high level of personal training because it's done so well and because it doesn't take a lot of time each day. My cycling trainer has state champion athletes and has won national pro races himself so I don't say this lightly. When it comes to overal strengthening and fitness, these programs feel like they are tailor made for you if you just do what he says.

Save 19% Off

Read More >>