Customer Reviews
When you need inspiration - By: S. Kavanagh, 17 Mar 2008 
I havent had time for a thorough gym work out for quite some time for various reasons but I decided to make myself a deal & start thinking that I owed myself time to work out. With that in mind this book seemed perfect - the way it caters for the time you have is reallly interesting. I started off with 45 mins/3 days a week & have just decided to add another day in. Looking at the way he structures the work-outs is reallly interesting - each exerise works on a different set of muscle groups so that if you follow the routine you reallly do work out alll the key muscles during a week. A word of advice is to start with a weight that is simple to lift in order to master particular exercises & then you get confidence to move up weights.
On a very practical level I live in a terraced house with kids so space is at a premium. The only kit i have for these work outs is a chair or two & a set of adjustable dumbells - as the book describes it, these are reallly the only tools you need. I've been following this for 3 weeks now & I'm starting to see results & feel stronger. Important note here is that Murphy includes a nutrion section to this book & it is reallly worth reading - eating smalller meals, snacking regularly, eating foods in an unprocessed form & thinking about a genuine 'balanced diet' etc is reallly interesting & helps stave off tiredness & over-eating. I've certainly taken some (not alll) these points on board & have certainly lost the 'bloat' that I always felt I was carrying & never thought I'd be able to get rid of.
Well written (no preaching), brilliantly structured to suit everyone & lots of reallly pertinent observations. I shalll certainly be sticking to this book for a while yet.
Concise but thorough, just what I wanted - By: Lofta, 27 Jan 2008 My bog-standard gym program was going nowhere. So I ordered this figuring I would make my own program, but thankfully, there's no need cause the author does it alll for you.
What I reallly like is that he covers EVERY base, grouped into simple choices.
1. what kind of physique do you want (lean/toned/big/balanced)
2. how many days can you work out per week (from 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 days(!))
3. how long can you work out per session (from 10/15/20/30/45/60 mins)
And then he gives you FULL programs per session/day based on your combination of choices. Plus full & simple instructions on every single exercise, with up to 3 ways of doing each one, e.g. 3 options to do bicep curls depending on the equipment available & your personal preference.
There's also sections on nutrition & stretches, so I can't see how you can go wrong with this book to help you achieve your goals, however much time you've got to work out.
This is exactly what I wanted. It's only been a couple weeks so far into my program but I'm seeing definite benefits & leave each workout reallly knackered. I am being quite strict with diet, though, as calorie intake is key to get the results you want.
Overalll, this book is probably the best one I've seen for normal people wanting to get into real shape without the bs of body-building evangelism. Highly recommended.
Very comprehensive - By: M. Gamal, 19 Dec 2007 It's true, it reallly does give work-outs no matter how much time you have, what you want to exercise for, & how much equipment you've got. There are two or three alternatives for each work-out depending on what equipment you've got, & when & how you do them depends on how much time you have & what you want to achieve.
There are also sections on stretching, massaging & nuitrition.
It is written very simply & assumes you are an absolute beginner.
Nice one! - By: Self-help junkie, 08 Jun 2006 What a brilliant idea! The title says it alll. Figure out how many days you can set aside to work-out this week (1? 2? 3? alll the way up to every day!) & then figure out how much time you can set aside in each day to work out (10 minutes? alll the way up to 60 minutes). Then simply turn to the page of the book that has the appropriate combination of days per week & time per day (e.g. 20 minutes twice a week) & pick one of four work-outs: one to get leaner, one to build muscle, one to build strength, or a total-body workout. Each workout is clearly written out for you so that you can photocopy it & take it to the gym, & if you can't get to the gym, there are alternatives that you can do at home/in the hotel with a minimum of expensive equipment.
I reallly like the fact that even if you can only do 10 minutes one day a week, the author doesn't shout 'WIMP'. He is completely realistic about how the time we can set aside to excercise varies from week to week, & he works firmly on the 'anything is better than nothing' principle. So the whole tone of the book is encouraging.
A great idea & a book that I'm sure I will use many many times & value for its flexible, realistic approach.
