Ultimate Fitness : The Quest for Truth about Exercise and Health

Rating:
Summary: I'm in love with the cover
Review: This book is an interesting reflection of it's author, but disappoints. Perhaps the cover promised too much. The author and her husband are addicted to "spinning" which, I surmise, is the exercise du jour of the New York gliteratti. The book purports to outline the structure and history of the fitness business. Indeed, there are interesting thumbnails of characters ranging from Bernarr MacFadden through Joe Weider (Arnold's mentor). However, major influences like Paul Bragg (who inspired Jack LaLanne and others) are not mentioned. There are summaries of a variety of academic studies (reps vs. weights, etc.) but the usefulness of the information is swamped by the self-indulgent effusions about spinning and particularly the author's joy in doing it. Not a bad book, but hard to recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Basic info & history - but no revelations - why "ultimate"?
Review: This is a good history of exercise in the United States and discussion of basic information on fitness. The author has investigated the more commonly held myths about fitness and written out her findings clearly. However, I was disappointed that there is much more history (at least 2/3 of the book) than real news about exercise. Most of the myths explored in this book have been "debunked" by others before; the knowledge is not new if you've done any ready about fitness at all since 1990. (The only thing new I learned, in fact, is that studies have proven that different people's bodies respond differently to exercise - and that approximately 1% do not respond AT ALL. Yikes!) Overall, this is a good book, just not as "ultimate" as I was led to expect.