Bottoms Up!

Rating:
Summary: An exercise program that actually delivers!!!!
Review: I began using this book when I was fourteen and have used it on and off over the past three years. I really like the exercises and format, and working out is fun! The descriptions and pictures are easy to follow. I have had great success on this program. Even when I put down the weights for months at a time, I still saw those "firm, sexy muscles" she talks about. A great workout...even for the younger generation!

Rating:
Summary: It works. No more cellulite!
Review: I had bumpy fat all my life, even when I was thin (memorable quote from an ex-boyfriend: "For a skinny girl, you sure have a lot of cellulite."). I had also tried lifting weights before with no success. In her book, Joyce Vedral has come up with a system that works--it gets rid of cellulite and builds muscle.

I used this book to gain muscle & lose 25 pounds of fat, and I ended up with NO CELLULITE. I wore miniskirts for the first time in my life and was proud to show off my strong upper body, too.

Then, for eight years, I was dumb and didn't work out, eventually accumulating about 40 pounds of fat. This spring I decided to get my old body back, so I immediately got out Joyce's book and dusted off the weights. Now it's going even better than before, maybe because I didn't completely lose my former muscle. I'm 41 and feel like my metabolism is actually speeding up thanks to Joyce's workout.

I'm now 20 pounds from my target weight, but people have already started complimenting me on my weight loss, and I'm wearing smaller sizes than I would have expected. It's the muscle. It improves my posture, gives my upper body a nice V shape, holds in my stomach, and gives me confidence and energy. My butt has practically disappeared and my, um, chest is getting firm and lifting.

Joyce doesn't go into much detail on how to avoid soreness. You might want to warm up with about 5 minutes of aerobics before starting, stretch a little when you're done, drink a lot of water, and make sure you get enough calcium, magnesium, and potassium. I do these things and only occasionally have sore muscles, even though I'm working hard and clearly building muscle.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to lose fat and get strong. And it takes only 30 minutes a day!

Rating:
Summary: Forget the fads and go with the BEST!
Review: I have struggled with my weight all my life, especially since I turned 40. For three years, I religiously used a Nordic Track-- 5 days a week for 40 minutes--and it still did NOT change my body shape like this book did in three months! Vedral is so right. Put on the muscle and watch your metabolism change! Without consciously going on a diet, I lost 30 pounds. You can forget weighing yourself. Measure progress through the inches that disappear and then go shopping for beautiful sexy new clothes! At one point, I actually GAINED weight but LOST two dress sizes! Who cares what the scale says when your legs look great in a mini-skirt? Who cares what the scale says when you can sleep like a baby at night? Do this workout and your clothes will start hanging on you in a matter of weeks, even if you don't change your diet.

Forget the tempting Info Commercials with all those expensive gadgets, gizmos and pills. You don't need to waste your hard-earned money on a space-hogging Nordic Track, Total Gym or Susanne Sommer's Ab machine. I have tried it ALL and bought hundreds of dollars of worthless stuff that ultimately didn't work. NONE could do what this book did for me! (Example: I tried the Total Gym and found it very disrupting to have to stop and change the mechanical setup from exercise to exercise. I tried the Ab machine and it was awkward and boring.)

All you need with Vedral's workouts are some hand-weights and a simple exercise bench that you can fold up and slide under the bed. You can pick these up cheaply at any yard sale. Don't fall for the unhealthy fad diets and the " fat buster" pills that only make your wallet thinner. Vedral says the truth. There are no shortcuts. If you want to stay healthy, vital and beautiful you gotta exercise and eat right.

The hardest part is to START exercising. Once you start this workout, it is almost EASY to begin to eat right. When you work so hard, you are automatically motivated to stop eating fatty foods. When you give your body what it needs, the destructive cravings for unhealthy foods begins to vanish. It's almost magical. Your body wakes you up, and says, "Hey, listen to me now. I don't want that soda, give me fresh juice... I don't want that ice cream, give me a slice of watermelon instead." Your bad cravings STOP, your colon is stimulated, waste moves faster out of your system, and your skin begins to glow with health. When you exercise first for your health, the weight automatically does down. It's miraculous.

Something AMAZING happens to your body AND mind when you start to work out with weights. Your posture changes and you feel deeply connected at the core. Not only will you slim down and become firm and shapely, but you will gain an almost spiritual sense of what I can only call "centering," a kind of inner balance... like one sees in martial artists.

I DO suggest that you go slowly and DO NOT try and keep up with the instructions in the book. Even you are already exercising, you will be surprised at what this workout will do. Start with one set of exercise (not three) until you are comfortable, then add another set for a couple of weeks, then the third set after a month or more. Use very small weights in the beginning. I jumped right in with 10 lb. weights and did it all vigorously the first day and was so sore I couldn't move for a week. Dumb. Go slowly and gently and you will be up to target at your OWN speed. It doesn't matter HOW long it takes. You may feel like you have two left feet, but don't give up. After a couple of weeks, it gets SO much easier. This workout is good for anyone from teenager to senior citizen.

My only criticism (and it is an important one) is that the book SHOULD have some stretching warm-up and especially a cool-down to stretch out the muscles at the end. She has said that these ARE included in the Bottoms Up video, so I am glad to hear that. If you want to use the book only, be sure to do some basic stretching out at the end. Once you get good at it and don't rest between sets, you will find that the Lower Body part of this workout is strenuous enough to keep your heart rate up and give a decent aerobic workout too.

I originally bought this book because I admire the gutsy, no-nonsense, compassionate author. Vedral is a model of American rags to riches and her Bio is inspirational and heartwarming. She now has a website where you can buy her exercise videos (they're not here on Amazon.) I just ordered The Fat-Burning Workout Video Vol 1 and the set of 3 Definition: Upper, Middle and Lower Body Workout Videos and can't wait to get them! She also has 6 different inspirational audio cassettes to motivate you even more. (I ordered all six.) Check out the Before and After pics too!... LOVE yourself. Buy this book. You are worth it!

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!
Review: I have tried everything.But this book is the best if you really want to loose inches, try these exercises they really hurt, I thought I was in such good shape, oh my gosh, did I feel muscles I have never felt before. I have her video, which is also great. I really have to admit, I thought this would be just another diet book and exercise thing, but it helped me so much. I also liked in her book how she encouraged you, with paragraphs that said if your 10lbs or 20lb or 30lbs etc. over weight this is how long you should expect it will take for you to loose the weight and inches. A great book, I have bought quite a few for my friends that wanted the same results I got. I felt like Joyce the author and I became friends she just knows how to relate to you in a matter that makes you really want to give it a try, and it's not a long program so you will have the time to do it. Good Luck!

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!
Review: I love Joyce's books. This workout is tough for beginners but, if you do it regularly, you will not be a beginner for long. At first, I dreaded my workouts, but when I started seeing and feeling results, I began loving them. Now, I actually look forward to them. I have several of Joyce's books and love them all. Joyce is an inspiration to all women who may think they'll never look sexy again.

Rating:
Summary: 7 Days and Growing Stronger
Review: I thought a update would be helpful to those trying to make a decision on this workout.After just 8 weeks of doing the workout in this book I feel GREAT. I have NOT dieted with this workout just watching the amount I eat being aware of what I eat. So far my first month I lost 7 1/2 inches, 3 lbs. The 2nd month 7 inches and 4 lbs. I am doing the MAXIMUM plan including the terminator and wild woman exercises she lists as optional. At this rate I should be close to my target after 6 months! The workout is something anyone with 30 minutes a day can do. Having never worked out with free weights I found this approach easy on the mind and body. It took a couple of times to identify and work the specific muscle groups before I could pick up the pace. I am telling everyone I know how good it makes you feel. I use the Nordic Track ski machine and do Tae-Bo for aerobics. This workout provides the strength I have been looking for. It also helps my posture. I am sold! Can't wait for summer (that's a first).

Rating:
Summary: Best thing you can do for yourself!
Review: If you follow this book, it will absolutely work! I did and it did!! I've tried everything and nothing else worked as well as this. Wish I had found it years ago!

Rating:
Summary: It works. No more cellulite!
Review: This is a GREAT book. I would only caution that if you are obese that no you won't be physically sexy within the In 24 Workout Hours, but you will be more sexy mentally since the program will change your attitude. And if you're one of those people whop gets easily discouraged you need to realize that she teaches a tough lifestyle choice, that if you stick with it for a couple of weeks you will see results.

I personally like the emphasis on healthy heart and stronger bones from the weight bearing exercises that weights provide. And her ideas WORK! And have been proven by reputable independent sources like medical and sports fitness experts, to WORK.

She also has an excellent website under her name, where you will discover she is for REAL. She was FAT and got FIT. So it isn't as if she was 10 lbs overweight and needed to lose some weight. But a woman who realized that eating right and getting the physical workout is what was needed. Now her weight and fitness fits her body frame.

And she sure proves that being over age 50 doesn't mean you have to look OLD and flabby!

Rating:
Summary: piece of ...
Review: Those other reviewers are probably people that helped write the book. I had to search all over to find the right instructions to each exercise. Some of them were so complicated I couldn't even do them. I'm in pretty good shape but how can you sit on a bench holding a five pound weight with your feet and lift your legs up without falling backward? Plus there were too many exercises for one workout. I think you could spend much less time and get better results. Joyce says that these workouts take thirty minutes but it took me an hour to get one workout completed. (That's how long they are) The only good thing about this book were the pictures. But that's a given that in a weightlifting book that you need pictures. The other thing that I didn't like about this particular fitness book was the eating plan the author had set up in the book. Come on guys! We all finally know that pasta and starches are not going to make you thin! They'll just add more insulin to your body which will turn into fat and therefore make it much harder for you to to burn the fat you already have!...But back to the book. Joyce should have done her research more carefully and made the instructions easier for us readers....