Rating: 
Summary: giving it a shot
Review: ... the author makes no guarantees about results. indeed, the research he cites (and links to on the associated website) appears to actually have been done on 26-year-olds.this raises the question as to how effective this exercise regimen can be for those already in middle-age. he does show one before-and-after photo set that is very impressive, but a few more such before-and-after examples would have been more convincing. ...if nothing else, in the almost two weeks of following the advice in this book i have begun an exercise regimen that is more varied than any i have ever engaged: sprinting, weight lifting, plyometrics, stretching, spaced out over the week in a way that is quite convenient. (but i probably did not ease into it as gradually as i should have). there is a definite appeal for those who want to get excercise in to their schedules. apparently, a 2nd edition is just now becoming available with updated research. i will continue the regimen and will post an update in a couple months or so.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down.
Review: I finished this book, cover to cover in two days. I'm a fanatic about backing up what you say with research and this book does just that. I did the Sprint 8 workout this morning. It's the
best workout I've ever had... I don't know what the heck
I was doing before this... but I feel GREAT... This book has brought my workout up to the next level of intensity that I needed.
Rating:
Summary: This really works!!
Review: I have been doing the Synergy Fitness program for two months, and it really works. No hard dieting. It's easier than I thought. And the program works even better than advertised. I am buying another book as a gift for a friend. Cindy Miller
Rating:
Summary: Ready Set GO! Fitness Rocks!
Review: I just finished reading Phil Campbell's Ready, Set, GO! Synergy Fitness program and I have to say, I'm totally blown away. I'd be an understatement to say that I've read a few health and fitness manuals in my time and have always struggled to put together pieces to the fitness puzzle.
Phil does just this for his readers. In the beginning chapters I found myself in awe and saying: "Wow! That just makes total sense!" Yet, by the end of the book my dialogue became more more like: "Hey! I wish I'd written that!" In his 368 page, fully illustrated book, Phil gives everyone the keys to the fitness club. You'll need only purchase, read and apply!
In my humble opinion, one of the finest fitness pearls mined by Ready, Set, Go! is Phil's answer to one question: "What do we do with an athlete over 30?" His answer? Give them anaerobic exercise! Yet, I don't want to give away too many secrets here.
Well, okay here's just a couple more...
In this well organized, lifetime fitness manual Phil will also show you:
Research by research account of the body's physiology and how it ages
How to prevent the body's aging process by stimulating growth hormone naturally
Guidelines for resistance training and competition performance
As well as a straight forward fitness regimen backed by solid research.
My suggestion: Get your hands on Phil's book to devour all the details. I think you'll find (as I have) the only limit to to tapping the fountain of youth - is your own ambition.
*Reprinted from "The New Body News and Wellness Letter" eZine
Rating:
Summary: Promising; worth a shot
Review: The interesting argument in this attractive and thorough (and well-researched, by the way) fitness training book is the idea that anaerobic exercise will promote the release of the Human Growth Hormone in our bodies and thereby lead to weight control and a reversal of the metabolic slow down associated with aging beginning in our middle years. Anaerobic exercise (as contrasted with aerobic exercise) is sprint training, not endurance training. When we sprint we use muscle fibers that Campbell identifies as "fast type IIx" as opposed to "slow type I" used in long distance running. The use of these "fast twitch" muscles leads to the increased production and release of the growth hormone. Since it is all the rage in some circles (e.g., Hollywood) to take injections of the growth hormone at a cost of about $12,000 a year (it is not effective taken orally), a program that allows us to produce the growth hormone naturally would be a godsend. Our bodies as we grow older produce less and less of the growth hormone and this has been linked to what Campbell calls "somatopause," the well-known phenomenon leading to weight gain, middle-age spread and a slower metabolism. I have little doubt that if my body would produce more growth hormone I would be able to control my weight and perhaps look and feel better. I feel pretty good as I am, but since I gave up playing basketball five years ago, I have gained about 12 pounds. It's worse than that, however, because I have lost probably about ten or 15 pounds of muscle mass, so in fact I am now carrying around 25 to 30 more pounds of pure fat! I was able to control my weight with the sort of ease that Campbell describes in this book when I was playing basketball (which is sprinting and more) three times a week. I could (as Campbell claims he can) eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and never had to worry about my weight. I realized in a flash while reading this book that indeed what I had been doing playing basketball was anaerobic exercise. The essence of Campbell's program--or at least the part that interests me--calls for no high fat foods one hour before anaerobic training and no sugar foods for two hours afterward. This will stimulate fat-burning. I know from personal experience that this is true. When you're doing some serious anaerobics three or four times a week, you just naturally eat less, and less often. I always thought this was because my system made me less hungry because it didn't want to divert its energies to the digestion of any more food than was necessary. But perhaps it is the release of the growth hormone that leads to the desire to eat less. Regardless of how this works, it does work. But the problem for someone older than Campbell (he's fifty) is that it is very, very difficult to engage in a training program that involves sprinting because it too easy to pull, tear or strain muscles which take a relatively long time to heal. This is the "catch-22" of growing older. It's hard to exercise enough to get into and stay in shape because you're always coming up lame. However, Campbell presents a carefully balanced and well-thought out program that just may allow those over fifty to get into shape and exercise anaerobically on a regular basis. (This program will definitely work for those younger who are in good health.) He uses the trendy word "synergy" in the title because he believes it is the synergistic effect of the total program, including weight training, proper diet and the combination of anaerobic and aerobic exercise that leads to fitness and an increase in the production of the growth hormone. Bottom-line question: Will this work? Quick answer: I don't know. Campbell himself is the very picture of health with the well-muscled, but lean body of a decathlon champion. When I was fifty I too was in great shape (although I was not as strong as Campbell), and looking back I can say that it was playing basketball on a regular basis that did it. I can no longer play basketball but perhaps I can sprint and weight train. I'm going to give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: The next fitness revolution
Review: The next fitness revolution is here, and it's Synergy Fitness! I was finishing my master's in Exercise Science when Aerobics fired the shot that started the world running, and ushered in the "cardio" revolution. Synergy Fitness is destined to change fitness training as we know it today. This is a great program, and doesn't take a lot of time to get a good work out. My wife and I do this program together. Not only do we get a great workout, but we spend quality time together, talking and organizing our time-crunched lives. We each work at our own pace and don't compete with each other since we are at different levels of fitness. Campbell's book teaches how to get our bodies back to working like their supposed to. Growth Hormone is an important key to burning fat and regaining energy. He has a balenced to fitness. If you're a fitness buff, or just someone trying to lose a few pounds or get in shape, you've got to try this program!
Rating:
Summary: Best kept secret in fitness, but hopefully not for long.
Review: This book deserves a wider audience, and continues to build one thanks to great word-of-mouth and noticeable results. I won't go into exhausting detail because reviewer Dennis Littrell did a superb job of explaining the layout of the book and the thinking behind the fitness plans. I would just add that unlike many authors of similar books, Mr. Campbell is not trying to sell you anything else except a longer, healthier life. He's a perfect example of someone who obviously practices what he preaches. He's also personally answered every e-mail question I've ever mailed him. He cares. The program is not really for the sedentary person who wants to get off the couch and perhaps eventually walk around the block. No, this is for people who want to make their bodies as fit and efficient as possible--regardless of age--and in a reasonable amount of time. I'm 39 and the workouts immediately take me back twenty years to a time where I felt like an athlete. Mr. Campbell argues, effectively, you never have to lose that feeling. A terrific concept, easy read, and a welcome addition to a health and fitness library filled with more style than substance. This is the real deal.
Rating:
Summary: excellent fitness book
Review: This is an excellent fitness book. It is both well researched and well written. What makes this book so good is the fact that if you follow the program the author is outlining, then you will cover every aspect of fitness that is important, the author does not leave anything out. From weigthlifting, to cardio, to stretching, to anaerobic interval style training, everything is present in this program. I have read many other books that make an argument that weightlifting is essential, but leave out how to integrate cardio work. Some books emphasize cardio, but leave out the short "sprint" style interval training that is so important to overall fitness. This plan covers everything! Another aspect about this book that I found favorable is that it is realistic about the time needed to get physically fit. You cannot make great gains in fitness and health in 30 minutes three times a week. However, the plans in this book are very reasonable, ranging from a little over three hours a week for those with less time to plans for athletes that take six hours or more a week. There are some drawbacks to this book however. The first is that while it discusses lifting weights, it does not give enough detail on weightlifting technique. I would recommend that a person investigate sources for correctly learning how to lift weights. The author also recommends some exercises that most people would be better off never trying (hack squats for example.) The author also recommends some olympic style lifts, but these are highly advanced lifts and should only be done by people who have been trained by a qualified coach. I also would have liked nutrition to be covered a bit more. The author talks about supplementation and protien, but a few sample meal plans would have been nice. Overall this is a well thought out and well designed program. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a book that will help them incorporate all aspects of fitness into their lives.
Rating:
Summary: excellent fitness book
Review: This is an excellent fitness book. It is both well researched and well written. What makes this book so good is the fact that if you follow the program the author is outlining, then you will cover every aspect of fitness that is important, the author does not leave anything out. From weigthlifting, to cardio, to stretching, to anaerobic interval style training, everything is present in this program. I have read many other books that make an argument that weightlifting is essential, but leave out how to integrate cardio work. Some books emphasize cardio, but leave out the short "sprint" style interval training that is so important to overall fitness. This plan covers everything! Another aspect about this book that I found favorable is that it is realistic about the time needed to get physically fit. You cannot make great gains in fitness and health in 30 minutes three times a week. However, the plans in this book are very reasonable, ranging from a little over three hours a week for those with less time to plans for athletes that take six hours or more a week. There are some drawbacks to this book however. The first is that while it discusses lifting weights, it does not give enough detail on weightlifting technique. I would recommend that a person investigate sources for correctly learning how to lift weights. The author also recommends some exercises that most people would be better off never trying (hack squats for example.) The author also recommends some olympic style lifts, but these are highly advanced lifts and should only be done by people who have been trained by a qualified coach. I also would have liked nutrition to be covered a bit more. The author talks about supplementation and protien, but a few sample meal plans would have been nice. Overall this is a well thought out and well designed program. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a book that will help them incorporate all aspects of fitness into their lives.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Definitive Information - Authoritative Research
Review: Very rarely, a book comes out that everyone can trust absolutely as a guide to achieving an optimum state of exhilarating health! This is NOT a book telling you how to become so muscular you'll just wow everybody. What the book clearly explains is how you and I can stimulate our body to make more of the substances that cause our ten systems to work as they're supposed to - not to continue to diminish every year of our life. The author presents the results of his thoroughly academic and experiential research in the very clearest writing, with illustrations that make certain everyone understands what he means to convey.
After having purchased several copies of this unusual book for gifts, the recipients were so enthusiastic about it that I decided to take Mr. Campbell's advice. The simple activity of using my ConceptII rowing machine three times weekly for the time required to stimulate my own HGH output caused me to enjoy two excellent results: I began losing weight and I felt more energetic. (I'd used the machine for three years, and I already knew the activity was very beneficial. I had not, however, used it for precisely the time and in the way specified by the author.)
After four months, I had an appointment with my endocrinologist, who'd tested me several times for hormone levels - which were quite low. I'd just thought I was getting on in years and thus slowing down. The doctor prescribed a daily patch years earlier, which made a very noticeable difference. After this blood test for hormone levels, the doctor asked what I'd done to get my HGH and testerone levels higher. Bioavailability and uptake had both improved sufficiently that he decided to discontinue the patch for ninety days, when I'll be tested again.
Ready, Set, Go...is not the usual exercise book illustrating standard exercises and warm-up recommendations. What sets this book apart from all other health-exercise books is its explanation about revving up the different divisions of a natural system. The endocrine system, which is the body's manufacturer and monitor of extremely powerful chemicals called hormones, is what Mr. Campbell has researched and found to be the foundation, the beginning of robust good health. The body can do nothing without them. We could not grow, endure stress, work, reproduce, or even live. Mr. Campbell's research has discovered and codified ways to optimize the endocrine system - so we CAN work, endure stress, enjoy greater vitality (oh, yes!), etc.
There is a bonus to this optimization, beyond really heightened body functions. The feeling of exhilaration and ebullience that always comes with greater endocrine function really makes it possible for those who want it to achieve a harder body - even if one is, lets say, over fifty.
If someone is like me - lazy and often not so motivated to work my body - Mr. Campbell's advice is the most thoroughly researched and most clearly presented I've encountered. I wish I could meet the man.
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