The Navy Seal Workout : The Compete Total-Body Fitness Program

Rating:
Summary: Pulling your own weight...
Review: Navy SEALs are renowned the world over as being among the most-physically fit men alive. In this book, Mark De Lisle, who became a Navy SEAL at age 27, adapts various workout routines and methods from his training to be useful to the 'average' civilian who wishes to work out hard.

There is no substitute for Navy SEAL training, and if you are looking for precise programmes of fitness routines and performance standards of SEALs here, you will be disappointed. For one thing, most people cannot come by the equipment required in SEAL fitness training. However, there are standards and performance measurements that can be attained in a number of ways, and De Lisle provides a good adaptation here that calls for a minimum of special equipment and settings, but still requires a maximum of dedication and drive.

De Lisle provides a brief description of the history of the SEALs as well as his own introduction to the training. De Lisle is an inspiring writing, giving details of his own performance failures and working through these - one thing he emphasises over and over is that determination and definite goals are important.

The first section is on stretching, an often overlooked part of training. Pre-workout stretching should take at least 15 minutes following these routines. In all, there are 18 different stretching exercises detailed. Each has description and basic photographs of the movements. There are stretches for all parts of the body, upper, lower, etc., as well as some stretches that could be done by two people. Working out in pairs can help with motivation.

The second section is on upper-body workouts. It is very tough. Five of the ten exercises listed are variations of pull-ups, and four are variations of push-ups. For these, some place for doing pull-ups will be necessary, as well as dips. De Lisle gives charts for beginning, intermediate and advanced pacing. These are all body-weight exercises; there are no weight-machine or free-weight exercises here. This is a book about fitness rather than body-building.

The third section is lower body exercises, primarily meaning abdominals (many exercise manuals classify these with upper body exercises). There are 13 exercises here, that will give a good all-around burn to the midsection. Again, De Lisle gives general tips and hints on exercising and maintaining proper form, so as to minimise the chance of injury.

Sections 4 - 6 look at running, swimming and combined run/swim programmes. There are few leg-strengthening exercises built into the exercise routines, as that is accomplished through the running and swimming. These include sprints, stair-climbs, and other methods to keep the legs and the aerobic system in good order.

There are two final parts of the book, one on maintenance and one on progress charts. De Lisle gives basic nutritional information (it seems few exercise books are complete without requisite but basic nutritional guidelines; these include here both suggestions for losing weight and for gaining weight). Progress charts are highly recommended, as they are very motivational, and SEALs are big on motivation.

The photography in the book is basic black-and-white, no real glamour shots here. De Lisle and a partner illustrate the exercises; in between are a few 'mood' shots, but these are few and far between. The book is really about working out.


Rating:
Summary: No esta tan mal
Review: Tengo uno de estos libros y no esta mal para mantenerse en forma, cosa que no hago, ya que solos lo utilizo de vez en cuando para una que otra rutina de calentamiento, me parece que es un poco exigente la t?cnica pero parece funcionar, requiere mucha dedicaci?n.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best you can get.
Review: This book seems more interested in skinny guys running around topless than serious training. The models they use certainly don't inspire confidence in the program.

Other books are better. Stew's book is great.