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Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this informercial!
Review: I have never written a review before because I no other fitness book I have ever read has stirred up as much of a feeling of being ripped off. And I have read many of them including Core Performance, Body for Life, Hotpoint, Body Flow, etc. I wanted ProBodX to work. After not liking it initially, I put it on my shelf. A few days later, I took at second look thinking perhaps "there's got to be something to appreciate about this."Well, not only were my feelings affirmed, but I the more I read, the more infuriated I became. This book is nothing more than an informerical. If there is real content, it can hardly be seen because it is enshrounded in hype and merchandising. Where do I begin? 1) First, there is a blatently self-serving Forward from Barry Sears. This is no exaggeration. He spends about 75% of the Forward talking about himself and the greatness of his diet plan. 2) Then, there is the bashing. The authors spend an entire chapter attacking every popular fitness approach such as conventional weight training, yoga, cardio etc. They don't just point out deficiencies or pros and cons. They just utterly rip everybody else apart while at the same time making the argument that ProBodX is the only thing that really works. 3) Of course there is the merchandising. Natually, you can only do ProBodX if you spend $200 on equipment. Where to do you buy the equipment from? Naturally, from one of the authors' websites. 4) And there is the whole writing style of the book. The same attitude of "this is great, everybody else stinks" pervades the whole book from beginning to end. It reads like a very poorly written brochure. All that said, you're probably wondering if I am kind of overboard. Yes and no. I believe there are probably some very valid ideas contained in this book. But the everything that I have said above utterly destroys whatever genuine value this book may have had. If you are looking for this type of core building building and integrated approach to fitness, the best book on the topic is Core Performance by Mark Verstegan
Rating: 
Summary: Varsity
Review: I have spent six months using Marv's training program, and it transformed me into a new person. I used to lift hard 3-4 times/week, and eat about 6000 calories/day, thinking it would make me a better athlete. I was big, stiff/inflexible, slow, and tired all the time. After 6 weeks of ballwork, I loosened up tremendously, the diet not only leaned me out to about 8% body fat, but also gave me energy all day long. The nervous system work helped me retrain my muscles to fire faster than ever before. So, naturally, when I put it together with the running program, I looked like a completely different person.
I understand that I hit this program much harder than your average person will. That person isn't looking for the same results though. Simply doing the warm-up, ball-work, foot-work, and eating well will result in a level of total body fitness beyond what you've ever experienced before. Once you learn the program, you can do the warm-up, ball-work, and footwork in under 30 minutes. This makes the remaining 23.5 hrs much more enjoyable.
Whoever slams the program in this book either doesn't know much about total body fitness, or doesn't have the discipline to use the program correctly.
Yes there are other programs out there. However, this is the most effective, and efficient, in the realm of total body fitness.
Rating:
Summary: A Functional Way to Fitness, Athleticsim & Health
Review: I'm a professor, certified specialist in sports conditioning, and top level skier/alpine snowboarder. The progressive programs that Marinovich and Heus explain in this volume are basic yet sophisticated, energizing yet effective. I've done several exercise programs for general health and ski/snowboard fitness over the years: circuit training, yoga, pilates, anaerobic lifting, interval training and Tae-Bo. All of these, especially when combined into a yearly schedule with reasonable goals, are effective. Yet, the proprioceptive facilitation, core fitness and holistic body coordination that Marinovich and Heus present here are the best single program you could adopt. They give you several different programs, from beginners to elite athletes, that help your aerobic capacity, anaerobic strength, coordination, balance and agility - sometimes all within a single exercise! At the same time, they explain how this program avoids the burnout and overuse injuries that yoga, heavy power lifting and too much aerobic work can cause.
Rating:
Summary: Good overall
Review: Like the previous reviewer mentioned, this book works way too hard at selling itself. However, the exercises are excellent. I think the point is to teach your body to stabilize from the core while doing sports or just moving generally. It's a full body approach, and you definitely feel like you've a had a workout and a good stretch afterwards. It's kind of like pilates but more functional. It has lots of progressions so even if you're in great shape you'll be challenged. The diet at the end is basically the zone diet except it tells you only to eat organic food if possible, and it has lots of recipes. If you don't want to buy the 'pro bells' then use two small bottles of laundry detergent that fit your hand well and use those. All you need is a ball and the bells to do the 'basic workout'.
Rating:
Summary: Good overall
Review: The book may make some bold statements, but give the exercises a chance. Positions in the book look graceful and easy, but I was really challenged. As a grappling instructor and competitor I consider myself in better than average physical condition (especially with strength and balance). I thought ProBodX looked challenging and rehabilitative(!) in the Men's Journal Oct 2003 article. Having trained on balance balls, rubberized medicine balls, core stuff, etc., in the past with professional fighters, I was wanted to give it a shot. "Minor" back problems, a sore shoulder and lack of flexibility were also some reasons the program appealed to me. The order of the exercises made sense only as I was performing them. I could really feel how much I had been compensating for areas of weakness in certain areas of my body. I could even feel an area of discomfort in my big toe on one side. I had been "babying" it on that side for some time (subconsciously). I could feel stabilizer muscles in my sore shoulder being worked again as I was limiting my movement on that side. Basically, many established types of exercise and stretching are combined in this workout. A bit of yoga spine elongation, a bit of iso-type contractions, rehab movements, explosive firing of many muscle groups (minor and major), balance work. Plus it is fun (especially the pipes)! I really feel great after these drills. I do not have the dumbells so I tried the first 4 exercises with 20 pound dumbells (not the best idea). I used 5 pound weights from then on, and plan on ordering the probodx soft dumbells soon (or dumbballs which look similar). I did not delve into the diet for many reasons. I bought "a.b.s." pipe instead of "pvc" for health reasons. I did not get a balance disk, or a slant board. $24 dollars for the dowells, dowell tips, and pipe, and $26 for the ball. The exercises have improved the quality of my life. There are many good "exercise ball" programs out there, but ProBodX really puts it all together. Every day tasks feel different to me, I feel like a spring. I do more - because things don't hurt. David
Rating:
Summary: Give it a try first... your back and body will thank you
Review: The book may make some bold statements, but give the exercises a chance. Positions in the book look graceful and easy, but I was really challenged. As a grappling instructor and competitor I consider myself in better than average physical condition (especially with strength and balance). I thought ProBodX looked challenging and rehabilitative(!) in the Men's Journal Oct 2003 article. Having trained on balance balls, rubberized medicine balls, core stuff, etc., in the past with professional fighters, I was wanted to give it a shot. "Minor" back problems, a sore shoulder and lack of flexibility were also some reasons the program appealed to me. The order of the exercises made sense only as I was performing them. I could really feel how much I had been compensating for areas of weakness in certain areas of my body. I could even feel an area of discomfort in my big toe on one side. I had been "babying" it on that side for some time (subconsciously). I could feel stabilizer muscles in my sore shoulder being worked again as I was limiting my movement on that side. Basically, many established types of exercise and stretching are combined in this workout. A bit of yoga spine elongation, a bit of iso-type contractions, rehab movements, explosive firing of many muscle groups (minor and major), balance work. Plus it is fun (especially the pipes)! I really feel great after these drills. I do not have the dumbells so I tried the first 4 exercises with 20 pound dumbells (not the best idea). I used 5 pound weights from then on, and plan on ordering the probodx soft dumbells soon (or dumbballs which look similar). I did not delve into the diet for many reasons. I bought "a.b.s." pipe instead of "pvc" for health reasons. I did not get a balance disk, or a slant board. $24 dollars for the dowells, dowell tips, and pipe, and $26 for the ball. The exercises have improved the quality of my life. There are many good "exercise ball" programs out there, but ProBodX really puts it all together. Every day tasks feel different to me, I feel like a spring. I do more - because things don't hurt. David
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