Lean, Long & Strong : The 6-Week Strength-Training, Fat-Burning Program for Women

Rating:
Summary: Finally an easy to follow book that women can use at home!!
Review: Bravo! I am a single parent and a full-time student who doesn't get to the gym as often as I would like. "Lean, Long and Strong" is a wonderful answer to my hectic schedule. I have been running for at least 10 years but I don't feel as toned as I should be - the easy to follow step-by-step diagrams has enable me to achieve my goals of staying fit without the added expense of a personal trainer. Thanks Wini for a fabulous book!!



Rating:
Summary: Every Woman's very do-able workout
Review: I loved BOdy Change but found the workouts weren't always convenient for the amount of time they took. I loved Body For Life because it gave me an alternating schedule for workouts but 6 days a week was just too hard to maintain.

Wini has taken the best of her last book and made it do-able for the average woman. I'm a working mom and now have focus in the gym on my 4 days/week schedule. Not only that, it's so effective and a great powerful use of my limited time.

The stretches are an added benefit and as I'm learning from my mom, an essential thing for women to practice to aid in aging without pain. These workouts are completely balanced and the stretches just reinforce the time we need to focus on ourselves.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see the long term results. Thank you, Wini!

Rating:
Summary: Exercises that work. And I've rediscovered pineapple!
Review: It's not quite six weeks since I've been working with this book, and I am feeling so good that I just couldn't wait to write this review. Wini is my daughter and I'm tremendously proud of her for her accomplishments as a personal trainer and a writer. Her last book, "BodyChange" which she co-wrote with talk-show host Montel Williams, was on the New York Times' bestseller list. And she is, and always has been, an inspiration to all around her - not only in the area of fitness, for which she is a recognized professional, but in her positive attitude towards life.

The book is targeted specifically for women who would like to feel "lean, long and strong". That sure does mean a lot of women, certainly just about every woman I know. Of course I'm included in that group. Just because I have a daughter who makes her living helping people attain their fitness goals, doesn't mean that I haven't let myself go. Though the years I've watched myself go from a size 12 to a "plus" size. I've stopped choosing clothes that fit close to my body and find it a challenge to walk up and down the subway stairs. Of course I knew I had to do something about it some day. But that "some day" always lived in the far distant future. And even after I had the book in my possession, I let it sit on the shelf for a couple of weeks, occasionally glancing through it, admiring the excellent photos demonstrating the exercises, but not really making the effort to do them.

And then, one cold and stormy January evening, I made a New Year's resolution. I wanted to lose weight, lower my cholesterol and keep my blood pressure normal without medications. The tool I would use would be the book. So I opened it, read a few pages, and then got down on the floor and tried out some of the exercises.

Wini breaks the book up into different sections to work on such areas as upper body, lower body and "core", which includes the basic torso. There was no doubt that it was the "core" which I wanted to work on and the exercises looked easy. To my surprise, they weren't as easy as they looked. No doubt about it, it takes effort. But Wini's descriptions were so clear, that I found myself enjoying the challenge. It must be her 20 years of experience as a personal trainer that makes her anticipate all the questions. The mental hints are the best. She'll tell you what to focus on, how to breathe and how to really feel what is happening to the muscles. I started with the beginner exercises. I know I'm not ready to move on to the intermediate yet, and that's all right. I still feel challenged by them. I like that feeling.

One of the very best things about the exercises is that they include specifically targeted stretches within them. I've never seen an exercise book that did that. These stretches are my favorite part of the exercises because they relax the specific muscles that I have just worked. I'm always smiling at the end of these workouts, which, by the way, really do take no more than about 12 minutes.

There's also a short chapter on food, a mere 26 pages of this 300-page book. The simple premise of this chapter is about making healthy choices. This is something I know. I've known it all my life. I just haven't been doing it lately. No wonder I was tired all the time. While I was reading the chapter I realized how much I love pineapple, but I never buy it because I think it is too expensive. However, I'm embarrassed to say how much I've spent through the years on junk food. And so I've re-discovered pineapple, and blueberries, and fresh vegetables. I've lost five pounds too. It's not the exercise that has done that. It's my food choices.

I give "Lean, Long and Strong" my highest recommendation. Working with this book is definitely enhancing my life.

Rating:
Summary: Simple, doable and cost-effective
Review: No need to spend a fortune on a health club or expensive equipment. This book presents several no-frills effective exercises to get in shape. The photos are superb and I like the expert additional exercise as I progress. I appreciate the Squeeze Factor & Breath Factor tips she writes for each exercise, as well as safety tips and imagery ideas for better posture. A great book from a sculpted fitness expert. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a book for real people!!!
Review: This book is wonderful! Finally a book that tells you realistically that you can succeed at working out and getting the body you want. Wini's focus is not on spending hours in the gym, but on setting up a systematic approach to your workout to get in and get it done, by doing it right! I was sick and tired of going to the gym and wasting time not knowing what exercises to do. Following the Synergy sets in Wini's book helps you to complete a balanced workout in a short amount of time. The pictures are wonderful and her explanations of the exercise help you to really focus on the target area. She has multiple exercise for your core, legs, arm, and stretching exercise for your whole body. The best part is that you can do the workouts at the gym or at home and only need simple equipment. The main difference that I have noticed is that I am actually looking forward to working out because I know exactly what I am going to be doing and I am getting a good workout and making the MOST out of my time.