Rating: 
Summary: New from the author of Stretching
Review: A unique workout book for anyone who wants to get back in shape, by international stretching authority Bob Anderson, bodybuilding legend Bill Pearl, and exercise physiologist Ed Burke. It contains over 30 programs, each with the three components of fitness: € Stretching
€ Weightlifting
€ Moving exercises.
The authors believe that most recent fitness books are too ambitious for the average person. In the same mode as Stretching and Getting Stronger, this is a simple, visual approach to lifelong fitness.
Rating: 
Summary: A great source of shaping up options!
Review: For someone who is not physically fit at all, I thought I'd be intimidated by any literature that may even elude to working out. This book, with its helpful illustrations & detailed instructions, is a wonderful starting point for anyone trying to get into shape. It will take you step by step & explain why the steps are there in that order. Very helpful & valuable!
Rating:
Summary: A great source of shaping up options!
Review: For someone who is not physically fit at all, I thought I'd be intimidated by any literature that may even elude to working out. This book, with its helpful illustrations & detailed instructions, is a wonderful starting point for anyone trying to get into shape. It will take you step by step & explain why the steps are there in that order. Very helpful & valuable!
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for those of us who aren't naturally athletic
Review: Getting in Shape does a wonderful job of taking you gently from doing no exercise through a complete and well-explained path to being in shape. There are eight different levels of workouts, arranged in order from easiest to hardest, plus special workouts for focusing on particular areas of your body or dealing with special challenges (like traveling or having no time to work out). The easiest workouts are designed so that even people with significant health or weight problems can start exercising at a level appropriate to their current abilities. Each workout has recommended stretches, strength training exercises, and aerobic exercises (with a number of different options presented, depending on what you enjoy doing). The instructions are clear, and the increases in difficulty gradual enough that I actually began to enjoy working out, rather than dreading it. Everything is designed so that a minimum of equipment is required even at the most advanced levels: a weight bench, a few basic weights, and decent shoes for your aerobic workout of choice are about all it takes. This is the best book of its kind, in my opinion: it is a practical and reasonable guide to getting in shape for those of us who have lives that otherwise don't include exercise.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for those of us who aren't naturally athletic
Review: Getting in Shape does a wonderful job of taking you gently from doing no exercise through a complete and well-explained path to being in shape. There are eight different levels of workouts, arranged in order from easiest to hardest, plus special workouts for focusing on particular areas of your body or dealing with special challenges (like traveling or having no time to work out). The easiest workouts are designed so that even people with significant health or weight problems can start exercising at a level appropriate to their current abilities. Each workout has recommended stretches, strength training exercises, and aerobic exercises (with a number of different options presented, depending on what you enjoy doing). The instructions are clear, and the increases in difficulty gradual enough that I actually began to enjoy working out, rather than dreading it. Everything is designed so that a minimum of equipment is required even at the most advanced levels: a weight bench, a few basic weights, and decent shoes for your aerobic workout of choice are about all it takes. This is the best book of its kind, in my opinion: it is a practical and reasonable guide to getting in shape for those of us who have lives that otherwise don't include exercise.
Rating:
Summary: Well Written and Illistrated
Review: I found this book to be well written and illustrated for both the first time user and for anyone just wanting to bush up on technic. I would recommend this book to anyone
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of specifics, not much background
Review: I really like this book - perfect for beginners and almost beginners who want to develop and maintain their own fitness programs without the use of a personal trainer. There are many different programs to choose from, ranging from very easy up to fairly challenging. They all seem very realistic and require modest committment of time (30 to 60 minutes daily). Each program has a stretching, strength and cardio component. One program requires no special strength training equipment and there are a couple of programs suitable for a fully equipped gym. The rest fall in between - perfect for those of us with a very modest home gym. The programs focus is on fitness, not body building, and is really geared for the average person. There are clear illustrations of how to do the stretches and lifts and lots of good ideas on a variety of cardio fitness activities. I also like the ideas on hotel room workouts for us business travelers. I have two criticisms of this book. First, I felt that many of the ab excercises were not realistic for a beginning level of fitness. I felt that some of them were too stressful on the lower back so I made substitutions. The second is that although Burke is a former cycling team coach, he really didn't give much information on cycling. I choose that as my form of exercise and I would have appreciated a specific progressive program for cycling. He does have a 10 week progressive walking program for beginners though.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: I really like this book - perfect for beginners and almost beginners who want to develop and maintain their own fitness programs without the use of a personal trainer. There are many different programs to choose from, ranging from very easy up to fairly challenging. They all seem very realistic and require modest committment of time (30 to 60 minutes daily). Each program has a stretching, strength and cardio component. One program requires no special strength training equipment and there are a couple of programs suitable for a fully equipped gym. The rest fall in between - perfect for those of us with a very modest home gym. The programs focus is on fitness, not body building, and is really geared for the average person. There are clear illustrations of how to do the stretches and lifts and lots of good ideas on a variety of cardio fitness activities. I also like the ideas on hotel room workouts for us business travelers. I have two criticisms of this book. First, I felt that many of the ab excercises were not realistic for a beginning level of fitness. I felt that some of them were too stressful on the lower back so I made substitutions. The second is that although Burke is a former cycling team coach, he really didn't give much information on cycling. I choose that as my form of exercise and I would have appreciated a specific progressive program for cycling. He does have a 10 week progressive walking program for beginners though.
Rating:
Summary: Great information for beginners!
Review: If you are a beginner or someone returning to fitness after a long absence, this is a great book that really does a good job of emphasizing the importance of doing anything other than sit around. If you are someone who is familiar with working out or who is already fairly healthy this may provide you with some few hints, but I would stick with Getting Stronger for the strength training and Stretching for flexibility. I'm a half-way in shape 35 year old that exercises somewhat regularly and this book was just a little too rudimentary for me. I was looking for more involvement with the Lifelong Fitness portion of the title, but found it to be more towards getting people started.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of specifics, not much background
Review: Lots of specific workouts, and specific topics like advice for pregnant women, those with arthritis, etc. Very little background or general topics, like how many reps is best, etc. It felt constraining. Also, virtually nothing on weight machines - the workouts use free weights only.
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