Strength Training for Women

Strength Training for Women Review

Although I have no problem growing old, one thing I refuse to accept is my body looking untoned and out of shape. Once one passes the 40th year mark, muscle and bone structure start to "get lost" somewhere in between slouching flesh. Enter Joan Pagano, and her targeted, customized workout she presents us with in her excellent book "Strength training for women".

Ms. Pagano is not only a fitness instructor but has worked with entities like the American and Canadian osteoporosis foundations, as well as SHARE, a group of breast and ovarian cancer survivors in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Her career started while she designed customized workouts for women with the disease, as well as for women wanting to fight osteoporosis. For me in particular, this hit home, as my mother died of breast cancer, and I must admit it scares me to think about it but I have to face the fact that in a few years, I may have to deal with it myself. Then again - and God willing - I may not.

Nevertheless, and after having looked through several workout books, I decided on this one due to the fact that my specific goals were to build a bit of muscle, endurance and tone my body throughout. Although I do not follow the book fully when I work out, it has made me aware of a myriad of things that for years I have been doing wrong, for instance, the breathing patterns one should adopt while performing squats or push-ups (such as inhaling during exertion, not the other way around).

The book is divided into three main sections to target the main parts of the body women generally need to work on: lower, upper and core. For each, Ms. Pagano offers simple but effective exercises and techniques that can be mostly done at home, sometimes including tips for using specific machines while at the gym. What is very good about this book are the pictures, of excellent quality and polished printing, which are characteristic of every DK Publishing book. Prior to starting the suggested work out routines, the reader is presented with a PAR-Q test - which should be answered openly and honestly - in order to ensure good health with a clean start. The book closes with four suggested routines to target specific areas of concern, and includes a resource list to purchase the limited equipment that is pictured throughout. It even includes specific exercises to be performed when travelling, in the event one may not be in ready access to a gym (guess what I'm including in my packing list next time I go away?).

I must admit that after the first time I worked out at the gym using the suggestions pointed out in this book I felt a considerable difference. My muscles "burned" in a way like they never had before - it felt good, but not painful. The exercises for the core workout are amazing, and I do not know whether it is that I really need to build good definition in my middle area, but I noticed the difference immediately after my very first routine. I can confidently say that if one follows the routines regularly the results can only be outstanding.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 28, 2010 17:29:05