Dean Hodgkin

I've received 'Better Body Workouts for Women' by Dean Hodgkin and Caroline Pearce for a honest review.

I must admit that my interest in the book coincides with my interest in improving my fitness. A sedentary job with lack of regular exercise has made learning about fitness necessary for me. Like many out-of-shape women, I started trying to find a quick and easy way to be fit. There is no such fix, as the authors of this book point-out from the beginning. But I already that learned that before picking up this book (wish I had this book a year ago). However, what I had not yet learned was how to find a way to incorporate fitness routine in my daily busy life that would give me the results I wanted while not requiring me to do an exercise routine I disliked while eating a diet a loathed.

Better Body Workouts for Women title suggest it can help you find a better workout. But it does more than that.
The book covers a lot of topics:
(1) Training essentials, or what you must do to help you be successful in your fitness quest
(2) Fitness assessment, as we are never as fit as we think.
(3) Nutrition and how what we feed our bodies really matter
(4) Warming up and cooling down, always overlooked by beginners
(5) All in Aerobics, with lots of information about what it does for you
(6) Go anaerobic, which was something I did not know about at all
(7) Going Strong, about strength training
(8) Power up, or how to be stronger
(9) Get agile, and developing flexibility (so important as we age)
(10) Personalize your program lists several workouts you can adopt in different settings
(11) Training dairy tell you how to create a dairy to keep track of your fitness routine

This book aims in covering every aspect of fitness and I think it serves as a good reference book about fitness. It's not a fitness routine book where you just following the instructions of what to eat, how to exercise and for how long. It aims to empower women to learn to take charge of their fitness by educating them.

For anyone wanting more than to just follow some routine, wanting to learn what she must do to be healthier, feel stronger and maybe even look they way she dreams, this book provides valuable information. But in the end, it's you that has to put in the effort. And that's something the authors emphasize. In today's quick fix, want now world, this might not be the book some of use want to read. The sooner you are ready for it, the sooner you might attain your fitness goals.… (mer)

I was surprised by how helpful this workout book is. It started out with some bits on motivation that seemed a bit silly to me, but quickly moved into useful advice on choosing the best workout for your body type and goals. There was also a lot of great information on nutrition and how different types of exercise affect your body. The illustrations and descriptions of how to do each exercise where very helpful. The workouts were also really well done, including descriptions of the purpose of each workout as well as page numbers directing you to descriptions of the exercises included in the workout. Great book!… (mer)