cover image Health + Fitness Excellence

Health + Fitness Excellence

Robert K. Cooper. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $19.95 (523pp) ISBN 978-0-395-47589-8

Even the most highly motivated, impressionable reader would need a succession of eight-day weeks to follow all the advice given by Cooper, a fitness instructor, physical therapist and former all-American athlete. Emphasizing the need to increase awareness of one's selfespecially one's physical selfand one's environment, Cooper colors discussions of everything from NutraSweet to nuclear power with his advocacy of heightened consciousness (`` Change depends on awareness'' ). Sections on stress, exercise, nutrition and posture (``You can stop accumulating tension and pain from standing or sitting by learning new ways to take pressure off your back, neck, and shoulders during the day'') offer practical advice, but chapters on body fat, ``rejuvenation and living environments design'' and ``mind and life unity'' philosophize and generalize with an ecstatic banality. At times, Cooper repeats himself, and occasionally strays from his main scope (e.g., into massage therapy). His research has yielded quotes from many scientists, medical journals and popular experts, and his thorough documentation includes hundreds of sources and footnotes. Author tour. (Jan.)