cover image Body Express Makeover: Trim and Sculpt Your Body in Less Than Six Weeks

Body Express Makeover: Trim and Sculpt Your Body in Less Than Six Weeks

Michael George. Fireside Books, $24.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-6121-0

Exercise your fat away in 10 minutes a day? See real results in six weeks or less? Anyone who's plugged into the popular culture will no doubt have heard similar claims, both on TV programs like the Food Network's Weighing In and from the likes of Jorge Cruise, who, like George, grew up in a household of immigrants, struggled with his weight and is now a fitness guru. George's plan is similar to Cruise's eight-minutes-a-day prescription: both incorporate strength-training exercises, nutritional advice and an overall lifestyle change. Hollywood fitness trainer George, however, has a Hollywood resume (he has trained stars Meg Ryan and Tobey Maguire), and his martial arts background shines through in his fitness program. Emphasizing the importance of being centered and having balance, George lays out 2-in-1 workout routines designed to help burn fat and tone the whole body. These exercises are broken down into optional 10-, 20- and 30-minute routines (complete with written descriptions and demonstrative photos), and are followed by a combination of Western- and yoga-style stretching techniques. All in all, this accessible, upbeat guide, which allows readers to personalize an age-appropriate program that will fit into the busiest of schedules, should prove useful to those who are committed to making a lifestyle change.