cover image Total Body Transformation: A 3-Month Personal Fitness Prescription for a Strong, Lean Body and a Calmer Mind

Total Body Transformation: A 3-Month Personal Fitness Prescription for a Strong, Lean Body and a Calmer Mind

Steve Ilg. Hyperion Books, $32.95 (365pp) ISBN 978-0-7868-6851-3

For those who'd like to have their own personal trainer but can't afford it, here's one in a book. Ilg, whom Ultra-Cycling Magazine dubbed the world's fittest human, has put all of his insights about""Wholistic Fitness"" into what he describes as a 3-month personal program that uses nutrition, strength training, cardio, yoga and meditation to help readers get stronger, thinner and even calmer. Frankly, it could take a lot longer than just a few months to learn to bend into the poses featured in Chapter 3's High Performance or Hatha Yoga, or to adjust to his somewhat rigid nutritional advice. Ilg contends that all of the different types of exercises and movements that he prescribes work together to complement each other, and anyone who has taken yoga for lower back pain can attest to the common sense in recognizing how exercise can benefit the body, the mind and the spirit. But the program outlined here may strike some readers as overwhelming and intense. Ilg definitely writes for the hardcore""fitness warrior"" who is as interested in posture and purity as in muscle definition, and his book probably won't be of much help to those who are just interested in losing that extra 20 pounds. But those interested in such a total life transformation will appreciate this book as a comprehensive resource.