The Bowflex Body Plan
by Ellington Darden Ph.D.
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ellington Darden Ph.D.Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-11-15
ISBN: 1579546897
Number of pages: 300
Publisher: Rodale Books
Accessories:
- Bowflex Xceed Plus Home Gym with Gym Style Ab Attachment [Discontinued]
- Bowflex Xtreme SE Home Gym [Discontinued]
- Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor
Book Reviews of The Bowflex Body Plan
Book Review: A good book, a bad book
Summary: 3 Stars
First the good: If you're an exercise novice who recently acquired a Bowflex and got brain-lock while looking at the huge list of potential exercises that came with it, this book -- which is officially sanctioned by Bowflex's manufacturer -- is a Godsend. Darden picks only the most relevant exercises, describes them in great detail with good photos showing correct form, and organizes them into a series of plans (for novices, for intermediates, for advanced bodybuilder types, for people looking to build or slim specific areas of the body) that couldn't be easier to follow -- and that work.
For that alone, the book is worthwhile. Armed with these plans, the new Bowflex owner is much more likely to actually use his or her machine on an ongoing basis, and that's very good. The plans make it very easy to get going, and tangible gains start to come within the first few sessions. Good stuff.
But there's some not-so-good, too. Throughout the book (and indeed, throughout the officially-sanctioned Bowflex literature) there is case study after case study showing folks who made incredible gains -- losing 30 lb in a month, that sort of thing -- following "The Bowflex Plan". What becomes clear after reading is that those gains have less to do with the Bowflex than they do with the rather extreme (1500 cal/day) diet that's part of the "Plan". And, of course, the official Bowflex literature doesn't address the mounds of research showing that weight lost via extreme calorie restriction doesn't tend to stay off long-term. Take these case studies with the appropriate grains of salt.
There's another not-so-good factor in this book, at least from my perspective. Darden is a bodybuilder. His assumptions and recommendations -- ranging from exercise frequency to diet to supplements to appropriate levels of bodyfat -- come from the world of competitive bodybuilding. They aren't geared toward, and aren't always appropriate for, more mainstream athletes interested in improving sports performance or endurance. The Bowflex itself (and to a large extent, Darden's Bowflex workout plans) is certainly very useful for such people, but Darden's beyond-the-Bowflex recommendations may not be. Caveat.
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