Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness

This book deserves a wider audience, and continues to build one thanks to great word-of-mouth and noticeable results.I won't go into exhausting detail because reviewer Dennis Littrell did a superb job of explaining the layout of the book and the thinking behind the fitness plans.I would just add that unlike many authors of similar books, Mr. Campbell is not trying to sell you anything else except a longer, healthier life. He's a perfect example of someone who obviously practices what he preaches. He's also personally answered every e-mail question I've ever mailed him. He cares.The program is not really for the sedentary person who wants to get off the couch and perhaps eventually walk around the block. No, this is for people who want to make their bodies as fit and efficient as possible--regardless of age--and in a reasonable amount of time. I'm 39 and the workouts immediately take me back twenty years to a time where I felt like an athlete. Mr. Campbell argues, effectively, you never have to lose that feeling.A terrific concept, easy read, and a welcome addition to a health and fitness library filled with more style than substance. This is the real deal.

The interesting argument in this attractive and thorough (and well-researched, by the way) fitness training book is the idea that anaerobic exercise will promote the release of the Human Growth Hormone in our bodies and thereby lead to weight control and a reversal of the metabolic slow down associated with aging beginning in our middle years.Anaerobic exercise (as contrasted with aerobic exercise) is sprint training, not endurance training. When we sprint we use muscle fibers that Campbell identifies as "fast type IIx" as opposed to "slow type I" used in long distance running. The use of these "fast twitch" muscles leads to the increased production and release of the growth hormone. Since it is all the rage in some circles (e.g., Hollywood) to take injections of the growth hormone at a cost of about $12,000 a year (it is not effective taken orally), a program that allows us to produce the growth hormone naturally would be a godsend. Our bodies as we grow older produce less and less of the growth hormone and this has been linked to what Campbell calls "somatopause," the well-known phenomenon leading to weight gain, middle-age spread and a slower metabolism.I have little doubt that if my body would produce more growth hormone I would be able to control my weight and perhaps look and feel better. I feel pretty good as I am, but since I gave up playing basketball five years ago, I have gained about 12 pounds. It's worse than that, however, because I have lost probably about ten or 15 pounds of muscle mass, so in fact I am now carrying around 25 to 30 more pounds of pure fat! I was able to control my weight with the sort of ease that Campbell describes in this book when I was playing basketball (which is sprinting and more) three times a week. I could (as Campbell claims he can) eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and never had to worry about my weight. I realized in a flash while reading this book that indeed what I had been doing playing basketball was anaerobic exercise.The essence of Campbell's program--or at least the part that interests me--calls for no high fat foods one hour before anaerobic training and no sugar foods for two hours afterward. This will stimulate fat-burning. I know from personal experience that this is true. When you're doing some serious anaerobics three or four times a week, you just naturally eat less, and less often. I always thought this was because my system made me less hungry because it didn't want to divert its energies to the digestion of any more food than was necessary. But perhaps it is the release of the growth hormone that leads to the desire to eat less.Regardless of how this works, it does work. But the problem for someone older than Campbell (he's fifty) is that it is very, very difficult to engage in a training program that involves sprinting because it too easy to pull, tear or strain muscles which take a relatively long time to heal. This is the "catch-22" of growing older. It's har

Why, oh, why, do we blimp out after 30? Even when I was active, lifting weights and exercising regularly, I still found I gained weight steadily after 35 years old? Is it just in our genes? Author Phil Campbell reveals some interesting scientific findings here, and he provides practical 3 to 5 hour a week work outs designed to combat middle age spread. The cover picture is of the author who looks rather like a super-fit version of former President Clinton. It certainly seems to work for him--and he is fifty.Campbell discusses how growth hormone, banned from drug-free athletic competition, is responsible for keeping that middle-age spread at bay. But short of illegal injections in Mexico, what can a middle-aged person do to boost their growth hormone naturally and reap the fitness benefits? New medical discoveries show that you can significantly increase GH naturally. Very specific forms of exercise, some nutritional supplements, and adequate sleep, will increase levels of the hormone naturally, even in older people.Some interesting findings are that eating properly before and after exercise can either boost or inhibit growth hormone. For example, if you eat a Big Mac, fries and then go work out, and two hours afterwards, down the supersized coke or drink Gatorade, you can kiss results goodbye. The combination of high fat before and high sugar after exercise prevent the release of tiny amounts of growth hormone, which puts on muscle and improves athletic performance.The exercise programs here range from about 3.5 hours for beginners up to 5 hours for enthusiasts. But at first blush, the workouts seem excessively technical. They range from aerobics, to "plyometrics" which are exercises that boost fast-twitch muscle--the muscle type that fades away with age. And then there are weights. The book shows Mr. Campbell tossing javelins, doing karate kicks (another of his areas of expertise), bounding and otherwise flying about. This can be discouraging if you are a couch potato, but dream of being fit (me, for example.)The "Strategic Fitness Plans" are five different fitness levels- based on your age, your current fitness status, and training experience. If you intend to follow this program, you should visit your physician first if you are tremendously out of shape. Some of the exercises here can get you hurt if you don't go at them correctly (the bounding can whack your ankles.) And a personal trainer, if available, would be a real asset. There is a lot here--flexibility, fast movement (sprinting, fast cycling), weights and more. It seems complicated at first, but a complete exercise program should at least contain stretching, aerobics and weights, so here you are adding the fast-twitch stimulating exercises to combat that middle-age metabolic monster.If you are SERIOUS about wanting to beat aging and get or stay in the best shape, and are noticing that age is beginning to take a toll, this book could be very helpful. I predict Campbellss book will bec

The next fitness revolution is here, and it's Synergy Fitness! I was finishing my master's in Exercise Science when Aerobics fired the shot that started the world running, and ushered in the "cardio" revolution. Synergy Fitness is destined to change fitness training as we know it today.This is a great program, and doesn't take a lot of time to get a good work out. My wife and I do this program together. Not only do we get a great workout, but we spend quality time together, talking and organizing our time-crunched lives. We each work at our own pace and don't compete with each other since we are at different levels of fitness.Campbell's book teaches how to get our bodies back to working like their supposed to. Growth Hormone is an important key to burning fat and regaining energy. He has a balenced to fitness.If you're a fitness buff, or just someone trying to lose a few pounds or get in shape, you've got to try this program!

I have been doing the Synergy Fitness program for two months, and it really works. No hard dieting. It's easier than I thought. And the program works even better than advertised. I am buying another book as a gift for a friend. Cindy Miller