Sculpt Your Body with Balls and Bands: Shed Pounds and Get Firm in 12 Minutes a Day (with Your 3-Week Plan for Fast, Easy Weight Loss)

I love the format of this book. I just got it & noticed right away how well it's set up & organized in such a time-saving manner which will prove to be more useful & effective. I love all of Denise's products.

I'll have to hand it to Denise Austin - this is one ambitious gal. She has written workout books with every possible slant - weights, yoga, pilates, and now a book clearly demonstrating how you can get in shape with balls and bands. This is a good cheap alternative for those of us who can't afford to go to a gym (or for those of us who don't have time!). All the equipment can be purchased cheaply - making this the most reasonable workout imaginable! Did I mention that it is an intense workout? Who ever thought that you could do so many things and work so many body parts with this simple equipment? The pictures in the book are remarkably clear. The directions are succint and to the point. And even better are the routines! There are three weeks of programs laid out for you along with eating suggestions and motivational stories from Denise and her fans. This is a book that can inspire and it does work! Good job again!

I really like this book. It took me a while to get into it but now I find it really helpful. I leave my ball and band in a convenient spot and usually manage to complete an upper body or lower body or abs workout each day. The workouts are a bit harder than with hand weights which is good. Would recommend it to anyone who is a bit time poor and wants to do something a bit different to tone up. This book is truly a gift to share with others. [...]

This is a lot of book for the money. You get all the usual introductory information about equipment, exercises, and anatomy. Then there are separate sections for core exercises, upper body, lower body, stretching, pilates, and yoga - I felt like I was getting about 3 books in one right there. Then she goes into a do-it-yourself program that included menus for each day, words of encouragement and before-and-after photos of many women and even one man. Some exercise books that I have bought advertise that they only use certain equipment then after you buy the book you find out you need many other things. Not so with this book. Ball and band is all you need. And the exercises are really great. I highly recommend this book.

I've had this book for a little over a week now. I have read it from cover to cover and am one week into the three-week plan. Here's what I think are the best things about this book. As usual, Denise's can-do attitude permeates the text. She is upbeat and encouraging in her writing. This is a book written for busy people. Denise recognizes that many people have a legitimate struggle to fit an hour of exercise into most days and she offers here a pragmatic alternative to that. Toning exercises with the stability ball & resistance band take up twelve minutes a day, six days a week. Denise offers five cardio options, from twelve minutes three to four times a week to sixty minutes three to four times a week. Which one you pick is dependent on your goals. (Sixty minutes is for serious athletes who can invest that amount of time; twelve minutes is for people who want to see results from a minimum investment of time.) I've found what's working for me is to do the twelve minutes of toning in the morning before anyone else gets up and then we take a walk in the evening after supper as a family. As far as the toning exercises, they're great! I've worked with a stability ball before, but I've never worked with the ball & resistance band together. You can really feel your entire body working. Of course, it's too early for me to SEE results, but I do already feel like I'm walking and sitting "taller" and it's only been a week. One tip: The exercises in the three-week program are different every day, so you're not going to be learning a routine and then repeating it. Therefore, in order for my actual toning session to last twelve minutes, I read the exercise instructions for the next morning at night before I go to bed. That keeps to a minimum my having to flip back and forth between the day's exercise program and the detailed instructions. There is a chapter explaining how to put together a program using the exercises in the book, so once you finish the three-week program Denise gives, you're by no means limited to that. One other terrific thing: For thirty dollars I bought a stability ball and a resistance band, so it wasn't a financial burden to buy the equipment. My wallet thanks you, Denise! Very much worth the price of the book.