Stronger ABS and Back

I initially bought this book in 2003 to get a 6-pack (haha), but I never really looked at it until I started experiencing severe lower back pain in October 2004. As a background, I started doing Mixed Martial Arts training early 2004 and slowly but surely my back pains started. I ignored it for as long as I could, but in September 2004 I was training hard for a submission wrestling tournament and my back was in constant pain. My girlfriend's a PT and for long term maintenance and pain relief she advised me to strengthen my core. I showed her this book and she recommended I do the exercises with progressive difficulty. Beforehand I used to do my weight training first and only do abs if I had the energy or "time". However in November 2004, I started doing the exericses in the book before my weight training sessions (4-5 times/week). I started with the stability exercises for 2 weeks. Once I got a grasp of that, I moved on to the ab fitness exercises for another 3 weeks and only now am I gettting to the strength exercises. The thing that impressed me was how detailed the instructions were. I was training smarter rather than harder. I ended each session with some good lower back stretching (shown in the book) for 5-10 minutes. And I am very happy to say in December 2004 my lower back pain is completely gone!!! Consistency and good advice/exercises was the key! If the authors read this review, thanks very much!

This is an excellent book. I've always found that some abdominal exercises hurt my back and some back exercises I'm unable to do. You may think that 165 exercises is overkill, but the nice thing is that you can pick the ones that work for YOU. Then as you progress, you can try others. I only do about 6 exercies right now, but I tried about 50 to find these 6. I have adjusted several times. The exercises are well described and pictures are good. In most cases, there is a final picture and not a progression of the exercies, which would help in a few cases. I read this book not from the bodybuilding perspective, but from a back pain rehab perspective and I am pleased. It has been more helpful than most back pain relief books, and I have read dozens.

When I first purchased this book I was hoping to make a modest performance gain in my sport. However after reading and performing several of the exercises over a period of 6 weeks I was able to run easier and faster. The biggest bouns is that I no longer wake up each morning with any back pain whatsoever. This is a really good ab and back book and I would recommend it to anyone.

This book is a MUST for Personal Trainers as well as self trainers. I refer to it constantly for variety and challenge. The pictorials and step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. You won't need another torso book. It has everything!

This book is the perfect book for the athlete who truly wants to improve the abs and/or back muscles. If you stick with the program as recommended by the authors and give it time, you will notice the differences in a few weeks. I had a herniated disk due to an accident. My lower back was in pain for much of the time. In about 3 weeks the pain had disappeared and I noticed that whenever I turned my torso, I felt a since of power. I then lent the book to several friends and they have all given thumbs up to the book.