The Men's Health Longevity Program

The book gives excellent advise on maintaining a healthy lifestyle for living a long life. I am 39 and wish I would have read this book years ago...

I was a little leery about purchasing this book. So many of the diet or fitness books that are available are either full of "fluff" and contain little valuable information or they are filled with trendy, speculative, and untested recommendations. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. This program is filled with solid advice on a variety of topics including exercise, diet, relaxation, and supplements. It even has sections that deal with hair care, skin care, grooming, and clothing styles. The basic premise of this book is that if you exercise, eat well, and feel good about yourself, you will live a longer and happier life. The book is divided into 12 weeks, with each week focusing on a certain topic (e.g. eating healthy). Each day of the week, you are given an "assignment" to do. An assignment may be to do some upper body exercises or buy some grooming products. In theory, you are supposed to follow this routine by reading and completing each day's assignment on that day, then read and complete the next assignment tomorrow, and so on. In reality, most people will probably do what I did and read this like any other book, over a couple of days. The recommendations in this book seem to be based on reputable scientific research. It is apparent that they authors have done their homework and they often provide quotes from various experts or research studies. I was also please to learn that their recommendation seemed to be very current. Even research that was published within the last year or so is quoted in this book.It is apparent that several authors wrote this book and I found a couple of instances where the book contradicts itself. Example: In one chapter they warn against running with hand weights because it alters your natural stride and this can cause problems. In a later chapter, hand weights are recommended as way to slow yourself down if you run faster than your running partner. None of these contradictions are material though and this is a minor criticism. This is a review of the unabridged AUDIBLE.COM (downloadable audio) version of this book. The only problem with this format, for this type of book, is that this book often list items (e.g. foods you should buy). Unless you have paper handy, and can write fast, you'll miss these. The book also describes various exercise or stretching techniques. The verbal descriptions are OK, but without a drawing or photo to show you how to perform the maneuvers, it is often difficult to translate the words into actions.Overall I was very pleased with this purchase. If you want to improve the way you look and feel, I'd highly recommend this book.