The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week

I have waited years to review this book: I bought it five years ago with "The Power of Ten" when I was a professional Pilates instructor. At the time, I was 33, and working as a Pilates teacher in the busiest Pilates studio in the city--of which I was the owner. I did this program for three months without following the dietary recommendations other than cutting out bread and pasta. Clients who hadn't seen me in a few months looked dumbstruck when they saw me: "WHAT are you doing? Your hips are gone!" Some people are foodies: I'm an exercise-ie. I like trying new ways to work out, and one of the things that made me a good Pilates teacher is that I made a point of trying to figure out which exercises worked best for certain body types. One of my students who took from me for years came to me one day, and said, "I love this stuff for the meditation, but I've gone back to the gym. Heavy weight training is the only thing that makes me physically smaller." I had a hard time believing her: weight training with light reps and little weight had always made me bulk up--one of the things I loved about Pilates is that it didn't make me bigger. However, I was frustrated with the fact that although Pilates had done incredible things for my coordination, flexibility, strength and overall appearance, and it had made me lot thinner than I would be without it, I had never been able to make my legs much smaller. (Prussian ancestors. Enough said.) So, I started reading about heavy weight lifting, including another book like this called the "Power of Ten". I chose the routine in this book over the "Power of Ten" because it seemed safer. The exercises in this book use a very limited range of motion--they specifically avoid challenging your balance or using your rotator cuff with your arms out to the side, movements which I had seen injure clients when done with a heavier weight, both in my own practice and from people who had shown up to my studio with black eyes. (Stability ball and heavy hand weights. Hmm...that will end well.) Anyway, from following this program, I became the thinnest I have been in my adult life, with the exception of the years I went to strict Iyengar yoga classes three days a week. (I love yoga, but to really get the muscles activated you have to concentrate in ways that feel like work. Now that I work for a living, some weeks I'm not up for that.) Aside from the fact that this takes less time and less mental effort than some other kinds of strength training, I never felt like I was about to get hurt while doing this routine. Traditional weight training programs use movements that might injure some people precisely because of the large range of motion required; the number of repetitions required by standard weight training can cause overuse injuries or injuries because of poor form when you have to do so many of them. All in all, I highly recommend this workout. But, I disagree entirely with the idea that this is all y

I'm female, 55 and was not fit, though I used to be in my 20's. After two kids and 30 lbs of slow slide into middle age I was ready to find a way out but nothing had worked much. I'd done most of the standard recommended programs. It helped some. I wasn't a couch potato but hardly what I'd consider fit. 2 years ago I ran across Slowburn Fitness and started doing it. I was SO grateful for something short, simple and effective. 2 years later I'm as strong (or perhaps stronger) than I was in my 20's. I have endurance and stamina. I also have lost 30 lbs and am down to a very good body mass figure. And ALL of this with two 15 or 20 minute sessions a week. I couldn't believe they meant it but they did. The people who write negatively about this program say that its hard to do or it "hurts" and so people wont want to do it. I found just the opposite. I was SO glad I could do it at home, virtually for free, and not have to be at a gym (though later I've come to use gyms sometimes.) I was SO grateful that it was working they way the authors promised. And I can't believe that it really delivered what it promised, but it did. So get it and do it! It is the least dangerous, safest and most effective program --especially for us older types for whom injury during exercise is an issue. Just be aware that you do not have to HURT to do this, just work out till your muscle fatigues. The exercises are designed to fatigue muscles fast, in only a few repetitions. If you are not used to the feelings you might consider them unpleasant but. . .just remember, its ONLY FIFTEEN MINUTES. (twice a week at that) and you get as much fitness or more than if you were spending hours doing other programs. For me that is exactly what I needed.

I read this book over a weekend a few years ago. Since I lived in New York City, I decided to call Fred and sign up for four months of lessons (twice a week). After that, due to monetary constraints, I went back to my gym knowing that I completely understood how to do the exercises. I recommend this method ONE-THOUSAND percent to those people (like myself) who always hated working out the traditional 3 times a week (and usually gave it up after 3 months). After each workout, you will REALLY feel that you have worked out and achieved something. I must warn people that the first 3 or 4 times you try Fred's method, you will HATE it. It is torture. But after about the fourth time, you "get" it and realize that this is the ONLY way to work out for people who hate working out. I know this sounds like a contradiction, but what happens is you begin to "realize" that you are getting so much more out of doing an exercise for just one set (and just 2 or 3 reps per set) for a minute than you are by doing the typical 3-set/10 reps routine that most people do. Psychologically, you will actually start to LOVE working out this way and look forward to your once-a-week at the gym. I have been at this for a few years and it definitely shows improvement in my body form (and I am 50 years old.) I will do this method for the rest of my life. By the way, you will also notice that after doing your 30-minute routine, you will be sweating as if you just got off of a treadmill (check out all the big muscle guys around you and see if they are sweating after their weight-lifting routines). That alone will tell you that you are getting much more out of your 30-minute routine then they are. (But since those guys love going to the gym, they would never consider doing slow burn unless they had time constraints.) I strongly suggest that after reading the book, you find a trainer in your area who can show you how to do the slow burn routine properly. There are subtleties that you will NOT learn unless a professional trainer is watching you in order to correct the mistakes you will make at the beginning.

With all the bogus and non-sensical exercise books and programs out there it's refreshing to see an honest, straight forward, and sensible exercise book and program. The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution is one of the best exercise books I've ever read. As an exercise specialist with over 20 years of experience I'm very well versed in virtually all the exercise methods currently promoted. I can say without hestitation that Slow Burn is the safest and most effective method to exercise.In the book, Hahn and his co-authors do an excellent job educating the reader on important concepts such as the differences between fitness and health, dispelling the myth that "aerobic" exercise or "cardio" exercise is the key to fitness, and why strength training is so valuable and important and why strength training should be the cornerstone of every exercise program. The second half of the book details exactly how to perform Slow Burn properly.About the only negative I can say is that the authors should have -- for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Slow Burn concept -- begun the book with a clear introduction and explanation to what Slow Burn is and why it's so "revolutionary". Overall though, I highly recommend this book and hope that it gets the recognition it deserves. Everyone should be exercising like this!