The TV Watcher's Workout

This is a great book for the completely sedentary. I orignally bought this book for my sister-in-law who has three small children and never has time to exercise. I have since given the copy to my younger sister also who I couldn't persuade to do anything else. The workouts are designed to be completed during the commercials of your favorite television show. A 1 hour show has 4 commercial breaks of about 4 minutes each. Accordingly, each exercise block takes about 4 minutes to complete. For example, during the first commercial break you may do a few stretches; the second, do a few pushups or water bottle curls, the third some squats, and the fourth, some ab exercises. It's really quite ingenious and requires no equipment--just a chair to do some dips and a water bottle or light weights. If you are already in shape, of course this book isn't for you, but I bought it for my family that isn't in shape. "What can I do," they say, "with no time or energy?" Now you can introduce to them Stew Smith. Even better, offer them his online PT club. www.stewsmith.com

Alright, the title intrigued me at the bookstore. Often workout books are so overwhelming (and written for people already moderately fit). The workouts Stew presents are quite reasonable for any couch potato; and for everyone who complains they don't have time, NO MORE EXCUSES! Stew shows a creative flair here and this book proves once and for all that you don't need a lot of time to get some choice exercising done. Imagine workouts around tv commercials! A real nice feature of this book lacking in so many health fitness books is that there are pictures of Stew doing the exercises, so you don't run the risk of injury or bad form. Stew might be a former Navy SEAL, but he looks like a regular guy. Getting healthy doesn't have to be intimidating. Anybody can do these exercises. Do yourself and your body a favor, get the book even if you are an athlete. You will be surprised at the ideas inside. The small anecdotes - the one I liked most was the note Stew's wife wrote about trying to lose weight after the birth of their daughter- add a nice dimension to the book. The book was written by Stew for his parents (respected couch potatoes). You almost want to hug this guy. Seriously, the pictures, the sense of humor (the idea of this book alone), and the creativity Stew offers is why I ranked this with a 5 star rating.