Total Body Transformation: A 3-Month Personal Fitness Prescription for a Strong, Lean Body and a Calmer Mind

This book is phenomenal. I really love Steve's focus on functional strength, as opposed to strength for strengths sake. Ilg combines Yoga, Strength, Cardio, Meditation and Nutrition. The workouts are challenging and extremely effective, they will transform your body (and mind) if you follow through. Steve's encouragements all throughout the book are very helpful/motivating.

This book presents the author's fitness philosophy and presents a training plan for transforming one's mind, body and spirit by addressing 5 fitness disciplines (nutrition, yoga, strength training and meditation). For me, the introductions to yoga and mediation were very interesting. There is also much wisdom here regarding nutrition (e.g. slowing down the pace of meals to better detect when you have reached satiety). However, many other smart people have by now thoroughly explored the concept of crosstraining and arguably do it better--check out www.crossfit.com to see how the CrossFit community has embraced old-school strength and cardiovascular training. Also, for a newcomer to strength training (and even for those with a lot of lifting experience), it would be difficult to find a better introduction that the book Starting Strength. I have made much greater progress in terms of strength and cardiovascular fitness using Starting Strength and CrossFit than with the programs in this book.

Ilg's newest book is the fullest expression in print of his Wholistic Fitness teachings. Those familiar with his work may find this book a bit redundant but it's still worth the $$. His editors have done a great job in tightening up his prose without losing his flavor. While it would be easy for a cynic to dismiss his philosophy as a watery distillation of various wisdom traditions combined with Western physical cultivation, a la muscle beach, this would be unfair to the genuine enthusiasm he brings to his work. Steve Ilg is the living embodiment of William Blakes aphorism, "Exhuberance is Beauty". If you have struggled with making fitness an integral part of your life or would like to use fitness as a transformative tool then this is your book. The step by step yoga instruction, unique strength training routines and periodization of the programs will deliver any fitness aspirant to a place they never imagined... solidly on "the Path", walking "the Way".

This new book by Steve Ilg isn't for everybody, but chances are if you've gotten this far, it's for you. Steve told me when I approached him about becoming an online Wholistic Fitness student in 1997, while he was tucked away in seclusion in New Mexico, that, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." For you, the teacher has appeared manifested in book form.For the outdoor athlete this book is a wealthy smorgasbord of knowledge. Steve has written two other books about outdoor sport, The Outdoor Athlete and The Winter Athlete. This book takes the next and highest step, and is the most comprehensive of all. One of the best things about Ilg is that he doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. He's a superior athlete in many sports, with numerous wins to his credit.....he cycles, both mountain bike and road, he runs trails, he snowshoes, nordic skis, snowboards, in-line skates, climbs etc. If you want to ride in the Leadville 100 or the grueling Furnace Creek 508, Ilg has done them. Whatever gnarly goal you have for yourself, Ilg can help you accomplish it, survive it, and thrive while doing it. In this book are the programs he uses to discipline his mind and body.Aside from being an outdoor athlete, Steve is an amazing yogi and yoga teacher. He owns a successful studio in California where he teaches High Performance Yoga. This is the only book, to my knowledge, that blends the power of yoga with the power of the gym. Using Steve's Wholistic Fitness programs you grow strong and flexible. Beyond strength training in the gym and sweating on the yoga mat, Ilg also lays out his philosophy concerning cardiovascular training, nutrition and meditation. Ilg trains the whole athlete, and this is a total fitness book. As Ilg often says, "Your workout is everywhere." Never again will you just stand in the checkout counter at the grocery store or sit at your desk.......under ilg's guidance you'll be working out and working within. The dynamic movements in his strength training programs, every asana in his High Performance Yoga, all are illustrated with step by step photos. His wisdom in cardiovascular training, his rich storehouse of nutrition information, all are brought into the light. The one thing this book requires is an open mind. Whatever beliefs you may have about your current fitness or training programs, whatever you thought you knew about yoga, strength training or cardio work, will be challenged. Steve is the kind of trainer that says, "Free the chains of your mind and the body will follow," when you're struggling with some aspect of one of his programs. To overcome pain in a long distance running or cycling event, he teaches the use of breathing techniques, meditation and mantras.Buy this book and for less then the cost of a good dinner, you'll have the opportunity to transform your life. Not just the fitness part of your life, your whole life. Despite my bias towards Steve, despite my intimate knowledge of his programs, I am still r