Zodiaction: Fat-Burning Fitness Tailored to Your Personal Star Quality

I have a (totally one-sided) love-hate relationship with Ellen Barrett: on the one hand, I like her ideas about fusion fitness and her willingness to combine them in a way that doesn't demand philosophical adherence just to get a good workout. On the other hand, a lot of her offerings feel a little bit dumbed down, as if she assumes her target audience to be complete novices or (stereotypical) teenagers who need a lot of cheerleading. Also, in some of her print workouts she will sometimes throw something into the sequence that would be difficult for beginners or intermediates (such as the Crow posture) and doesn't offer any modifications- odd given my second complaint. That having been said, I think that Barrett's extensive experiences putting together workouts on DVD and in print really shows in this book. She offers tons of options for toning, cardio and flexibility, but she also explains why they would be good choices for each sign. Obviously, the astrologer who co-authored must have provided some input into motivations and physical weaknesses for each sign, but I'm pretty sure it was Barrett who came up with the best movements for each sign. As a Virgo with a Capricorn rising and Moon in Taurus (astrology and I go way back ;-)), I absolutely recognized myself as someone who has a sensitive stomach, always wants abdominal toning, needs something to help chill her out, and has potential weaknesses in my knees and skin. Tangentially, I can also go through moods where I want a very steady, stable regimen- no bs. However, I recognized more of my fitness tendencies in the Gemini profile- probably a 6th house (house of health) thing for me. Which is fine, and the authors actually encourage you to choose from any of the workouts that appeal to you. I can't recall all of the options, but Earth signs tended to receive recommendations for steady state walking for cardio, Scorpio the intensity junkie was given a plyo-sculpt circuit, Gemini had recommendations for ballet cardio and toning, Leo was given a Sun Salutation sequence to help with cardio and back weakness, and the recommended Pisces cardio was swimming. Each sign received options for cardio, toning and flexibility, so in all there were a potential of 1728 combinations, give or take. I doubt anyone is expected to try all of them, but no one can complain about a lack of options! As much as I appreciated the insights and the variety, I felt that the individual components were too abbreviated, at least for someone like me who has been working out for years. For Virgo toning, there were only five or six Pilates-based movements- that just wouldn't be enough for me. For Gemini's cardio, there were three, with about twenty reps each. You could do that in a circuit, but you'd have to do the circuit quite a bit, and I know I'd just get bored. Overall, I still think this is a good read and it will provide you with insights into your fitness personality, but you'll probably find that thi