The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess
by Alwyn Cosgrove, Cassandra Forsythe M.S., Lou Schuler
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alwyn Cosgrove, Cassandra Forsythe M.S., Lou SchulerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-12-26
ISBN: 1583333398
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Avery Trade
Book Reviews of The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess
Book Review: An excellent weightlifting/fitness book for anyone (And not just women. Really)
Summary: 4 Stars
At the end of April 2010, just after I turned 41, I decided I was tired of being 60 pounds overweight, and decided to turn my life around. Previously, being young made up for being unfit - I never felt unhealthy. But somewhere in there, I started to feel both unfit AND unhealthy.
I started working out on my treadmill, and entering my food in an iPhone app called LoseIt! (highly recommended, and it's free). But, I'd read enough about fitness to know that weight-lifting would probably help me lose weight more effectively than cardio alone. Just as I was thinking along those lines, my cousin's wife coincidentally told me about this book, and that she really liked it. I trust her recommendations, so I acquired the book, read it, and everything just ... well, clicked.
I'd never lifted weights before in my life. I was (well, still am, but I'm better) naturally clumsy, and very unfit. I spend my life at my computer. Despite being a newbie, I'm not afraid to try things on my own, to ask questions, to figure out what I needed to do to adapt it to my extreme lack of fitness, and I think that anyone who shares those attributes with me can do this - even folks with significant lack of fitness or weight to lose. Just be willing to seek help from friends or trainers, or even youtube to find more about good form.
I then bought just enough to get started: A step, and an exercise ball. I already had a few smallish dumbbells (a pair of 8-pounders were the biggest ones), and my husband surprised me by bringing home a 4' length of steel pipe (weighs 7 pounds), and I turned that into an early barbell with bags of books dangling from the ends. It weighed 35 pounds with the books. ;-)
The next month, I bought a standard barbell and dumbbells and a few weight plates that would fit both, from Target. I then started buying used weights from Play-it-again sports. A month after that, we got a used weight bench. I also kept buying more and stronger resistance bands to use instead of a cable machine. It was kind of funny - I found that the resistance bands kept getting too easy to use! So I'd just add another to make things stronger, so now I have an almost ridiculously large collection of the darned things.
The book itself is engagingly written. Lou Schuler's writing style is funny and wry, and that definitely makes things more fun. The diet advice is decent, but as a vegetarian, I have to design my own meals and "plans". I tend to shy away from the regular advice to drink protein shakes - I prefer real, whole foods, rather than processed ones. Protein supplements are highly processed. But that's just a difference in philosophy. I do think the book has an overly anti-cardio/running bent. I believe that early man excelled at endurance running, and there is a fair amount of circumstantial anthropological and biological evidence to support that idea. To me, endurance is just one side of the fitness coin, with strength on the other. Both are important. I also think that this book is good for more advanced lifters. Do harder versions of the exercises (the books lists some), add more weight, and do more sets.
I think the main thing that could make the book better, is more information on how to adapt the routines to folks with significant lack of fitness. There is some along those lines (like how to modify pushups, by using a wall, or a table or a weight bench, rather than doing them on your knees), but more would be even better. As I've said earlier, I think this book CAN be used for very big folks, but help might be needed for the adaptations.
Results: Over six months, of which I was diligent for 4 months (I was still working out the last two - just a bit more unreliably due to a family tragedy). I lost 25 pounds, and am now considered "overweight" rather than "obese." I still have 30 pounds to go to reach my initial weight loss goal.
Since I bought this book, the newer book New Rules of Lifting for Abs has been released. If you are a beginner, I'd start with this program as a good introduction to weight lifting. Then, get the abs book - it's a great program too - and is much tougher for the core.
Oh, and a comment about the title of the review. The workouts themselves are NOT just for women (just as the original NROL book isn't just for men). The information and "rules" might be designed to debunk weight-lifting myths that many women have (that it will make you "bulky", or that high reps/low-weight exercises will actually do much), but the subtitle "LIFT LIKE A MAN to look like a Goddess" is important. Men CAN follow these routines just fine. If it makes you self-conscious, just leave your copy of the book at home, and take a clipboard with a workout log. No one will ever know. ;-)
More The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess reviews:
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Summary of The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess
Read Lou Shuler's posts on the Penguin Blog.
In The New Rules of Lifting for Women, authors Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove present a comprehensive strength, conditioning, and nutrition plan destined to revolutionize the way women work out. All the latest studies prove that strength training, not aerobics, provides the key to losing fat and building a fit, strong body.
This book refutes the misconception that women will ?bulk up? if they lift heavy weights. Nonsense! It?s tough enough for men to pack on muscle, and they have much more of the hormone necessary to build muscle: natural testosterone. Muscles need to be strengthened to achieve a lean, healthy look. Properly conditioned muscles increase metabolism and promote weight loss?it?s that simple.
The program demands that women put down the ?Barbie? weights, step away from the treadmill, and begin a strength and conditioning regime for the natural athlete in every woman.
The New Rules of Lifting for Women, now in paperback, will change the way women see fitness, nutrition, and their own bodies.
In The New Rules of Lifting for Women, authors Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove present a comprehensive strength, conditioning, and nutrition plan destined to revolutionize the way women work out. All the latest studies prove that strength training, not aerobics, provides the key to losing fat and building a fit, strong body.
This book refutes the misconception that women will ?bulk up? if they lift heavy weights. Nonsense! It?s tough enough for men to pack on muscle, and they have much more of the hormone necessary to build muscle: natural testosterone. Muscles need to be strengthened to achieve a lean, healthy look. Properly conditioned muscles increase metabolism and promote weight loss?it?s that simple.
The program demands that women put down the ?Barbie? weights, step away from the treadmill, and begin a strength and conditioning regime for the natural athlete in every woman.
The New Rules of Lifting for Women, now in paperback, will change the way women see fitness, nutrition, and their own bodies.
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