Book Review - Power of Ten by Adam Zickerman
Category Book Reviews
So my wife runs across this book... Power of 10: The Once-a-Week, Slow Motion Fitness Revolution by Adam Zickerman and Bill Schley. She thinks it sounds interesting, and immediately requests that I read and review to let her know what I think. Guess that's one of the drawbacks to being a reader and reviewer... :) Actually, it's an interesting premise, and one that might get both my wife and I working out together for the first time in our marriage.
Zickerman is a trainer who contends that you can follow his once-a-week, 20 minute program and obtain incredible results. The program is based on ultra-slow-motion repetitions, 10 seconds on the positive movement and 10 seconds on the negative movement, for a single set of 5 to 8 reps. That exercise should take you anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes to complete, and the goal is complete and utter muscle failure at the end. You then move on to the next exercise for the next body part. Five to six sets should give you a complete workout, with every main muscle group being worked harder and more deeply than you've likely ever experienced. This total muscle fiber workout is then followed by 5 to 7 days of rest to allow the body to recover and build up from the workout. Coupled with a sensible eating plan (also outlined in the book), the improved muscle tone and weight loss start in just 3 to 4 weeks. The increased muscle mass leads to a higher metabolism rate, which leads to more weight loss, etc., etc., etc. A *good* vicious circle...
It's tempting to want to write this off as another exercise fad, but I'm not quite willing to do that. For one, the concept of slow-motion reps for total muscle involvement is a sound one, and he takes it to the extreme. Rest is also very important in this sort of intense workout, so I understand the longer rest periods. Still seems a bit too long to me, but experience will tell. I personally think there needs to be *some* level of cardio in there, but you'd definitely not want to spend an hour or so every day grinding away while trying to do this also. It'd be a recipe for over-training disaster...
The book itself is well-written and entertaining. When you get done reading it, there's not much question about what you need to do to get started. Trainers at your local gym may not be too enthusiastic about this new method, preferring that you show up five days a week. But if all the conventional training wisdom worked, we wouldn't be a nation of obese people. I'm just happy that this is something my wife would like to try, and if it's what it takes to get her into the gym, I'm all for it. Definitely an interesting concept and well worth the read.
If you liked this review and found it helpful, please click on the Amazon book link in the review and click the Yes (Was This Review Helpful To You?) button at the bottom of my review. Thanks!
So my wife runs across this book... Power of 10: The Once-a-Week, Slow Motion Fitness Revolution by Adam Zickerman and Bill Schley. She thinks it sounds interesting, and immediately requests that I read and review to let her know what I think. Guess that's one of the drawbacks to being a reader and reviewer... :) Actually, it's an interesting premise, and one that might get both my wife and I working out together for the first time in our marriage.
Zickerman is a trainer who contends that you can follow his once-a-week, 20 minute program and obtain incredible results. The program is based on ultra-slow-motion repetitions, 10 seconds on the positive movement and 10 seconds on the negative movement, for a single set of 5 to 8 reps. That exercise should take you anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes to complete, and the goal is complete and utter muscle failure at the end. You then move on to the next exercise for the next body part. Five to six sets should give you a complete workout, with every main muscle group being worked harder and more deeply than you've likely ever experienced. This total muscle fiber workout is then followed by 5 to 7 days of rest to allow the body to recover and build up from the workout. Coupled with a sensible eating plan (also outlined in the book), the improved muscle tone and weight loss start in just 3 to 4 weeks. The increased muscle mass leads to a higher metabolism rate, which leads to more weight loss, etc., etc., etc. A *good* vicious circle...
It's tempting to want to write this off as another exercise fad, but I'm not quite willing to do that. For one, the concept of slow-motion reps for total muscle involvement is a sound one, and he takes it to the extreme. Rest is also very important in this sort of intense workout, so I understand the longer rest periods. Still seems a bit too long to me, but experience will tell. I personally think there needs to be *some* level of cardio in there, but you'd definitely not want to spend an hour or so every day grinding away while trying to do this also. It'd be a recipe for over-training disaster...
The book itself is well-written and entertaining. When you get done reading it, there's not much question about what you need to do to get started. Trainers at your local gym may not be too enthusiastic about this new method, preferring that you show up five days a week. But if all the conventional training wisdom worked, we wouldn't be a nation of obese people. I'm just happy that this is something my wife would like to try, and if it's what it takes to get her into the gym, I'm all for it. Definitely an interesting concept and well worth the read.
If you liked this review and found it helpful, please click on the Amazon book link in the review and click the Yes (Was This Review Helpful To You?) button at the bottom of my review. Thanks!
| Permalink |
