Fitness For Life

A great book this is, with realistic goals for exercise and nutrition. It doesn’t say that every kid can be a jock, because every kid can’t. It defines fitness as being able to do the most with the least effort, so in a nutshell it means that fitness is being able to use your body to do what you need. But it also says that fitness-demanding jobs are in decline, so fitness is now more of a concern for average cubicle-slaves.

    There’s good advice here for starting out, especially if you’re sedentary, and it shows you how to use small steps to getting in shape. It warns against fad diets and fad machines, because they don’t work. The ab-master, ab-roller- ab-vibrator, Nordic Track, Soloflex; they were advertised with beautiful, muscular models, and bought by desperate nebbishes who wanted a quick fix to a long-term problem. I should know, I was one of them, and my Nordic Track didn’t help. I should’ve just gotten rid of the TV and walked to school.

  The problem with this book is the target audience. It focuses mostly on kids, but what about the adults? People who have to drive an hour in each direction and sit at a desk all day are in a sedentary trap. What about construction workers work their knees and shoulders hard all day? What kind of fitness advise is there for them? Another problem is the photos; they’re all of beautiful young men and women. No acne, flabby bellies, fat thighs, fat butts, etc. I would be wary of showing this book to teens, because seeing all this perfection can make them hate their bodies. Not every teen has beautiful hair and a great tan. It also doesn’t take into account that some schools have the kids in there until 5pm, and they’ve cut out gym class. It also doesn’t factor that when a school has P.E. it usually favors the jocks and consists of “here’s a ball go play.” The non-athletic kids are left out, picked last.