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Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength
By Bill Phillips and Michael D'Orso
Shallow, deceptive, dangerous, May 11, 2004 This author sounds like a high-school dropout. He naively prescribes magic solutions for complex health problems, as follows: (1) He contends that 12-weeks will do it all, with rest, training, and good diet. Then he contradicts himself by prescribing a 6-days workout week, alternating between aerobics and weight training. That does not leave any time for rest for a starter! People that are out-of-shape would require many months of steady training to see results. The heart does not adapt to strength training that dramatically, neither the bones, nor the cellular respiration or the hormonal system would change in a matter of 12 weeks. (2) He prescribes frequent eating to maintain muscle mass. While that is reasonable for well-behaved folks, it is misleading for obese people. Frequent eating disturbs the digestive system and requires high level of discretion that is often lacking in people with eating disorders. (3) He prescribes drinking a lot of water even if the body is swollen, asserting that more water intake promotes body water balance. That is erroneous in cases of heart or kidney problems or in water retention diseases that require medical attention. Overdrinking can cause water intoxication that presents initially as dizziness and loss of control over muscles. Overhydration disturbs the blood function by dilution and diminishes hemoglobin concentration. (4) He asserts that the old Egyptians suffered from malnutrition, 8000 years ago, because of eating grains, without substantiating his shallow historical knowledge. (5) His exercise strategy is deceptive and dangerous. He seems to be fascinated with physical appearance rather than healthy functioning. From the book cover, the author seems obsessed with his blue eyes, white skin, and red hair. He prescribes exercises in isolation without realizing the significance of compound exercises in developing the neuromuscular and cardiovascular systems. Exercising muscles in isolation creates inflexibility, imbalance, and predisposes to injuries. That is why Bodybuilding and Powerlifting are not considered Olympic sports, while Weightlifting is. (6) He claims that weight training is superior to aerobics in losing weight. That is a fallacy. Weight training develops muscular mass at the expense of mitochondrial relative growth. He does not realize that physical endurance and muscular hypertrophy are mutually exclusive. Obese people have to gain mobility before getting into weight training that might cause injury and setbacks. (7) He does not realize the impact of exercising with machines for resistance training. Machine exercises are supposed to complement freestyle exercises, such as the Clean from the floor, the Deadlift, the standing Shoulder Press, and the Squat. He is totally at loss when it comes to managing the differential load volume of exercising the limbs, spinal muscles, and the two girdles: shoulder and pelvis. His views of weight training conforms to the commercial and deceptive methods of impressing people with shinny machines, details of isolated exercises that do not lead to healthy skeletal balance, and promising people the sun and the moon. (8) This book lacks any scientific referencing and demonstrates the irresponsible and shallow nature of its author,
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