Cardio Core 4x4: The 20-Minute, No-Gym Workout That Will Transform Your Body!

Awesome book for exactly what the title states. This is on of my favorite books for a stressful day with the last thing I want is to exercise. I feel I get a better work out in such a short amount of time. Jay Cardiello is a great coach!

nice informative book mainly on how to change your diet and habits to get your calorie intake right. As a workout guide its not thaty great since you cant really tell what the pictures are trying to have you do in the exercises if you never have done them before. I recommend buying his workout dvds for that they are much better.

Good reading material

I ordered this book because I am a runner who tends to ignore the whole strength-training side of the exercise spectrum. Having been through a few courses of PT to fix various running-related injuries, I was intrigued by Jay's concept of "prehab" -- getting people to do strengthening/PT-like exercises BEFORE they are actually injured. Because this book promised to focus on the core and specifically on the hips and glutes (the parts I've ended up in PT for in the past), I thought it would be just what I needed. And the idea of getting it done in only 20 minutes, at home, with no equipment was appealing -- given the choice between spending an hour driving to the gym and lifting weights or an hour going for a run, I was picking the run every time (which is why I kept ending up injured!) The pros: I was right -- this book is exactly what I needed. The exercises are like hardcore versions of the ones I learned in PT. They target just the right body parts and after doing them just a couple times, I notice a difference in the way my hips and legs feel during a run. None of the exercises require any equipment, and they give you a good workout. Though there's not a whole lot of cardio involved (there is some -- mostly jumping exercises), I am drenched in sweat by the time I finish. The background story Jay gives of his life and how he ended up coming up with this program is entertaining and easy to read, and his tone is motivational with out being overly peppy or annoying. The cons: Let me say up front that I am not the most coordinated person on the block -- I usually need a couple times of watching an exercise video before I get the steps down and I've given up on anything that requires complicated footwork (like Tae Bo) because I'm just too klutzy. That said, I found the descriptions of some of the exercises very difficult to follow. There are pictures and text, but sometimes, even with reading and re-reading the text and studying the pictures, I still can't figure out what I am supposed to be doing. I have found that some of the descriptions aren't very well done -- for example, there's just a generic instruction at the beginning of the exercise part of the book to "repeat each exercise 10-20 times". Then the exercises are shown. But some exercises involve multiple steps (such as circling your leg one way then the other) -- I'm not sure whether you are supposed to go 10 times one way then 10 times the other or whether you are supposed to go one way then reverse and repeat that 10 times. Other places, the title of the exercise will be something like "Forward/Backward Circles" but the description only talks about going forward. There is nothing in the description, anywhere, about going backward. I assume from the header I'm supposed to do that, but it doesn't actually say. I suppose this isn't life-or-death important -- I've just been guessing and doing what I assume is the right thing. But I'm a bit anal-retentive when it comes to my workouts so I hate not knowing EXACTLY what I'm supposed to be doing. And perhaps it's just because I'm still unsure about the exercises but it is taking me way longer than 20 minutes to do each workout -- I'm hoping I'll get faster as it becomes more second-nature. But still - the 4x4 workout is a series of several exercises -- first 21 exercises performed on hands and knees, then 5 performed on hands and feet facing up at the ceiling (like crab postion) then 6 more (plus a cooldown) done while sitting/lying on the ground. That's 32 separate exercises (more than half of which have to be done twice, once for each leg) at 10-20 reps each -- I just don't see any way that's going to fit into 20 minutes. Jay Cardiello now has a series of exercise videos called jcore that I believe is based on this book. I am tempted to order them because 1) I could see a video demonstration of some of these confusing exercises and 2) since they are limited by video runtime, the workouts would actually stick to the 20 minute promise. Alas, the video set costs over $100, which is why I decided to start with this book. I just wish that the descriptions of the exercises were clearer and also that there was some sense of progression -- a "beginners should do 5 reps of this exercise, 10 reps of this one, skip this one while intermediate/advanced exercises should do X" sort of thing. I enjoyed reading the first part of the book so much and was so inspired to try the exercises and then I just found myself utterly flummoxed by the poorly written descriptions and lack of overall guidance when it came to the workout part. I think this could be a great exercise book if only the exercise part was easier to follow! I'm still going to keep up with the workouts as best I can because I can see that they are benefiting me -- I just wish I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Perhaps I'll be asking Santa for the jcore videos for Christmas!

I LOVE this workout and have never felt better. I don't get to all the exercises in the 20 minutes, but I just set the timer and get to work. When the timer goes off, I stop. My core has never felt better and it's helped me immensely in my voice class (yes, breath support!). I combine this w/ walking 5 days a week for 20 minutes and I'm in the best shape of my life (at 52)!

I brought this book for my son who wanted to increase his cardio. He loves the variety of workouts in the book.

This book is really great but it requires a specific physical condition otherwise you will quit very quickly. If you start as a couching potato then try less number of repetitions until your body can do more.

great workout for small space