The Bowflex Body Plan: The Power is Yours - Build More Muscle, Lose More Fat

I purchased this book after acquiring a Bowflex Ultimate from a co-worker who was cleaning out her basement. I've never been happier with an exercise machine and this book just made it that much better. I've seen the commercials - like most people, I'm guessing - but I'd never used a Bowflex machine. After getting the machine, this book was a no-brainer purchase. It has a lot of information on the science behind the Bowflex, why its a great option for those who prefer at-home workouts, and what makes it special. There are case studies with athletes and non-athletes to help you see what the potential is, and specific workouts to help you achieve your goals.I'm using it 4 - 5 times a week, and I continually refer back to the book to fine-tune my exercises, look up alternative exercises for a specific bodypart, or just to refresh my motivation. Well worth the purchase!

Regardless of what equipment you settle on, even if you opt for non-Bowflex equipment, I recommend you get Dr. Ellington Darden's book, "The Bowflex Body Plan". While Dr. Darden's book is written for the Power Rod Bowflex, everything is transferable to the Bowflex Revolution. Similarly, everything written in the book is transferable to any gym equipment. Just match the pictures in the book with the equipment you are using.Dr. Darden’s approach is to maximize exercise results with the least amount of effort and time. What sets the book apart is his extensive use of scientific data by him and other researchers. This test data formed the basis of his and others’ exercise approaches – and also the basis of this book. He provides the essence of what a HIIT exercise program is based on, and lays out all the exercises as if they were going to be performed in a HIIT fashion. The other thing that sets this book apart, is that he lays out in a SIMPLE way, what are the best exercises to do, how to determine how many reps to do, and in what order to do them, and how many to do at one setting. He lays out beginner, intermediate and advanced routines. He doesn’t provide a bunch of confusing options, but rather what his, and others’ research has found are the best of the best exercises to do, and in what order, and how much to exercise.The book references exercises on the Bowflex, the Bowflex is a multi-station weight training machine. While it uses, discs to create resistance, those discs’ function just like weights on your machines at the gym. Just duplicate the exercises in the book with your equipment counterpart.Between the Bowflex Revo's well written exercise manual, The Revo DVD, which visually lays out the setup of the Revo for the different exercise and the proper mechanics for the key exercises for all the muscle groups, and Dr. Darden's book, "The Bowflex Body Plan", you really do not need anything else to develop a simple exercise routine, including a HIIT routine.Resist looking all over the internet and YouTube for videos on how to exercise with the Bowflex (been there done that before I received the Bowflex). Once I had the manual, DVD and Dr. Darden's book, and started going through them, I realized everything is here in a simple layout, going from the first week's workout through the first year and beyond. No unanswered questions, no should I do this or that. Dr. Darden lays it all out in his book, and backs it up with a scientific studies, and then tells you what exercises to do, in what order, week by week. All in a HIIT compatible format and all backed up by tons of scientific studies.You should have a workout timer for fitness training, as alluded to in Dr. Darden's book. The best workout timer I found to be "Workouts+" by Anuj Seth (Parabolicriver, IOS and Android). I tried four of the most popular and Workouts+ was the best in class. Workouts+ speaks the line of the exercise name, so you can drill down to "up one" (x secs), "down one" (x secs), "Up two", (x secs). The app is totally customizable. All the shortcuts I wanted to take, like "clone", "rearrange", and share the workout on another device or with my wife, are all there. You should check this app out to see if it meets your workout needs.So, the Bowflex Revo, Dr. Darden's "The Bowflex Body Plan", and Workouts+ is the whole enchilada in my opinion.

I purchased this book in December 2011 along with the Bowflex Blaze. The book is easy to read, the workout plans are simple to understand and follow. The meals are so simple that the only cooking skill you need is to be able to boil water. The book gives plans for people that need to lose considerable weight (body leaness challenge)to a plan that tailors to athletes (hard body challenge).I just completed the body leaness program and followed it without cheating or skipping an excercise. The body leaness program is a 6-wk program that allows you to lose pounds of fat to slender down. The plan breaks down to 3 two-weeks intervals where every progressing two weeks he increases the amount of excercise while decreasing the amount of calorie intake.Dr. Darden has pictures and of previous participants in his program along with their results.So let me provide you with my stats:Start of ProgramAge: 32 MaleHeight: 5'10"Weight: 205 lbsBody Fat: 24.9%Results after 6-wk programWeight: -22.2 lbsBody Fat: -4.5%Waist: -3 1/4"Hips: -2 3/4"I got good results, right; so why a 3-star raiting?Well out of those 22.2 lbs that were lost about 7.5 lbs were of lean body mass. In any weight loss program you want to maximize your loss in fat pounds and NOT in lean body mass.As I went through the program I kept reading and educating myself from other sources in respects to proper nutrition. Personally I didn't know any better until after I finished the program, but you live and you learn.Here's the thing, the calorie intake for men in the leaness program starts you of at 1500 calories and takes you to 1300 at the end of the program.The problem with this is that when dealing with low-calorie diets most sources I have found indicate that you should create a deficit of 500 cals per day with some indicating a calorie deficit of 1000 caloires max. If you read most nutrional guides they indicate that a total loss in weight of 1 lb to max 2 lb loss of weight per week. A calorie intake of 1500-1300 will put most individuals at a calorie deficit much greater than 1000 calories/day.A pound is 3500 calories. If you have a caloric deficit of 500 calories/day x7 days equals to a pound loss per week. Therefore, 1000 calorie deficit equals 2 pound loss per week.The calorie intake amounts given in the book are given irregardless of caloric daily needs of an individual which of course can lead to unhealthy and improper weight loss which includes loss of lean body mass.Furthermore, when reducing the caloric intake needs you need to allow for a higher protein intake to sustain the lean body mass while losing the fat. Dr. Darden recommends high-protein supplements for his Hard Body Challenge for the more athletic individuals but not for the body leaness program. Different sources show different levels of needed protein some say 1g per lb of total body fat and others say 1-1.5g of protein per lean body weight.This is just what I have been reading from various sources I am not a nutrionist or a professional.The other criticism of the book is the excercises are based on an older Bowflex model so you may have to tweak the program to fit the excercises available to your machine. I have had to tweak a few of the excercises on my Bowflex Blaze and it wasn't too much of a big deal.There are other parts of the book that deal with emphasiz on a body part (i.e chest, arms, abs, etc.) that I have read but have not tried to implement. HOWEVER, before I try to implement any parts of those plans I will definately double check the recommended nutrition/supplementation recommedations made in the book.Currently I have decided to do another 6-week cycle but at the appropriate calorie deficits with an addition of 100% Gold Standard Whey protein and Opti-men multi-vitamin. Furthermore, I will vary and change some of the excercise to prevent the body from plateuing due to the monotony. Once I reach my desired body fat percentage I will begin cylcing for Creatin use in my workouts.Overall, a decent book but specific with the Bowflex machine but take the nutrition portion with a grain of salt.

Helped a lot in developing exercise program

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Toujours la même chose, même approche de l entrainement, diététique, de ce cher ellington mais cette fois ci avec des l'élastique !Passionnés, Passer votre chemin!

I bought this book on the back of Darden’s New High Intensity Training book, which I turned to after a long lay off from the iron and found genuinely engaging. However, this work is of little value to anyone who is (a) anything but a complete novice; (b) not in possession of the bowflex machine. The book is well-laid out and presented, and the chapter devoted to Florida water skiers was interesting. However, Darden preaches a very simplistic guide to training and nutrition. The former is based on Arthur Jones one set to failure training; the latter is akin to a Weight Watchers style plan featuring ready meals, bread, and a few other dietary no nos. This book reflects Darden at his worst, which is a shame because he is a respected training guru and author. That said, he is clearly targeting the average overweight, middle aged American as his buying audience – and you can’t fault the man for that marketing ploy.

What can I say. This book was a life changer for me. If you really follow what's in the book, you will definitely lose weight. I have followed the included diet and workout included for a year and I have never been this healthy. After the first 6 weeks program, I had already lost 30 pounds. I went from 197 to 167 in 6 weeks, which is amazing. After a year, I am at 150 and 11% fat.While you will not end up as a bodybuilder, you do gain a lot of muscle. You will see your body change drastically, so drastically that you will keep wanting to work out. I have never been this "cut" in my life. This book goes beyond the work out, it shows you how to change your thinking about eating and training.Everything is well explained and diet is super easy to follow. Even after a year, I still keep coming back to this book as a reference. It does work. After seeing what it did to me, my brother decided to follow the plan and he also had similar results.This is a must buy for people who wants to lose weight and start being healthy. I would definitely recommend this book.