Review: It's a Five Star Book if you haven't heart of HIIT training, if you're not training due to time, or if you need better results.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2012
HIIT isn't new, but some of the research behind it is new.  I always find it interesting when I read the low star reviews who complain.  At the time I'm reviewing this book, one reviewer complains that there is nothing new here that hasn't been covered elsewhere in other books.  I do not think this book is intended for such a person.  It is meant for the person who has never heard of High Intensity Interval Training and may still think that "getting in shape" means devoting hours a week to training.  Another reviewer complained that the book was "long winded" (it's less than 40 pages!).  I thought he did a good job considering for a lot of people, he's introducing a new idea - even though this method of training has been around a while - and new ideas that create paradigm shifts require explanation.Even for me, an experienced trainer, the heart rate information about a quarter the way into the book was interesting.  The Karvonen Formua was new to me (Maximum Heart Rate - Resting Heart Rate) x Intensity (expressed as a decimal) + Resting Heart Rate = Target Heart Rate.  I was somewhat heartened by the fact that I could still use 220 - Age until we have those other numbers handy.If you're new to HIIT, it can take a little while to get used to it.  Start off slow, find what you can do, and steadily increase intensity levels as your body adapts.  What many people will find great about it in these hectic times is that you just need to find a few minutes a day - not an hour or two.  Including warm up and cool down, maybe fifteen minutes a day three or more days a week will be plenty.If you use HIIT at home, there are plenty of workouts in here to choose from.  It's fairly simple: Page through, pick one that you can do, and do that one.  If you have a home gym or a gym you can easily access, you can use the equipment workouts.  If you have no equipment, use the body workouts.  Once you have your routine selected and you work up to it, you can easily do it to start your day or later in the day.  You can watch the news or any television program and do it on the commercial/title break between the end of one show and the start of the next.  The beauty of it is that you can fit it in your busy schedule!To me, that's worth five stars.  If you already know a lot about HIIT and you have your exercise routines, this may not be the book for you.  If you don't exercise at all because you don't have the time, get this book.  You DO have the time!  If you do exercise, but you're not seeing results, and HIIT is new to you, get this book.  You CAN get results and you don't need to invest more time - just the right kind of high intensity to low intensity ratios that will get you to your targets.And for anyone who would both to get the book and give it a one or two star review, I would suggest that the book is not meant for you.  It's meant for the people it will help, and there are plenty of people in that category!  If you're already experienced with HIIT, if you're a client of a training and coaching system like Quest Health and Fitness (them you will find on Facebook, I believe), or if you are otherwise already getting the results you want, this might not illuminate you much.  As someone whose focus is on moving people forward, I, personally, focus on who this will help move forward - and that's plenty of people.  If you might be one of them, get this book!