Escape Your Shape : How to Work Out Smarter, Not Harder (2 Fitness Favorites from Exercise Guru)

Do you wonder why the latest fitness fad doesn't work for you? Have you lifted weights for months, dreaming of toned, defined muscles, with no results? Have you exercised regularly for months -- or even years -- without seeing any changes in your body? If you answered yes to any of these questions, chances are your exercise routine is incomplete and wrong for your body type.

Everyone -- men and women alike -- has a natural shape:

Hourglass® Spoon® Ruler® Cone®

And there's a right and a wrong way to exercise for each. By exercising right for your body type you'll finally see stubborn problem areas start to change in a matter of weeks -- the kind of change that will motivate you to continue until you meet your goals and beyond.

You don't need to buy expensive equipment or devote hours a day to this program. Whether you're twenty-two or seventy-two, a regular at the gym or making a serious commitment to exercise for the first time in your life, the man Fit magazine calls the "Shape Master" puts the most important tool for success in your hands: a detailed step-by-step workout for your body type that you can perform anywhere. With consistent workouts fueled by quantifiable results, you will dramatically change your body for the better and for the rest of your life.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

This is an amazing exercise program! , 2008-04-25
I am really impressed and amazed by Escape Your Shape. First, by way of background, I am one of those women who is generally very happy with my body. I'm no stick figure, I am curvy and have bigger thighs, hips, and a butt. Prior to beginning this program, I was probably a size 4 on top and a size 8 on the bottom. So as you can see, while I was generally pleased with my figure, I wasn't pleased by the fact that my lower half was considerably larger than my upper half. This discrepancy became especially noticeable when I wore lighter colored jeans or when I wore a bathing suit. My older sister and mom have the exact same body, so I know where it comes from!

I consider myself to be an active person and at one point I exercised 5-6 day a week. Sure, I lost weight in my thighs, but the BASIC STRUCTURE of my body never changed. I was still small on top, bigger on the bottom.

So with nothing to lose, I bought a used copy of Escape Your Shape from Amazon for about 8 bucks. I read the book cover to cover and was frankly a bit skeptical. The exercises just seemed too easy (going on a bike vs. running? No way!). Jump roping? I hadn't done that since grade school. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try.

I've been on the program for about 6 months, but I've only really consistently been on it for the last 2 months. I am amazed at the difference in my body!! My thighs, hips, and butt are noticeably smaller. My husband has definitely noticed the difference and a classmate of mine from school came up to me the other day and asked what I was doing to look "so skinny". I've lost 5 pounds (125 right now) but the biggest difference is more the number of inches I've lost -- about 1.5 inches off my waist and 4 inches from my thighs! This happened WITHOUT making any changes in my diet and with working out 2-3 days a week, max.

This program is easy - I don't mean that all of the exercises are easy because they're not, but you'll get the hang of it quickly. I could barely do a push up before and now I can do at least 15.

The other benefit of this program is that because I noticed the difference in my body within just a few weeks, I really look forward to my work outs now. Before, I dreaded going to the gym because I absolutely hated to run, but I felt that running was what I "had" to do. Now I never go on the treadmill, I just use the bike for my cardio and surprisingly, the inches are coming off. I also don't waste a lot of time now -- before, I would randomly roam around the gym trying to figure out which weight machine I should use. Now, I know exactly what to do and I don't waste time, so my work outs are much more productive.

I can't say whether this program will work for everyone, but if you've tried other exercise programs and have not been happy with the results, I would DEFINITELY give this a try. Particularly if you're like me and are on bigger on the bottom, I would give this a shot. Good luck!



1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Interesting, 2007-09-18
Interesting because of the types of exercises that were advised in this book. Seems a little out of date and unsafe in some of the suggestions yet effective. May need to consult your doctor if you have neck, and or, back problems.



1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Exercise, 2007-05-06
It was very informative and I recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with losing weight. I've struggled with it because the exercises were not for my body type.


10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

This works for me, 2007-03-21
I can't say if this will work for you, but I saw results after only two weeks. I was doing step classes, lunges and squats everyday (hourglass no-no) and I was a very consistent exerciser.
According to the book, everything that I was doing was wrong for an hourglass. After working out with the books recommendations for two weeks, I see slimmer thighs (looser pants) and a very slightly slimmer waist.
Granted, this is not an easy workout (plan to devote 70 minutes per session)but if you count your drive to the gym, you probably put in that amount of time anyway...you can do this at home.
I like it!
PS I bought a "ropeless" jump rope for the aerobic part. My ceilings are not high enough for a regular jump rope.


7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Target your problem areas please!, 2006-06-28
I'm an 8 year gym junkie, and personal trainer graduate, but this approach has helped me to get the most out of my work outs and spend less time spinning my wheels on exercise that isn't productive. Really, the principals are basic and are so simple, they are often overlooked. This is a fantastic book that will make you look at exercise in a whole new light. Combined with diet and a positive mind set, this book will complete your armor for success against the bulge. By targeting your challenge areas, choosing between the featured four body types, hourglass, cone, ruler, and spoon, recommendations are made based on your body type as well as exercises to avoid that are only going to accentuate the areas you want to minimize. We all have our problem areas, I think we all know what our's are, you can work out smarter, faster, and with less wasted effort on areas that don't need worked. Instead of working out just to sweat and feel exhausted, hoping for some blind accomplishment, use this book to identify exactly what exercises are going to give you the most benefit for your recipe for success. Everyone is different, every body type has it's own challenges, so why should we be all working out the same way, like robots lined up on ellipticals at the gym, huffing and puffing, day after day!? Based on very simple shape charts, you will identify which shaped most closely ressembles yourself, and you're well on your way to an advantage to your work out. Struggling myself to stay in shape, I've never really looked at my shape before and said...gee, I think I'm good except for my....upper arms and thighs. I just saw extra fat somewhere and worked harder at the same old exercises that weren't getting me anywhere. I just looked in the mirror and new I didn't like what I saw, I never took the time to catagorize myself like this book suggests. This book will put you into the right category for a whole new workout, just for you, so you can meet your goals.

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