The Body of America: An Insider's Journey Through the Bumps and Pumps, Groans and Moans, Pecs and Wrecks..

By Blair Sabol

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877958076
• ISBN13: 9780877958079
• Release Date: September 1986
• Publisher: Arbor House
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Superfitness may not be for you, but good health is!

It's not supposed to be a motivational book but I started a fitness regime after reading it!Sabol has been a "fitness freak" most of her adult life. As health columnist for Mademoiselle magazine, she traveled widely, reporting on (and trying out) all kinds of spas, resorts, diets, exercise parlors -- you name it, she tried it.Here she tells all. What it's like to be coddled, starved and exercised at places like "The Golden Door" and other expensive and exclusive watering places for the elite, what it's like at Gold's Gym and Santa Monica Body Builders. (The prevalence of the word "gold" in the titles indicate what clients give and owners get. With these clients, the most obese things in sight are the costs of the programs and the bank accounts of the customers.)"Aerobics and fitness in general," Sabol writes, "did not just become a fashion -- they became a craze. And it was the craziness that became injurious to the health movement...What we need to do is rethink our definition of fitness...The most important question is fit for why? What is the point of looking like an Olympian if you're a clerk at the A & P express line?"Sabol contends that the drive for fitness can be a narcissistic way to avoid relationships, a substitute for things that really count. We need to understand our limitations and be aware of needs and objectives. "Acknowledging that our basic fears of aging and of intimacy led us to the extreme physical self-obsession."She adds,"Good health means being keyed into the ultimate balance of life for you and you alone. But above all, we must learn to heed the advice of our own body wisdom. In the end, that's the only trainer worth sweating for."This book makes more sense than anything else I've ever read on the subject. I recommend it to anyone who wants to live a healthy lifestyle.