With his bestselling books, Dr. Michael F. Roizen has helped people reverse their chronological aging by ten, fifteen, and up to twenty-nine years. Now, with The RealAge^® Workout, he explains the importance of gradually phasing exercise into your everyday routine, because even the smallest changes in behavior can make you feel, look, and be younger. No matter how busy your schedule, Dr. Michael Roizen will show you how to gain the maximum age-reduction benefits from a minimum amount of time and effort. He'll help you create an exercise program that meets your needs and he'll offer tips on how to actually enjoy—yes, even love—exercise. So get ready to achieve optimal health and be as young as you can be!

As a longtime exerciser and believer in careful diet, I've been following the Roizen books for some time. This one has a little good advice, but is quite thin on how to get into physical fitness for the sedentary. He has only one mention each on bursitis and tendonitis -- just the advice that you should go slow to avoid them -- nothing on pulled muscles or injured tendons. Nor does he show alternate forms of various exercises for those who have an injury. He never mentions Pilates or Tai Chi. Yoga is mentioned once, a throwaway line about it as a form of stretching.

In a lifetime of exercising, I have learned that even when I maintain pretty good fitness -- 15,000 steps a day, stretching daily, weights twice a week -- I often encounter challenges such as hip and shoulder bursitis. An Achilles tendon injury took 18 months to heal, even following the advice and rehab program of an excellent orthopedist. And what are you supposed to do if you get a six-week long sinus infection? Some exercise books address these common issues, but you won't find much help here.

He does say if you have arthritis you have to keep moving. That advice is golden, but it doesn't help with the type of injury, as of a tendon, for which you should stop moving and try a different workout until you heal.

His almost total emphasis seems to be on building muscle, preferably by going to the gym. The book is padded with multiple versions of the same exercise. He doesn't say what we're supposed to do when we inevitably encounter speed-bumps such as Achilles tendonitis or rotator cuff injuries. Maybe it would be better titled You, Bulking Up.

As to endurance, walking is recommended, but he doesn't give much advice about what to do if you have an injury that prevents walking. A broken leg is supposed to be the only reason to avoid your daily 30-minute walk. How about pneumonia?

I think his emphasis on muscle-building is fine, but he gives short shrift to endurance and stretching, which are just as important to everybody, especially older adults.

And speaking of older adults, what's with these photos of cute 30-something models illustrating the moves? Where are the 50, 60, and 70-year olds who might have bought this book to get some advice? (At least he's avoided the annoying little elf-guy in the You books.)

But you got to give it to the guy, he does preach the good word on exercise, and I do get his message that muscle mass burns fat.

Borrow it from the library or buy it used.

The Real Age Workout is just the book you were looking for to assist you in staying healthy, trim but not spending thousands to attain this desired form. Get a copy of the book, if you can. They don't stay very long in stores or online.

Click on each hyperlink that follows to check out other excellent books for your reading pleasure and education. Fluctuating Life Let's Talk Africa and More Quest for a Dream: A Life Committed to Progress

You know the health benefits of a workout but could rarely fit it into your schedule? Dr Roizen's helpful suggestions make the whole process more doable and "user friendly". "Retrain your Brain Reshape your Body" does for your brain what Dr Roizen does for the body: it provides you with user-friendly steps to a more fit brain and a healthier,leaner you! A healthy mind is the necessary first step towards a stronger body and healthier weight.

I received this book within a very short period of time and would purchase another book with this person.

The book is interesting, good advice and easy to follow the instructions. I have been regularly going to the gym since I was 17 years old, now I am 79 and with an estimated age between 71 to 73. The exercises and texts in this book have been in my routine, plus some advice from Reail Age page many years ago.
I would recommend its reading for starters and gym participants. It has interesting information on how to evaluate your age in the successive steps on the road to a healthy body and mind.