About.com Rating

Updated October 27, 2014.

The Bottom Line

Linguvic offers a nice, well-rounded strength training program for women that's easy to follow with plenty of variety. This book will appeal to all levels of exercisers, since she's thoughtfully divided each program according to fitness level.



Pros

• Solid moves target the core, lower body and upper body as well as flexibility
• Workouts are separated for beginner, intermediate and advanced exercisers

• Additional stretching exercises add a relaxing element to traditional strength training

Cons

• Many workouts will take longer than the 12 minutes stated

Description

• A 6-week strength training program for beginner, intermediate and advanced exercisers
• Workouts target upper body, lower body and core with a variety of strength and stretching exercises
• Workouts are designed around minimal equipment and include express workouts for busy days

Guide Review - Lean, Long & Strong

Lean, Long & Strong offers a 6-week strength program based on the idea of synergy-that combining strength training with complimentary stretches makes workouts more effective. The workouts are 12 minutes long and don't include cardio (though there's a chapter explaining cardio basics). She emphasizes heavy weights/lower reps, a refreshing change from the light weight/high rep madness many women still follow, discussing the benefits of lifting heavy and challenging the body. The remaining chapters are divided into core, lower body and upper body workouts based on 'Synergy Sets' (which include a strength move followed by a stretch).

These are broken down further into beginner, intermediate and advanced routines and each exercise includes modifications, so you have several options for workouts and exercises. Most of the strength moves are nothing new (squats, lunges, pushups, dumbbells rows, etc.) but she does offer some interesting stretches on the ball. At the end, she offers a huge variety of weekly calendars of workouts based on your goals. The last section is a 6-week nutrition program where, each week, you make small changes in your eating habits-a nice way to make lasting changes without going on a diet. Overall this is a well-written book with some great ideas for strength training. I enjoyed stretching between sets, whether it's effective or not (which is up in the air). It's nice to see something that will appeal to everyone, not just beinners.