Product Description

When many people first begin an exercise program they generally start out too hard, too fast, and with little understanding about what is happening to their body and what they need to do to improve it. This ultimately leads to confusion, frustration, pain, discouragement and failure.

Anyone who has made a commitment to physical fitness has discovered that it consists of three important elements.

1. Knowledge of the body's muscle groups and how they work.
2. Consistency in performing exercises that isolates those muscles.
3. Setting goals, achieving them, and then setting new goals.

It is number 3, goal setting, that is the basis of Body Mechanics Complete Fitness Journal & Guide.

Record keeping is one of the most neglected aspects of working out. You would not think of writing checks out of your checkbook with out recording the amount spent. A sporting event would be very difficult to follow if the score were not displayed. Your Paycheck would not be accurate if accounting for your time were not kept. Yet when many people approach a workout routine, whether it is free weights, circuit, aerobics, or even jogging or power walking, they simply perform the routine with little to no accounting for the progress that has been made. In many ways it is as if they are starting over each time they work out.... and progress is measured by increased resistance and prolonged endurance.

That is where Body Mechanics comes into play. The book you into understanding what fitness is all about. Body Mechanics allows you to record your workout schedule, personal goals, medical history, body measurements, body weight, percentage of body fat, heart rate, and the number of sets, reps, and pounds that are used in a strength training workout.

Body Mechanics is a complete fitness journal giving you the opportunity to record every aspect of your workout for a six-month period. This information can be reviewed by a physician, personal trainer, or yourself, to see where progress is being made and improvements needed.

Through out the book you are encouraged to seek the advice of a certified personal fitness trainer. Almost all health clubs have them on staff. Only a fitness trainer will be able to develop a program tailored to your time management, medical history, current physical condition and personal fitness goals.

Body Mechanics is unique on a variety of levels. In addition to being able to record all aspects of training, the chart's design are from the human body's stand point, not the fitness machines used

The charts are categorized by muscle group, from largest to smallest, which corresponds to the order of most fitness programs. Each chart allows you to customize your workout according to personal needs. For example: Legs. One records what muscle group (Glutes, Thighs, Hamstrings, and Calves) they wish to focus on and what exercise performed, allowing multiple routines for each muscle group to be recorded.

The charts have tabs for easy identification and a larger space to write in. The book is wire-o bound to allow the pages to be flipped around to the back and held it like a clipboard.

Body Mechanics has a strong cardiovascular section that reinforces the importance of reaching and staying in your target heart rate zone.

Body Mechanics Complete Fitness Journal & Guide should be an essential piece of equipment in any gym bag or locker.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1078107 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 230 pages

Review
Body Mechanics is one way they can meet their fitness goals in an organized fahaion. -- Heart & Soul Magazine, December 2000

From the Author
The human body adapts to adversity. The more stress that you place on it, the more it will adapt to those levels of stress. By defining you fitness goals and then recording the results of a work out, you are able to see what progress you have made... and what needs to be done to reach those goals.

Body Mechanics Complete Fitness Journal & Guide was the meeting of two minds. Both Mary Basham and myself are certified personal trainers. But where I am a designer by profession, she has spent the majority of her adult life in the health and fitness industry.

I was able to bring to the project what someone who is serious about fitness wants to know... but more importantly, she was able to bring the project what someone needs to know. It was that collaboration that formed this unique and exciting publication.

For this project we focused on the record keeping aspect of working out. Discouragement and frustration are powerful forces that can influence anyone who works out, especially those that are new to physical activity.

It is a simple fact that even though the human body can make enormous improvements through fitness... it does take time. And here in the 21st century where everything is available to us so quickly... people can get impatient, impatience leads to discouragement, and discouragement leads to quitting.

By having the ability to see what you have done for each muscle group written there in front of you, you have, in essence controlled time. Like an anatomical road map you are able to chart the progress of your workouts and have hard evidence that progress is being made, even though the mirror may say other wise.

We designed Body Mechanics to let you record everything about your work out. From scheduling times, medical history, personal goals, measurements, body composition all the way down to how much weight you are lifting and what your target heart rate is.

You should find Body Mechanics Complete Fitness Journal & Guide very easy to use. It was designed so that you can quickly record and retrieve information about any body part or routine on any given day in a six-month period.

From the Back Cover
Whether you have been working out for years or just starting today, Body Mechanics Complete Fitness Journal & Guide is a great asset to your personal training program.

Charting the progress of your routines gives you an accurate overview of your training program and can assist you in identifying strengths and weaknesses without having to rely on memory.

Within the pages of your fitness journal you will find your strengths, incentives, habits, measurements, target heart rate, personal goals and achievements.

Analyzing your past performance is the key to your future progress

Customer Reviews

A book the fitness industry should have written long ago.
Finally, a book that makes sense of how your body reacts to exercise and fitness, and is written & illustrated in a very refreshing way. I have been working out for years, with and without trainers, with and without guides, and have gotten into a rut with the fitness industry. It's getting boring. Body Mechanics has brought new wind to the sails of exercise. It is an explanation of how the body 'thinks' and reacts, and is written to keep your attention. It is also a small spiral bound six month guide that is designed for your workout bag. You can take it all with you. It targets a properly designed workout program and the one common denominator in today's health clubs - you. Most of all it is very enjoyable to read, is illustrated beautifully, has charts that work, and has brought fun and results back into the picture. I'm very glad I got it.

Finally someone comes out with a fitness JOURNAL!
A friend who I work out with referred the Body Mechanics Fitness Journal to me for use in tracking the progress of my workouts. Having tried several times to keep track on my own - I am ECSTATIC that someone came up with the idea to publish a journal specifically for the purpose of tracking this type of information!
Having this journal has made me more accountable in staying true to my workout schedule, and whats more it's been fun to monitor and see my strength improve as I log my results for each workout. It's only in the past year that I have begun to stick to a fitness regimen, and I found that the information provided in Body Mechanics along with the easy to follow layout of the charts/grids used for logging numbers to be helpful even to a beginner like myself. I have never had a book prove to be so effective that I felt the need to post a review about it, but Body Mechanics deserves kudos.

Very informative!
As a Kinesiology major, I found this book to be a great source for additional information. It's very well organized and an easy read!