The Bathing Suit Workout

"You can achieve a bathing suit body in thirty workout hours!" claims author Joyce Vedral. These workout hours are broken up into 10- or 15-minute sessions, done every day or every other day. Although Vedral doesn't calculate the math, this comes to 120 to 180 workout sessions, which may take a year at 10 minutes every other day. Vedral says that you can get your bathing suit body "in record time" because "you'll be concentrating only on the problem areas." This is problematic, because spot reducing does not work, and exercise professionals have known this for years. Though Vedral insists that you're "zapping" fat, you can't burn fat from specific areas. But this book's program will work--the catch is that you follow her low-fat "bulge-busting diet" (15 percent fat, 15 percent protein, 70 percent carbohydrates), and do three to six 20- to 40-minute aerobic sessions a week, in addition. So much for the claim on the cover: "10 minutes a day to a flat stomach, trim thighs, flab-free hips and the firmest butt you ever had."

If you get past your annoyance at being misled, the book presents a good exercise program and sound nutritional advice. The "tri-set" is three complementary muscle groups (hips/buttocks, thighs, and abdominals) exercised in sequence without stopping. Then, after a 15-second rest, you do another tri-set, and so on until you've done seven. If you're a woman or iron, steel, or titanium, Vedral offers more advanced levels by adding additional sets of new exercises for the same body parts. Weights are used optionally for the thigh exercises only. The illustrations are clear and show both beginning and ending positions of each exercise. --Joan Price