I have read all of Karens books and have a couple videos so I am familiar with her work and love it. This book is my favorite mainly because it is such a blend of so many things. It touches on spirituality but no preaching, it could be applied to any religion.Lots of wonderful exercises, stretches, movements that make you feel soo good. I would love a video that incorporates all of the movements she shows in the book. Karen gives great instructions and tells you how to do it, what to look out for, how to do it for the various shapes people are in. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting a great workout that is kinder and gentler(BUT WORKS)than alot of others. She reminds us its about feeling good and not looking perfect.I love it!

I agree with most of what the other reviewers have written. I like the book because of the different presentation of the geometry of several exercises. Andes actually draws lines on photographs to show proper body alignment, gravitational forces, and path of dumbbells during an exercise. She does it with great effectiveness. It's an idea I intend to use myself.

I, for one, am not at all bothered by the author's waxing poetic. What it is they say about attitude? I don't think the reader should feel obligated to have a spirtiual experience in every workout, but approaching training as something more than drudgery seems reasonable and healthy.

I haven't read the entire book yet. I bought it thinking it might be worth recommending to my clients (I'm still looking for a text that is error free). I checked to see what Andes had to say about the Leg Extension exercise. This is a controversial, but frequently employed exercise. It is controversial for several reasons. One is that it puts a lot of shear force on the knee and if overused or used with resistance that is too heavy, it can damage the knee. This critical fact is not mentioned. Another feature of this exercise is that the distal fibers of the vastus medialis (internus) muscle that attach to the superior medial patella are not emphasized until the leg is almost straight (the last 10 to 20 degrees according to the MANUAL OF STRUCTURAL KINESIOLOGY by R.T. Floyd and Clem W Thompson). This, unfortunately, is where the shear forces are the greatest. If the exercise does have merit, it may be that it does work the rectus femoris well. Better than squats even. According to the magnetic resonance images (MRI) in TARGET BODYBUILDING (a text I do recommend) leg extensions, old-fashioned Hack squats, and sissy squats work the rectus femoris very hard. Interestingly, all of them work the entire quadriceps really well, but have no hamstring involvement to speak of. I believe also that these exercises are all not recommended by several trainers because of the potential for knee damage. Andes does not include these facts in her discussion of the leg extension exercise.

In general, though, this appears to be one of the better resistance exercise books. I intend to read it all and flag the best parts for future reference.

This book is truly a must-own for every woman who cares about her health, both spiritual and physical. The exercises are clearly described and the author's writing style is beautiful. I thought I would find the chapters on emotions would be hokey but I actually found myself wanting to read more.

Another major advantage to this book over others I've tried to use is its flexibility. Rather than give us a woman's magazine style 8-week program guaranteed to tighten your butt, she encourages you to make your own plan using your own style and needs. I've been using this book to guide my strength training for two months now and expect I'll return to it again and again. This time, thanks to Karen Andes, I think I'll actually stick to my fitness routine!

Excellent book! I bought it to learn about body building to help my wife out and I learned alot! I have never read a book on fitness that went into such detail about how to workout. Karen explains how to do the exercises including information about how to do a rep, how your body should feel durning and afterwards, how to tell good pain for bad pain. She also goes into many of the whys of bodybuilding. For anyone interested in getting thier questions answered this is for you! I only wish I could find a book like this written for men. Not that the information isn't helpful for men. But this book is centered on womens body building. Karen your book is refreshing and you are a gifted teacher.

This book is a well-rounded way to begin your quest for fitness. It represents the age-old methods of keeping your body fit while rightfully ignoring the fads. However, this book does not accurately represent the newest medical findings i.e. the last year and a half. I also found that some important ideas behind overall health were not addressed. As a side note, this book is also poorly organized and works better as a reference and not a cover-to-cover read.

In general, this book is a good supplement to reading current information (such as Health Magazine) and other fitness books. In life you must always cross reference information and question its valididty.

There's nothing more frustrating than diligently adhering to a fitness regimen and not getting the results you expected. If this has ever happened to you, you must read this book.

So many times we start with good intentions but bad advice. Or our bodies work differently than we expected them to. Knowledge is very powerful, and it helps you take control of your health and really understand your body. Instead of getting frustrated, blaming yourself, and giving up, get some facts.

Here are just a few of the fitness issues this book resolved for me:

Q: How long do I need to do aerobics to burn fat?
A: (p.160) 15-25 minutes for men, 25-40 for women.

Q: Why aren't my muscles getting big, like men's muscles?
A: (p.147) Women's muscles get denser, not larger.

Q: How often should I strength train?
A: (p.113) Two or three times per week, for 30-60 minutes.

Q: What is this pain I get down my arm during lateral raises?
A: (p.79) Sounds like impingement syndrome, a swelling of the rotator cuffs.

I have yet to approach this book with a question and come away without an answer.

To review the contents briefly, the book is divided into:

Strength Training, including
- Muscle charts
- Exercise guides
- Equipment
- Posture and breathing
Cardiovascular Training, including
- Energy and burning fat
- Stretching and flexibility
- Pregnancy
- Injuries, muscles and ligaments
Diet & Nutrition, including
- Alcohol, caffeine and food additives
- Phytochemicals, minerals and vitamins
- Dieting and digestion
- Fat, protein and carbohydrates
Wellness, including
- Yoga, tai chi and chi kung
- Aromatherapy and homeopathy
- Chinese medicine and ayurveda
- Depression and stress

And much more, of course. Fantastically useful. If you own one fitness book, let this be it. Odds are good that you'll never need another.

In the world of fitness, I can tell you I have seen a lot of crazy fads that people go for. With every fad I have seen people loose the weight yet pack it back on in a few months time. I'm not only writing a review on this awsome book, but also want to say if it seems too good to be true guess what... it is. Please do not risk your health to loose some pounds. It's just not worth it. Going on same crazy diet where you eat watermelon and drink gallons of water will not work. Trust me.

I read a lot of books on fitness and such and I can honestly say this book is by far the best I own. It's the ONLY book I own. It has everything and I often go back to it when developing a new program for a client. It includes sections on strength and cardio training, Explains what muscle an exercise works with detailed diagrams as well as how to perform the exercise. If your starting out or at an advance level, this book is honest and stright forward. No crap...just the honest facts.

I would also like to take this chance to say that I believe a healthy body makes for a healthy mind. Accept your body for what is it. It is a gift... take care of it, treat it with respect. Set realistc goals for yourself. This book will help you get there. Health and fitness does not have to be chore.

Best of Health to you!

IMHO, this book bests Stretching, 20th edition, by Anderson. for the info it provides regarding the circumstances of stretching, info which doesn't appear in Stretching. Also, unlike Anderson's book, the authors aren't trying to sell you equipment. The bibliography and index indicate that this book is a professional work. GUYS, do not be put off by the fact that all of the drawings are of a woman. It is worth the price.

This book is really good for someone who is new to putting stretching into thier routine. The book is about 200 pages. The first 30 pages talks all about stretching, the benefits, the different kinds of stretching etc. This part of the book is excellent and I would buy it just for that because it had a lot of good information. (I exercise a lot but didn't know too much about stretching). I like the way this section is written, its talks scientifically but explains everything in layman's terms so the average person can understand. The next 45 pages are the actual stretches. I think they're okay. I would have been happier if they showed more variations. They seemed kind of simplistic. However, the benefit of this is they all looked very safe, which is important. Minimum stress on the knees for example. Good for people starting out or are injured or older. I was looking for something a little more challenging and more variety. Anyway, a very few of the stretches didn't have illustrations which I thought was strange- did they forget? Overall, there are stretches for every part of the body. The last 100 pages is devoted to specialty stretches, different stretch routines for ALL different kinds of sports, as detailed as windsurfing, stretches using special equipment like a pole or ball, recommended stretches for morning and evening and that kind of thing.

Not only is this book a great reference (they show you how to do over 100 stretches, then group them by sport for easy reference) it is also entertaining and easy to read. I recommend it highly, even for someone who knows how to stretch. With so many stretches shown, I'm sure there's something new in there for everyone.

Karen Andes has some great ideas in A Woman's Book of Power. The dance exercises and visualization techniques are superb. Movements are broken down in flowery right-brain and clinical left-brain fashions, which work well independently or in tandem. I have already been using some of her techniques in my own dance and fitness classes, and the students love it.

However, the exercises are only part of the book. The rest of the book appears to preach woman power. As an equalitarian, I find the language of these sections exclusionary. The book is written specifically with women in mind as an audience, but the materials within are of equal validity for men and children. I'm not sure why she labels right-brain thinking as feminine and left-brain thinking as male, but this seems to be the thesis on which this book is based. When Karen Andes waxes philosophical about the "feminine" shapes of circles, spirals, and waves, she falls into the same trap as Freud with his phallic imagery. Even Freud was credited as saying, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Andes notes, "Young women seem instinctively drawn to a tribal way of life. They dress alike, travel in packs, love adornment and ceremony." Somehow, she seems to be overlooking how young men tend to act in the same way, with their similar clothing, tastes in music, and team sports.

When she laments "Would male architects design building not only in blueprints but also with a sensitivity to the ground the building sit on, the curves in a hillside, the angles of then sun?", she ignores visionary architects like Frank Lloyd Wright.

Similar false conclusions are made when she writes, "People will ask, 'What's this Goddess thing? It sounds so trendy.' The answer is simple. No one ever asks if God is a trend." As a secular humanist, skeptic, and agnostic, I beg to differ....

I could nit-pick other details like this for quite a while, but it wouldn't serve much of a purpose. If you are the sort of person who likes to read about the aggrandizement of feel-good femininity, you will most likely enjoy the book. Karen has a lucid, easy-to-follow writing style. If you're a more "masculine" (read, left-brain) thinker, you will enjoy the exercise breakdowns. And yes, men can glean practical information from them, too.

Every woman should read this book, Karen is entertaining and makes exercise fun. She addresses the true feelings of women and their bodies. Dance has never been so fun