4-Minute Fit: The Metabolism Accelerator for the Time Crunched, Deskbound, and Stressed by Siphiwe Baleka, Jon Wertheim
4-Minute Fit by Siphiwe Baleka , Jon Wertheim
4-MINUTE FIT addresses a serious problem amongst America’s truckers. Soon after the author began his new trucking career, he was alarmed to discover that bad things began to happen: “In less than two months on the job, I had somehow managed to gain more than 10 percent of my body weight.”
The author also noted that he wasn’t alone—a LOT of truckers are in the same boat: “I looked around and saw my new coworkers. Don’t get me wrong. They were— and are— absolutely fantastic people. But they were also, for the most part, overweight and not on a path to live a long life.” In short, truckers have a much lower life expectancy.
4-Minute Fit by Siphiwe Baleka , Jon Wertheim
The good news is that simple changes can have drastic impact for the better: “Here’s the reality: our war against obesity is winnable. The conflict is preventable.”
The essence of the 4-Minute Fit plan is simply this: Do something vigorous every day without fail. The idea is to “spike” our metabolism in order to “burn fat at an accelerated rate in both the short term and the long term.” The exact activity is not important: “What do I actually DO for those four minutes? And my answer is simple and can be reduced to three words: It. Doesn’t. Matter.” What IS important is that one faithfully that perform vigorous activity every day.
4-Minute Fit by Siphiwe Baleka , Jon Wertheim
Here are the 7 key points:
1. No matter what, get fifteen minutes of exercise a day, every day.
2. Each workout must include at least four minutes of vigorous activity.
3. Work multiple muscle groups at the same time.
4. Always eat after a workout.
5. Eat breakfast. Then eat something every three hours.
6. Keep healthy snacks within reach.
7. Log your nutrition and fitness.
The author concludes this book with an appeal to DO SOMETHING—because this problem can be overcome:
“This is a preventable problem, a reversible crisis, a winnable war. We should be asking ourselves why we aren’t, as a country, doing more?”
All in all, I found 4-Minute Fit to be an encouraging book with a practical solution to a tough problem. The book is easy to read, with some fun photos and illustrations. The author’s fitness plan is similar to the “1-Minute” Workout book.
Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.
