The Ladies’s Well being Massive Ebook of Workout routines: 4 Weeks to a Leaner, Sexier, More healthy You!

Working mom in mid-30’s squeezing in resistance training – If I can do it, so can you!
**Second Update – 2 YEARS AND COUNTING**
My husband and I are STILL using this guide on an almost daily basis as we both continue to strength train/exercise 3 – 5x week. Since we just rounded the corner on 2 years of consistent at-home exercise, we finally felt qualified to invest in more gym equipment ($$) and have now converted half our garage into a home gym (though I maintain my stance that you do NOT need hardly any equipment to get started!!!). This book has kept our routines varied and even though we to look for inspiration in other sources (online, etc.), we continue to come back to this guide to give us tips, proper form, new exercises, etc. If I can become an exercise person SO CAN YOU!
**Update – 1 year using this book and still going strong**
It’s been almost a full year since my original review and I still use this book constantly – its dogeared and well loved! Using the suggested exercise routines in the back, I’ve gone through about 4 different “12 week” programs, and still have many options to choose from. The combinations are limitless and the book has grown with my strength and only become more helpful! I continue to do strength training 3x/week (my husband too!) and alternate with cardio or other kinds of workouts. Ichange up my strength training routine utilizing the suggestions in this book about every 4 weeks. If I come across a suggested exercise that uses equipment we don’t own, I do some googling for improvising the exercise, or target the same muscle group with alternatives suggested in the book. IE, we don’t own a rack and things like inverted rows are difficult without a bar, but I’ve managed to use YouTube inspiration to do inverted rows with cables over doorways, etc.
Since buying this book, we’ve gradually expanded our equipment – starting with adjustable dumbbells (1-50lbs), a stability ball and a yoga mat. Truly, that kept us busy for almost 6 months (and could keep me busy a lot longer, but my husband’s weight needs exceed my own). We’ve since added a chin up bar, some cables/resistance bands and are now at the stage where we’re looking to invest in more equipment (a rack, barbell/weights, adjustable dumbbells 50-90lbs). This book has been wonderful in getting us started without the need to buy a lot off the bat, saving us from making irrational, expensive home gym decisions. This is truly the best $17 I’ve ever spent on myself and my health. If you are truly committed to doing it. If getting to a gym or being around competitive gym rats scare you, start with this book and some simple tools. I am so much stronger already, and so much less intimidated by strength training than I once was. I plan to continue to use this book as my ‘proper form’ and exercise suggestions bible.
**Original Review**
This was an awesome book for someone like me, who has typically relied on cardio workouts and has felt pretty unequipped in how to begin weight and resistance training. After having read repeatedly about the importance of weight training for people as they age to maintain muscle mass and weightloss/ weight maintenance, I committed to figuring out where to start. I’m in my mid-30’s, have a healthy BMI and typically work out at home (either via walking/running/biking around the neighborhood or on a home treadmill). As much as I’d like to have access to a gym, I know myself well enough to know that it would be hard for me to squeeze a gym visit into my daily life as a working mom.
Someone I knew recommended this book and it is chalk full of the information I needed: exercises I can do at home (with or without extra equipment). It includes all kinds of information on how to start, what exercises are good for beginning and how to develop more advanced workouts depending on your goals. It has full body options as well as targeted muscle groups. Every exercise has pictorial examples and discusses proper technique/form, as well as modifications for making each exercise easier or harder. I’ve been doing the “beginners” routine for six weeks and am now shifting to the other routines in the book. I love how the book “grows” with my improvement and can continue to offer value as my fitness improves.
In reading the reviews, some people complained that the Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises was the exact same book with a man pictured doing the routines rather than a woman. With this knowledge in mind, I told my husband that the books were identical and he felt comfortable just using my book to develop his own routine (inspired by my increased interest in resistance training). He has been a marathon runner for several years, but is now also focusing on these exercises as well.
As a result of our commitment to this book, we’ve been gradually adding some equipment to our home (though this is not necessary to begin!). We agreed not to rush into buying anything expensive, but after about 4 weeks of both using these books, we found an adjustable dumbbell set on Craigslist. We’re both able to use them (at different weight settings) and they take up a lot less room than a full set of traditional dumbbells. Otherwise we just use a yoga ball and yoga mat. As we continue to grow our fitness, we may consider investing in more – but don’t let a lack of gym equipment stop you from beginning.

Love this book! The workouts pre-planned are incredibly helpful and help keep me on track and see results
I absolutely love this book for my workouts! I work out all of the time, so it’s nice to have a book that already lays out full excercises to follow so I don’t have to come up with them myself and I love how they explain every single workout. I definitely full the burn more when I follow the instructions for each workout. The beach body workout is my favorite- it’s 6 weeks long and if I follow it with cardio regularly and a partially healthy diet (I love pasta :/) my body still gets toned, I have done it about 3 different times now at different times of the year and it usually takes the first 3 weeks to see anything but by then I get toned pretty quickly and look and feel amazing.
I love the tips in this book also, I might buy another one of these by Women’s Health soon too, but for now I am trying the 8 week plan to lose 10 lbs. and it definitely is working! I definitely reccomend it if you are like me- motivated, wanting to lose weight or tone up and like excercising..but have no idea how to plan out your workouts or get the most out of your workout. It helps you get there
One last thing I love about this book is that the workouts can help you achieve basically any kind of body you want. I like to do 10-12 lb. dumbells becasue I don’t love too much muscle and I have a curvy body that I like to keep, but you can always up the weights (they don’t tell you what size weights to do the excercises) if you want to gain more muscle. I like that because I can control how I want my body to look, where as with P90 x or insanity and those workouts you get a much more defined muscular look and they aren’t catered to women who have curvy/hourglass type bodies.
Good luck!
-XO Selena

Its a nice book. People like me who are new to gym gain very good knowledge. It is very elaborately explained in pictures how to do particular excercise perfectly. Go for it if you are a gym goer and are not sure what to do.

I love this book. I waited for the updated 2017 version and I’m glad I did. I’m middle aged and was brought up in the days when they said ‘no pain no gain’ and weights for women was frowned upon!! I wanted to get myself back in shape as middle age spread had been taking it’s toll but I had no clue where to start. What I’ve learned is that only pounding away on the treadmill will get you knowhere – other than suffering with joint pain that is – and that a clear defined programme designed to build muscle will change your life. I’ve carefully taken notice of getting the right form and using proper techniques for lifting weights – everything is minutely explained and illustrated and gives me confidence to keep working hard. There are hundreds of exercises to do using easily available equipment at home or at the gym or even using nothing. I particularly like the work out programmes and successfully followed the ‘I want my body back’ 12 week programme. I’m getting on in years and I’ve learned so much from this excellent book. So much information. I’d recommend it to anyone.