The One Minute Workout: Build Fat-Burning Lean Muscle, Massive Strength, and Better Health in Just 60 Seconds a Day! Paperback – August 10, 2014

First, my background: I've been strength training off and on for nearly 30 years, having started in my teens. Have done the Arnold routines, various HIT workouts, bodyweight/cals while I was in the military and when they came back into fashion via Matt Furey, etc. Lots of experience but not claiming to be an expert.That being said, how about the book? For anyone who has been around any form of strength training for more than a few years, many of the exercises will look familiar. But, there's not a whole lot that is new in terms of new exercises except for the Crossfit people and that is a completely different audience than what this book is intended for.However, Dr. Wu's book is a hidden gem and I'd say if you've been lifting for more than 20 years -- and the injuries are starting to persist -- or you're getting burned out on a high repetition BW exercises, check it out. Bad shoulder from bench presses? Elbow issues from chins? Knee issues from squatting? The book is very much worth trying out.Dr Wu's boook is straightforward in its approach, the information objective and no crazy claims or promises like other fitness or strength books. He takes you through progressions for each exercise from the very basic to the most advanced and as noted on other reviews, demonstrates each of them himself. Pretty impressive.If your interest is pumping iron and a 400lb bench, swinging a Kettlebell, or, doing 100 pushups? This book isn't something for you right now...but bookmark it. Eventually you'll get tired of the gym dues, the drive to the gym, the time spent on 45 and 60 minute routines, or, your chronic injuries eventually catch up. Hopefully not. But, this is your fallback if it happens and well worth the investment.

This is an awesome book that presents a strategy for keeping in shape when you don't have much time or the ability to get to the gym. We all know WHAT we should do to get in shape but many of us struggle with how and this book addresses that. Especially if you have a busy and/or inconsistent schedule. As the mother of small children inconsistency is what thwarted my exercise efforts for years. My schedule was constantly changing, plans constantly derailed until I just gave up trying to workout altogether out of frustration. I'd always kept myself in good shape most of my life and was distraught at the muscle loss I experienced when I couldn't exercise regularly. This book answered both issues. It held me over for a couple years until my kids got old enough that I was able to start going to the gym regularly again. After an extended vacation and coming back to a kid who has been sick over a week now, I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get back to the gym so I pulled this book back out!If you don't have much time to exercise, building muscle should be your number one priority. If you're trying to lose weight, weight-bearing exercises (which these are, just using body weight) will help assure that you lose fat and not muscle. Bottom line: if you're short on time this book boils it down to the bear minimum you can do, in the easiest way to still have benefits.It's a good quality book with a lot of information and clear instructions for the exercises. If I would change anything I think it would be nice to have in a spiral bound format with tabs, it may not look as good on your shelf but this is a book that shouldn't be on the shelf, but open everyday!

This is a brief but very practical guide to strength training using single isotonic exercises that are held continuously for one minute a day. It is not to be confused with another book with the same title that delves into the idea of interval training for aerobic fitness. Dr. Wu is among other things an internist, competitive martial artist and software developer. Obviously, he knows something abut time management. Having tried the program, I can also vouch for the fact that the workouts are brief but intense, each recruiting a surprisingly wide array of muscle groups. This is like an executive summary version of more comprehensive books like You Are Your Own Gym and Complete Calisthenics. I would recommend you look them up for extra details if you are struggling with any of the positions. I’m still not sure whether a regimen of one minute a day, five days a week is too good to be true. But after two weeks, I have noticed increased tone and strength in core muscles. With no cost, equipment or health risk, you won’t waste anything by trying - especially time!

I thought I was buying Martin Gibala's book on hiit. isometrics have been around forever. If they worked, people would use them.

Among the books available today that promise brief but effective workout programs, this is one of the few that stay close to that claim. (Many others deceptively offer workouts in which the brief period is effective only if it's preceded by much longer periods of something else.) Many workouts in this program will be closer to two minutes a day, but lets not quibble. The exercises that make up the workouts are arranged intelligently into progressions of escalating difficulty (you only do one a day, but you can choose more difficult exercises as the body strengthens over time), and various programs are offered for different areas of focus. The optional website buy-in offers convenient timing and tracking functions, but this really is optional; the book gives you everything you need. The book's dietary advice offers nothing new.My only big disappointment with this book is that the workout program it describes is ineffective. After five months or so of sticking with it flawlessly, very, very little improvement of strength has occurred for me. I like the way it makes me feel, and perhaps it's preventing me from losing the strength I already have, so it's of some value.