Cardio Core 4x4: The 20-Minute, No-Gym Workout That Will Transform Your Body!

I'm a personal coach and I like to read and learn from others that have more experience and I want to know about their view. This book is something I would definitly recommend but I can not imagine my mother ( has back problems) who is in her begin 50's and love to sport doing those exercises. These are hard workouts for someone who is 50+. That's my opinion, I hope I'm wrong about this. The coordination exercises are very hard for people who are getting older...But before I bought this book I red that people were saying this is not a cardio workout but more a strength kind a book. I do not agree with this, because if you don't sweat at end of those exercises, your are doing it wrong. Even if you repeat something 10times you will sweat a lot...I give it 3 starts because off what I said before and1- Because 20% of the pictures are terrible. I'm more a visual guy than a reader, and if I wasn't a personal coach and just someone who is a beginner I would not understand a lot of those workout's2- This is no way a 20min workout if you want to do all off those exercises. You lose 30'-45', and I only did everything 10x. So what I want to say is don't lie to people!I give it 3 stars because it's a good book with nice workout and tips for people who want to get fit and work out at home.(Sorry for my bad english)

I ordered this book because I am a runner who tends to ignore the whole strength-training side of the exercise spectrum. Having been through a few courses of PT to fix various running-related injuries, I was intrigued by Jay's concept of "prehab" -- getting people to do strengthening/PT-like exercises BEFORE they are actually injured. Because this book promised to focus on the core and specifically on the hips and glutes (the parts I've ended up in PT for in the past), I thought it would be just what I needed. And the idea of getting it done in only 20 minutes, at home, with no equipment was appealing -- given the choice between spending an hour driving to the gym and lifting weights or an hour going for a run, I was picking the run every time (which is why I kept ending up injured!)The pros: I was right -- this book is exactly what I needed. The exercises are like hardcore versions of the ones I learned in PT. They target just the right body parts and after doing them just a couple times, I notice a difference in the way my hips and legs feel during a run. None of the exercises require any equipment, and they give you a good workout. Though there's not a whole lot of cardio involved (there is some -- mostly jumping exercises), I am drenched in sweat by the time I finish. The background story Jay gives of his life and how he ended up coming up with this program is entertaining and easy to read, and his tone is motivational with out being overly peppy or annoying.The cons: Let me say up front that I am not the most coordinated person on the block -- I usually need a couple times of watching an exercise video before I get the steps down and I've given up on anything that requires complicated footwork (like Tae Bo) because I'm just too klutzy. That said, I found the descriptions of some of the exercises very difficult to follow. There are pictures and text, but sometimes, even with reading and re-reading the text and studying the pictures, I still can't figure out what I am supposed to be doing. I have found that some of the descriptions aren't very well done -- for example, there's just a generic instruction at the beginning of the exercise part of the book to "repeat each exercise 10-20 times". Then the exercises are shown. But some exercises involve multiple steps (such as circling your leg one way then the other) -- I'm not sure whether you are supposed to go 10 times one way then 10 times the other or whether you are supposed to go one way then reverse and repeat that 10 times. Other places, the title of the exercise will be something like "Forward/Backward Circles" but the description only talks about going forward. There is nothing in the description, anywhere, about going backward. I assume from the header I'm supposed to do that, but it doesn't actually say. I suppose this isn't life-or-death important -- I've just been guessing and doing what I assume is the right thing. But I'm a bit anal-retentive when it comes to my workouts so I hate not knowing EXACTLY what I'm supposed to be doing.And perhaps it's just because I'm still unsure about the exercises but it is taking me way longer than 20 minutes to do each workout -- I'm hoping I'll get faster as it becomes more second-nature. But still - the 4x4 workout is a series of several exercises -- first 21 exercises performed on hands and knees, then 5 performed on hands and feet facing up at the ceiling (like crab postion) then 6 more (plus a cooldown) done while sitting/lying on the ground. That's 32 separate exercises (more than half of which have to be done twice, once for each leg) at 10-20 reps each -- I just don't see any way that's going to fit into 20 minutes.Jay Cardiello now has a series of exercise videos called jcore that I believe is based on this book. I am tempted to order them because 1) I could see a video demonstration of some of these confusing exercises and 2) since they are limited by video runtime, the workouts would actually stick to the 20 minute promise. Alas, the video set costs over $100, which is why I decided to start with this book. I just wish that the descriptions of the exercises were clearer and also that there was some sense of progression -- a "beginners should do 5 reps of this exercise, 10 reps of this one, skip this one while intermediate/advanced exercises should do X" sort of thing. I enjoyed reading the first part of the book so much and was so inspired to try the exercises and then I just found myself utterly flummoxed by the poorly written descriptions and lack of overall guidance when it came to the workout part. I think this could be a great exercise book if only the exercise part was easier to follow! I'm still going to keep up with the workouts as best I can because I can see that they are benefiting me -- I just wish I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Perhaps I'll be asking Santa for the jcore videos for Christmas!

Good reading material

I LOVE this workout and have never felt better. I don't get to all the exercises in the 20 minutes, but I just set the timer and get to work. When the timer goes off, I stop. My core has never felt better and it's helped me immensely in my voice class (yes, breath support!). I combine this w/ walking 5 days a week for 20 minutes and I'm in the best shape of my life (at 52)!

Awesome book for exactly what the title states. This is on of my favorite books for a stressful day with the last thing I want is to exercise. I feel I get a better work out in such a short amount of time. Jay Cardiello is a great coach!

nice informative book mainly on how to change your diet and habits to get your calorie intake right. As a workout guide its not thaty great since you cant really tell what the pictures are trying to have you do in the exercises if you never have done them before. I recommend buying his workout dvds for that they are much better.

This is a decent book. I was expecting a killer cardio workout and this wasnt it. Perhaps, thats a gig on me, but the title does say cardio. I do understand, by definition this routine can be labeled cardio.However, I dont want to sound too critical. The two core workouts are good and no equipment is needed. It is a worthy addition your bookshelf. Also, unlike the other 3 star review, I dont think the exercise are hard to follow. The author does state that 10 reps of say, a leg raise, would be 10 reps per side. And if you were doing forward arm circles, I think backward arm circles are pretty easy to follow.

I brought this book for my son who wanted to increase his cardio. He loves the variety of workouts in the book.

two superb routines,another routine you can do but is not compulsory.do the whole routine and you will sweat!buy the book,a real bargain

Es werden hier nicht wie so oft nur die üblichen Klassiker in verschiedenen Varianten vorgestellt ( 3x12 Liegestütz, 3x12 Kniebeugen...), sondern zwei Einheiten die sich einmal im stehen auf Beine / Bauch konzentrieren, und im zweiten in der Liegestützposition auf Schultergürtel / Bauch. Bei den Übungen kommt es vor allem auf Gesamtkörperspannung und Haltung an, was durchaus intensiv sein kann, gemischt mit der dynamischen Bewegungsausführung kommt man auch ganz schön ausser Puste. Ich halte das ganze für ein sehr gutes Grunglagenprogramm für funktionelle Kraft Beweglichkeit und Ausdauer - für ein klassisches Muskelaufbautraining ist es wohl nicht ganz das richtige - aber man kann ja noch ein paar Standartübungen mit einbauen. Außerdem macht das hier wegen der Bewegungsvielfallt einfach mehr Spaß!Mit den veranschlagten 4x 20 min pro Woche (2x Oberkörper/2x Beine) komme ich allerdings nicht hin. Wenn man wirklich jede Übung 20 x Wiederholt, was als Ziel angestrebt wird, dauert es doch etwas länger. Aber das kann ja jeder seinen Bedürfnissen anpassen.

Not as expected. boring