A couple of my clients have been asking me about this lady, I in fact had never heard of her until recently.
She is apparently a role model for middle aged women (and beyond) to get in shape and that "you can do it too!"
that is all fine and dandy, I have my role models too. but I KNOW i CANNOT and WILL NOT look like these guys (search Dorian Yates, Tom Platz just as examples) no matter how hard I try. I'm trying to improve ME to make an even better ME.
so, One of my client loaned me one of her books (which apparently she has 10 books and counting... who knew?) which is titled "The eat clean diet workout"
I thought "sure, I'll give it a whirl, just to see whats out there now"
this was written in 2008, and here is my "quick" review.
yes, my "new fad" posts had to stop because I feel this is needed. badly.
Pros:
- muscle is good. who knew??? Tosca totes that women should strive to GAIN muscle, not lose weight. this is very good, and I'm glad shes said this. also that you cannot and will not gain ugly bulky muscle. she doesn't go into why, but at least she states it.
-Ditch the scale. self explanatory, but great that she put it in there none the less.
-Don't Train too rapidly. very good as well. adequate rest during workouts is needed for various reasons I've talked about here.
-never bounce/drop weight. she means during exercises, during the negative portion, dont drop the weight to the starting position. control the weight. definitely.
- ease into things. yes. don't go jump into 293843 X a week doing cardio and weights. even with nutrition, which she mentions. great.
-sleep is key. self explanatory.
soooo, that pretty much wraps up the pros. here are my cons...
Cons:
-Scary recommended exercises.
Where should I start? from her recommending good mornings to her saying that heel wedges should be used for free weight squats, everything is pathetic and terrible. a lot of her reasoning was cyclical, in "the squat works because it does!" was awful. we're supposed to take Tosca's word for it because shes done it so we should too. right. this was actually awful. that and the amount of isolation exercises was hilarious, even for a figure/fitness competitor. the people wanting this book shouldn't/wouldnt want/need these exercises.
- Horrible opinions/myths
Yes, everyone has an opinion. some of you will think this review is crap, that is fine. but here it is !
where she gets her myths kind of blows my mind. for instance, the 2 that really stick out memorably are 1) don't EVER push out your stomach because you could PERMANENTLY stretch your stomach/abdominal wall. not even as a joke. this is pathetically not true, and would go against all proper breathing principles. she even recommends wearing a weight belt to keep the stomach tight. wow. hilarious. (no folks, this DOES NOT happen. ) 2) steriods kill people and are horrible for you. I'll segue into this later, but 2 of 6 pages in the supplement section has to do with her VERY negative opinion on steroids. her claims are unfounded and untrue. NOTE: this is not me condoning or rejecting the use of steroids, its me saying if you're going to hack/promote something, back it up. don't just say your word. these are 2 examples of the weird stuff "Tosca says" for us to do.
-BLATANT over pushing of oxygen magazine.
I believe at least once she says keys to success are to NEVER miss an issue of oxygen. self promotion, nice. I believe this woman is married to Robert Kennedy, owner of oxygen? (whom also does the crappy forward for the book) so why wouldn't you promote this magazine? the last time I read oxygen, i could barely contain my emotions from wanting to burst out laughing or rip all the pages out in a maddened frenzy. quick response: this magazine is crap and not worth anyone's time.
- Totes science, yet no studies
I'm very neutral when it comes to scientific studies. what i mean is that yes, some results are convincing, others are not, and i judge accordingly. protein builds lean muscle, and has been documented to do so. creatine works, every case. caffeine wakes you up. BUT, "Tosca says" a lot in here, that i have YET to see backed up. better yet, she claims most/everything she talks about has scientific backing. she gives us no references, just claims it to be scientific. you gotta do better than that, Tosca.
-Change routines every couple weeks.
I have been over this a lot, but here it is none the less. the "switch it up" or "change it up" methodology, with more scientific backing of "Tosca says". right. i'm not getting into this anymore, just know that NO. this is lies.
-Definitions of certain techniques/workouts
the one that really stands out to me is "rest pausing". shes got it right when she says you take a short/defined amount of time in between sets, yes, but she says its one rep or your one rep max. no. this is incorrect.
-women's bodyfat percentage
Lyle McDonald, whom of which the nutrition/workout community owes A LOT of thanks/responsibility to for compiling books with NUMEROUS scientific studies backing up his research/findings/teachings, says that women cannot go below 9% bodyfat due to essential fat reasons (between organs, brain, etc) Tosca says that women on stage are 10-12% bodyfat, and she has "seen" a girl who has been 4%. errr, I'm going to go with Lyle on this one... lies. sorry Tosca.
-"cutting workout"
I thought this was dead, but i guess not. she claims to "switch" to isolation movements when you're cutting weight. okay.... maybe if you explained why. I have been over this ridiculous unfounded myth, but i will say one mini pro. joints DO lose their integrity when boyfat is low, water restricted etc. but you need to think, you can't lift as heavy as it is when cutting weight (eventually) so your body won't allow you to fail. unless technique is off. but no. lies again.
- more reps for lagging bodyparts
this one has to be the most ludicrous so far, if not at all. she says, and i loosely quote, "if one bicep is smaller than the other, do an extra couple reps for the lagging bicep" Right. because further damaging an already weak muscle is the way to go. once again we should do this because "Tosca says" preposterous.
-pre workout nutrition
a banana with some almonds. no reasoning. anyone that knows me at all, and what i teach... Where is the protein? answer: there isn't any. why she says to have this blows my mind. no reasoning given at all.
-her supplement section
basically, this section is completely useless. she gives a list of the vitamins, and the food sources they're contained within. that's fine, but what about supplements? like i said earlier, 2 pages of this 6 page section was bashing steroids. right. why would someone go so far out of their way to bash steroids? maybe shes hiding/denying usage herself? hmmmmmmmm. also, that is it. other than "protein powders exist" thanks for that tip/update. nothing about multi vitamins, when to take supplements, how, creatine, fat burner myths, NOTHING. pathetic on all levels.
-sample workouts
trash. this is awful. okay, well i'm being a tad bit harsh. there is SOME merit to SOME of them. but the "advanced routines?" are you kidding me? dumbbell flies AND pec deck for chest? women need that much isolation chest work? not only that, but she makes "specialization workouts", where she "prioritizes" muscle groups, again chest is there, doing about 5-6 chest exercises with multiple sets. wow. im not even going to elaborate a complaint/counter argument, i don't feel one is needed.
-sample streches
trash. recommends the standing quad stretch, where you grab your leg. awesome thing is, she doesn't even need support. Tosca's balance is THAT good! because yes, 200, 250, 300 lb people should be trying to balance on one leg AND stretch their muscles. because thats the way you can relax and get an effective stretch. right. also she shows one called the "swan" or something. wow is all i have to say about that one.
-Forward by robert kennedy
to my knowledge, tosca is this guy's wife, and he owns/produces or does something with oxygen. all i have to say is he says what Tosca has written about in this book has "never been done before" and is cutting edge yadda yadda. pathetic.
There you have it kids. my "quick" review of this. glad to see I'm still in business and am still needed to bust myths out there. this was awful, and gets 1/10 for my total score.
No comments:
Post a Comment