Pace: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution Paperback – February 1, 2010

As someone who has been into physical fitness and the martial arts all my life I am always seeking new and effective programs to stay in good physical shape. Lately I have read numerous volumes on fitness all claiming to be the answer to anyone who desires to be healthy and fit.I purchased this 298 page hardcover book for a bargain price on Amazon P.A.C.E. The 12-minute revolution by Al Sears, M.D. I have just finished reading this book and loved it. I am in my senior years and still work out seven days a week for about one hour each day, but I was not making the progress I was seeking and decided to try another approach.I have only been on this particular program (P.A.C.E.) few weeks and I can feel the difference. This is a complete program and the difference between this workout routine and so many others has to do with solid research on exercise physiology. I now realize it is the intensity of the workout rather than the length which makes all the difference in the world. I now have cut down my workout times and increased the intensity following the P.A.C.E. (Progressively accelerating cardiopulmonary exertion) philosophy. Just for the record, there are similar intense workout programs but this one is one of the very best ones I have followed lately.The twelve chapters cover the entire P.A.C.E. approach to total fitness including aerobic exercises, strength building exercises and nutritional advice. The science behind it is based upon what our early ancestors and other animals had to do to survive every day. Short intense bursts of exercise combined with resting periods and eating more protein and fewer carbohydrates was the diet of our early ancestors. This combination kept the people strong and fit.Personally I have grown to love this program because of its variety of exercises and the length of each workout every day. If you are seeking a fantastic and effective physical fitness program you can follow all your life, this is the one for you. You can pick up this book for a bargain price on Amazon.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Tactical Principles of the most effective combative systems).

The idea of intense exercise with heart rate monitoring and followup recovery monitoring is very well done. Actually for us old timers this is a safe way of exercising to improve endurance. For anyone over 40 years of age or older this is a great way to exercise. I happen to be a physician and have spent most of my life doing regular aerobic activities and core exercises. This form of exercise is a variation of interval training with the monitoring to keep it safe. I think the exercise part of the book is very well done. The only problem I see is that there are few controlled studies showing the success of this method- especially the 12 minutes program. Intuitively it makes sense. Hopefully Dr. Sears will do the study and prove its effectiveness. It does take quite a bite of self motivation to continue with this. Rotating exercises such as Bike, Jump Rope, pushups etc may make it less boring. The book links to Youtube videos on exercises that are very well done. The diet advice seems unbalanced. The evidence that meat products are linked with heart disease and cancer is very good- I can't endorse his advice to eat lots of animal based proteins or the use of vitamin supplements.

It's ridiculous to say there isn't much in this book, or complain about the writing, or to say it doesn't help. The book is written with, yes, a fair amount of interspersed case histories but they do serve to prove it works. Not much in it? Well, there's plenty of important information that will convince and motivate you, and the program is so simple you could explain it in a few pages if you had to, but the Dr. does a lot more by expanding on the very basics, plus he cites a lot of convincing research. The second half of the book is full of information on different ways to use the program and how you can use diet (glycemic index stuff) to support your gains.I lent this book to a friend who is a fitness nut and he wouldn't give it back! I made him pay me for it. He said he feels fantastic doing the program and it saves him a lot of time. I've been lazy in practice, but getting back into it now. Honestly, there's no way I could get myself to work out any other way with my schedule and lack of good discipline. This program is ideal for the lazy and easily bored as you can do different exercises at any point. It's a brilliant program and really should revolutionize the fitness world - that based on independent scientific research proving this man is right!

PACE is well named as it's all about pacing yourself, and getting the best out of your body and presumably your life. It's easy to read and really interesting, progressing from a broad view of one's health, involving fat loss, muscle gain and stronger heart and lungs as desirable objectives, to specific steps for how to do it. It's not just for fit freaks either, but can be used by older people, those who aren't at all fit to start with, even those who don't particularly like exercise or aren't very motivated. Reading the first few chapters spurred me along to get motivated; just caring about the quality of your life now and in later years is enough to get you started.Later chapters give specific routines, in chart form, for progressing to your peak performance to get the best value in the shortest time. There are routines of maybe 10 different sorts of exercise, to suit whatever is available and suitable to your situation and body, from just walking to swimming, stair stepping, running, biking and so on. There's also details on calisthenics, for which you require no equipment and hardly any space.It's a great book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to really live while they're still alive.