Exercise Guide

I was pumping away on the elliptical trainer at the gym, flipping through the channels to find something to distract me from watching the clock. I happened upon an infomercial for Core Secrets, the workout program by trainer to the stars, Gunnar Peterson and his celebrity client, Brooke Burns. Their program centers around strengthening of the “core” muscles, quickly accelerated with the use of a balance ball (also known as a fit ball or stability ball). I’ve played around with a balance ball for about a year, and agree it can be extremely beneficial in a fitness program. However, I soon bored of the basic exercises that came with the ball and have been allowing my kids to entertain themselves with it. The infomercial intrigued me and I decided to give the Core Secrets program a try.

Gunnar Peterson is very encouraging and reassuring. His exercises feel very effective and it doesn’t take a degree in physics to figure out how to do them. I particularly like the fact that he only does one set of each exercise - I tend to bore easily and this program moves quickly since you don’t spend any great length of time on a particular exercise. He also switches back and forth between muscle groups to allow time to recover.

Brooke Burns demonstrates the exercises in the Fundamentals DVD and is much easier to watch than a peppy, 20 year old blonde who was blessed to be born stick-thin. It’s obvious that she works for her figure - muscular and strong, in a very appealing way. The more advanced DVDs have replaced Brooke with a few other lean, mean, young ladies, but I still did not feel the urge to reach through the screen and choke any of them during the workout.

The workouts are very invigorating. They are short enough that you can’t use the excuse that you don’t have the time, yet they encompass the total body - leaving you to know that you’ve done a good workout at the end. A set of dumbbells (most likely 3 or 5 pounds for starters) is recommended, but as Gunnar points out, you can also use water bottles or canned veggies if dumbbells are not available. Another bonus is the fact that you can “shuffle” many of the workouts, to prevent burn out or to accommodate your specific needs.

The initial set is a steal at $9.95 plus shipping, which includes a high-quality balance ball, food journal, eating plan, flash cards of the basic exercises and two workouts. However, the follow-up shipments are a little steep at $50 for two DVDs. I am not a huge fan of subscriptions, so I was quite pleased to find out that I could cancel at any time, but continue to order additional DVDs, one at a time, for $19.95 plus shipping.

You may also purchase a more complete kit from the beginning, which includes two advanced DVDs in addition to the ball, flashcards, and meal plan. I’ve recently noticed that these kits are available at a variety of department stores, so it is no longer mandatory to go the subscription route.

The initial package includes the Fundamentals DVD, which covers the basic exercises at a nice slow pace, giving you the opportunity to master the technique. The Give Me 20 workout incorporates these basic exercises into your daily routine and is a great beginning strength-training program. .

Future shipments include a 25-minute Full Body Workout which is perfect as a prelude to a cardio workout, a 45-minute Advanced workout, and my favorite thus far: the 45-minute Total Body Challenge, which left me feeling as if I’d really accomplished something!

Overall, I highly recommend the Core Secrets program to anyone interested in strength training, but perhaps a little reserved about getting started. The program will take you from beginner to advanced at your own pace and if combined with a sensible eating plan, a person will definitely see some definition where it counts!

So, to answer the question Is the secret out?? Yes, it is! I’m in love with Gunnar Peterson and Core Secrets!

Dawn Lloyd is the owner/editor of http://www.PersonalFitnesszone.com. Please visit her site for additional product/diet reviews, information, and weight loss and fitness support.

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An alternative name for this article could have been, ‘How to undo Generations worth of Damage Caused by sitting on our Backsides and Letting Machines Teach us Not to Stand up Straight’.

That doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue though, does it?

The point is the same, however. Before we were even able to stand fully erect we could literally fight for our right to live on a daily basis. Now, we are again barely standing up straight due to bad posture and bad habits, but we can hardly walk across town without pulling a muscle or throwing our back out!

Why? We are weak - from the inside out! In today’s image conscious society, we are so concerned with the way we look that we ignore the fact that we are falling apart from the inside. For lack of a better term, we are “rotten to the core”!

What IS “the core”? Why does everyone keep talking about training ‘the core”? What does any of this have to do with cavemen?

Basically, the idea here is that there was a time in human evolution when we literally had to fight to survive. Although actual battle was certainly part of life back in the Stone Age, we are also talking about the day to day struggle that was involved in just making it to see another sunset!

Walking, running, climbing, throwing, pushing, pulling, balancing, lifting, pressing - the list goes on and on. These activities were all a daily part of life way back when the human body was being “programmed”.

Compare that to the present day activity level of an average person in a civilized culture, and what do you get? A MAJOR difference between the way we were built and the way we are actually called upon to perform! If you took your average office worker in 2005 and threw them back in time to a point when fur was “in”, they probably wouldn’t last for very long.

Is it wrong that modern technology has made our lives so easy? Probably not - depending on who you ask. However, is it wrong that we don’t keep our bodies as strong and vital as we used to HAVE to keep them? YES!

Just because you CAN sit down all day, and just because you CAN eat 1,000 calories in less than 20 minutes, and just because you CAN pay someone else to mow your lawn doesn’t mean that you SHOULD do those things.

Allowing our easy lives to make us weak is OUR fault. It’s not your boss at work who tells you that you can’t exercise when you aren’t pulling desk time. It’s not your mother or father who is making you eat at fast food restaurants every day. It’s not your car that is making you drive it

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