Mark Lauren - Body by You: The You Are Your Own Gym Guide to Total Womens Fitness

Body by You proposes a program of exercise recommendations for the reader to follow. However, you should consult a qualified medical professional (and, if you are pregnant, your ob-gyn) before starting this or any other fitness program. As with any diet or exercise program, if at any time you experience any discomfort, stop immediately and consult your physician.

A Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original

Copyright 2012 by Mark Lauren and Joshua Clark

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

B ALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Body by You is a trademark of Mark Kling.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS-CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Lauren, Mark.
Body by you : the you are your own gym guide to total fitness for women / Mark Lauren with Joshua Clark.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-345-52897-1
eISBN: 978-0-345-52898-8
1. Physical fitness for women. 2. Exercise for women.
I. Clark, Joshua. II. Title.
GV482.L38 2013
613.7082dc23 2012033491

www.ballantinebooks.com

Book design by Mary A. Wirth

v3.1

For the countless women who helped inspire this book, both friends and role models, and most of all for our motherswho are the greatest of both.

And also for the wives of military personnel. It is not the individual soldier who makes the ultimate sacrifice in times of war. It is the families who do. They must endure the separation of long deployments while fearing for their beloveds lives. And should the worst become a reality, the surviving partners must carry on and continue to provide. For them, the struggle has just begun.

Saves money. No dues, trainers, babysitters, or home fitness equipment.

Saves time. Driving to and changing at a gym, doing cardio and weights At the end of the week, youre looking at a loss of 8 to12 hours. Now, just 3 days a week, you start and about 30 minutes later youre finished. This is less than one percent of your time.

Do it anywhere. Your bedroom, hotel room, a park, roof, garage, yard, your office between meetings.

No gymbarrassment. No television shouting at you. No one watching you. No sweaty machines. No tracksuits.

Burns more fat. These exercises will crank your bodys metabolism far above using weights or aerobics.

F or a decade Ive used my bodyweight movements to create the leanest, strongest, most confident people on earth in as little time as possible. I honed the exercises in this book while preparing nearly a thousand trainees for the extreme demands of the most elite levels of the United States Special Operations community. Now the militarys most advanced forcesfrom SEALs to Green Beretsuse these movements.

This is not boot camp run by some gym instructor in spandex whos never laced up a pair of combat boots. This is the worlds most effective and efficient workout program from someone whose day job is to physically train troops whove worn their boots through countless miles of mud, sand, and snow. Cool high-tech gear and weapons aside, the things that most determine a soldiers survival and victory are physical fitness and resolve: my areas of expertise.

My first book, You Are Your Own Gym, owes its continued success among popular fitness books to teaching people to exercise alone, anywhere, anytime. Ive heard from countless readers who tell me that they have followed my program and now look and feel the best they ever have in their lives. While this feedback is extremely uplifting, gratifying, and personally inspiring, its also not much of a surprise, considering Ive already seen the effects on the hundreds of troops Ive trained.

You Are Your Own Gym remains the bible of bodyweight exercises. Through its 125 exercises, comprehensive training tools, and workout routines, it has helped sculpt the physiques of tens of thousands of people. While many women have told me of their great success with You Are Your Own Gym, Ive also heard that it didnt always meet a womans needs and concernsfrom having less time to work out to wanting to address different physical goals. I tailored Body by You to those needs. Some of the movements I share in this book are new, and some are updated or adapted from exercises in You Are Your Own Gym. Taken as a whole, these exercises will guide you from where you are now to where you want to be, to look and feel the best you ever have in your life. Youll find that the workout never stays the same for long and the resultstoned arms, flatter abs, tighter buns, leaner legs, and curves in all the right placesjust keep on coming. Im not going to show you how to lose the fat on your belly or thighs. Im going to show you how toas we say in the militaryengage it for permanent termination.

Lets state the obvious: Women and men are different in lots of different ways. But the reality is that womens muscles are made up of the same fibers as mens. Our fat cells are identical. Our hormonal differences are what raise an interesting issue. Male testosterone levels make large muscles possible. Without the same high levels, women cant bulk up in the same way as menso stop worrying about that. What you will get out of my method is a solid foundation of strength, the kind of strength that leads to a lean physique and powerful athleticism. You will find the natural athlete that lies at your core. Feel the pride and joy in challenging yourself to rise beyond your own expectations and the peace and strength and beauty that come from it.

Physical ability represents not only your mastery of the world around you but also of yourself. An essential source of self-confidence is pride and control over a finely tuned body. Follow my program and you wont ever have to run to anyone else for help because youre not strong enough or dont have the endurance. Youll be fit enough not only to cope with anything you want but to enjoy anything you want. You wont have to think if you can do something, only if you want to do something.

I like to say that you are the only piece of exercise equipment you will ever need to be in the best shape of your life. You now hold in your hands the only users manual for that equipment you will ever need. Face it: For thousands of years, humanitys greatest female physical specimensfrom ancient Greeces female athletes to tomorrows G.I. Janeshave not relied on Golds Gyms or weights in their basements. Male or female, the human body doesnt require machines and dumbbells (or cardio!) in order to stay fit. Free yourself from the dependency on gadgets, trainers, and common misconceptions. They are all crutches, keeping you from getting into the best shape possible.

This book will not teach you to move through the gym with ease. It will teach you to move through life with ease. You will learn to use the body you have to build the body you want. With just a small commitment of timewithout having to go to and from a gymyou can fit this program into even your busiest schedule. The effort and time you put into my program will not be great, but the benefits you get out of it will be.