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145 of 149 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent, one of the best Dec 28, 2005
By Cal Dougherty
Actually I give it four-and-a-half stars. My wife and I read this book this Fall in our lengthy quest to find the best book for us (click on "see all my reviews" for the other books we've reviewed). First, a word about us: we are in our late 40s and looking for a fitness program we can stick with for a long period of time, not some "quick fix" that we rapidly tire of and forget a couple months after Christmas. I'm about 15 pounds heavier than I'd like to be ... she just gave me a scowl ... OK, 20 pounds heavier than I'd like to be. Her weight is fine but her job leaves her exhausted. We have always worked out to some extent but it can be a real grind as the years pile up. My comments below will be based on our needs. Your needs may of course be entirely different.
5-Factor Fitness is almost, but not quite, our favorite book so far. Pasternak has done a good job of defining a realistic and concise fitness and diet regimen. It has a good number of positives to recommend it, and few of the negatives we found in other books. It's a thin 182 pages, including the index. We like that. Most sections have actual usable content. Some of the other books are needlessly fluffed up to the point you are bored out of your gourd by the time the last page is mercifully reached. BFL for Women comes to mind.
Pasternak's exercise routine is short, just 25 or 30 minutes a day, and in our opinion the exercise routine he defines is very sound. It's based on free-weights and a weight bench. It can be done at the gym or at home with a relatively modest investment (this is a big plus to us). No gimmicks, no fads, no colorful bouncy or stretchy thingies, no thousand dollar pec-decks, etc. Just 5 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength training, 5 minutes core, and 5 more minutes of cardio. Some tidbits that ring true to us: The dropout rate of most diet (and exercise?) programs is astonishingly high because the severity of the program outweighs the benefits provided. The author believes balanced muscle development, and muscle development that fits your body type is best. He thinks treadmills are the best cardio machine.
Similar to his exercise regimen, Pasternak's diet recommendations are also sound, realistic, and fad-free: "quality protein," reduced fat, awareness of the glycemic index, sugar free beverages (he obviously believes in the wisdom of keeping blood sugar steady), no counting, 1 cheat day. The overall strategy is to do a brief but comprehensive workout 5 days a week, eat smart, improve your metabolism, and strive to raise your muscle-to-fat ratio. We really don't think you can get much better advice than this. Here's how my wife and I rank the books we've read so far:
Joe X by Avery Hunicutt - 5 STAR. It's a remarkable piece of work and fits our needs to a tee. We've never read anything like it. Our only disappointment is it doesn't address the diet side of the equation. We even contacted the author about this and his answer was he really couldn't add any more than has already been written on the topic and recommended Harley Pasternak's book!
5-Factor Fitness by Harley Pasternak - 4.5 STARS. There's a lot of similarity in Pasternak's and Hunicutt's exercise program. Pasternak focuses on the short-term makeover (ala Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover) in, you guessed it, "just 5 weeks." He really doesn't give you much help dealing with the drudgery after the 5 weeks is over. Joe X is the only book that realistically deals with the long term.
Body for Life by Bill Phillips - 4 STARS. Solid benchmark. Reasonably sound content delivered with self-serving ego, color photos, and global marketing. Some people aren't going to like the physical stress involved.
Men's Health Home Workout Bible by Lou Schuler - 3 STARS. More narrow in scope than all the others. Primarily for wanna-be stud-muffins. Sexist delivery.
Total Body Makeover by Bob Greene - 3 STARS. An aggressive program for those that are in serious need of help. Not realistic for most people. Irritating with the ego, name drops, and case histories.
Body for Life for Women by Pam Peeke - 2 STARS, and we're being kind. I'm sure some people will find benefit in its pages some where, but to us it was like a sequel to a B-movie that skipped the theaters and went directly to DVD.
Miscellaneous comments: Pasternak prides himself on being a personal trainer for celebrities. He holds up Halle Berry as a shining example. When first getting into his book we feared it was yet another "oh look at me and how great I am," followed by one name drop after another. But 5-Factor Fitness is different. Pasternak stuck to imparting useful info to his readers and we appreciated that. He and his editors also didn't load the book up with pages and pages of "personal case stories" and the almost pointless before-and-after photo shoots. Thank you Mr. Pasternak!
65 of 67 found the following review helpful:
Great Fitness Program Jun 23, 2005
By T.L. Anderson
"Read More Books!"
The exercise portion of this book is very well done. Simple, well explained and easy to adjust to your fitness level.
The food portion, not so great. The recipes mostly contain high sodium foods (canned tomatoes, preserved meats), so if you have chronic high blood pressure (like I do), you will need to figure this part out on your own.
Overall, I think this is a great program.
ADD: After six weeks on this program I lost 6lbs of the 12lbs of fat I want to lose. For me, this has worked as promised in the book. Good Luck!
58 of 60 found the following review helpful:
 Give Me 5! Aug 02, 2005
By Wisconsin Dad
I have long been a 5-er. In my early 20's as a weightlifter, I would eat 5 smaller meals a day, and spent half the time in the gym than the gym rats did, and it worked wonders. So when I saw Harley Pasternak's book, 5-Factor Fitness, I knew he had put together a helpful book, and not just another piece of firewood for the health, weight loss and fitness industry.
In 5-Factor Fitness encourages you to work out less and eat more. Yes, you heard me correctly. Work out less and eat more. Eating 5 meals a day raises you metabolism and provides a steady stream of vital nutrients, including protein, that help you body maximize a tone, fit, physique. And working out less? Well, most people who are gym rats over train. It is a myth that you need to live in the gym. "Overtraining" is very common and can tax your body. The rest in between training, and proper nutrition, are actually just as important in keeping your body rested, healthy, fit and running the way you want it to.
From Harley Pasternak's website:
"5-FACTOR FITNESS is based on the simple premise that less is more, especially when it comes to exercise and planning meals. There is no magic, no hidden secret. Instead, this plan taps solid scientific research as well as the author's vast experience as a personal trainer and as a consultant to military organizations on two continents. With a master's degree in exercise physiology and nutritional science as well as an honors degree in kinesiology, Pasternak is an expert on how the body works. Here he pulls together his best advice for training and fueling it efficiently.
5-FACTOR FITNESS calls for five workouts per week and each workout lasting just 25 minutes. Combining strength training and aerobics in five five-minute intervals, these short, intense workouts are designed so that people stick with the program over the long haul. No need to join a gym or buy expensive equipment; the program calls for only a workout bench and a few dumbbells."
Try this program and drop you overtraining routine and dietary obsessions. Great book.
36 of 37 found the following review helpful:
I am in love!!! Apr 12, 2005
By "Self-Proclaimed Girl"
"Bailey"
As an ex-dancer, ex-anorexic, and a student of nutrition, I have done everything and known everything. While living on 1,000 calories a day and working out for 2 hours every day- I thought this plan would make me gain weight.....boy, was I wrong! I could write a novel on how much I love this plan- but I'll spare you. Overall, I am converted for life to this wonderful plan- you can sustain it forever, actually eat, it doesnt provoke those pesky "eating disorder" obsessions or habits, and I get a cheat day to eat my beloved ice cream!
I've done this plan for a month now- and already the muscle tone in my arms, shoulders, and stomach speaks wonders. I actually LOVED being soar, because I knew this plan was working. Best of all, it keeps challening my body- so I continue to be soar in new ways. I can't wait to give this another month to see where my results take me- and I love reading other people's success and progress with this plan. Please feel free to contact me at va_monroe@yahoo.com. Thanks!
27 of 27 found the following review helpful:
It really works!!! Jan 12, 2007
By Nicole Wake
I have tried billions of diet plans. 12 months ago I weighed nearly 200 pounds. I picked up this book at a local library one day, sat down and read it, as I have read plenty of diet books, and once I put it down after finishing it I started my diet. The first thing I did was go to the pantry and ate a donut! I started on the cheat day. Then the next day I started with the 25 minute workouts and the eating plan. In ten months I lost 66 pounds and I'm still losing. Without the cheat day I don't think this would have worked for me. I love to eat, and I love my junk food, and my cheat days allow me to eat just that, while fitting into a size 6 for the first time in my life!!
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