Joan Price: Book Review of Great Shape

"Large women are dancing, playing and enjoying life just as we are. No more waiting!" write Pat Lyons, R.N., M.A., and Debby Burgard, Ph.D., in Great Shape: The First Fitness Guide for Large Women (Iuniverse.Com, 2000, $16.95) "So if you're still on the sidelines, we invite you to jump in."

This is not a weight-loss book. It's an exercise book for large women based on the premise that "fat and fit are not mutually exclusive terms," and that exercise is a need and a joy, whatever size body is moving.

The point of exercise, assert the authors loudly and clearly, is to play and enjoy physical exertion for it's own sake, not for weight loss. Moving with grace, power and pleasure is not the exclusive domain of the lean. Fat and fit can describe the same body.

Great Shape is not only motivating, it is packed full of sound information about every facet of exercise. The book opens with the assurance that "you can have, and indeed deserve, physical activity in your life right now." Next it helps the reader (1) assess her preferences in physical activity; (2) look at what has stopped her in the past; (3) overcome those obstacles: and (4) get a program started.

Everything you need to know to start exercising is covered: choosing your activity, safety, selecting a class, buying shoes, finding large-size exercise clothing, setting achievable goals. The warm-ups, exercises, and stretches-demonstrated by large women-will help make your workout safe and strong.

Fear of what others will think, do, or say "keeps more large women inactive than any other factor, even the fear of injury," assert the authors. They confront head-on the cruelty of others and the emotional pain, shame, and humiliation that large women face when they consider putting on a bathing suit, taking an aerobics class, or even going out for a walk. They offer strategies for coping with both the insensitivity of others and the inner turmoil.

Lyons is Director of Connections Women's Health Consulting in Oakland, CA, and an avid swimmer, hiker, and dancer. Burgard (www.BodyPositive.com) is a rollerblading psychologist specializing in women's issues. Both are large women with a zest for exercise, and they write with passion and conviction. The two have different interests, skills, and exercise preferences, so you almost get two books in one.

Great Shape is a reissue of the 1990 paperback that never should have gone out of print. The authors wrote a new preface; otherwise it's the same. The information is as valid as the year it was written, except that many of the resources in the appendices are, unfortunately, out of date. This is still an extremely valuable book for large women who want to find the fun in fitness, and for instructors, trainers, and other professionals who work with them.

Review of Great Shape: The First Fitness Guide for Large Women

Review of Great Shape: The First
Fitness Guide for Large Women