How To Eat, Move And Be Healthy!

Very well illustrated and written. Anyone can read this book and get great value from it. However, I will say that I think it would have been better to have broken this up into a number of books. There is a tremendous amount of information in it, which for many practitioners is probably fine, but for the public I think it can be problematic. The author Paul Chek has largely focused on training fitness professionals like myself and other Physical Therapists, as well as sports conditioning coaches. This is one of the few public works he has put out and I'm glad he did, as I would prefer that my clients read this instead popular magazines, which I recommend they throw out. There is so much conflicting information within popular magazines and many of those articles are written by people who simply want some publicity. It can be a good marketing vehicle to write an article or give a presentation, whether the supposed "expert" knows what they are talking about or not. Just writing an article seems to make a person an "expert." Paul Chek on the other hand has spent over 20 years in practice and training industry professionals, which is a very tough crowd, given that they have a background in this area. I have a number of his courses, but I started in 2002 with one of his all day seminars. That seminar revolutionized my training philosophy and methodology. I've been a Certified Personal Trainer with a Medical Exercise/Post Rehab background since 1998 and since taking his courses for credit I have created amazing results for my clients. He has so many courses out there for professionals that he created a five level training/study program in functional exercise and a three level program in nutrition and lifestyle. He is rigorously scientific and holistic, which makes a very powerful pair capable of sure shot results that last a lifetime. He has a thorough understanding of the human body and how important individually designed programs are, instead of the "cookie-cutter" programs and diets you see plaguing the market today. For this reason, his book has assessments that you can take so that you know where you are today and then learn what's the next best step for you. I highly recommend this book for both the general public and for fitness professionals, as well as nutritionists. I would say that the public should be patient with it and spend all the time they need just practicing and developing facility with one chapter before going onto the next.

I have been researching and reading on health, medicine, fitness, physical therapy, kinesiology, pharmacology, allopathic and holistic medicine, sports nutrition, the list goes on my entire life. There is not a single book out there better than this one. It doesn’t go excessively into nuances to the point of pigeonholing you into one mode of thinking, a program, or a product. It keeps everything relevant and does not deviate from proper base principles. If you read this you will understand why everything else is not even close in comparison. You will not waste your money on prescriptions or similar interventions which patch AFTER you are ill. You will spend your efforts on maintaining and improving health before getting to that point. There are MANY examples of this I could list which would occur by following this book. For example the rotation diet can help you avoid allergies, which would become costly with side effects from taking the allopathic route via medications and allergy injections. Following the movement plan will prevent you from becoming injured and also will maintain spinal health from a properly recruiting core (open chain vs closed chain, diskinesia, primal pattern exercises, see Paul Chek’s movement that matters book). It also acknowledges diet differences between individuals with the primal pattern diet groups (ex. purine requirement differences). There is so much more, and again, I’ve never come across anything comparable.

Paul Chek uniquely integrates many different disciplines into concise, powerful strategies that give you the most bang for your buck! Makes a great gift!

It contains a lot of different subject areas. It contains information that is short and sweet. With all skepticism aside, he brings up very interesting points about small and large lifestyle changes that would have most people turn the other way. This book is about doing, period. If you're a DOer, then this book is for you. Chapters 1-4 are easy reads that will have you thinking differently about how you eat and live. Chapters 5-8 will teach you how to stretch, move your body, and exercise. Chapter 9 is short and full of various tips. Chapter 10 shows you how to utilize chapters 5-8. Chapter 11 is about stress. Chapter 12 is about sleeping. Chapter 13 is about calories. Finally, my favorite chapter is 14, which is about the digestive system. Give it a try if you are tired of your all-in-one fad-diet. You might like this so much that it becomes a lifestyle, not a diet.

Well illustrated, detailed without being overly technical. Explanations are generally nice & clear. Goes into lots of detail on the basics of eating, digestion, and exercise. Contains little tests to check out various elements of your state of being such as metabolic type, flexibility, conditioning level, etcetera, then prescribes various program elements to fit your needs. Large colorful layout makes it seem less intimidating, less textbook-like. I'm sure some will dislike it because it doesn't dig deeply enough into some topics. I like that he doesn't use ten pages to hammer a point when one will do. The result is that the text moves along, and you'll spend your time learning useful principles. Though it does have the most detailed and interesting chapter on, well, pooping (his word!), that I've ever seen. If you are squeamish about this subject, you won't be after you finish the chapter, complete with illustrative poop cartoons. Chek is seen shirtless, looking quite buff in a number of photos. There are two issues I have with this: One is that, as other reviewers have noted, he did not get to looking like that via just the exercises in this book, putting in a couple of hours a week at the gym. The other is that he is at 8% body fat in the pics, and I seriously question the wisdom of advocating that as a healthy goal. 8% looks really cool, but some people feel that actually ends up being hard on the body (and the brain inside). I'd like to hear him speak to this. The other very minor thing I dislike about it is the conspicuous presence of the CHEK Institute throughout the book. The testimonials scattered throughout are interesting, but they are either by professional pretty people like actors, or CHEK practitioners, people who have certification on the Paul Chek philosophy. I guess that is testimony itself, that these people apparently thought so highly of Chek's work that they decided to become certified themselves, but it does give a sort of promotional, cultish ambiance to the book. I'm not saying the testimonials aren't real examples of what can be accomplished; it just would have been nice to see more average Joe testimonials. If some skeptical short-attention-spanned friend invites me to give them ONE book to introduce them to the possibility of improving their health, this would probably be the book.

If you know who Paul Chek is, then you know that this is fundamental reading and a vital tool when exploring some of his training principles. If you don't know who this revolutionary, fitness guru is then you need to. It's a thorough book that's filled with a ton of valuable academic information but it is written in a straight forward, non-textbook sort of tone. I appreciate that. It also covers a lot of unconventional concepts associated with wellness that may not seem valid or even all that complex in the beginning. But over time I've grown to really respect this book and have incorporated a lot of it with my training clients. Another great thing is that it's also written as a workbook of sorts so it's not just theory but guided tasks, worksheets, outlines and tutorials that allow you to practice this stuff on your self AND have resources to use when working with clients. Best thing I can say about it: I've had to buy this book 3 times because friends/colleagues "borrowed" mine, loved it and never gave it back!

I have taken health related courses in person with Paul Chek. He is gifted in helping others understand ways to achieve holistic health. This book outlines his basic simple concepts. Highly recommend.

The best book ever. Goes into all the essentials needed to live a healthy lifestyle, emphasizing just how important nutrition, movement, sleep, and lifestyle are to your health and how they are all needed for optimal health. Paul Chek is one of the most knowledgeable men in the entire world and I recently went to his Institute in San Diego to get training to become a Holistic Lifestyle Coach and it was the best decision I have ever made for my career and to better my personal self. Paul Chek practices what he preaches and you could tell by his ripped body and physical health at his older age. This book is considered the nutrition bible by some and literally everyone should own a copy to learn how to eat, move, and be healthy!