Heavyhands: The Ultimate Exercise System

I am 44 and have had rising blood pressure over the past several years. It was getting worrisome. I saw a reference to "heavy hands" on the Vox Populi blog comment section and googled for it. I was intrigued. I bought the book around 7 weeks ago; it's now July 3, 2017. Since my purchase I started with 3lb weights and have worked my way up to 6lb weights. I began as a fairly big and strong guy who did regular strength training, so I was surprised how a couple of 3lb weights could kick my butt so thoroughly. I expect to graduate to 8lb weights in the next month or so.My routine has been to do HeavyHands walking on a track 3x per week for between 40m and 60m per session. Afterwards I do another 30m or so of regular strength training (Jefferson curls, pull ups, lunges, etc). For the HeavyHands cardio, I maintain between 70 & 85% max heart rate and monitor it with a heart rate monitor.In 7 weeks my blood pressure went from 140/100 to 110/65. To say I am shocked is an understatement. My weight is unchanged however my body composition has greatly improved. My arms, shoulders, back, and abs are getting very defined. I also found the "HeavyHands Plus" workout video on Youtube which is a 47m aerobic video; I downloaded it and added it to my NAS for safekeeping. It provides a nice little change-up from the walking exercises. Highly recommended even though it is thoroughly 80s.I agree with other reviewers that some of the science in the book is dated. For example, the notes on gripping the weights very hard being bad for blood pressure is outdated info. There's been quite a bit of science related to using isometric gripping to lower blood pressure over time (resulting from a study of fighter pilots who were gripping their control sticks very tightly). Perhaps their suggestions to get the special HeavyHands weights with the strap were motivated by selling more of their own branded merchandise. It doesn't matter. I use regular little dumb bells and grip them tightly the whole time.I hope some enterprising exercise scientist is looking to update the experiments that Dr. Schwartz performed on himself. I'd be interested to learn if HH is still the best way to increase your VO2MAX.

I've owned and given away a dozen copies of this book. It is well written, chock full of brilliant insights into exercise, and lamentably, largely forgotten. As someone who has done Heavyhands for more than ten years, I have to say that you don't have to buy the official Heavyhands weights - any weights will do if you have decent hand strength. One things for sure, if you regularly do Heavyhands, you will enjoy incredible, all over fitness.This is a book that contains a remarkable amount of insightful info about exercise science. The tables in the back of the book - which deal with how many calories you can burn with varying weights and exercises - actually can make you realize that with a pair of three pound weights you can, once you have put in a month or two to get fit enough - burn more than a thousand calories an hour at an equipment cost of less than $20.I'm cheap, my addition to Heavyhands is to spend another $5 for a cinderblock. Combine Heayhands, a cinderblock for a step, an old towel and a television, and you can burn five hundred calories watching the evening news.The shame is that the publisher has not bothered to simply re-release the book with updated pictures; this could be a best seller, again. And if it were combined with weights and put on television as an infomercial, it could make someone a deca-millionaire, as well as helping thousands to lose significant amounts of fat and reach a level of fitness that translates into more energy, looser pants and a body that you can stand to look at in the mirror.Brilliant book.Schwartz passed away recently, but this book is simply a gem. If you picked it up and read it a hundred years in the future, it would offer insights and suggestions that anyone could use.

Dr. Schwartz's system can be adjusted in myriad ways to fit just about anyone who wants to improve their level of fitness and health. Any ordinary tiny weights will do. No expensive gadgets are needed to reap the benefits. At nearly age 65, I weigh the same as I did at age 20--142 lbs. I am flexible, pain free, with lots of aerobic stamina and quite a bit of strength at only five 30 min. workouts per week at home. No gym needed! Stay away from heavy weights if you have joint problems. One or two pounders are really all you need. Today is Jan. 2023. I'm now using three and five pounders, and my weight has dropped to 135, the weight I had when I graduated from high school.

Like many here, I've made Heavyhands part of my long-term approach to fitness for more than 30 years. As a consequence, I've been able to build and maintain fitness and health to support not only everyday challenges (e.g. holding back overweight and general physical and cognitive deterioration with age) but also an outdoor lifestyle that includes the enjoyment of hill-walking, cycling and alpine skiing. I've noticed with every passing year the advantage this has given my wife (another regular heavyhander) and myself as compared with many of our more sedentary contemporaries.Furthermore, compared with those addicted to a more limited and inflexible form of exercise such as jogging, I observe that we haven't suffered from the knee and other below-the-waist joint problems that are so often the lot of many (usually ex) amateur running enthusiasts. An incipient lower back problem first experienced in my thirties was also tamed quite easily by heavyhands and consequently hasn't been a problem for more than 30 years since. In fact it's one of the supreme features of this system that you can work around almost any niggle for as long as required by just changing the emphasis of the moves you perform. In this way, the niggle is prevented either from stopping your practice or turning itself into a longer-term problem by "working through injury". Anyway, enough said. Buy the book. Get with the programme.

This is a hidden jewel about the physiology of whole body workout! I have been practising HH since the 80's, never looked back.

Great aerobic understanding from the 80's if you're a runner looking to break through a plateau or are injured. Then HeavyHands Is perfect for you. :)

Exellent livre pour le contenu et en excellent état! Merci!

Una excelente introducción al ejercecio físico como complemento de la actividad habitual.

Era el complemento necesario para mis mancuernas, anque antiguas muy bien diseñadas y ergonómicas. Sin embargo me ha tardado mucho tiempo en llegar desde su origen en Nueva York.