Visual Impact for Women Review

I have spent the last couple days reading my way through Rusty Moore’s (author of the popular celebrity fitness blog “Fitness Black Book“) latest fitness ebook “Visual Impact – For Women.” Read on for my review…

The first thing you should know right away is that every fitness writer has a specific niche – some focus on muscle building, others on sports training, and so on – Rusty’s specific niche is the “naturally fit and sexy” look – for both men and women. Its a look that at least for women is not heavily muscled or too lean – think Jessica Alba not Jessica Biel. The idea is that you don’t look like you spend hours in the gym but you look naturally thin and toned.

If this look doesn’t appeal to you, you want to train to be a figure competitor, run a 5K, or whatever – then this program is not for you. Visual Impact is designed strictly to give a slim, tight, toned, low bulk look. This is all about appearance…

This trend towards “appearance based training” (training to look a certain way as opposed to training to run faster, lift heavier, etc) is a really good thing in my opinion. Of course, training to look thin and sexy is not a new concept BUT what is new is the actual re-examination of how to actually GET this kind of look. Most workouts claim to give you a slim, feminine look, but either fail or give results or add muscle in areas you didn’t want to add muscle to.

Why is this? 90% of the workouts you find in fitness magazines, books, DVDs, and sadly – even developed by personal trainers – use outdated or incorrect training methods.

Visual Impact for Women immediately debunks 5 figure destroying fitness myths -

• That women CANNOT get too muscular (you are too bulky if YOU feel too bulky – its that simple.)
• High reps with light weights will not add bulk – not true – and incidentally, this is why your thighs keep getting bigger. The average woman’s workout usually includes 4 or 5 different exercises to target the lower body. Each exercise is usually done for 3 to 4 set of 15 or more reps. This constant low level stimulus will increase muscle size over time. This is also incidentally why some women who use the exercise bikes at the gym also notice muscle growth in their thighs.
• Building muscle helps you burn fat. I am so glad this fitness myth is running its course because I think this is really wasting a lot of people’s time. Recent studies show that adding one pound of muscle only increases your daily calorie burn by 12 calories. I think this is 1.5 grapes. Building muscle to burn fat is a waste of time. (I should note that building muscle is not the same as increasing strength. You can actually increase strength without building large muscles – Olympic female powerlifters are frequently pretty small – and likewise you can add muscle but not become stronger – think bodybuilders. Just food for thought.)
• Cardio is a waste of time. Not true! Your workout routine should be balanced between weights and cardio. People who only lift weights struggle to get as lean as they want, while those who only do cardio quickly plateau. Additionally, you want to do more than one kind of cardio for the best results – ideally a good short but intense session of intervals followed by gentler stead state cardio for maximum fat burn.
• Eating lots of small meals increases your metabolism. Not true. Losing weight just requires that you stay under your daily caloric needs. How many meals you eat per day is up to your preferences.

Visual Impact for Women – The Program

The Workout

Cardio – My impression is that the cardio programming in this book is uniquely standout. The program is thought out in detail, more so than you would find in other books or workout programs. There are specific recommendation for which machines to use and why, how to tweak the routines for outdoor workouts, how to progress over a 12 week period, and finally how to combine high intensity intervals (releases your stored fat) and regular steady state cardio (burns the fat you just released – combining the two techniques is really key) for maximized fat burn. I think everyone will find something they like here.

Cardio is key to this workout but you will not be doing marathon levels. Excessive cardio is counterproductive and frankly, excessive leanness is just not needed to get the fit, toned, celebrity look. With this look you are not aiming to totally reveal all of your muscles or have any veins popping out…

Here’s an example of how being leaner is not necessary attractive – model on left digitally altered (right to look “softer.”

Here is a sample one month cardio workout from Visual Impact:

Week 1 – If you are a total beginner, don’t jump into to doing crazy high powered intervals. You wont be ready and you will injure yourself or burn out quickly. Instead spend 20-30min walking or jog/walking at a steady pace three times per week – ideally after your workout.

By week 2 you should be ready to try some moderate intervals for at least two of your workouts. Get on your favorite cardio machine (treadmill or elliptical machine are my favorites) and alternate between 4min of higher intensity and 3 minutes of walking for 30minutes.

By week 3 you will be ready to try beginner high intensity interval training. This will boost your fat burning hormones naturally.This workout uses a treadmill but you could use another cardio machine if you prefer…

• Walk for 1.5min at level 3.5
• Jog 30 seconds at level 7.0
• Walk for 1.5min at level 3.5
• Jog 30 seconds at level 7.0
• and repeat for 20-30min.

To see more progressive cardio workouts, you’ll need to check out the book…

Weights – The weight programming in Visual Impact is very simple and basic. In my opinion, its enough to maintain the muscle you have while continuing to lose fat. Specific recommendations are provided for avoiding unwanted muscle growth in specific areas as well as how to add muscle – if needed. Pictures and instructions for each exercise are provided.

Workouts are quick, simple, but challenging. You will lift heavy so this isn’t just some wimpy workout. Most exercises are done for 4-5 sets of 5. This will improve your strength without promoting the growth of muscle size, so its the best of both worlds.

Home and gym options for each exercise are provided.

Visual Impact promotes a simple two day body part split (as well as a “3 day a week” plan for people who only have limited time.) Day 1 is Back, Chest, and Abs, and Day 2 is Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps. Days 3 you rest, and Days 4 and 5 you repeat the program again. Unlike other programs, Rusty does not advocate working the lower body uniquely as each workout is followed by a high intensity cardio interval workout. The high intensity of the cardio workouts (sprinting) will work one’s legs and glutes pretty thoroughly eliminating the need for additional training. As far as I know, Rusty is the only trainer promoting this method.

Personally, I think avoiding a lot of direct lower body weightlifting will work just fine for many women. Most women have spent years overworking their lower bodies anyways. Working muscles heavily is just not needed to make them slim and toned looking – fat loss through diet and cardio will most likely do the trick. In fact, if your thighs have become too large and muscular, avoiding training for a period of time is really the best way to reduce size anyways. After getting pretty lean, depending on your body type you could need to add in some squats, deadlifts, or lunges on Day 3 (this is covered in the book), but this would depend on you and your body.

The Diet

The diet recommendations for Visual Impact are simple and not complicated. All of the recommendations listed match up with the most current research and fat loss programming. So nothing new, but nothing old either. However, you do get a lot of dieting options – all simple – ranging from mild to very aggressive fat loss. Most books only provide a single diet approach, while in Visual Impact you get three different choices. I think this is a good deal.

The core dietary technique in Visual Impact is ignoring the dieting myth of eating lots of small meals to “boost your metabolism and prevent muscle loss.” Current research just does not support the metabolism boosting effects of multiple small meals, nor the muscle wasting effects of dieting (which can be completely prevented just by doing a simple weight lifting workout a few times per week.) Instead, Rusty recommends you divide your daily calorie budget – however you choose – among three meals. This allows one to eat more normally sized meals and feel less deprived. Plus, its a LOT less work to just prepare three meals per day rather than six. That gets old FAST.

Another simple technique recommended in Visual Impact is thinking of your daily calorie allotment in terms of weekly calorie “budget.” Simply adding two low calorie days per week allows you to eat more on the remaining five (or pick one day per week to have a cheat meal and go out with friends.) The main technique recommended is fasting. Rusty explains how this simple technique can work for you without slowing your metabolism or leading to any muscle loss. Plus, fasting is the cheapest and simplest diet you will ever go on.

Additionally, Visual Impact for Women also includes a chapter on dieting for special events (reunions, weddings, vacations, etc.) This provides aggressive but safe techniques (provided you follow the instructions Rusty provides exactly) anyone can use for two to three weeks max. If you wish to continue the diet for longer, you must take a week off every two weeks. Again, usually rapid fat loss plans are sold as a separate book or product upsell for $50 or more (despite the fact that the diets are simple enough to be explained in a couple pages.) I think its good value that you get a full range of diet techniques all in one book.

Final thoughts

So who is Visual Impact for Women best for? Any woman looking to get a lean, celebrity look through minimal fuss with simple methods. This is not a really technical program. If you like really involved or complicated programs, this is not for you. If you are looking to achieve specific sports goals – this is not the workout for you. If you are looking to “functional” training – this is not the workout for you.

If Visual Impact sounds like it would help you reach your fitness goals and finally fit in to that pair of cute jeans, click here to get started…