Coopers’ Book Tailors Fitness, Weight Loss to Individuals

DALLAS _ “Start Strong, Finish Strong” is the kind of book best read while pedaling a stationary bicycle. After all, if you take its directives to heart, you won’t be able to complete it lying down.

Subtitled “Prescriptions for a Lifetime of Great Health,” the book is written by Texas father-son physician team Kenneth H. Cooper and Tyler C. Cooper, with William Proctor. The Cooper Institute created the FITNESSGRAM tests for aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.

The tests were selected in September to become Texas’ statewide physical fitness assessment tool for students in third through 12th grades.

And they are known internationally for the Cooper Clinic at the Cooper Aerobics Center, which Dr. Kenneth Cooper founded in 1970.

The 30-acre Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas is a living monument to the principle that prevention is the best medicine, with a lush campus that offers a wide range of physical activities along with detailed medical exams, wellness assessments, nutritional counseling and lifestyle modification information.

In October, they added the Cooper Clinic at Craig Ranch in McKinney to cater to the public and a health- and wellness-focused residential community called CooperLife.

But for those who are not willing, ready or able to afford to make the move to a 24/7 professionally monitored fitness world, this book is an excellent introduction to the Cooper philosophy. In 16 chapters divided into three sections, “Start Strong” begins with “Finding Your Special Inner Drive,” explaining the importance of getting on track at any age, from a biological and spiritual perspective.

Speaking of age, one of the book’s strengths is that it is told with an understanding that comes from two age perspectives _ that of Kenneth Cooper, who is in his 70s, and of Tyler Cooper, who is in his 30s.

Practical advice peppers the middle section, “The Seven Simple Cooper Start-ups,” from an admonition to start with an initial medical exam that determines health needs and concerns. Then, it’s on to specific start-up exercises, from how to build up a daily regimen to my personal favorite, a one-thing weight-loss eating plan. The idea is that instead of giving up all your favorite foods at once, you take a slow and steady approach by cutting out the five most unhealthy foods and drinks in your diet in the first five weeks. In the following six to 10 weeks, you add five new healthy foods.

Throughout, the benefits are explained in medical terms, explaining how these changes can ultimately reduce your risks for heart attack, stroke, coronary heart disease, cancer of the pancreas, cancer of the colon, kidney stones and breast cancer.

If that doesn’t cinch your commitment to change, keep reading through the third section of “Strategies of Finishing Strong” as they address how to keep going when motivation flags. And if you think you’re up against it, just consider Rick Salewske, a fast-food fan who went from 538 to 238 pounds with the help of nutrition and exercise at the Cooper Clinic and mental training (including hypnotism sessions).

For Salewske, good health also led to a happier life. After he lost those 300 pounds, he met the woman who would become his wife and proposed to her on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” While there’s no guarantee you’ll get on national TV, this book could be a good start if you’re pondering which unhealthy foods to pitch this week. Can’t resist those chips? The Coopers have an answer for that, too. You can look for the “Smart Spot” seal of approval that Dr. Kenneth Cooper developed for non-trans-fat Frito-Lay snacks, available in supermarkets.

Next stop, clearly, is taking over the world.

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“Start Strong, Finish Strong”

Kenneth H. Cooper and Tyler C. Cooper

(Avery, $24.95)

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(c) 2007, The Dallas Morning News.

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ARCHIVE PHOTO on MCT Direct (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): KENNETH COOPER

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