cover image The Canyon Ranch Health and Fitness Program

The Canyon Ranch Health and Fitness Program

. Simon & Schuster, $19.45 (287pp) ISBN 978-0-671-66116-8

In his introduction to this concise fitness guide, Canyon Ranch spa founder Mel Zuckerman writes, ``There are no bad spas; there are only bad matches. If you get what you need from your spa experience, it's the right one for you.'' This book similarly requires the right ``match''--namely, readers who are approaching, at or beyond middle age, are financially successful and newly interested in fitness. Science writer Moloney's lucid, often amusing style makes many of the Ranch's programs accessible to readers who may never visit the Arizona facility. The requisite chapters on health assessment, exercise, nutrition and stress management argue benefits and clarify medical and fitness terminology for the uninitiated. The guide to food labeling is particularly useful, and a chapter on ``fitness on the road'' offers many tips for healthful traveling, particularly business trips. Also included are overviews of the Ranch's skin care, anti-smoking, and herbal and massage therapy programs, although these are less easily implemented. The Ranch's approach is forceful but not rigid; moderate improvement, even with some backsliding, is valued over reformation. First serial to Family Circle. (Mar.)