Editor's pick

Pumping Iron a little light on substance

Product

Pumping Iron: A Traveling Poker Player's 10 Minute Hotel Room Workout by Tim Anderson and Courtney Friel

Hits

  • Almost every poker player could stand to lift some weights (or in this case objects found in a hotel room)
  • Courtney Friel in pajamas

Misses

  • Incredibly cheesy puns
  • Huge portion of the book dedicated to plugging Dr. Hope's books, CDs and more
  • Limited workout routine
  • Extremely shallow Hold'em section
  • Nutrition section is one spread

Review

Once in a while a book comes along that changes your concept of what great literature can be. Pumping Iron: A Traveling Poker Player's 10 Minute Hotel Room Workout is one such title.

Pumping Iron is the first (and most likely only) book to combine poker strategy, fitness plans, humor and pictures of former WPT Hostess Courtney Friel.

Written by the eccentric Tim "Dr. Hope J.A.P.D. (Just a Pretend Doctor)" Anderson, Pumping Iron focuses on workout routines in the limited space of hotel rooms for poker players.

It's actually not a bad idea considering how much time poker players spend in hotel rooms and in the poker room with very little exercise.

The book is organized into six chapters including upper body exercises, lower body exercises, stretching and breathing exercises, nutrition, Dr. Hope's Hold'em hints and the "about" section, which includes shameless plugs for Anderson and Friel.

As you might have guessed the book does not take itself seriously. At all. The nutrition chapter is basically two pages that say, "Eat smaller meals."

The routines are fairly standard with crunches, knee lifts and pushups all getting lots of face time. Some of the more interesting exercises include using objects in a hotel room as equipment. Anderson suggests using the iron usually found in hotel rooms as a dumbbell and your own luggage as free weights.

If you are serious about getting in shape and spend a great deal of time on the road you'd probably be better off checking out the various exercise forums across the Web or just buying any fitness magazine.

The Hold'em section is laughable with extremely basic information like starting hand requirements, player types and math. This is not Super/System, in fact it's not even Phil Hellmuth's Texas Hold'em.

Anderson also writes children's books and it's very obvious from the tone of the book that that's his specialty. Poker and writing that seems primed for an eight-year-old is a bizarre combination.

The photographs of Friel posing throughout the book were no doubt included to spice things up, but the result is downright hilarious at times. For example, on the cover of the book Friel is in an evening dress holding an iron. Not exactly Maxim material.

All in all, Pumping Iron is one of the weirdest train wrecks of a book ever produced. But if you've been craving a book that contains Hold'em tips, exercise info, pictures of Friel in minimal clothing and some of the worst puns you've ever heard, it's the only game in town.

Details:

  • $19.95
    Paperback
    Alpine Publishing Inc.
    175 pages