The title makes it sound like the kind of ad you'll see on google or facebook (or even goodreads?), the kind that begs you to click through so you can see how a "weird tip" will cause you to "cut flab," and that you learned long ago never to follow because the promise of a quick answer is always false. Always.

So, bad title maybe, but hey, you've already got the book (ideally, it's a library copy), so why not click through? The result is more than a promise kept. Yes, it discusses numerous ways in which you can walk, run, bike, or fidget your way to various levels of fitness in bouts of varying lengths, but more importantly, it provides a comprehensive framework for an understanding of the current science of (or behind) exercise physiology as applied to couch potatoes as well as athletes. Its notion of exercise physiology is expansive, too--it includes what you eat and how long you expect to live.

The author's style is light--she likes a science diluted with well-distributed jokes. The prevailing tone is common sense: the conclusions appropriate for any reader could easily and profitably be rendered for hanging on a refrigerator door. This is encouraging, particularly because this subject is daunting to start with--exercise before breakfast?--and then you pile on the science. No wonder we have an obesity epidemic! But this book's patient, low-key, sensible advice won't put anyone off. Rather, it involves the reader in an intriguing proposition: just what can I do in 20 minutes?

So, maybe the title's not so bad after all. Plus, the book says chocolate milk is the best post-exercise beverage. Yeah, this book isn't going to scare anybody.