NROL for Abs: The Elevator Pitch

My friends are perplexed. They’re trying to help me spread the word about The New Rules of Lifting for Abs, but there’s a problem: How do you explain it quickly, concisely, and cogently, so the listener instantly gets the concept?

It was easier with my past books.

Testosterone Advantage Plan: If you want to lose fat and look good, skip the cardio, and forget the low-fat diet. Lift weights, eat protein, cut carbs.

Home Workout Bible: The body you want, with the equipment you have.

New Rules of Lifting: Master six basic movement patterns to get bigger, stronger, and leaner.

New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift like a man, look like a goddess. (I know it’s the subhead, but I’ve always liked that line.)

NROL for Abs? It defies easy categorization.

It’s a core-training book that tells readers not to do crunches and sit-ups, even though crunch variations have appeared in each of my previous books, including the first two with Alwyn Cosgrove. It emphasizes mobility and conditioning more than my previous books have, along with overall physical activity and athleticism.

The nutrition section starts with a heavily researched overview of how our lives make us fatter, with too much time spent on stressful, deadline-driven work and too little time spent sleeping. In between we watch a lot of TV, which makes us fatter regardless of how much exercise we get before or after we watch our favorite shows.

More than anything, NROL for Abs, like the others in the series, is a process book. It’s about the process of exercising, eating better, and taking control of our lives in a way that allows us to get stronger, leaner, and healthier.

How do you explain all that in 30 seconds or less?

As it happens, I’ve had a lot of practice boiling it down for radio audiences. Strength training is a deadly radio topic, so Gregg Stebben, who books all my interviews, has learned to find the angles that everyone can identify with. 

NROL for Abs, it turns out, is a book about standing up straight.

The pitch goes something like this:

What do you do all day? You hunch over a steering wheel on the way to work. You hunch over a laptop for hours at a time. And then you go to the gym, and what do you do? You get down on the floor and you do crunches. Why would you train your body to exacerbate the problems you create at home and at work? Shouldn’t your workouts undo the damage, instead of making it worse?

Assuming I have your attention — the goal of the elevator pitch — I can now explain how the core-training system in NROL for Abs develops strength and endurance in the muscles that help you stand or sit up straight and avoid back pain.

What do you think? Would  that sell you, if you weren’t already sold? Is there a better way to pitch the book to a potentially skeptical audience?

Tags: Tags: core training, home workout bible, Media, new rules for women, new rules of lifting, nrol for abs, radio, self-promotion, testosterone advantage plan