Formula 50

April 1, 2013

Though Curtis J. Jackson III, aka rapper 50 Cent, once had street cred, he lacks nutrition and exercise expertise and buries collaborators' contributions under his preening. After two discs full of aphorisms (e.g., "50 reasons you should start working out now"), listeners are confronted with fairly complicated material on nutrition and physiology. Jackson's championing of metabolic resistance training disguises the method's inappropriateness for those already lacking a decent level of fitness. Indeed, inexperienced listeners most needing nutritional, exercise, and fitness regimens will have ample opportunity to injure themselves working with free weights. Other audio titles that provide better starting points include Jillian Michaels's Slim for Life: My Insider Secrets to Simple, Fast, and Lasting Weight Loss and Gretchen Reynolds's The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer. Topical references will date this quickly, but what makes this unlistenable is writing that alternates between slangy and serious. Narrator Cary Hite does what he can but frequently sounds ridiculous. VERDICT Not recommended.--Douglas C. Lord, Connecticut State Lib., Middletown

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.