Looking marvelous

Show of hands: Who would like to have a body like Halle Berry’s? Brad Pitt’s abs, anyone? How about Nicole Kidman’s nipped waist? Personal trainer Steve Zim (with coauthor Mark Laska) promises a celebrity-worthy physique in “6 Weeks to a Hollywood Body” (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2006).

Jeannine Stein

*

“6 Weeks to a Hollywood Body”: Despite its tabloid-ish title, this book contains detailed workouts designed to create a toned figure. Using a few simple props (stability ball, dumbbells, a chair), Zim takes readers through upper body, lower body and abdominal workouts that are described in detail and illustrated with photos. Although many may be familiar, some are tweaked to get the most out of the exercise. The Hollywood Kickout, for example, works the inside and outside of the triceps by slightly twisting the dumbbell and isolating the muscle. That, says Zim, is what gives triceps that nice line of definition. The goal is to create the sculpted but symmetrical physique so many stars possess these days. “Most people plan their workouts around what I call mirror muscles,” says Zim, referring to the front half of the body most people see in the mirror. “For a lot of people, their backs and rear delts are not in balance with the front.”

Zim, who owns a gym in Culver City, has trained Jessica Biel and Ashley Judd, and says he understands why people covet celebrity bodies: “They have the wow factor,” he says.

Price: $24.95, available at bookstores.