Review of Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder (Paperback)

The book is an autobiography of Arnold, up through the mid-70s. It is interesting to be inside the mind of a super-athlete such as Schwarzenegger. He conveys how and why he rose to become what many believeto be the greatest bodybuilder of all-time. He writes about many of thedistractions of the early days -- girls, school, parental disaproval, ayear of army duty -- and how he dealt with these and managed to stayfocused on his dream to be the best at the sport.
Within five years hebecame Mr. Universe.He perservered to become more than just a greatbodybuilder.He became a superstar. After he had beat every otherbodybuilder of his time, he decided to do away with competing andaccomplish his next set of goals. He went into acting, and as we all know,became an international moviestar. In addition he went into the promotionside of bodybuilding, running competions such as Mr. Olympia, Mr. Universe,and of course, the Arnold Classic. He also set up many gyms in severalcountries.
The second half of the book is a rough guide on how to begina progressive resistance program, additional motivational advice, nutritionand the like.
Throughout the book he demonstrates the many benifits heobtained from bodybuilding -- optimal health, discipline, mind control,etc. Basically, I found it very inspirational to read. However, I wouldsuggest not to solely rely on the information in the second half forworkout planning. Though it is good information, it is somewhat brief, andit is WHAT WORKED FOR HIM. Everyone varies in their response to weighttraining (i.e. how quickly their muscles grow) due to geneticpredispositions, such as natural metabolism level, andand I would suggestgetting additional, more comprehensive information, such as Gold's Gym MassBuilding Training and Nutrition System, or check your local bookstore anddo some browsing through the selection to see what appeals to yourinterest.

Product Description

Five-time Mr. Universe, seven-time Mr. Olympia, and Mr. World, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the name in bodybuilding.
Here is his classic bestselling autobiography, which explains how the "Austrian Oak" came to the sport of bodybuilding and aspired to be the star he has become.
"I still remember that first visit to the bodybuilding gym. I had never seen anyone lifting weights before. Those guys were huge and brutal....The weight lifters shone with sweat; they were powerful looking, Herculean. And there it was before me -- my life, the answer I'd been seeking. It clicked. It was something I suddenly just seemed to reach out and find, as if I'd been crossing a suspended bridge and finally stepped off onto solid ground."
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold shares his fitness and training secrets -- demonstrating with a comprehensive step-by-step program and dietary hints how to use bodybuilding for better health. His program includes a special four-day regimen of specific exercises to develop individual muscle groups -- each exercise illustrated with photos of Arnold in action.
For fans and would-be bodybuilders, this is Arnold in his own words.

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Review of Definition: Shape Without Bulk in 15 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

About 9 years ago, I had started to put on weight for the first time in my life.I couldn't believe it when I stepped on a friends scale and discovered that I had gained almost 20 pounds - seemingly overnight!I was very depressed and not looking forward to a life of diets - I just love food and cooking too much.Then I saw Joyce on the Monel Williams show.At the time, she was promoting her other book, Bottoms Up.I bought it and acquired a couple small weights - and began my transformation.The first workout was a killer - I was dripping with sweat in no time and feeling very weak.I didn't even think I would make it through!But I kept at it and after three weeks, I had a noticeable difference - my shoulders no longer slumped, my chest was perkier, my stomach was trimmer and I FELT BETTER - all without drastic dieting.I knew this was a start in the right direction!
I ended up trimming myself down to my high school size (size 4) in no time at all.My husband told me I looked better than I ever did.I then bought her other book, Definition.This is the book I now use for my weight workouts.Her routines are sound - they work - and you don't have to spend all your time in a gym.You can do this in the privacy of your own home.Joyce is very encouraging and her stuff is spelled out clearly, for the athletically challenged like myself.
Because of Joyce's workouts, I am more active - I walk all the time, I hike, I do yoga, etc.I still eat like a horse, but remain the same size!I really think Joyce changed my life for the better!

Product Description
A low-fat eating plan and fifteen-minute daily exercise guide combine in a twenty-week program that helps readers to lose weight, define muscles, slow the aging process, increase energy, and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

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Review of Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning - 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

When it comes to telling people how to train, I want to know that the advice I give is based on evidence, not what on other people say, and not on what I "think" is going to work. While you could dig around on various electronic databases, such as Medline to get such information, its nice to have all the latest excercise recommendations based on sound research at your fingertips. And if you're looking for such a book, well, look no further.

Readers who regularly read sports science research will see some familiar names on page vii, which contains the list of people who contributed to the book. To me, knowing that people like Kraemer, Faigenbaum, or Hatfield had a hand in this book puts it on solid ground.

And the book is thorough too. Covering just about every aspect of conditioning and training, from basic exercise physiology to how many sets of an exercise should I do, its just a plain fact that there's not much that has been left out. Of course all the major areas such as strength training, endurance training, and flexibility are there as well. Also notable are the great pictures of stretching and strengthening exercises as well as little numbers (2) to refer the reader to the study the info was taken from. Right on!

My criticisms of this book are picky and few. For example I did notice that on page 299 the book advocates holding a static stretch for 30 seconds to become more flexible. Experts in the field who keep up on the research may not agree with this. While the 30 seconds rule applies to a lot of muscle groups, it does not apply to all- like stretching the calf muscles to increase dorsiflexion (see The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution for a nice updated literature review on ankle stretching). In case you're wondering, 30s won't cut it to increase ankle ROM.

In conclusion, as a researcher and trainer, I was really impressed with the evidence-based information and the thoroughness of the text. I think it would be of most benefit to coaches, athletic trainers, personal trainers, or anyone who wants a good resource to guide their exercise prescriptions.

Product Description
Now in its third edition, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning is the most comprehensive reference available for strength and conditioning professionals. In this text, 30 expert contributors explore the scientific principles, concepts, and theories of strength training and conditioning as well as their applications to athletic performance.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning is the most-preferred preparation text for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) exam. The research-based approach, extensive exercise technique section, and unbeatable accuracy of Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning make it the text readers have come to rely on for CSCS exam preparation.

The third edition presents the most current strength training and conditioning research and applications in a logical format designed for increased retention of key concepts. The text is organized into five sections. The first three sections provide a theoretical framework for application in section 4, the program design portion of the book. The final section offers practical strategies for administration and management of strength and conditioning facilities.

• Section 1 (chapters 1 through 10) presents key topics and current research in exercise physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, biomechanics, endocrinology, sport nutrition, and sport psychology and discusses applications for the design of safe and effective strength and conditioning programs.
• Section 2 (chapters 11 and 12) discusses testing and evaluation, including the principles of test selection and administration as well as the scoring and interpretation of results.
• Section 3 (chapters 13 and 14) provides techniques for warm-up, stretching, and resistance training exercises. For each exercise, accompanying photos and instructions guide readers in the correct execution and teaching of stretching and resistance training exercises. This section also includes a set of eight new dynamic stretching exercises.
• Section 4 examines the design of strength training and conditioning programs. The information is divided into three parts: anaerobic exercise prescription (chapters 15 through 17), aerobic endurance exercise prescription (chapter 18), and periodization and rehabilitation (chapters 19 and 20). Step-by-step guidelines for designing resistance, plyometric, speed, agility, and aerobic endurance training programs are shared. Section 4 also includes detailed descriptions of how principles of program design and periodization can be applied to athletes of various sports and experience levels. Within the text, special sidebars illustrate how program design variables can be applied to help athletes attain specific training goals.
• Section 5 (chapters 21 and 22) addresses organization and administration concerns of the strength training and conditioning facility manager, including facility design, scheduling, policies and procedures, maintenance, and risk management.

Chapter objectives, key points, key terms, and self-study questions provide a structure to help readers organize and conceptualize the information. Unique application sidebars demonstrate how scientific facts can be translated into principles that assist athletes in their strength training and conditioning goals.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning also offers new lecture preparation materials. A product specific Web site includes new student lab activities that instructors can assign to students. Students can visit this Web site to print the forms and charts for completing lab activities, or they can complete the activities electronically and email their results to the instructor. The instructor guide provides a course description and schedule, chapter objectives and outlines, chapter-specific Web sites and additional resources, definitions of primary key terms, application questions with recommended answers, and links to the lab activities. The presentation package and image bank, delivered in Microsoft PowerPoint, offers instructors a presentation package containing over 1,000 slides to help augment lectures and class discussions. In addition to outlines and key points, the resource also contains over 450 figures, tables, and photos from the textbook, which can be used as an image bank by instructors who need to customize their own presentations. Easy-to-follow instructions help guide instructors on how to reuse the images within their own PowerPoint templates. These tools can be downloaded online and are free to instructors who adopt the text for use in their courses.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Third Edition, provides the latest and most comprehensive information on the structure and function of body systems, training adaptations, testing and evaluation, exercise techniques, program design, and organization and administration of facilities. Its accuracy and reliability make it not only the leading preparation resource for the CSCS exam but also the definitive reference that strength and conditioning professionals and sports medicine specialists depend on to fine-tune their practice.

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Review of Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week (Paperback)

I have owned 2 copies of Dr. McGuff's self published books "Ultimate Exercise" since 2002. Basically I have been using this routine or a derivative since then. I have also had a few phone consultations with McGuff during those years.These are basically the "Consolidated" type routines from Mike Mentzer's last two published books performed in a Super Slow type cadence.

I agree with all of the routines on the "Global Conditioning" aspect. I myself find that fixing your mind into a once a week frequency becomes fact for you and you may be delighted if you decide to maybe split up the A/B workouts but perform both in one week.You must be very in tune with overtraining but at the same time, not be paranoid and turn it into a Boogieman. Overtraining is not a disease nor is it irreversible. When you find yourself overtraining, cut back. I realize for the High Volume Trainers this is not even an option.

My absolute best results from these routines were in 2007 when I added the Trap Bar Deadlift (done at 2/2 Cadence). This really triggered growth in my body and transferred to all of the other exercises. I was working with 555 pounds on this for low reps (Started at about 365) and did not experience any injuries.This added exercise had to really be monitored because it definitely would lead to overtraining if done along with the other movements.

Lately, I decided to add more exercises and was doing 8 movements once a week and then split it into the A/B (still done during same week) and then used 7 days in between. I have tried 14 day layoffs and I don't care what any studies show, I got weaker, lost size, muscularity and gained fat. Perhaps it was my diet.

As far as John Little, I have used both Max Contraction Training and Static Contraction Training. Besides being almost impossible to perform in a gym, I did not experience any meaningful gains on these routines and got noticeably weaker and smaller until I ended them. They (Sisco and Little) both adamantly claim that these are NOT isometrics yet the verbatim results of Dr. EA Mueller and Dr. Theodore Hettinger's Classic Isometric studies of the mid 1900s are the basis for both of these books. the machines that Sisco peddles are basically big immovable platforms on machines with a tension meter attached. There is no outside resistance of any kind. For isometrics, I will use my body and doorway. Since John Little is co-author of Body by Science I find it valid to question his theories.

A serious question I have about John Little's writings and research is the thoroughly documented and hyped up "Research Programs" like "Nautlus North"always have the subjects making like 200% strength gains after 1.2 workouts yet the experiments never last more than a few weeks (or workouts). He does say in everyone of the books (even the ones he did for Mentzer) "If these people gained that much muscle in just 2 weeks, just think what you can achieve in 1 or 2 years", The experiments (Nautilus North, etc) will never tell us, they only lasted a few weeks. He did have a special follow up web page for Max Contraction Training but that lasted as long as the experiments. No follow through.

I suspect that John Little is on this book because of name recognition. John puts down the Super Slow protocol in both Static Contraction Training and Max Contraction Training. Also, Quoting from another reviewer "It also strikes me as odd that John Little is giving a strongly implied endorsement to full-range exercise, after all the promotion he's done for limited range work & static weight holding. Where do you stand, John Little?"

If anyone has made sustained gains from either MCT or SCT I never heard of them.I know McGuff says to use them for just for short periods of time. I would discard the MCT training totally. I believe John Little will just squeeze hisSCT and the "even more revolutionary" MCT anywhere he can. If you gave SCT and MCT a try, you will have discovered that MCT was a method discovered for Little to distance himself from Sisco rather than a revolutionary form of SCT.

With that being said, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book especially for the insight in Global Conditioning and the Faux Cardio Culture. I would have enjoyed it more without John Little's 2 cents (Revelation that he can apply his son's 3-way Mentzer Routine to his Max Contraction Training and other Anecdotes) but then again, he may have Tony Robbin's endorse it and make an entire science, philosophy and religion out of it complete with 30 minute infomercials a 20 DVD set and the ability to walk over hot coals at completion.

Seriously though, this book is a big notch for H.I.T. and I totally respect the education, research, personal training experience and passion that Dr. McGuff put into it. As I first stated, I have had phone consultations with him and have nothing but praise and respect for him. His insight on the medical aspects of strength training put him in a different class than most writers.

I also recommend Ellington Darden's "The New Bodybuilding for Old School Results" as a companion volume. Darden's book provides inspiration which really makes you want to hit the vintage Nautilus machines. Ellington Darden also recommends more movements per workout (about 8) and higher frequency. I say the reader experiment what works best for them and then adjust volume and frequency accordingly over time.

Both of these books together provide history, nostalgia and research. They do not contradict each other but compliment. A Yang to the other's Yin. Finally, if you can find a copy of Dr. McGuff's self published "Ultimate Exercise", I would snatch this up.

Product Description

Building muscle has never been faster oreasier than with this revolutionary once-a-weektraining program


In Body By Science, bodybuilding powerhouse John Little teams up with fitness medicine expert Dr. Doug McGuff to present a scientifically proven formula for maximizing muscle development in just 12 minutes a week. Backed by rigorous research, the authors prescribe a weekly high-intensity program for increasing strength, revving metabolism, and building muscle for a total fitness experience.



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Review of Perfect Parts: A World Champions Guide to Spot Slimming Shaping and Strengthening Your Body (Paperback)

I recentley bought this book because a friend of mine that is a trainer reccomended it to me. The instructions are easy to follow and the book is filled with beautiful pictures. I enjoy the book and I often utilize the moves from various sections to reduce some of my trouble spots. I would reccomend this to any semi-or higher experienced female weight lifter. I have loaned and reccomended this to many friends. It is a definite addition to any woman's collection of fitness material.

Product Description
Rachel McLish, the world's best-known champion bodybuilder and bestselling author of Flex Appeal by Rachel, and Joy Vedral, peak-condition body-builder, combine their expertise in a book that shows how to reshape and perfect any part of the body for an overall sleek, fit and sexy new look.

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Review of Essential Arms: An Intense 6-Week Program (Paperback)

I have read a few body-building books and think this one, along with the other books in the same series (chest, legs, abs, etc), are the best to date.
One reason for this is the insistence upon good form. Like a lot of people, I have in the past gotten carried away with adding more weight and not paying attention to
form. This is still a temptation but the message on good form presented in this book is finally starting to stick. I especially was impressed by his argument for paying
attention to the negative part of the exercise.
Another STRONG point of the book is that it provides you with lots of routines. After finishing the books 6 week course,
you are supplied with an additional 4 or 5 good routines for future use. As the author states, it is important to change routines often, so that your muscles do not get too
used to a given exercise (and you dont get bored). However,
I am very lazy about putting together routines and tend to stick to one. Thanks to this book this is no longer a problem, because it does it for me; I now have complete
sets of routines that I can follow and am beginning to see important gains as a result.
The book also does a good job of covering the basics of good nutrition, rest and, for all of you gym rats who would ignore it,
aerobics (ever see those pudgy cro-magnon loking guys in the gym who claim their bloated tummies are muscle)!!!! He doesn't cover supplements though and that is
understandable given the controversy and hype surrounding so many of them.

Product Description
Want rock-hard biceps? Start doing squats!

Think we're kidding? Think again. In easy-to-follow, step-by-step format, best-selling fitness author Kurt Brungardt unveils some surprising new ways to build bulging, world-class arms. Brungardt draws on the latest in biophysical and nutritional research to present you with a 6-week plan that targets your arms while still giving you a challenging total-body workout. Whether you're a beginner or already halfway to Schwarzenegger-dom, Brungardt will have you popping veins in no time.

YOU'LL LEARN:

* How to schedule your meals and workouts
* The secret to really isolating your arms in exercises
* Routines that result in bigger muscles, not tired ones
* How to put your own male hormones to work for you
* A stretching program that will always keep you limber


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Review of The Men's Health Hard Body Plan : The Ultimate 12-Week Program for Burning Fat and Building Muscle (Paperback)

I recently bought this book in hopes of supplementing it with another Mens Health book, 'The Testosterone Advantage'. First off, the book is nicely written and laid out. I agree ,though, with other reviewers who thought the book was nothing new and right from the pages of Mens Health. There are a lot of different exercises and a diet plan. The workout choices are great but I have yet to try the diet.
One reason I have not completely bought into the book is because many factors in this book completely contradict the previous book I have been using (The Testosterone Advantage). For instance this book advocates aerobic activity for fat loss. It also has a high carb to protein diet. The Previous book condemns aerobic work all through it and has a high protein, low carb diet. This and many other factors have left me in a world of confusion. You would think that two books endorsed by the same company with the same affiliations ( Lou Schuler) would have some sort of continuity. Wrong!!!Come on Lou, men wanting to get in shape need references they can count on.
This book will work and so will the other for the beginner or someone who is out of shape.
I have found both from personal experience and from friends that almost any diet and exercise routine will work in the early stages if they are adhered to. It is when you get past the the beginner stage that a regimine proves itself. Until Mens Health writers get on the same page, they will never truly advance past entry levels.
I have used the previous book and have lost a lot of weight. Twenty five plus pounds to date. If I had bought this book first I would say the results would have been similar. As I said almost anything will work in the early stages.
If you are a beginner buy it. Intermediate or advanced, forget it.

Product Description
BIGGER SHOULDERS! BULGING BICEPS! RIPPED ABS! A LEANER TORSO! STRONG LEGS!

Get the Body You Want in Just 12 Weeks-- Guaranteed!

For fast, effective results, look no further than The Men's Health Hard-Body Plan-- because you won't find this information anywhere else! Based on solid scientific research and exclusively developed by two leading exercise and nutrition gurus, The Men's Health Hard-Body Plan features:

* Three cutting-edge 12-week full-body muscle plans
Choose the level that's right for you and start pumping

* Revolutionary Quick-Set Paths to Power
Get fast results without spending half your life in the gym

* A sensible eating plan to keep you fueled
The Hard-Body Diet allows you to eat six times a day, so you'll never be hungry! It includes hearty recipes for every meal, plus dozens of snack suggestions and fast-food take-out options

Clear step-by-step instructions and accompanying photographs ensure that you'll have no trouble following the Hard-Body Plan. And a 3-week rotation of exercises means that you won't get bored, either. Easily customized to meet your specific goals, this plan is the ultimate guide to building bulk and shedding fat.

GOODBYE TO LOVE HANDLES AND SAY HELLO TO A BODY THAT WILL MAKE HEADS TURN!


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