Customer Reviews

Bigger Faster Stronger

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My degree is in physical education and I have been teaching for 11 years. Shepard's Bigger Faster Stronger program is among the best I have found. The biggest benefits of this program are in sports requiring explosive strenth such as judo, wrestling, boxing, field events, and sprints.

This is a great book for any athlete out there high school or college, it teaches great techniques for lifting and also gives great variations on the already well known core lifts. This book is not for the weak or undisciplined it should only be used by people that are willing to work hard and give everything you got to be the best.

I am a Division one track and field athlete. I have been looking for an out of season lifting program that will help make me stronger and faster. I was never a fan of these core lifts until I bought this book. The variation that is available really caught my attention. For example, the power clean has been an exercise that I refuse to do and this book offers many other options. Instead I perform a hang clean. So far, I think that this program will do nothing but improve my athletic ability.

The proven system for building athletes appears in its second edition to cover the basic exercise techniques and drills needed to develop power, agility and speed for any sport. These are customizable programs for all levels and sports and are based on the latest research and the experiences of the nation's top athletes. A top pick for any sports collection.

The book has a lot of promise but was poorly written. The explanation of how to actually implement the program was fairly short, took up a very small section of the book, and was incomplete

superb program. good general information. program focuses on overall athleticism/power, including reasonable agility, stretching and plyometric regimens (which is rarely seen but a necessary part of a premiere program). program is applicable to nearly all athletes (perhaps not ideal for a pro/college athletes, solely because they would have programs designed to peak at the season of their sport).

I have been a National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA)Certified Athletic Trainer for 20 years and have seen this progam or variations of it used many times, and for years, I too thought this was "the way to go" However, the in the last 10 yrs I have better educated myself via earning Performance Enhancement Specialist certification and learning via conferences with professionals at the highest levels of injury prevention/rehab and performance enhancement. Combining that knowledge with my own experience has led to several concerns with the BFS system.

1. The concept of "unification" that is discussed in the early part of this book seems to be a "one size fits all approach".
2. The first concern leads into this one: I did not find any exercises that I would consider "functionally or sport-specific"
adequate for training posterior shoulder muscle groups in throwing athletes. The only one I could see was the Seated Lat
Pulldown using a machine. The movement is in no way sport-specific, and the NEURO part of the athlete's neuromuscular
is very minimally challenged (sitting on the machine provides the stability). Also, I did not see any exercises that
trained the athlete's core for reactive stability (which is key to prevent overuse injuries and improve power transfer to
the extremities. Additionally, I did not see training techniques to target improvement of rotational strength or power,
which is highly desirable in throwing and striking motions.
3. The only exercises that I saw to address the hamstrings were leg curls (does not work hamstrings in same way the work in
an upright position, so it is not "athletically useful"); glute-ham machines (these do make the hamstrings work more as
hip extensors, which is more related to function in athletics.
4. Some of the "dot drills" do have athletes working on one leg at a time, which is very common in athletics, but for the
most part, BFS does not address the need to improve one-legged strength, balance, and stability.

These are but only a few of my issues with this program, but they are the basis for my concern for having it used with all sports in a school's athletic program.

i did this program in highschool. its a great program. i think the book is trying to sell the program, than give the program.

Bigger Faster Stronger (BFS) is educating and inspiring source for anyone who is interested in sports conditioning. Written especially to sports coaches BFS gives good framework for integrating strength training into almost any athletes training program. Sections covering speed, agility, flexibility and plyometric training completes the BFS system.

The basic motivator built into BFS system is measuring progress and breaking records. However I totally missed the 'rep record' concept. How exactly it was meant to be recorded at different weeks and how the record would get broken? Example record given only added confusion.

This books is just another good classic that every athlete, coach and trainers should read at one point in their life. Is pretty much for the middle school and high school athlete but any beginner could benefit from this program