Customer Reviews

The Body Sculpting Bible For Abs: Men's Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been an avid fan of the Body Sculpting series of books for over a year now, and recently picked up this book -- The Body Sculpting Bible for Abs." Villepigue does a fantastic job of levelling with the reader and giving you the necessary information to really sculpt your abs. There are no gimmicks in this book, just pure, sensible advice on what needs to be done to get a six-pack.

That being said, the book is a little shorter than I would have liked. Since I follow the workout routines in the original Bodysculpting Bible, I would have liked to see the Abs book tie in more with those routines. Instead, it offers you completely independent 14-day workouts. It's up to the reader to tie those in with any other workout program they are already on.

I would have also liked to see a larger section on diet. In my experience, sculpting the perfect abs is 90% diet and 10% exercise. Instead, the majority of this book is dedicated to illustrating new and interesting ab workout techniques using the floor, Swiss ball, and medicine ball. All interesting stuff, but only a few pages are dedicated to diet advice and recommendations.

This is still a wonderful reference to have around, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to seriously chisel out those abs!

I would definitely recommend this book. It presents a solid plan of action for building great abs. Since I have been using it, my midsection is already tighter and my six pack is starting to peek through.

Dozens of exercises for home and gym. Great photos so its easy to follow. Detailed workouts for a routine that doesn't get boring. Very up to date. Even includes nutrition guidance.

It's a great deal and belongs on any guy's shelf who wants to look his best. Recommended to all.

I purchased about 10 books from Amazon on abs in order to compare them. This one has fairly large print and large photos, although it does come with a DVD. For how it compares with the other books, here are my conclusions...

If You Want to Trim Your Waistline: You can't trim your waistline without losing fat, and you can't lose fat around your waist without losing it everywhere (focusing on a muscle group like the abdominal muscles doesn't burn fat in that location, just a little bit of fat from everywhere on the body). So, if you want to trim your waistline, skip the ab workout books and go with a good, proven overall weight loss and fitness book like Bill Phillips' Body for Life. The Abs Diet is a similar program, but like all the Men's Health publications, it advertises a 6-week transformation, which is just a little unrealistic. Plan on more like 12-24 weeks to see really noticeable changes if you are fat.

If You Want Sculpted Six-Pack Abs: If you are overweight at all, see above--you can't get a six pack while you're overweight, and you can't lose abdominal fat by doing an ab workout, so go for overall fitness. However, if you are already lean, see below.

If You Want to Strengthen or Build Your Ab Muscles: If you're trying to improve for work, play, or rehab, you might consider the following books: The Body Sculpting Bible for Abs Deluxe DVD Edition contains decently up-to-date information and tells you exactly what to do and when to do it, based on a six-week fitness course. If you're looking for a similar book with more information, you can choose from The Complete Book of Abs or The Complete Book of Core Training. The Complete Book of Abs (1998) is a little out of date in terms of its dietary/nutritional recommendations, but it focuses more on exercises that develop the external abdominal muscles (the ones you see in a six-pack), including lots of variations on leg lifts, bicycle motion, and sit-ups. It will also give you more resources for creating your own program, and, if that's what you want to do, go with this one instead of The Body Sculpting Bible. The Complete Book of Core Training (2006) focuses more on the functional body core, including internal abdominal muscles, legs, etc., and includes more trendy exercises using medicine balls, exercise balls, yoga, etc. A different sort of book is Stronger Abs and Back (1997), which was written before the current fad of selling "core training," but contains the elements of core training because it gives good functional sports-focused advice. Its dietary recommendations are out of date, but it recommends a 24-week workout plan, which is much more realistic than the 6-week plans advocated by many of the other books.

If You Have Back Pain: See your doctor, and if he prescribes abdominal/core strengthening, see above.

My one-book recommendation: Body for Life.
My two-book recommendation: Body for Life + Stronger Abs and Back.
My three-book recommendation: Body for Life + Stronger Abs and Back + The Complete Book of Abs.
My four-book recommendation: Body for Life + Stronger Abs and Back + The Complete Book of Abs + The Abs Diet.

Hope this helps!!

Despite the title, you don't have to be a fitness freak in order to use this book. Back pain and back disorders are very common with office workers these days, and this book offers some excellent exercises that deal with it. The book itself is about sculpting your ABS, but it acknowledges that the back is an integral part of this process. By following the exercises in this book (first the warmups and then the more strenuous ones), you can strenghten the whole of your waist area, and your back will benefit.

The author stresses that the whole body must be exercised, in addition to the ABS exercises; they cannot be performed alone. This holistic approach is a valuable foundation, and continues throughout the book. It is good to have well-reasoned explanations of the theory behind the activities, along with some well-structured 14-day plans.

This review is written from the point of view of someone trying to sort out his back, rather than going for a washboard figure. I have found the exercises to be very effective, even when performed lightly. Whatever your goals and physical condition, however, this book offers excellent exercises and exercise plans, which can be adopted to your needs.

This book is obviously written by a true fitness GURU! I have tried over and over with many different ab excercises and have failed until now.After only 2 weeks of reading this and following the technique I can see and feel the difference!

I admit that the diet part it lacking, but one search on a search engine can pull up anything you need to know about diets. The workouts in this book range in difficulty, and some you really have to build up to. The pictures and explanations of how to do the exercises are great, and the trainers tips can help you fix some common mistakes you might make. I like how it also goes over working out with gym equipment, medicine ball, an aerobics workout ball, and on the floor. This book is packed with exercises that even if you have a 6-pack it will still make you feel the burn. For people who expect more than this, I cant imagine being able to master all the exercises in this book and being able to do some of the aerobics ball workouts more than 15 repititions. I am already seeing my abs come out, with diet and exercise of course, and without this book I would be stuck in a rut not knowing how to work out all areas of my abdominals.

On the back cover the book says it does an extensive job on showing you the right diet to get the right abs, but as a reader I was very dissapointed to discover that there are only two pages on diet. Now the routines are very straightforward, but the exercises are extremely difficult to perform. I think there are better books out there than this abs book.

If you're like me and balk at sit-ups, but serious about working your core muscles, more specifically your abdominals, then this is your book. The author provides insightful details about the mechanics of the muscles as well as providing easy to follow pictures for strength training. The training program (ever increasing in difficulty) is simple to follow and the weekly workouts are integrated enough to avoid burnout of the same 'ol, i.e., ab crunches. This is a well balanced book and is the best abdominal training regime I've seen. Trust me, its good for you!

It explains a few extra things about the abs,but nothing on nutrition and the same ol,same ol on excercises,nothing special.

This book is not for the beginner!

Advanced exercisers will get a good challenge with these routines.

It could use a bit more substance on the nutritional guidance topic as this is crucial for getting those abs to be visible.

If want some tough workouts get this book.

Joey Atlas - The Wizard of Fitness
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