Customer Reviews

Building the Classic Physique: The Natural Way

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I believe that this is the best book for bringing out your potential.It is intense--you work out hard three days a week and then rest four. This is the way the natural guys, Reeves, Ross, Park, Delinger, Grimek, Stephans, Eiferman, Tanny etc did it back in those days and they got some incredible results--drug free.The other thing I like about this training program is that it gives you the time to have a life outside the gym.I just heard of Steve Reeves passing. How unfortunate. HE was indeed one of the real legends of bodybuilding and will be sorely missed.Buy the book and use it. It's the best.

Interested in knowing a lot about the living legend SteveReeves? Please enter. If you're into bodybuilding, all the rightstuff for building a classic physique is here; how and when to work out, what to eat, what not to eat, when to rest, etc.; every ingredient for achieving a great build naturally. In addition to bodybuilding, Steve also unveils his everyday recipe for staying physically fit for life. Some of the topics include the power of walking, the importance of water, getting smart about nutrition, etc. With 175 rare pictures of Reeves, the book also delivers on biographical data: from childhood, to bodybuilding fame, to worldwide movie star, to Reeves' current activity. It's all documented, it's all interesting and it's all the write stuff.

I read the book from cover to cover the minute I got it. If you a natural bodybuilder or you're looking to get into weight training, this is the way to go. I love how he cuts on people who have to use steroids to get huge. The goal of bodybuilding, and any man or woman for that matter, is to have great proportions. Steve's all-natural way is absolutely the best!

First of all, I *do* enthusiastically recommend this book because it is a fun and interesting read and it also contains dozens of amazing pictures of Steve Reeves (who surely had one of the greatest physiques of all time) and other famous physique champions from a time that some call the golden era of body-building. It also contains some information that is fascinating and certainly worth reading including Reeves's take on Power Walking, his excellent nutritional advice, his "rules to live by" which while not necessarily practical, are nonetheless very interesting and much more.

Why only 3 stars from me then? The training advice. The training advice Reeves gives is, in a word, ludicrous. Reeves recommends three full body workouts a week on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday type split with each workout lasting from two and a half to three hours, taking every set to failure on every exercise in a routine that includes heavy compound movements such as squats, bench presses, military presses and dozens of other exercises. Each body part is hit with up to 12 sets during the workout as well. I'm sorry but I can guarantee that anyone who is not genetically gifted from a body-building perspective and seriously tries to follow such a routine will end up chronically overtrained within a couple of weeks. You cannot squat to failure for 12 sets, multiple times per week for very long before either injury or overtraining and/ or sickness stops you dead in your tracks.

Reeves also offers advice about ideal proportions for what he calls "The Classic Physique" which are basically just his proportions from when he was in top form. This advice is just stupid since we are all built differently and some of these goals will just be unreachable for a lot of people. Take the notion of getting identical measurements for the circumference of your calves, biceps and neck. For a lot of people this just won't be possible because of the way their body is structured.

It is evident that Reeves was genetically blessed; in the book he mentions that he had to stop training his calves because they were getting too big. He also says that when he was in Europe making films he only really had to work out for a month a year to maintain his amazing physique. He also talks about going from relatively poor condition to Mr America winners status in a month of training. I'm sorry but a guy like that would have succeeded on almost any program he chose to follow. The fact that he looked the way he did is NOT a reflection of his incredible training knowledge but of his genetic superiority.

For normal people looking to make maximum muscle gains within the genetic limitations nature gave them, I recommend the books of Mike Mentzer, Stuart McRobert or the website of Drew Baye for accurate training information. There has also been a new book just released by Doug McGuff MD and John Little entitled "Body by Science" which I can highly recommend for those looking to understand the facts of exercise science. You can read my review on that book by searching for it right here on Amazon.

Reeves's book is a great read and certainly recommended for the entertainment value but the training advice, whilst interesting, is just nonsense.

The book was a great insight into the origins of bodybuilding. It really was about asthetics back then. One of the big concepts I got from Steve Reeves was the breathing excersizes combined with pullovers in order to increase the circumference of the thorax. It really has made a difference in my overall physique. I like his ideas on working for a wider back and chest.

What takes one star away from this book is the explanations of some of the excersizes and their accompanying illustrations. I was bit confused at times.

I truly enjoyed this book. It is just chock full of ideas about bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerwalking, good nutrition and just plain living. Try the Steve Reeves power drink. The only problem I have with the book is that Steve Reeves suggests doing over twenty exercises per day three days per week. I don't know how many weeks a year he normally worked out but he admits that many years when making movies he only worked out maybe three months a year. This regimen works without breaking you down for three months maybe, but surely not twelve months a year for many years. In several places in the book it is insinuated that Steve did not always work out like perhaps he should. According to him he never had trouble maintaining muscle mass because of his lifestyle. So he slacked sometimes. As a result he probably did not overtrain much. This agrees with my personal experience also. The pictures of Steve when he was sixteen show that he developed similar to Arnold just packing on the pecs and lats in virtually a single year. It is too bad more do not follow the simple principles in this book. Try his squat routine: work up to squating half your bodyweight 100 times. That is my eventual goal and I am interested in what happens to my body in the meantime. Some of the exercises may be a little old but they will still work. Overall a very honest readable and usable book.

Sadly, Steve is no longer with us, but happily he left us a small treasure. I'm a natural bodybuilder, and Steve Reeves is an example of just how far a "natural" can go. His heyday was before steroids ruined bodybuilding, so you can at least see what the human potential is for someone who eschews the illegal and unethical use of steroids. The book has some personal bio stuff, motivational Q&A, nutritional stuff, workout stuff...the whole shebang. I use it mostly as motivation. There's no winking-and-nodding about steroid use (most cut, super bulked pros are on the "juice"), because Steve happened BEFORE anyone knew about steroids, much less how to use them to any effect. Like the title to this review says, get it while you can. Classics don't necessarily last forever.

Having lifted weights on and off for 20 years, this was THE book that inspired me to go back to the gym and try to redefine my body at the age of 38. Since I now have two young kids, I have to maximize the precious little time that I can get to exercise to the fullest. Reeves book explains the routines and philosophy behind his program and it's definitely a challenge, but if you embrace his ideas that intense weight training is hard work but mentally relaxing, you need not be intimidated by the challenge of facing a 2.5-3 hour workout. Now I find myself looking forward to these grueling workouts and I have more energy than ever! I'm also working toward my goals of achieving a classic physique and this wonderful book has lots of tips on how to do it. This book has piqued my interest in learning more about bodybuilding for my own goals of aging and living better and always being in top shape. Steve Reeves died unexpectedly from lymphoma complications but he was still in amazing physical shape well into his 70s. This one is a keeper! I would also recommend checking out the Steve Reeves International Society website at www.stevereeves.com for more information on the man and his movies.

Wow! I want to look like Steve Reeves! Arnold's books are good, and I've seen some good English books on bodybuilding, but BUILDING THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE:THE NATURAL WAY is the best bodybuilding book I've ever read. Reeves and his friends show us how he did it, they show us how we can do it, and why! I've never seen a book that deals with symmetry of the human figure like this one does. This book has terrific pictures, great excerpts and photos from magazines, and is not only the most inspiring bodybuilding book I've ever read, but it ranks near the top of all self help books, too. As you read, you get an idea of how important it is to keep life balanced--there's Steve and his symmetry again!--and you realize what a great role model Steve was. The only thing that's missing from this book is some idea of Steve's personal life in adulthood, and it's an obvious omission compared with the rest of the book that goes into many details about Reeves' childhood. And of course, a new edition would be interesting if it could tell us how Steve died. After you read this book, you know Steve, but you don't, and it feels strange. But I still want to look like Steve Reeves!

Chari Krishnan Tango2200@Hotmail.Com

If you're a collector, perhaps $51+ (Oops! It's up to $149.99!), is ok for the first, (1995), version of this book, but for only =$19.95=, the 1998 version, (everything here plus more), is still available. *Natural Bodybuilders Please Note*: Reeves lifetime -top- weight was only 214, (at 6'1"). When he was wasn't training he -lost- weight, as he was health oriented, not into 'bulking up'. In the Hercules movies he weighed 210, and who can doubt his powerful look at what would nowadays be considered too skinny to even compete as a pro? In his non-Hercules-type movies, Reeves weighed 190, and still had an incredible muscular, athletic look; surely a much better goal for young trainees to aspire to.