Built for Show: Four Body-Changing Workouts for Building Muscle, Losing Fat, andLooking Good Enough to Hook Up (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: reps with each side, power cage, postworkout shake, Exercise Sets Reps Rest, Off Off Week, Break Your Physique (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

No-nonsense workouts to build a lean, strong, eye-catching physique. 

Every guy is looking for an edge, some way to get single women his age to notice him more than they do now. 

Unfortunately, most guys have absolutely no idea what kind of body automatically flips a girl's attraction switch. Nate Green does.

Built for Show is the first fitness book to address young men on the prowl. It’s not just written for them; it’s written by one of them. Green, who’s just twenty-three years old, is already a veteran fitness professional who’s been quoted in Men’s Health and Maximum Fitness magazines. Green offers four twelve-week workout programs, each with a seasonal theme. The fall and winter workouts add muscle size and strength that’ll show even under layers of clothing. The spring and summer workouts burn fat and chisel the showpiece muscles—creating a lean, cut, beach-ready physique.

But Built for Show is more than just a workout book. It also provides:
· Realistic nutrition advice to feed the muscles and starve the fat without breaking the bank or spending hours in the kitchen
· Tips on dressing right, looking the part, improving your social status, and settling into your new lifestyle
· Quick ways to assess posture, with useful exercises to fix flaws and improve self-presentation, no matter the situation.

The detailed programs include over fifty exercises, illustrated with over one hundred original photos.

Neither a weight-loss guide nor a body-building manual, Built for Show instead reveals to guys exactly what they need to build the body they – and women – want.

About the Author

Nate Green has been training a wide array of clients since he was eighteen years old, including many athletes and young men in their late teens and twenties. He's a contributing editor to T-Nation.com and has been published numerous times in Men's Fitness  magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Avery Trade (November 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583333193
• ISBN-13: 978-1583333198
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,632 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nate covers all bases, December 2, 2008

By	E. Le - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bought this book based on Nate Green's reputation, and was a bit skeptical due to the title...particularly the "hooking up" part. I understand the marketing angle though, so I went ahead and bought it for the training program alone. What I got was a lot more...

Training - The Cake
As expected, this book lays down "the fundamentals" that the athletes follow, but most common gym-goers ignore. The program is not anything groundbreaking, but that's the point -- simple therefore effective. More important than the "what" is the "how" and "why" which Nate explains thoroughly without getting too scientific. It's enough for you to explain to a buddy without a) looking like a dork and b) seem condescending. The most unique thing about the program for me was breaking it into Fall/Winter/Summer/Spring and programming accordingly. So your Fall/Winter are more hypertrophy/strength based -- while your spring/summer are more fat-loss based. Makes complete sense! Another unique find was the "garage variation" of each exercise in case you don't have access to a gym. Small but very practical detail that will help many.

Nutrition - Icing
Again Nate appeals to the target audience of single-guys well. The tips and info are all from the perspective of someone who may be budget-crunched but still health conscious. I wouldn't purchase this book for the nutrition tips alone, but it supplements the rest of the book well and Nate even recommends the Precision Nutrition system later in the book. Definitely worth reading the nutrition section for its unique perspective.

"Lifestyle" Tips - More GQ than Maxim.
Gotta admit, this was the biggest surprise to me of the entire book. This was the section I was very hesitant to read as I thought it'd be filled with "Maxim" type articles and tips. I was DEFINITELY surprised to find that it was much more GQ than Maxim. A thoughtful and interesting read regarding everything from dress (are your socks supposed to match your shoes or pants?) to self-confidence and approaching strangers (who happen to be attractive females?)

I'm beginning this program tomorrow and will update my review with some results as that is how this book will really be evaluated and measured. If you're aware of Nate Green already, this book is what you expected -- entertaining and informative. If you're unaware, I'd describe this book as a "GQ" type of twist on a great fitness book -- except you can actually afford everything.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Woman's Perspective, December 14, 2008

By	Holly Fraiser (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

While shopping for the Holidays I picked up Built for Show for my boyfriend, an avid gym go-er. It's something I know he'll enjoy, but I also wanted to read it myself because I found the author's approach to fitness unique. While I realize that by being a woman I'm not in the targeted audience, I wanted to know a man's perspective of what sets a guy apart. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

The book is formatted in a helpful and easy to read manner and the interjected humor makes it a good read for any audience, even female. Nate gives priceless advice all the way from nutrition and exercise to confidence building, and gives an especially unique perspective on the role of women.

I was a bit disheartened to see the only other woman's perspective on Built for Show provided a complete misrepresentation of the author's message. In no way does the author suggest that women are objects or that they should be used for sex. Throughout the entire book he makes an argument that women are ultimately the ones who decide whether or not a man will be successful at pursuing a relationship of any type. This is a rather empowering argument that contradicts any suggestion of women being sex objects and is quite the opposite of the orthodox portrayal of men being the initiators of sex and women simply being conveniences to satisfy them.

I hope that more women and men will invest their time and money into reading this book as it provides great fitness advice and an uncommonly seen inside to the benefits of being healthy that applies to audiences from every demographic. I'm excited for my boyfriend to read this book and I have a feeling we'll both be able to enjoy the benefits.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All the essentials in a non-technical, unpretentious style, December 7, 2008

By	J. Evans (Houston) - See all my reviews

I must admit, I was skeptical about the substance of this tome when I read the last part of the subtitle, "...and Looking Good Enough to Hook Up." It doesn't exactly read like the abstract of an article in the Journal of Exercise Physiology. But then, that's actually the point. The author essentially omits all the biochemistry and biomechanics that most guys don't really care about and frames his training programs against a goal ubiquitous among men: becoming more attractive to women. Built for Show lays out an effective, easy-to-follow guide to achieving this stated goal.

Built for Show reads kind of like a "Dummies" guide for men whose training goals have less to do with picking up compact cars than picking up women. The author details why lifts are important for maximizing attractiveness rather than how those lifts will get you on stage holding a giant, fake check endorsed by Joe Weider. For instance, he explains why it's a waste of time for men to train biceps and triceps while completely ignoring moves like the squat and deadlift. Take a look around any gym at what guys are doing and you'll see that this is very apropos advice.

The book also presents effective information on home training, nutrition, and even on how to complete your overall presentation with tips on dress and grooming. Despite the somewhat hackneyed subtitle, it does not come across like a speed-seduction manual. The information is organized in a cogent manner that actually will help any man attract more women. For example, the author actually explains how developing a v-tapered torso with presses and rows is far more important than building Hulk-Hoganesque 24-inch pythons. What's more, he bases his arguments on factual information about what actually attracts women to the male physique. He emphasizes body symmetry as a proven marker of attractiveness in humans, and sets forth how to improve your body's overall shape.

There's nothing earth shattering here, but the book does take a refreshingly rational approach to the male physique as it relates to the science of attraction. The author eschews a lot of the tired bravado that pervades other books on weight training and boils the concepts down to a basic, stepwise program. As someone who's been training for a long time, it's clear to me that the author knows of which he speaks. His advice is balanced, utilitarian and firmly grounded in fact. You actually may already know a great deal of what's presented here, but let's face it, we can all use a little refresher on some of these concepts every now and again.

Bottom line: for the price, it's hard to go wrong with Built for Show. For beginners, it's a great place to start. The information is non-technical, non-biased, and pragmatically geared toward achieving a universal male aspiration. It makes for a good read and may actually help some lost-in-the-wilderness lifters to remember why they really train so hard.