Customer Reviews

Dumbbell Training for Strength And Fitness

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In addition to listing an effective series of dumbbell exercises that work every muscle group, the authors provide important exercise guidelines. They discuss training frequency, how to perform a repetition properly, rest between sets, duration of training sessions and proper order of exercises. This not a generic, bland book- the authors are willing to give their viewpoints on controversies in exercise.

The book includes exercise routines from strength coaches such as Dr. Ken Leistner, Jeff Friday (strength coach for the Baltimore Ravens) and several strength coaches for NCAA division 1 schools.

The book is totally essential for anyone training at home, but will be of a great help to those training in gyms. In fact, some who train at gyms will be tempted to purchase a set of Power block dummbbells (dumbbells that go from 10-130 lbs and take up about 4 square feet) and skip their gym fees. After reading this book, you will gain a greater appreciation of the usefulness and versatility of training with dumbbells.

Get this book! You will not be disappointed.

If your workout employs dumbbells (Powerblocks in my case), this book is a great resource.

Though Brzycki doesn't go into the depth of why HIT works as much as his other books (Maximize Your Training; A Practical Approach To Strength Training), the book does provide a reasonable background on training philosophy as well as rep, set and tempo recommendations.

The gem that sets this book aside from others are the thirty plus workouts from outstanding trainers at the high school, collegiate and professional level from all around the United States. Excellent stuff that will keep any training enthusiast happy for a long time to come.

Bottom line? Buy this book. It's well worth the investment in time, money and your health.

There are a couple of "cons" to this book: I agree with previous comments that the photos are too small and not always at the best angle for showing the proper positions. Also, some of the models are wearing oversized T-shirts and sweatshirts that make it hard to see how they are holding their arms, positioning the back, etc. I also agree with the previous reviewer who said the squat in this book is a Bulgarian Squat, not what people would normally do for a regular squat. And the lunge does look like a split squat, not a regular lunge. When a routine in the book calls for a squat, I do a regular squat, not the Bulgarian Squat from the book.

But overall this is a great book, with many great upper body routines, split routines, and specialization routines to choose from. Each routine was sumbitted by a different professional, and I'm enjoying sampling all the different training styles! The routines are short too, which makes it easy to stick with and find time to fit in a workout.

This book is valuable to anyone who wants to get the best results from his/her strength routine, whether training at home or training in a gym. Not only does this book describe how to train correctly (good form, proper intensity, recommended volume, etc.), it also provides many sample strength training routines that cover the whole body. This book can also teach one how to train with barbells and machines. It is not just limited to dumbells.

I keep a copy of this book on the shelf above my desk and use it as a quick reference when training my clients and/or athletes. I highly recommend this book to any trainee or strength coach/fitness trainer.

Jeff Holt, M.Ed.
Professional Sports and Fitness Trainer

Dumbbell Training for Strength And Fitness is a well-written and illustrated guide to safe and effective dumbbell training. If, like me, you've been training with dumbbells for years and prefer it to other training methods, this book will expand your knowledge base on dumbbell training and provide a ton of tips on technique you would typically get only from a very knowledgeable personal trainer. If you are just getting started, most importantly, this book will walk you through the proper technique for dumbbell training. I cannot stress enough, especially with dumbbells, the need for "safe" training for longevity and "effective" training to achieve the results that motivate you to keep training. Great book worth the read if you train or want to start training on your own with dumbbells!

After reading some favorable comments on this book. I ordered it. IT WAS A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!!! The other negative review stated that he found "small, low resolution blurry black and white photas" to learn how to do the exercises. The book describes how to do a particular exercise, and reinforces on how to do it by showing you either one or two photos - except the author uses a photo the actual size of a postage stamp!!

It is literally impossible to learn the finer points of a particular exercise by looking at the photo. The resolution is poor and cloudy, and it is the size of an actual postage stamp. This book could have been an ideal instruction book, but the author deleted and curtailed the ability to teach the reader by only showing only a mini size photo on how to do the various exercises, It is almost impossible to see how an exercise is perform if you are looking at a cloudy black and white photo the size of a postage stamp.

Abdominals are important. This author uses a mere six (6) small pages to explain the instructions on how to do three (3) exercises. He does this by showing you a mere seven photos the size of a postage stamp, and they are cloudy at that. Further on, he uses a mere four (4) pages to teach you how to overhaul your upper back, and again shows just three exercises on how to do it.

The book was of little or no use to this particular reader.

I ordered the book with the intent of replacing my aging bowflex machine with adjustible dumbbells.The book surpassed my expectations by giving very good advice as to the advantages and disanvantages of their use---with solid training advice and many different routines.Overall I would highly recommend this book for a no nonsense guide to dumbbell training.

I have to laugh at some of the reviews, like the one that gave one star and says "don't waste your money". It's 10 bucks! Makes one wonder what axe they have to grind. Not surprisingly, the reviewer promotes a competing book.

I find that many of the reviews are misleading. For one thing, this isn't a beginner's book. It describes 50 different exercises in good depth, with instructions and photos, and it contains around 30 different workouts.

The photos are not too small or too blurry to see. My eyesight isn't great but I had no trouble at all. By keeping them on the small side, the book could be much more compact, which is helpful during my workouts.

The background information runs from basic to advanced. I am no novice, yet I picked up quite a few new things I hadn't known previously.

For $10, it's hard to go wrong with this book. I researched quite a few and this is the one I like best.

This book was a great way for me, as a complete beginner, to learn my way around all the basic exercises for all the major muscle groups.

It is great for a beginner because:
1) It requires no previous knowledge.
2) It requires no fancy equipment (a basic dumbbell bench would be nice, but isn't necessary).
3) It emphasizes safety and proper technique.
4) Between this book and some cheap hex dumbbells dumbbells I spent about $50.

I got appreciable results in just a few weeks by working out in my living room (I'm not going to be a model anytime soon, but I'm stronger and more fit than I was before).

If you already use dumbbells in your routine, then you probably don't need this book. I'm sure after I get some experience under my belt, a dumbbell bench, and a wider array of dumbbells, I'll want a more comprehensive book, but for the price, this was a great investment.

A good basic book on common sense strength training. There were a couple of minor editing erros, but otherwise well done. While this book will serve as a reasonable starting point for someone new to sensible training, I think this is an outstanding suppliment to any other text that gives a more comprehensive view, like Brzycki's "Practical Strength Training" or the HIT FAQ. Definatley worth buying.