Essential Arms: An Intense 6-Week Program (Paperback)

by Kurt Brungardt (Author) "It's not a rational goal..." (more)
Key Phrases: natural alignment throughout the exercise, keep your upper arms, point your elbow, Core Program, Level One, Level Two (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Want rock-hard biceps? Start doing squats!

Think we're kidding? Think again. In easy-to-follow, step-by-step format, best-selling fitness author Kurt Brungardt unveils some surprising new ways to build bulging, world-class arms. Brungardt draws on the latest in biophysical and nutritional research to present you with a 6-week plan that targets your arms while still giving you a challenging total-body workout. Whether you're a beginner or already halfway to Schwarzenegger-dom, Brungardt will have you popping veins in no time.

YOU'LL LEARN:

* How to schedule your meals and workouts
* The secret to really isolating your arms in exercises
* Routines that result in bigger muscles, not tired ones
* How to put your own male hormones to work for you
* A stretching program that will always keep you limber


From the Back Cover
Essential Arms
An Intense 6-Week Program

Want rock-hard biceps? Start doing squats!

Think we're kidding? Think again. In easy-to-follow, step-by-step format, best-selling fitness author Kurt Brungardt unveils some surprising new ways to build bulging, world-class arms. Brungardt draws on the latest in biophysical and nutritional research to present you with a 6-week plan that targets your arms while still giving you a challenging total-body workout. Whether you're a beginner or already halfway to Schwarzenegger-dom, Brungardt will have you popping veins in no time.

YOU'LL LEARN:

* How to schedule your meals and workouts
* The secret to really isolating your arms in exercises
* Routines that result in bigger muscles, not tired ones
* How to put your own male hormones to work for you
* A stretching program that will always keep you limber

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kurt Brungardt is one of America's best known personal trainers. He is the creator and host of the best-selling video Men of Steel: Abs of Steel and author of Essential Abs, a previous book in our series of Men's Health Peak Conditioning Guides.


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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; illustrated edition edition (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579543081
• ISBN-13: 978-1579543082
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,235 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Routines, September 30, 2003

By	Thomas M. Seay (Palo Alto, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read a few body-building books and think this one, along with the other books in the same series (chest, legs, abs, etc), are the best to date.

One reason for this is the insistence upon good form. Like a lot of people, I have in the past gotten carried away with adding more weight and not paying attention to
form. This is still a temptation but the message on good form presented in this book is finally starting to stick. I especially was impressed by his argument for paying
attention to the negative part of the exercise.

Another STRONG point of the book is that it provides you with lots of routines. After finishing the books 6 week course,
you are supplied with an additional 4 or 5 good routines for future use. As the author states, it is important to change routines often, so that your muscles do not get too
used to a given exercise (and you dont get bored). However,
I am very lazy about putting together routines and tend to stick to one. Thanks to this book this is no longer a problem, because it does it for me; I now have complete
sets of routines that I can follow and am beginning to see important gains as a result.

The book also does a good job of covering the basics of good nutrition, rest and, for all of you gym rats who would ignore it,
aerobics (ever see those pudgy cro-magnon loking guys in the gym who claim their bloated tummies are muscle)!!!! He doesn't cover supplements though and that is
understandable given the controversy and hype surrounding so many of them.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good (not great) program for bis and tris, April 11, 2002

By	Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ahh, the appeal of the monster bicep. Guys want them, girls want the guys that want them. And all you have to do is EVERYTHING to get them.
This book crushes the "spot training" myth (despite it's alluring title) and, quite properly follows the rationale that big arms require a lot more work than curls, curls, curls. Brungardt's program incorporates a lot of "core" (abdominal, low back)and leg training for larger arms, which while absolutely correct, will probably scare off the uninitiated.
"Essential Arms" is, in its basic form, a 6 week quad/bi/tri/ab program, requiring 2 days in the gym. Hopefully, serious readers will use the other gym days to work chest, back and shoulders. Otherwise, you'll be able to spot the "Essential Arms" guy across the gym - he'll be the disporportionate one.
Use this book as a tool for a full workout program, or look at one or two exercises to incorporate into your regular workout, and it has value. Overall, however, most of these exercises are included in other sources (primarily "Men's Health Hard Body Plan", who are also the publishers of this book), and a book that includes entire program structures, including cardio and diet makes a more sensible purchase.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A program that truly works!, November 14, 2001

By	Judd (Army, Europe) - See all my reviews

I'm currently at Level 2/2nd week of this program and have seen amazing results. And I guarantee if you follow this program you will too. This book helped me to discover what I had been doing wrong all these years and focused on diet which I must say is so critical in building muscle. It focus's on correct technique versus numerous sets, and helps you determine the correct weight per exercise as well. It goes against what most of us think is the correct way to build great arms, but in reality is the secret we have all been in pursuit of. I highly recommend this book for the novice to amateur bodybuilder. I can't wait to see the results after week 6! Job well done to the writer(s) for this great bodybuilding tool.