20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good Book, but it could have been better, December 29, 2004
This review is from: Men's Body Sculpting (Paperback)
There are a lot of books on this topic, more than there should be, hence, finding the right one can be challenging.
This book is not for novice, this is for people, who have been in the gym and they feel that the gains they expect to see are not happening (people like me).
The author has written the book very scientifically and he being a doctor, this is very reliable information. That is the best part of the book.
The author sticks to the topic, all he talks about his how to sculpt your body and he does not waste any text on any other thing, he is very focused.
This book also makes a very interesting, slightly funny read, he is very humble at least in the book.
Bad things:
1. Too many repeatations (drink water: I saw this at least 10 times).
2. He contradicts himself at times (cardio or no cardio).
3. At times, he is selling a certain company's products, which I do not like, when he recommends Nitro Tech whey protein.
4. I expect the author to highly recommend against any sort of growth harmones, and he did not, in fact, he kind of recommends these.
5. Some chapters are boring, while some are extremely interesting, chapter 1 is the best and that is the strength of the author (scientific insight).
All in all, a good book, but this entire book can be much better, and I know the author has the information and the knowledge (both medical and from his own experiences) to improve upon the book.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A solid book, August 31, 2004
This review is from: Men's Body Sculpting (Paperback)
This book is a great addition to any exercise library. It wouldn't be what I can a stand-alone book, and it doesn't try to be one. The book lists and describes about 3-4 workout plans with everything you would need to follow, including nutrition and supplementation. The workouts are well documented and based on solid science, instead of fad ideas. The writing is personable in explaining technical ideas that would normally be a bit boring. Overall, a great book. As for the guy who complained about the "race" issue (no people of color photographed in the book), the book only has 2 people photographed in it. One is DR. EVANS.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some good advice, but should not be the only workout book in your library, January 10, 2006
This review is from: Men's Body Sculpting (Paperback)
"Men's Body Scultping" isn't a bad book. But it's a mediocre one, and without other sources of information, parts of it will leave you confused or worse, misinformed.
The author is a doctor, but that doesn't make everything he says correct. The problem is that in bodybuilding, there are a great many controversies, as well as "urban legends," regarding what works and what doesn't. How much protein do you need? What is the ideal balance of carbs/protein/fat? How much water should you drink? How much cardio should you do, if any? Should you work out in the morning or the evening? To say nothing of the controversies over supplements and the like. Unfortunately, there is no PROVEN correct answer to many of these questions, so most bodybuilders go on personal experience or anecdotal evidence, even when writing books. Dr. Evans makes a lot of assertions that are not proven, yet because he's a doctor, many people might assume he's stating scientific facts, when he's really only giving his opinion.
That said, he does go into precise, scientific detail on the process of muscle growth, nutrition, and hormones. He lays out some good workout plans, and if you follow his program to the letter, no doubt you will achieve results. So, his advice will work for you.
THAT said... first of all, this isn't a book for beginners. He's writing for hardcore bodybuilders who are really on a mission to pump some iron, the "intermediate" bodybuilder who's had some experience lifting weights but looking for ways to break a plateau. If you're just an average guy looking to get into shape, maybe lose some weight, Evans' program is probably too intense to start with.
Second, while he gives good descriptions of the exercises, he doesn't provide a lot of variety. After you have been working out for a while, you'll want to vary your routine a bit, and then you'll need another book with more exercises for all the different muscle groups.
Third, his diet advice is questionable. The meal plans he suggests are extremely high-protein and rather plain, and supplemented with a lot of protein shakes and other artificial meal replacement products. The "body fat blitz" diet he recommends, for those who want to "burn fat with extreme prejudice," is 60% protein, 10% fat. More significantly, it's only 1500 calories per day. Of course an adult man will lose weight eating so few calories, at least until you get sick of tuna, egg whites, and protein shakes!
Finally, there's a chapter on steroids I found rather odd. He doesn't recommend steroids -- in fact, he goes into detail about how harmful they are and why you shouldn't use them. But he also provides a dosage chart and instructions on how to do injections. Maybe as a doctor, he figures he wants to make sure that if people are going to use them, they'll use them correctly, but it's still rather odd to see this mixed message: "Steroids are bad and I don't recommend them, but here's a step-by-step guide."
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