Customer Reviews

The Men's Health Hard Body Plan : The Ultimate 12-Week Program for Burning Fat and Building Muscle

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently bought this book in hopes of supplementing it with another Mens Health book, 'The Testosterone Advantage'. First off, the book is nicely written and laid out. I agree ,though, with other reviewers who thought the book was nothing new and right from the pages of Mens Health. There are a lot of different exercises and a diet plan. The workout choices are great but I have yet to try the diet.
One reason I have not completely bought into the book is because many factors in this book completely contradict the previous book I have been using (The Testosterone Advantage). For instance this book advocates aerobic activity for fat loss. It also has a high carb to protein diet. The Previous book condemns aerobic work all through it and has a high protein, low carb diet. This and many other factors have left me in a world of confusion. You would think that two books endorsed by the same company with the same affiliations ( Lou Schuler) would have some sort of continuity. Wrong!!!Come on Lou, men wanting to get in shape need references they can count on.
This book will work and so will the other for the beginner or someone who is out of shape.
I have found both from personal experience and from friends that almost any diet and exercise routine will work in the early stages if they are adhered to. It is when you get past the the beginner stage that a regimine proves itself. Until Mens Health writers get on the same page, they will never truly advance past entry levels.
I have used the previous book and have lost a lot of weight. Twenty five plus pounds to date. If I had bought this book first I would say the results would have been similar. As I said almost anything will work in the early stages.
If you are a beginner buy it. Intermediate or advanced, forget it.

Written in the style of "Men's Health" magazine, this book purports to give you a 12 week plan designed to improve your body. And it supposedly is written so that the beginner, advanced, or intermediate athlete will find the program right for him. The problem with it, is like many articles that appear in "Men's Health," this book is written to espouse certain beliefs the authors may have about weightlifting (they tell you to eat substantially less protein, for example, than you'll read in any other program), and in general, it's not quite clear that this book really is for anyone but the beginner. If this helps someone get their butt off the couch and start lifting, fine. If you're anything but a beginner, you've probably read better articles in "Muscle and Fitness" or any other book that targets you. "Men's Health" in general doesn't seem to really take into account the needs of the non-beginner, and that's a problem in all of their books. Still, there's no "bad" information here, per se. In fact they're virtually endorsing what veteran lifters know as HIT (High Intensity Training), which is almost a shock based on the traditionally bland and unsophisticated approaches of the magazine. This sounds like I'm trashing the book, but I'm really not. If you're a 30-something who wants to get in shape, this is a good book for you. If you've been lifting for more than a year, you'll probably find a lot of this pedestrian and uninspiring.

What I like best is that, as in a magazine article, the author quotes various professionals, including trainers, physiologists, and dieticians. The recommendations seem based on the latest research. That's refreshing for a subject that seems to have so many myths, tricks, and old wives' tales. Example: To build muscle, you should eat a huge amount of protein, right? Not really. This book explains why.

At the same time, the book doesn't have a science fetish; it doesn't lecture or pontificate. Instead it's practical and concise. An easy read with just enough humor.

Men's Health regularly puts out fitnees books aimed at men and this one is no different. It's a straight, clear program that focuses on getting in shape, primarily to attract women.It has different levels of intensity for the various exercises and sections for every body part. It reviews nutrition and other aspects of fitness, with plenty of recipes and humor.
It offers a 12 week program of exercise and diet designed to get a man in shape. If you follow it, it will be in better shape than when you started. It's that simple.
On the negative side, the program focuses on looking in shape. I believe in functional fitness, defined as being able to do what is necessary in different situations. I had a friend follow this program and while he looked in shape, he couldn't run 3 miles in less than 25 mins. nor swim, nor do 15 pullups or various other tests that I devised.
This book is good if you want to be "eye candy," but if you want to be physically ready for anything, there are better books.

A wonderful book. I'm about 3 weeks into the plan and have lost 4 lbs, gained an appreciable amount of muscle, all while eating more than I ever have. I'm no longer religiously counting fat grams because their approach to diet is pretty damn easy to follow. I've been into bodybuilding and fitness for a long time (12 years) and I was very surprised at their dietary guidelines... nevertheless, I tried it out and it's very effective! I'm getting a lot of comments from people, including my very pleased girlfriend :-)

I disagree with a previous poster about the "all or nothing" approach being bad. Making a couple of small changes to one's lifestyle isn't going to do anything for the typical male. Men are motivated by visible results and results are gained through consistent hard work and that's what this book advocates. This might not be the typical female mindset, but this book wasn't written for women. "Men's" Health ... get it?

This book essentially tells you how to work out and eat healthy. Proper technique is illustrated for a wide variety of exercises, along with simple advice about how not to injure yourself, how much weight you should lift, how often you should workout, and some recommendations about which parts of your body you should focus on (for instance if you want to be more intimidating, shoulders and chest; if you want to have better sex, thighs and abs).

The information on stretching and cardio routines is simple and straightforward.

As far as I can tell, the diet information presented here is controversial only because there are so many diet fads and supplements and so on. People make a lot of money pushing this and that, but I don't think any of them have Men's Health in their pockets. It seems reliable, and I followed it for about three weeks, and it worked quite well.

Hey, after two months I can see a difference, and I think the ladies can too. Money well spent.

First of all, a word for beginners - this book, NOR any other book, is going to give you a "Hard Body" in 12 weeks. It will give you the foundation.
The Hard Body Plan comes straight from the pages of Men's Health, so if you are a subcriber/regular reader, you're not going to find a whole lot new (in terms of programs) by purchasing this book. Likewise, if you have experience in the gym (lifting for an extended period), the programs set forth in this book won't be particularly challenging (I was a little disappointed that all of the Hard Body Plan programs were 3 day/week, since I work out 4 days - I had to do some rearranging and adding in order to create a 12 week program out of this book).
Having said all that, I keep this book near the top of my weightlifting reference pile. I have found it very valuable for studying proper form and technique, and for learning some variations on lifts that I regularly perform. The written description of exercises contained in this book were very well thought out, and provide an excellent means to review proper form. And the more time I spend working out, and the more I see examples of horrible form by others in the gym, I am very glad that I have a trainer, and resources such as this book, to remind me the value of "perfect form/perfect execution" with each and every lift. That is the single most important step to significant strength and mass gain, and it is point emphasized over and over again in the "Hard Body Plan".

There is diet information in this book as well. It is a nice, though rather general introduction to proper nutrition, but shouldn't be relied on as your only source.
If you buy this book for guidance, you may find that you outgrow it rather quickly. If you buy it as a reference, you will appreciate the investment.

I get bored with my routine often and am always looking for variety. But i never seem to be able to think of a new workout. With this guide handy i can sit down and easily see a list of workouts for each muscle group and choice of work out arena, either free weights, machines or no weights. It's a must have!

This book changed my life. Having started as a complete novice, Iam now 4 months into the training program and have never felt or looked better. This book is complete in itself - no other reference is necessary. And this is not only about putting on bulk - it's about mental well being as well. However, let me warn other readers not to expect huge changes in 12 weeks. Body building is a long process that requires patience and tons of dedication. However, once you're into this program it's difficult to quit. It's like drug addiction!!

This is a very good book for the beginning bodybuilder and/or someone trying to get back into shape. It has all the exercise routines and diets to start off with. I have been pushing steel regularly for 3 years and this book had some good info. I'm not into training the total body in one workout but it will help beginners.