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196 of 209 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent first book, May 25, 2004
This review is from: Men's Health: The Book of Muscle : The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body (Hardcover)
In many respects this is the perfect first book for someone looking to get into regular exercise. More than most other books in the genre, this one seems to have more than a modicum of scientific understanding backing it. The first sections set the tone, going over the actual science of muscles, why they get bigger, and how. The authors know their audience, though, and don't overdo the science. However, if you are going to lift weights then you need some level of understanding of what things work and why. This first section gives you that. I personally would have liked to see more scientific detail and references but understand that that probably would alienate large chunks of their target audience. After that primer you get introduced to the major muscles and the exercises that target them. There are also sections on diet, warming up, and stretching. While none of these sections are comprehensive, and many have been done better elsewhere, they are done well enough here that it makes the book a viable one stop shop for beginners. Before you rush out and buy this, though, there are few caveats. One, the book does not cater to the home exerciser. Depending on how well stocked your home gym is and how creative you are with coming up with replacement exercises this might not be a big deal, but the exercises DO assume access to barbells, dumbbells, and a machine. Two, some of the exercise descriptions are lacking detail or, in a few cases, plain wrong. The upright row, for instance, shows a form -- bringing your elbows way above parallel -- that most trainers and researchers caution against because it causes shoulder injury in many people. I would expect the world's most authoritative guide to at least mention this. Three, the routines provided sometimes leave me scratching my head. They give a cadence for things like the push up hold. The description of this exercise says to "hold the position for the specified period of time" yet the actual routines don't specify a period of time. Am I supposed to hold for 3 seconds or 30 or 90? Who knows? Four, the routines -- at least early on -- take far too long and seem more like overtraining than training. In "Phase One" King prescribes circuit training and by week three you're supposed to be doing this circuit 2-3 times per day, three days a week. I found that doing the circuit twice took me over an hour. Doing it a third time would have pushed me well over 90 minutes of exercise. Throw in warm up and post-work out stretching and you're looking at a solid two hours. This is for "beginners" and they're supposed to do it three times a week. Later on in "Phase One" King piles even more work on that. Not only are you supposed to do each circuit 2-3 times, you're supposed to do 2-3 reps of each exercise. In week 6, if you do the minimum number of reps, the minimum number of sets, the minimum number of circuits, all with the minimum recommended resting the whole thing will take you 93 minutes. Do that three times a week. This is for "beginners". While I like the workouts I think this kind of time commitment is more likely to lead to overtraining rather than useful gains. Admittedly later on it looks like King scales back the time requirements but you have to persevere through 8 weeks of workouts that are easily 90 minutes in length.
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148 of 160 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for any Level Ironhead, October 3, 2003
This review is from: Men's Health: The Book of Muscle : The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body (Hardcover)
Finally, Men's Fitness has gotten it right - a book that does not promise immediate results...but instead one that helps you formulate a plan, that is equal part guide to the weightroom, solid nutritional advice, and key principals for involving the mind in your workout. This is without a doubt their best book yet on the value (and IMPORTANCE) of personal fitness. Ian King may not be the best known name in the world of fitness, but among weightlifters, he is known for hard core, no-nonsense weight training, with functionality stressed over mere muscle mass. Along with Men's Health regular Lou Schuler, they have compiled the best muscle guide to come out of Rodale Press - and one of the best guides I have ever read. Along with showcasing the various muscle groups, and giving well explained details of their importance, the book goes on to spotlight various exercises for each group. What is nice about the exercise pages is that they show great variation in order to allow for full definition of the particular muscle, and also give great explanation and illustration for the exercise, allowing the reader the chance to really learn more about proper form. It's great to read a book like that that uses pictures to explain and educate, rather than to have an excuse to photograph chiseled bodies in sweaty conditions. This book has everything - whether you are a newcomer, or have been in the weightroom for years, you are bound to learn some new exercises, or some outstanding twists on some old favorites. And the sample programs written by King are well reasoned, and offer a creative mix of hypertrophic and endurance building routines. And they allow for customization to meet specific body part needs. Great book guys - this has me thinking about subscribing to Men's Health again (if only they would stop running the cheesy "pump up your sex life" articles).
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78 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Workouts Make Great Gains, October 12, 2004
This review is from: Men's Health: The Book of Muscle : The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body (Hardcover)
I have had this book for about 9 months now. I recently completed the intermediate program and made great gains. I followed the nutritional advice given in the book and gained 20 pounds. 20 Pounds may not sound like much, but it is a total body transformation when you go from 169 to 190...and it is all muscle.
The workouts are designed in such a way that you stress your muscles very hard and then have ample recovery time to get bigger and stronger.
I ran a marathon and a week after finishing it I started this book. So I basically started from scratch.
Starting I could bench press 40 pound dumbbells for a max 8 reps. After the six month intermediate workout I lifted 80s for 8 reps.
Shoulder press went from 65lbs barbell press for 5 reps to 120lbs for 5 reps.
Squat was the biggest improvement. Started at 65 for 10 reps. Finished at 185 for 10 reps.
The best exercise there is in my opinion I never knew about before this book. It is the DEADLIFT. The deadlift made me bigger and stronger overall than anyother exercise. And it focuses on a common weakness for most people, the LOWER BACK.
Deadlift start was 65 for 5 reps. Finish at 225 for 5 reps.
The key to this book is that it takes you through a cycling approach. By taking you through stages with varying sets, reps, and exercises, you muscles are always in a state of shock and always responsive to the workouts.
I am doing the intermediate workout again. After I complete it a second time I will advance to the advanced workout. You will never need another book for fitness. This is the best book I have EVER read and APPLIED for an extended period of time. The authors have done a wonderful job with writing. Again, the workouts are great and because of the cycling approach the author takes with the workouts, you can continure to do them and never have to switch to another program.
I got very good results from following this book exactly as the authors prescribed. I am continuing to make gains in strength and size by following this book. Ian King and Lou Schuler have put out what I consider the best book ever on the topic of getting strong and gaining size. The bottom line is that you WILL get injury-free results if you follow this book.
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