Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Guide: More Than 21,000 Moves Designed to Build Muscle, Increase Strength, and Burn Fat [Paperback]

Myatt Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2007

The easiest, most inexpensive way to build muscle strength, size, and power turns out to be the best, with this supremely effective guide from the world's largest men's magazine

Workout fads and fitness equipment come and go, but as trainers and bodybuilders know: nothing tops a simple set of dumbbells for convenience, reliability, and versatility when you are trying to build muscles and get in shape. In this book, Myatt Murphy, a fitness expert and longtime contributor to Men's Health, shows readers how to use dumbbells to develop just about every part of their bodies.

For anyone who believes that dumbbells can be used only for arms and shoulders, Myatt Murphy proves them wrong. Featuring 200 photographs, Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Exercises demonstrates how to perform a total body workout and get maximum results. There are exercises here--lunges, squats, dead lifts, curls, shrugs, kickbacks, presses, and more--that develop abs, arms, chest, legs, and shoulders, along with innovative new ways to get the most of this versatile piece of strength-training equipment.

With instructions for creating literally thousands of dumbbell exercises for the novice to advanced lifter, Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Exercises will be an indispensable addition to any home gym.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MYATT MURPHY has written articles on exercise, lifestyle, nutrition, and sports for more than 40 worldwide magazines, including Esquire, Fitness, GQ, Men's Health, and Sports Illustrated. A frequent guest on CNN News and Good Morning America, he is the author of Men's Health Gym Bible and Men's Health The Body You Want in the Time You Have.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; 1 edition (July 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159486487X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594864872
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

From magazines, books and illustrated novels, Murphy has strived to become one of the most versatile writers in the business of writing. Never content with penning one specific genre or style, he's spent the past decade trying to put his stamp on as many forms of literature as possible.

His ability to match any magazine voice has made Murphy one of the most widely-used, easily-adaptable writers in the magazine industry. He's worked with almost all of today's top magazine editors and is relied on consistently to deliver top-notch, entertaining copy. To date, Murphy has published over 900+ features, departments and editorials with over 50+ of the top international men's, women's and general-interest magazines. Working under four separate pseudonyms (both male and female), he's written on nearly every possible topic, including fitness and exercise, hard health matters, sex and relationships, celebrity profiles, first-person humor, gear, nutrition, travel and general service.

Myatt Murphy has written over 1,000+ departments & feature stories and continues to write on fitness and exercise, travel, lifestyle + exercise, nutrition, celebrity, first-person humor and relationships for over 50 national magazines including: Better Homes and Gardens, Cooking Light, Cosmopolitan, Details, Esquire, Fitness, Glamour, GQ, Health, Instyle, Maxim, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, Men's Journal, Muscle and Fitness, New York Times, Outside, Parents, People, Playboy, Prevention, Redbook, Self, Shape, Sports Illustrated, Success, The Knot, The Nest and Yahoo.

Murphy also ghostwrites for TV and movie celebrities. Some of his clients have included Jaclyn Smith, Laila Ali, Ice T and many other media celebrities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't be a dumbbell after reading this book, January 7, 2008

By 

J. H. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Guide: More Than 21,000 Moves Designed to Build Muscle, Increase Strength, and Burn Fat (Paperback)

Just about everything you ever wanted to know about dumbbells. The book is divided up into three parts. The first part, the truth about dumbbells, explains all about the different types of dumbbells. The second part, the master moves, shows you the exercises you can do with a dumbbell which includes many pictures and instructions. This part makes up about 80% of the book. And finally, part three, a million moves for your muscles, essentially provides the reader with tips and suggested routines.

A great resource if you're into dumbbells, readers who lift regularly might also be interested in Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff to prevent rotator cuff tears a lot of lifters eventually get.

51 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not a fav, March 22, 2008

By 

B. Robert Young (Lowell, Ma United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Guide: More Than 21,000 Moves Designed to Build Muscle, Increase Strength, and Burn Fat (Paperback)

The book has some good features but they don't outweigh the negatives. The exercises have great descriptions of how to do them but they lack the the list of what not to do. The exercises are grouped alphabetically which I thought was a good idea until I tried to do them. Since exercises are usually done in a specific order having them alphabetical it takes more time to find the ones you want to do first. Also, not every exercise book gives each exercise the same name. The book also lacks in listing good routines to get you started.

50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I like this book, but...., August 8, 2007

By 

Anthony J. Robertson "zensmile" (Lansdowne, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Guide: More Than 21,000 Moves Designed to Build Muscle, Increase Strength, and Burn Fat (Paperback)

I like this book. It would have been perfect except for the fact that "Dumbbell Training for Strength And Fitness" by Matt Brzycki is better. This book is broken down into three parts: The Truth About Dumbbells, The Master Moves, and A Million Moves for Your Muscles. Essentially, this is a good book for someone who wants to master basic movements and then advance by combining exercises for dual body parts. With this in mind, it is an excellent resource for someone with dumbbells and a few props: adjustable bench, swiss ball, and a step.

The first section gives an excellent introduction to dumbbells & pros and cons of different types of equipment. I personally use the Powerblock dumbbells. The second section has pictures of each basic, intermediate, and combined set of exercises. Part three is small, but has example exercises and helps you to customize a workout.

There was one odd thing about the book. There is a picture of a kettle bell on one of the introductory pages, but there isn't a mention of them or their use anywhere in the book. This was an unexpected surprise and then letdown. In all it is a great book. It only gets four stars because it *does not* give the ideology behind different workout techniques: high intensity training, pre/post exhaust techniques, progressive workload, 21s, 3X3 workouts, supersets, forced negatives, etc.

My advice is to buy this book or Brzycki's and also get Arnold's The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.