Customer Reviews

Ripped 3: The Recipes, The Routines and The Reasons

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, first published in 1986, apparently has not been revised since. A lot has happened in the fields of exercise and nutrition since then, and more current information can be found on Bass's excellent website and in his more recent books.

The diet advocated herein is extremely low in fat. There's no mention of the important role of "good fats," and no mention of the possible dangers of a very low fat diet--we simply didn't understand those topics 20 years ago. Bass's basic premise, of eating whole natural foods with an emphasis on plant products, hasn't changed much since Ripped 3 was written, and it remains sound advice today, but you'd definitely want to update the overall eating plan. The recipes in Ripped 3 look pretty tasty and are nutritious, but you can easily find similar recipes for free elsewhere.

The weight training programs in this book are mostly of the high volume, varying intensity variety. In my opinion most of these programs would cause overtraining in drug-free, not genetically gifted individuals. Bass is not such a person. He is much skinnier and more muscular than most of us could ever hope for no matter how we trained, and what worked for him could be disastrous for the average trainee. It is notable that even Bass has taken up infrequent, high-intensity, lower volume training these days. Like his dietary advice, the weightlifting advice in Ripped 3 is old hat.

Still, Clarence Bass has accomplished much, and he has much to tell us. Just look to his more recent works and don't bother with the old stuff.

This guy always had articles in the fitness magazine when I was young and trying to bulk up. I didn't read them much back then because being lean was not my problem. Now that I'm over 40 I realize that I should have read his books in my 20's. I'm not disciplined enough to stick to some of his diets, but I have changed mine greatly to come close and it has really helped. I didn't even know about sprouted grain bread until I read this and now I eat it every day! The point of this book is to eat healthy, eat often, work out with weights, and get regular, moderate cardio exercise. If Bass can lean up that much without the crazy fast weight loss routines we can too. It's better to get in good habits and lose the fat slowly rather than diet and exercise for 3 months, drop a few pounds, and put it back on. If you are trying to put on big muscles, scrap the weight lifting routines in this book, but do buy this book to keep yourself lean and muscular.

I write this review mainly out of appreciation for Clarence and all his work. Yes, I do have the book, I've had it for probably more than 15 years and have read it many times. In fact I have all of his work except the latest book. Ripped 3 adds to the already great contributions of ripped 1 and 2. Probably the best info is on periodization, overtraining and the value of NOT training to failure. For 20+ years I trained to failure thinking it was the only way to go. Only by "leaving a few reps in the tank" have I progressed. If i had only listened to his advice on "coaxing' gains instead of FORCING them I could have had success years ago. I don't pay as much attention to the aerobics and diet parts since I don't care too much about being lean. I also do not think that eating such sparse amounts of meat is beneficial. The "near vegetarian" thing is the only place where I part with Clarence. I think if he had eaten more meat he could have been much bigger. But if you want strength, size and low bodyfat Clarence is the only writer you need to listen to. He has been doing this for 50+ years......and has been doing it quite well. At age 70+ he is still bulky and super lean. I wouldn't be surprised if he lives well past 100.

This book has been around for about 20 years but this is the first time that I've read it. Don't pass up the read because of its age. There's nothing complex about any of the material but it is still relevant today and the program is effective.

I have read numerous diet and exercise books. This is one of the best. It is well thought out and thorough.