Customer Reviews

Women's Strength Training Anatomy

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I give this book 2 stars because half of it is missing. Don't expect to be able to use this book to get the nicely toned arms, chests and shoulders so beautifully illustrated here because there are NO upper body exercises included at all. The half of the book there is, IS very good, with beautiful and clear illustrations and easy to undertand. (I do wish that the sketched woman working on her "adductors at a machine", on page 69, had been drawn wearing an exercise bra.) I should have read the other reviews here. Now I'm going to buy Strength Training Anatomy to find out what's been left out. *Sigh* it seems like another chapter of the same old story: women are always having to wait longer for women's versions of products and then paying extra for them. And just like clothing--less material, lower quality and higher prices. Hey! Maybe these guys don't want us to have strong upper bodies! That way we could punch them out for pulling stunts like these.

If this book included the upper body (and more back exercises--deadlifts and back extensions are at the very end as an afterthought) I'd have given it at least 4 stars, if not 5.

I liked the idea of a strength training book for women that addressed our physiological differences, had great illustrations of which muscles are involved in each exercise, and showed women doing real exercises like deep squats, good mornings, etc.

Unfortunately, I didn't look at the small bit of the title which tells you it addresses lower body only. Where are the chest, shoulders, arms and the rest of the back?

Have to agree with the reviewer who mentioned the hip adduction illustration. Bare chest and, of course, nothing on the lower torso since the illustration is showing us the muscles involved. Given the legs wide position of the hip adduction machine, this picture seemed more sexual.

Maybe the author is planning Part 2 that will include the upper body.

Again, I feel the back was sorely overlooked here.

Although the book lacks a specific section on the arms and chest, it is an excellent book. It illustrates in great detail strength training of the main core muscles for women...the back and abdominals. The bonus benefit of a great leg and buttock section. Very useful in targeting the female trouble spots. The other book by this author could be used to fill in the blanks of the arms and chest with ease or a simple anatomy illustration. I would give it a 5 star if the arms and chest section was there.

This book is a great help for training trouble spots. It covers training the lower body (back, abs, legs and butt). It gives many exercises for each body area (27 butt, 37 legs, 34 abs and 6 for back) each with a perfectly drawn illustration showing the muscles effected by the exercise and clear explanation on how to correctly perform the exercise. Most of the exercises can be done with minimal equiptment (free weights and bands) at home, only a few cover gym machines. This book does not give routines or diet plans. After 10 years of gym training I am now training at home. This no nonsense book has been an invaluable source of exercises and information for training (especially trouble spots) without the use of gym equiptment. Highly recommended!

Yes, sorry, yet another woman dissatisfied with only abs back legs and buttocks illustrations. I am a Personal Trainer and was thrilled to see a version of "Strength Training Anatomy" for the female body...and then immediately disappointed that Mr Delavier didn't finish the book. I just can't imagine what he was thinking of! Oh well back to the male version (brilliant) and drawings unrepresentative of the muscle mass of half my clients! We wait with baited breath for your sequel Mr Delavier - Chest, Shoulders & Arms!

The biggest benefit to this book is that Delavier shows you, with precisely drawn line illustrations, exactly which muscles are worked for each of the roughly 100 exercises that are described in this book. The book is also blissfully empty of philosophy, that is, you won't find any exhortations to eliminate carbs from your diet or aerobics from your routine. In fact, you won't find any "how to" information at all, except how to perform the exercises and an occasional comment about the efficacy of one version of an exercise over another.

The big negative is that Delavier seems to have forgotten that women also have upper bodies! Women's Strength Training Analatomy is divided into 4 sections: Legs, Buttocks, Abdominals and Back. There is no mention of chest or arms, body parts that every woman I know possesses! Some people may also find it a drawback that Delavier offers no suggested routines or information about how to apply the exercises he illustrates.

Overall, this is an excellent reference book that would have gotten 5 stars had it covered a woman's entire body.

It is the most beautifully presented book, with excellent diagrams and a great deal of detail for the content that is presented. Bewilderingly, it does not address exercise anatomy for the arms, shoulders or chest.

If it was a complete book, presenting information for the whole body, it would get 5 stars easily. As it stands, I am amazed that it got published with such glaring omissions.

I preordered this book based on the excellent book by Frederic Delavier "Strength Training Anatomy" I feel a little short changed because, although the quality of the content is good, there is not section for shoulders or chest in the womens version. Last time I looked they still qualified as body parts for women!

I work out regularly, and when doing strength training, I frequently have questions about which muscles I am working, whether I am performing the moves with correct form, etc. This book, designed specifically for women, is an excellent strength training reference manual. It focuses specifically on the areas which tend to give women the most difficulties, the abs, back, legs, and buttocks (including the hips).

If you check Amazon's "Look inside this book!" feature, you will see that the illustrations are incredible--clear and superbly detailed (although, like another reviewer mentioned, I do think that the female models should have been more appropriately clothed at times). The use of color helps the reader to easily see which muscles are being worked, and the use of labels provides quick identification of each individual muscle. In particular, I appreciated the close-up shots, as these served to highlight exactly how certain parts of the muscular/skeletal system perform; I also especially liked the female versus male anatomy comparisons. The text which accompanies the drawings is concise as well as easily understandable.

Although I sought out this book for the purpose of better understanding my body's movements during exercise, for those wanting to use this book to build their own lower body strength program, it would be excellent. The author provides full-page descriptions of each exercise, often offering several different versions of the exercise on subsequent pages as well as variation insets on the same page. Other within page insets offer form tips, including some illustrating what NOT to do. The exercises are mainly gym-style, using various machines and other equipment which you would find in a typical fitness center, but some of the exercises require no equipment, and alternate methods for working each muscle are always given.

I agree that this book would have been even better with the inclusion of upper body, yet I found it to be more complete than the author's companion work which does address full body (Strength Training Anatomy). Highly recommended as an extremely valuable addition to any woman's fitness library.

I'm a personal trainer and found this book to be a great learning aid for my personal trainer national certification exam. The pictures are just great. They are transparent in the way they show you the muscles. For example, when doing a lat pull, it shows you the muscles that are being contracted. Also, the pictures are quite detailed and very descriptive. In this way, not only it helped me to be a good personal trainer but it was a great reference for my national certification exam. I also used the following which cut my study time in half for my national certification fitness exam: Key Facts for Anatomy and Physiology by Patrick Leonardi
This book made anatomy and physiology much easier to understand and helped me to get passing grades. I give both books 10 stars