Total Body Plan: The Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle and Losing Fat [Paperback]

Men's Fitness (Author), Bill Hartman PT CSCS (Author), Adam Campbell MS CSCS (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

Few people - even top fitness experts - ever learn the concepts presented in this book. So, if you're a beginner, consider yourself lucky. You will be far ahead of the game from the start, and that will translate into quick increases in muscle size and strength. If you are an experienced lifter, be prepared to make the best gains of your life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572439718
• ISBN-13: 978-1572439719
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent exercise program design, based solidly on the science of kinesiology, March 11, 2007

By 

Shay (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Total Body Plan: The Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle and Losing Fat (Paperback)

The Authors do an amazing job of explaining the routines and the science behind them.

This book is for everyone who is interested in seeing results from their workouts and breaking out of their counter productive exercise routines. In short this book is an exercise plateau buster.

Highlights:

- Covers the science and principles of effective training (Written in laymen's terms so that anyone can understand the benefit of correctly training the body's energy systems.)

- 6 week maximum muscle workout, including diet plan

- 6 week full-scale fat-loss phase, including diet plan

- Plus, chest and arm specialization

This book will more then get you started; it takes the guess workout out of creating a routine that works, plus provides a solid plan from workouts to diet and is also a very interesting read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Useful but largely disappointing., June 11, 2010

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Total Body Plan: The Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle and Losing Fat (Paperback)

Having gotten so far with a self-created workout routine in which I exercise various parts of the body for an hour each day, 6 days per week, I suddenly seemed to come up against a brick wall and stopped improving. Part of the reason was down to my diet, something which is now rectified. Another problem was a lack of understanding on my part about what each exercise was doing. Consequently, I purchased a number of books with a view to studying the subject.

This particular product was a considerable disappointment. The biggest failure being the lack of an Index. After all, if I want to improve my Abs - then I want to go straight to the section on Abdominals. Which doesn't really exists here.

The book is laid out in such a way as to show the student how to follow a fitness regime requiring a fair amount of equipment found only in a well equipped gymnasium. I am quite certain that any person with access to both this book and such equipment who then follows the various training programmes - from cover to cover, will end up particularly fit and, all being well, in equally good health.

Each exercise is clearly shown with excellent photographs of the student in various poses showing each routine before, during and after. What is lacking, however, is a note explaining which muscles or body parts are being targeted by each exercise.

Overall, I do believe this book will prove to be useful for the rank beginner but of little use for those who are already exercising regularly.

NM

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting in shape at 48 takes time, P90X, and a few good books!, December 9, 2011

By 

49&onlygettingstronger - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Total Body Plan: The Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle and Losing Fat (Paperback)

In 2010, as I was approaching my 48th birthday, I decided to change my life. I ordered P90X and started getting back in shape. I did the P90X routine and some very vigorous bike riding for almost a year and got in tremendous shape. I lost 36 pounds and built muscle I never had! In fact I feel and look better now than I did when I was 19! But after several months of P90X I needed a change in my routine. I started looking at fitness centers, thinking that I needed to join a club and get help from a personal trainer. But the gyms all cost too much money and whenever I looked in the mirror I realized what little I needed to get into the shape I was in. Then I found two books: the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises and the Total Body Plan. From these two books I learned the science behind working out. They also helped reinforce the idea that I don't need a fitness club membership to get or stay in shape. These two books have in them all the information you need to get into shape and to live a healthy life. What's not in these books is your dedication to reaching the goal of a sound body and healthy life. So, keep it simple stupid, dedicate yourself, and watch how quickly you change your body and your life! And get P90X! Together, they will provide the foundational information, motivation, and routine needed to be in shape and live a healthy life.