Customer Reviews

Weight Training for Life

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

 

 

Hesson was assigned reading for a weight lifting class at a Community College. I've had a continual dialog with the instructor about the flaws in the text.

I found this text lacking in several areas. First, Hesson draws on a very narrow knowlege base. Recommended stretches are static and not dymanic. Less flexible individuals might find some of streches difficult or even dangerous. Has Hesson never heard of yoga, Pilates, or Excercise Kinesiology? Second, I disagree with Hesson's blanket assertion that dietary supplements are useless at best and dangerous at worse. It's outdated thinking and not supported by recent literature, especially from Europe. I guess Big Pharma rules in the USA. It's bad thinking to encourage in young minds.

Third, the USDA MyPyramid website, as promoted in the text, does not make logical sense and might even endanger the health and well-being of the users. I think the site needs to be revised. It should be excised from the text and taught as a theme in the instructor's manual, flashy graphics not withstanding. As of this date, I've been contacted twice in the same day by the USDA about problems with the website applet and the results it returns.

Fourth, I think the price is outragous. Its flimsy, spiral bound and costs $40 to $56. Barf! I paid $20 for it and regular book buyers are aghast that I even spent that much.

As an introductory text, its OK, but there are many others that are better. Weight Training for Dummies or Weight Training for Beginners by Gallagher comes to mind. As assigned reading for a class, its a waste of color printing and should be flushed.

Let's face it, if you are buying this, it is probably for a class and you don't need a review as it is required. I was skeptical about getting a "textbook" for weight training (what's there to study? lift weight. repeat.) but learned quite a lot about how muscle development works. Some of the instructions are pretty obvious - don't overtrain, be careful, etc. but the book provides many useful illustrations of correct form for virtually every exercise you would want to do in a weight trainging program, including many variations for each. Also helpful is the descripton of exactly which muscles are developed by each exercise. I was going to trade this in, but decided to keep it because I may want to add different exercises to my routine as time goes on. As usual, Amazon shipping was prompt and trouble-free.

This book is a requirement for a weight training class I am taking in college (for fun). I was first shocked that there was a required text for the class, but second because of the simplicity of it--most of the information would be clear to a first grader that learned English as a second language. Not that this is a bad thing, but for a college text, I was surprised to read "Bodily odor in the gym is offensive" as an important lesson..

The author of this book seams to be a very nice person, but most people only buy this book because it is required. Typically this is why I quit college because the author of this book requires his students to pay insane prices for crap. This book can be cited as a major flaw in American Education!

The book is slim and light weight. It is to the point but covers alot of information too.

I wanted the 7th edition, i thought it was but whatever, it was shipped fast, but wrong book