Customer Reviews

The Weightlifting Encyclopedia: A Guide to World Class Performance

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One thing that strikes me about Mr. Drechsler's book, in its enormous length and striking detail, is the author's passion for the sport of olympic weightlifting. However, rather than being an encyclopedia of weightlifting, its a record of all things that this man has learned about developing a stronger clean and jerk and snatch in his career as an athlete and a coach. To be sure, Mr. Drechsler has accumulated quite a bit of wisdom on this topic, but even more striking is how careful he is to avoid injecting his own opinion on different training methods, but rather gives various different and frequently contradictory views on training equal treatment. Because of the author's neutral attitude towards various training method, the book does little to guide an athlete on how to enhance his strength, but it will definitely broaden the knowledge even the most seasoned weightlifter on various aspects of training. Moreover, since no other volume in the English language presents such a thorough and unbiased presentation of methods for stimulating strength gains, I can't see any reason for any serious weightlifter, powerlifter, or bodybuilder not to familiarize himself with this text.

Given that there are so few books about Weightlifting and given Dreschler's exhaustive treatment on the subject in this book, based on his valuable personal experience, this is a must-have book for any weightlifter. This book is without peer.

That said, Dreschler could have used a good editor. The book could have covered the same material minus a few hundred pages. In addition, the book is text-long and diagram-short. Essays can be a wonderful tool, but so much of weightlifting can be explained better with photos and diagrams. For example, there is no freeze-frame analysis of lifting technique. How better to correct technique problems than to display examples of proper and improper technique? In this case, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

That said, the reader should also purchase Dreschler's companion video or some other weightlifting video.

It is incredibly hard to get authoritative information on weightlifting. There are scores of books on how "bodybuilders" like Arnold Scharzenegger train to give their muscles that surreal appearence, but finding information on how the strongest athletes in the world train is almost impossible. This is because that information has been closely guarded by the Eastern European weightlifting powers, resides in the back issues of weightlifting magazines that are no longer published, or is available only in the little known hard core weightlifting gyms scattered sparsely around this country and the rest of the world. Drechsler has pulled together most of what is out there in this truly monumental book. From training, to technique, to selecting the right equipment, to creating a training program, to preparing for competiton, to preventing and dealing with injuries, to eating right, to addressing the special needs of women, young and more mature athletes - it's all here in this near 600 page/400,000 word work. The annotated bibliography and resource list alone are worth the price of the book. Despite his obvious expertise, the author guides you with simple and clear language through what can be an incredibly complex subject. He gives you the benefit of his experience and is clear about his preferences with regard to such areas as technique and training, but he presents a balanced view on each topic that gives each of the often warring factions in weightlifting theory their due. Whether you want to read this book from cover to cover or by randomly selected topics, the unbelievably extensive table of contents and index provide a solid guide. There is even an explanation of how the beginner can select 50 pages or so from the book and be well prepared for a trip to the gym. It seems like the author has thought of everything! We've need a source of weightlifting information for years and this book is certainly it. If authors of other how to books about other sports (or anything else) would take notice,! we'd all get better at what we need to do a lot faster. This book is a home run!

After checking out a few different things on Olympic style weightlifting, I found myself disapointed. I couldn't find any that went into enough detail. I'd even purchased a book that didn't describe some of the assistance lifts it proscribed as part of their workout regime.

Arthur Dreschlers text has to be the most informative text on weightlifting I've seen. Everything seems so meticulously researched and well presented, it has to be seen to be believed. I don't have the luxury of living in an area where proper instruction is available in the Olympic lifts, but Mr. Dreschlers book will be an invaluble guide in my progress.

The book is huge and really explains every tiny aspect of O lifting. If you are a beginner it can actually be a bad thing since you're flooded with an enormous amount of information, but when you have a solid foundation and you aren't just lifting to improve your performance but participating in the sport of weightlifting this book is for you.
Too little pictures to demonstrate technique.(there is a videocompagnon available however)

When it comes to Olympic Weightlifting, this is unquestionably the most comprehensive book on the subject. Everything is here, from historical bits on the sport to sample training templates. Be warned, however, that Olympic Weightlifting is very different from bodybuilding or powerlifting. Most recreational lifters, for whom muscle-mass or general conditioning are the goal, would do better to first read the OTHER indispensible book on the topic, Stuart McRobert's "Beyond Brawn." Olympic Lifting is a different beast, emphasizing very specific strength combined with speed and coordination, and ultimately focusing on performance in two lifts: the snatch and clean & jerk. Athletes wishing to bulk up should check out "Beyond Brawn" first. Athletes who've caught the Olympic bug should make "The Weightlifting Encyclopedia" their next purchase. They won't regret it.

It was obvious from the minute I picked up this book, that it was written by someone who had a true love of the sport of weightlifting. As a competitve weightlifter and instructor at New York Unversity who specializes in the area of resistance training I have had the opportunity to reveiw literally hundreds of weight training texts. Mr Dreschler's book is by far the most complete weight training text on the market today. The book covers every component of weightlifting and is unprecedented in its detailed explanation of each olympic lift. The author also does an excellent job in breaking down each exercise and is able to convey difficult physiological and biomechanical concepts for everyone to understand. The book is quite extensive and is a true reference text for anyone interested in strength training. I can not wait for the video!

This book is the real encyclopedia with thorough contemplation of a very experienced author. You will not find numerous pictures or the beginning stuff several times repeated in this work. But you will find two-column dense text of pure-gold information that every good and skillful weightlifter or bodybuilder should know.
Up to now I gave a very good recommendation for Mr. El-Hewie’s ‘Weightlifting & Strength Training’, which is also encyclopedic work on the same subject. It is interesting to compare these two books.

Shortly said: ‘Weightlifting & Strength Training’ by Mr. El-Hewie is full of pictures and a little more on the beginner’s side when compared to the Mr. Drechsler’s book. On the other edge is the ‘Weightlifting Encyclopedia’ by Mr. Drechsler which has almost no pictures, but is much more dedicated to the experienced lifter; it does not repeat itself through it’s contents, and it has a very deep treatment of the weightlifting practice, which is more suitable for experienced practitioner; also it is cheaper.

But this distinction is not quite justified: El-Hewie`s book have the outstanding analysis of muscular imbalance in relation to Olympic weightlifting, which I could not find in Drechsler`s book at all. Some pictures from El-Hewie`s book are really worth thousands of words. It seems that the books complement each other beautifully.

Which book should you buy after all? I think you should have both books; either as a professional or a beginner you will have extremely valuable information in both books.

I recommend this book highly for every experienced weightlifter and for the inspired beginners.

It is about time for Mr. Drechsler to refine his encyclopedia in a newer edition. He must find ways of reducing the lengthy pages of text, without illustration or appropriate paragraph breaks, into less boring and modern style. His wealth of knowledge is greatly undermined by his extensive literal description of techniques and approaches, with skimpy illustrations.

The book contents attest to the dedication and genuine desire of its author to enhance the sport of Weightlifting and to convey the best information the author could offer.

The design of the book cover is poor where the title is pushed aside and reduced into a tiny unnoticeable scratch. A book with such wealth of knowledge deserves better cover design, better paragraph design, and attractive illustrations and quotations between transitions of thoughts in order to keep the reader interested and staying awake while reading.

This book covers almost every aspect of Olympic Weightlifting that you could imagine. I am personally more interested in bodybuilding, but the exercises and techniques described in this book are useful for other bodybuilders looking for new ways to stimulate interest in their training. Like the saying goes "Any routine is good only as long as it takes your body to adapt to it." That's why lifting like an Olympic lifter would be a healthy change. Plus, Dreschler gives detailed descriptions of the exercises and the assistance exercises needed so that you could attempt most from reading the book alone. All in all, another great resource for your home library.