Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, Superb Guide!, July 29, 1999
By A Customer
I am a complete beginner to lifting weights--just started a month or two ago to look more attractive to women. I was looking for a basic introduction to weight training that was easily understood, down-to-earth, no BS, and no gimmicks, just hard work and discipline. I found exactly that in this book! Mr. Melfa writes with clarity and precision describing different exercises, about how to achieve different goals, nutrition and eating habits, stretching, posing, contests and more. Aside from the clear description of different exercises, I think what I have found most helpful in this book is Mr. Melfa's knowledge and experience regarding which specific exercises one should perform to meet one's goals (such as muscle size), how often, how many sets and how many reps. I also appreciate his comments about which exercises are most effective for different muscle groups. I think this book is ideal for a novice like myself but it also seems like it would be helpful to an experienced body builder who wanted more guidance and advice about nutrition, food, posing and contests. One more thing: I had an important personal question about my own wieght training which my lifting-buddy wasn't sure about. I e-mailed Frank Melfa on his AOL address listed here and got a VERY helpful and warm reply THE NEXT DAY! His personal advice was very worthwhile and exactly what I needed to know. THANKS FRANK!
|
|
|
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The handbook for a healthy body..., March 1, 2001
Supplements, gym memberships and exercise equipment are expensive. Before you spend any more money on these things, buy this book! I've lifted weights off and on throughout the years, but never got the results I was wanting. After I read Frank Melfa's book, I realized that a lot of my sets, technique, diet and exercises were wrong. Now I've been able to gain 9 pounds of muscle, for the first time. Even people at work have noticed the difference. There is so much info packed into this book, there's no way you can learn it all in one reading. I find myself referring to it often, even after owning it for 5 months. I even copied the exercise regiments on posterboard and hung it up in my basement-gym so they're easier to refer to. I've completely changed the way I eat. I was shocked to learn that I wasn't consuming nearly enough calories to gain muscle. Frank recommends logging food intake as well as exercises. This is hard at first, but well worth the effort. I also enter my weight, calorie intake, and carbs-protien-fat intake into a graph to see what trends are developing. Of course, the real measure of sucess is the mirror! Frank Melfa is a real guy, and this shines through in his writing. He has to squeeze his workouts and healthy meals into a normal busy life, just like all of us. But if you have a question about something in the book, Frank will even respond personally to your e-mail! The book includes pictures of Frank during his various competitions, as well as his appearance today. I think that pictures of the author should be a requirement for any exercise book. I bought this book for my sister, also. She's always had trouble gaining muscle mass, and this book has helped her as well. As Frank points out, changing the shape of your body is a difficult thing to do. For many of us, our body is the result of our habits and lifestyle. If you truly want to change the way you look, you will need to change your habits. For me, this has been a very fulfilling and worthwhile change...and it only gets better from here!
|
|
|
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
11 months later, March 13, 2001
A little about me before I delve into the review. Before I bought this book, I never was into fitness ever in my life. I thought people who ran every day were crazy and that lifting weights was for athletes. When I graduated high school in 1993 I was probably about 180. I stepped on a scale in April of 2000 and I weighed in at 240 which was the largest I had ever been (I am 5' 11"). It finally dawned on me that I was fat and really had to do something about it or my health would be seriously compromised, but I had no idea how to start. I mainly bought this book because lifting weights seemed like the 'guy' way to lose weight and I absolutely hated aerobic excercise(which I do regularly now). Thus, I bought a book on weight lifting that was rated highly on Amazon. The best thing about this book is that it is highly motivational and it is an easy read. I probably finished it in 2 days after I bought it. I could scarcely put it down. He got me really excited about exercise and made me believe that I could lose the weight, and motivation is a big chunk of the battle. As far as the weight lifting goes he does a great job. I had some esteem issues because of the weight and am naturally a pretty shy person anyway. I could never get myself to sign up for a class to teach me how to use the equipment or free weights. Because of this book I never had to. His pictures and descriptions of how to do the exercises properly were excellent. He also covers how to work out for a wide variety of fitness levels and schedules. Beyond weight lifting he really covers all the bases for people who need to lose more weight. His nutrition advice and suggestions for aerobic activity were in general good. There are a couple minor that I would like to see added to the book. He recommends 3 sessions of aerobic activity for 30 minutes each per week. This is probably enough for cardiovascular fitness and for someone who is just starting out(this it what I did when I started) and needs to get in shape. If you want to lose weight faster, more certainly helps provided you can handle it. Once I was in better shape, I gradually increased my regemin to 5 or 6 sessions of 45 to 60 minutes each per week along with my strength training. He recommends only 10% of your diet to be from fat. I am not saying you should go overboard on fat and if you can do it, that's fine, but for people like me 30% is probably that maximum you should shoot for. I think a 10% restriction is probably suited better for professional bodybuilders and athletes. For someone who is really trying to lose weight, fat is your friend because it is more satisfying and the key, for me anyway, to not overeating is to not feel starved -- not overeating is much more important than not eating fat. If I don't eat enough fat I will feel hungry and that is a recipe for overeating -- a sustainable diet is one that is satisfying but not excessive. A bodybuilder on the other hand has to eat a lot of food to really build big muscles and consequently should probably lower their fat intake. Really these points are very minor though and I think this book is great for its motivation and content. It also seems to provide a lot of content useful to more skilled people, but my perspective is one of a beginner. Anyway 11 months later I am about 45 pounds lighter (and still losing) and have gained quite a bit of lean muscle mass to increase my metabolism. I feel great, look better, and have much more confidence! This is the book that got me on the right track.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Mark Rippetoe
See all Editorial Reviews
