The Edge: Ben and Joe's Weider's Ultimate Guide to Strength, Speed, and Stamina (Hardcover)

by Ben Weider (Author), Joe Weider (Author), Daniel Gastelu (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Ben and Joe Weider are the legendary founders of the modern fitness movement. Their name is synonymous with athletic excellence and their proven programs have created champion bodybuilders and sports professionals for more than fifty years, making Weider Nutrition International the number-one sports nutrition company in the world. Now in The Edge, the Weiders share the training secrets of the pros that can help anyone interested in fitness achieve peak performance.

Here's why athletes and weekend warriors alike need The Edge:

* Cutting-edge research-The most advanced scientific research on supplements and nutrition informs the book, offering readers a definitive guide to natural performance-enhancing supplements as an alternative to steroids.
* Specificity-Fitness goals, weight training, and nutrition programs tailored to individual needs.
* The Weider Triangle Method-This simple program combines weight training, nutrition, and skill training.
* Variable Weight Training-As the founders of the International Federation of Bodybuilders, nobody knows more than the Weiders about weight training. All of the recommended exercises are demonstrated in photographs by natural bodybuilding champions Mike O'Hearn and Gea Johnson.
* Dynanutrition-A revolutionary nutrition program based on the Weiders' 10 Commandments of Nutrition.

The Edge is an effective prescription for anyone who wants to be on top of their game-and look their best while they're playing it.

About the Author
Ben and Joe Weider are the cofounders of Weider Nutrition International, Weider Publications, Inc., and the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB). Weider publications include Muscle & Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Men's Fitness, Flex, Shape, and Natural Health.
Daniel Gastelu is the author of Avery's Sports Nutrition Almanac and Dynamic Nutrition for Maximum Performance.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 385 pages
• Publisher: Avery (January 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583331263
• ISBN-13: 978-1583331262
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,595,812 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting "The Edge" with the Weiders, March 13, 2002

By A Customer

I'm 47 years old, and used to live in the gym. Then laid off for almost three years. I started back again with a personal trainer, but wasn't satisfied. I've read all the magazine articles - but getting the right, customized program can be very daunting.

"The Edge" is a practical guide, with proven, tailorable programs and clear explanations of exercizes, frequency, and type of result that can be expected. It also has a very clear nutritional program, and an EXCELLENT, and thoroughly up-to-date section on food supplements.

Whether you're 20 or 50; Whether want to just "tone up", get ready for sports competition, or body build, "The Edge" has a program for you.

I highly recommend it.

AC, Stamford, CT.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair on nutrition and exercise, good on stretch, June 5, 2004

By	Mohamed F. El-Hewie (Hackensack, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Edge (Paperback)

I approached this book with reservation, because the front cover shows a young man (with hunched upper back) and a young woman, which gave me the feeling of some inexperienced folks having fun in writing without being serious. I paid $5.88 for the book after I enjoyed reading the nutrition and the stretch chapters and was convinced that the book format was simple. The authors do not claim to be licensed medical professionals but presented very extensive nutritional information, which might not be very perfect or even correct, yet extensive anyway.

I was uncomfortable with the extensive list of references that was not cited duly when the authors offer opinions. The excessive length of the reference list indicates that the author is either exaggerating or disingenuous. However, these non-medical authors do not play the deceptive games of Dr. Atkin or Dr. Phil. They merely state what they believe with some air of naivety. For example, they use the term "good" for many medical conditions that are required for a fit person, such as: good heart rate, good muscle speed-strength, good muscle power, good bone health, etc. which lead one to believe that the authors are not in depth in medical knowledge. The authors coin the term "dynatrition" and define it in five steps, which do not serve any purpose other than inventing the wheels of nutrition anew.

The authors are reasonable on the progressive planning of developing strength by training that starts by 2 to 7 sessions per week, on many months of incremental progression. They are also rational on prescribing modest dieting routines. The major drawback of their exercise strategy is the isolation approach. The photographs of exercises show a muscular man with stiff joints (cannot straighten elbows in shoulder press, cannot flex shoulders in front squat) and a proportionally fit woman with high flexibility and strength. The woman trainee does all the stretch exercises and the Power Clean with perfectly elevated shoulders (when the bar is shelved on the chest) while the male trainee does all the traumatic exercises with poor form and stiff posture. This trend (of women training wisely by balancing stretch, form, and overall performance versus guys training to gain size at the expense of flexibility and cardiaopulomnary fitness) constitues an epidemic in the strength training arena.

Undoubtedly, this book is much better than "Body for Life" by Bill Phillips, although both books are structured similarly (a man and a woman trainees performing the exercises, both are young and overconfident in tackling specialized fields, both depict exercise figures in the same format of weight training of regional muscles without concern for compound exercises). Yet, this book ventures into the nutritional issues more aggressively and rationally.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and not for everyone, February 2, 2003

By	Sufyan "The Suf" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews

I disagree with the reviews above. I feel this book is really confusing. Ive been weight training, on and off, for 7 years at least. Due to lack of progress and chronic shoulder injuries I was forced to rethink my training program and start from scratch; back to the basics.

The book is basically split up as follows:

1) Basics: make up of muscles, stretching, Reps, Sets

2)Set programs A, B, C, D Starting with program A for beginners and ending with D for athletes.

3)Exercises: The above programs contain a number of recommended exercises done over a certain time period. this section explains how the exercises in the above programs are performed.

4)A whole section on nuitrtion: the basics, what kind of diet to maintain according to the type of sports youre in, and a bit about supplements.

Now i personally had no problems till i reached the set programs section. Personally i was hoping the book would teach me how to tailor programs for my own needs. I was more than happy to do set programs, except for the fact that the book was very vague in a few areas. For example, how many sets should one do for each exercise performed. To say that athletes can do such and such number of sets and that beginners should do so and so isn't very helpful for someone trying to get back into training. Plus there is no real mention of whether or not one should incrementally increase weights from set to set. I mean does one stick to one workload weight or increase as one goes on in the same exercise?

I don't know. This maybe a good book for some but it definitely left me more confused than I was to begin with. This is not a book that can be used to tailor your programs at all, which is what I was looking for. Out of fairness I cant say that the set programs don't work as I haven't tried them out. This is the first Weider book ive purchased and it hasn't given me a good first impression. And the only reason i gave this book a two star was because of the few bits of information here and there that i found useful. Definitely not for everyone.