Muscle Logic : Escalating Density Training (Paperback)

by Charles Staley (Author)
Key Phrases: bench press variation, reverse this motion, fixed torso, Escalating Density Training, Fred Hatfield, Off Sample Training Split (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Trainers and Olympic athletes agree that Escalating Density Training (EDT) really works. Now everyone who works out can learn how to benefit from this superbly effective, time-efficient system.

Your muscles will get bigger when you force them to do more work in the same period of time. That's the breathtakingly simple concept behind Charles Staley's innovative training system, EDT.

Over 300 people participated in coach Staley's first-ever EDT Fat Loss Challenge, with spectacular results. This is because EDT is a program that adjusts to the individual. Here's how: EDT designates timeframes (called PR Zones) where as many repetitions as possible are completed. Every workout becomes more effective than the one that preceded it, making each session a personal record. More reps equal bigger muscles and improved health-a simple premise that delivers amazing results.

In this book Staley provides:
· Beginner, intermediate, and advanced programs for athletes interested in maximum performance at any level
· A 2-hour-per-week program for serious recreational bodybuilders
· Simple, effective ways to apply EDT to develop power, speed, and endurance
· Techniques that cut recovery time to train more intensely and frequently to reach goals faster

About the Author

CHARLES STALEY guides Olympic and professional athletes, and serious weightlifters in their quest for physique transformation and performance enhancement. He has authored more than 300 articles for such magazines as Muscle & Fitness, Men's Health, and Ms. Fitness. He currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (October 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594860831
• ISBN-13: 978-1594860836
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #127,056 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Muscle Logic: New and Old, Simple and Complex, January 23, 2006

By	B&D - See all my reviews

I liked Muscle Logic as a book, and it appears to make a decent workout program when you use the principles outlined therein. This is unlike a lot of workout books in that it is not presenting a number of workout routines to follow, as many (most?) do, it shows the reader a novel system that is easy to judge progress, guarantee progressive overload in most workouts (all?), and how to manage the progression of weights, as well as a system that can prevent or stop overtraining.

New and Old

The basic principles used in EDT are old ones: Progressive overload, controlling the tempo of your lifting, attention to form, measuring progress.

The questions most amateur (and some pro's no doubt) lifters have that this system addresses:
- How long should you lift? (and "I don't have 2 hours a day to do this!")
- How can you guarantee progressive overload?
- How can you measure progress?
- When is it most effective to increase or decrease weight?
- How many reps are the best?

Muscle Logic has a novel system that answers these questions and does it is a simple manner that is both easy to track, and simple to do.

I won't spoil the system (you have to get the book for that!) but I will present some highlights:

- You lift weights for a predetermined time (15 minutes is his suggestion)
- You use moderate weights lifted explosively and with perfect form
- You work antagonistic pairs (supersets)
- You lift as many sets of small reps as you can
- When you reach a certain number of total reps (up or down) you change weight

This is a very simple and very effective system, though you may not think so when reading it!

Simple and Complex

The book has a few negatives: The concept is so simple, that the author has a hard time putting it into words. When reading it, I got the distinct impression it could be summarized on a couple of pages in a brochure, though the author was not able to do so for whatever reason.

When in the "Menu" section of the book (all these sorts of books seem to have this) I got the distinct impression it was "tacked on" since the book seems to be more about crafting your own workout routine rather than following the author's.

Conclusion

This book is worth the price of admission. The system seems to work - using this I can get the same result as some of my best workouts much more consistently, and the results seem to be more assured since these principles will all but guarantee progressive overload and make progress tracking (& adjustment) much easier.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great on paper, hard to put into practice!, February 13, 2006

By	CalisSaxMan "calisaxman" (Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This book has some great ideas and overall is based on solid theory. However, it has some major problems. First of all, even though it says you can do this workout at a busy gym, it's rather difficult. The basic program is that you work on 15 minutes sessions, going back and forth between two exercises during that 15 minute period, trying to complete as many reps as possible. Not only do you have to commandeer two pieces of equipment but if you're working out with a partner your partner will not be able to workout on the same equipment at the same time, because that would hinder your rush from one exercise to the next. There's also the problem of spotting. The point is to reach muscle fatigue during your sets. If you're doing that on an exercise like a squat, you will need two spotters just in case you falter on the last rep. Another problem is that the exercises, with A-B splits and different body splits becomes very complicated and difficult to adapt to your own personal workout. Finally, while several sample programs are included in the book, the author makes absolutely no effort to explain which muscle groups each exercise hits. This book has a lot of promise, but dropped the ball about half-way through. Incomplete though it is, you might be able to get something from it, depending on how knowledgeable you are about weightlifting in general.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Few Inconsistencies, March 9, 2006

By	Glenn Hall (Wenatchee, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Overall, the book seems to make perfect sense. And like the author asks, I'm giving him 8 weeks on his program. However, the math in some of his workout routines as far as total time goes is off and the comparison of his system to the old 3/10 method has some math errors in it too. A few of the reviews I read about this book made it sound easier to understand than it really was... for me anyway.
Anyway, 4 weeks into the system and I have to agree that recovery is faster, fatigue is lower, sorness is minimal and it's a gem of system for time management. I hope at the end of my 8 weeks that I can tout the success of my muscle development.
The only downside I can see to his suggestions is access to equipment and the need to track your progress on paper as you exercise. I'm not one to carry paper and pencil around with me, but trying to remember 8 sets, how many reps. and at what weight is a bit difficult. Also, the equipment in my gym in not set up to perform his suggested exercise routines efficiently.
Overall, the lack of fatigue and sorness and speedy recovery time was worth the price of the book. If the end result is what he promises, then my hat is off to the author.