Weight-Training Books

It is such a relief to have found this book. I am an active person who eats healthy food and I have always struggled with weight. Now, this book has helped me tune in to my body and I really am melting into my natural shape.

I bought this book several years ago, and treasure it. It helped me shed pounds when I needed to, and has prevented me from becoming really overweight, despite the fact that I love to cook and eat! I love Groger's common sense approach - don't eat when you're not hungry and sensitize yourself to the different levels of hunger. Learn to trust your body. This isn't a "sexy" or trendy diet book, and Groger doesn't give you excuses or mince words. Instead she explains why people develop weight problems and what to do about them. I'm in my 50's and periodically find my clothes getting a little tight. When this happens, I pull out my copy and review what I need to do, and it works!

I read this book about 6 years ago and really didn't believe that listening to my body would help me lose weight. I was wrong, it really does. I followed it for six weeks and it changed my life. I lost weight and have never gained it back and I eat whatever I want.

I bought this book back in 1984 when I was a college freshman and had gained those famous ten pounds. I was terrified! I had restricted my calories all through high school, but that wasn't working anymore. This book introduced a new concept to me...One has to tune in to feelings of hunger and fullness to determine when to eat and when to stop. The book does not offer any nutritional advice, but I have to say, I did lose weight. I also kept it off, and whenever I battled with weight gain, this book would certainly help...for a time. I'm now in my 40's and I only have to look at food and I gain weight. I re-purchased this book, thinking it would save me again, but it didn't. I require much fewer calories at this stage of my life, and it isn't enough to just stop eating when I'm feeling full. I'm still taking in too many calories. This book helped, though, over the years, because I formed the habit of never letting myself get ridiculously full of food...hurts too much. What HAS helped me to stay trim is adopting a vegan diet, emphasizing raw foods. The food tends to be nutrient-dense but lower in calories...so I'm healthier, to boot. I would recommend this book to people who have never paid any attention to how they feel physically while they're eating. Some people stuff themselves and are totally unaware of how uncomfortable they truly are. This book teaches you to not only recognize this discomfort, but to helps you to realize that it's a feeling you want to avoid. Result - eating less, losing weight.

I read and followed this book and lost weight for the 1st time ever that felt natural and not like a "white Knuckle ride". Its true diets dont work, eating awareness does.

I have found this book to be very informative. It shows you the right way to do your weight training. It also has a lot of useful programmes that you can do, I am already seeing the results of following the intructions given in this book.

In only six weeks, you can completely train your back, chest, and shoulders. Learn the correct way to do your weight training.

I have read a few body-building books and think this one, along with the other books in the same series (arms, legs, abs, etc), are the best to date.

One reason for this is the insistence upon good form. Like a lot of people, I have in the past gotten carried away with adding more weight and not paying attention to form. This is still a temptation but the message on good form presented in this book is finally starting to stick. I especially was impressed by his argument for paying attention to the negative part of the exercise.

Another STRONG point of the book is that it provides you with lots of routines. After finishing the books 6 week course,
you are supplied with an additional 4 or 5 good routines for future use. As the author states, it is important to change routines often, so that your muscles do not get too used to a given exercise (and you dont get bored). However,
I am very lazy about putting together routines and tend to stick to one. Thanks to this book this is no longer a problem, because it does it for me; I now have complete sets of routines that I can follow and am beginning to see important gains as a result.

The book also does a good job of covering the basics of good nutrition, rest and, for all of you gym rats who would ignore it,
aerobics (ever see those pudgy cro-magnon loking guys in the gym who claim their bloated tummies are muscle)!!!! He doesn't cover supplements though and that is understandable given the controversy and hype surrounding so many of them.

The book delivers what it promises: An Intense Six-week program to completely train your Chest, Shoulders and as a bonus the Back. Yes the book title doesn't mention the Back at all, but the programs include exercises for the "latissimus dorsi" or just "lats" as they are usually call in gym jargon. This alone makes this a complete upper body exercise program, since the "latissimus dorsi" is what gives the upper body its V-shape, and is the largest upper-body muscle, so large that the core training program hits it from three different ways.

But this book is more than just an upper-body workout, it is a small, handy and complete reference with useful information that includes: essential physiology, aerobics, flexibility stretches, and essential principles and techniques.

If you are interested in similarly practical and complete exercises programs for the rest of your body, you may also want to consider "Essential ABS", "Essential Arms", and "The complete Butt and Legs" by the same authors.

This is the 2nd book on weight lifting I've read. The first one being "Muscle Logic" which was both difficult to grasp as a beginner, and also a very unrealistic program to actually accomplish (read it and you'll see why you couldn't do this unless you owned your own gym).

But essential chest and shoulders is not like that at all. It is written for guys like me who knew virtually nothing regarind weight training. It gives excellent introductory material regarding the muscle groups and strategies and general fitness information.

The program that it gives is a 3-day a week program, 2 focusing on chest and shoulders, and the 3rd day on other muscle groups. The program is easy to follow, starts simple and gets more in depth as the time goes. But not overwhelming for beginners.

The program does focus on chest and shoulders, so if you were interested in lower-body, abs, or arms, you may want to look at another book (which the men's health publisher makes virtually identical books for both arms and abs).

Most of the exercises are performed with dumbells. And the book is designed for someone who is just getting started, and can be performed solo if you don't have a partner (its a lot easier to escape dumbell bech presses at an early level than a bar if you don't have a spotter, but its good to have a spotter).

The plan is again, fairly simple and designed for beginners. Experienced weightlifters will not gain anything from this book. If you're looking for a starting point, this is for you.

There are many basic ideas in here that I wouldn't have really thought of on my own. It gives many ideas that you can use with the simplest of scraps laying around in your garage. Simple does not mean easy, but I can say that my forearm training improved almost immediately. Small details DO lead to big differences.

This book is an excellent read for all those who are interested in grip strength.

The Grip Master's Manual is written in a much more organized manner than John Brookfield's first book, Mastery of Hand Strength. Both are certainly worth it and used together are even better. Most of the techniques inside both books can be done with little material from a hardware store or things you probably already have. He goes over all types of grip strength and in The Grip Master's Manual he devotes an entire chapter to steel bending. If you're interested in how to train your every aspect of hand strength, buy both his books.

Upon purchasing and reading through this book, I have come to the conclusion that the author is insane!

Brookfield really takes a "backwoods" approach to his training. For the most part there is no fancy machines or complex contraptions that he uses to build grip and hand strength...Much of it revolves around using bricks or long pieces of boards to create resistance...sounds easy but it's not.

I will admit that despite having read the book, I haven't put alot of effort into building my grip strength. It seemed to me that it would require plenty of dedication to accomplish so I never truly persued it.

Apparently this guy is an expert in the field...Being that there aren't many books available on this topic, it's worth reading and seeing if any of the training methods work for you.

This book is THE book when it comes to grip training and becoming a well rounded athlete. Brookfield lays this book out very logically starting with a section on getting ready. He then progresses through: Advanced Lower Arm and Grip Training; Advanced Grip Challenges; and Steel Bending. No matter where you turn to this book is filled with helpful tips and ideas to get your workouts going.

I can honestly say this book and the ironmind grippers have already improved my hand strength immensely. I would highly recommend this book and look forward to acquiring Brookfield's other book "Mastery of Hand Strength."

This book covers some simple yet very helpful topics related to training. From manual muscle assessment, to what typical problems can occur with rotator cuff muscles this book is a great addition to any fitness professionals collection.

PRO: The book and DVD, are professional works, and right on the money.
They are a must for those who exercise and want to avoid injuries. Even better for those experienced weight (resistance)trainers who already burned their fingers and try to escape the pain and slow recovery from injuries. They are seemingly unstoppable happenings of this fitness Optimal Muscle Trainingbusiness. One can understand its own body much better with this source, especially from the DVD, which is a standalone work in itself. By and large the contents are almost above any critics as far as a well learned experienced exerciser can relate it. The cost is a steal for what you get.

CONT: Honest works but unfortunately the remarkable contents are presented in a quite discouraging fashion. The use of the DVD is not explained in the book properly. An other boo-boo is the menu that drives the DVD. One has to figure it out what it does and what it hides. Frequently, submenu items are repeated under different titles. But the real problem is not in the primitive, unexplained control. It is a dry, very, very discouraging presentation. The athletes are honest puppets but their guests do not invite repeat from the public. Additionally, their musculature is less defined than a mediocre bodibuilder on stage, that could serve the purpose of visual reference.

I hope the next edition will serve the purpose much better, but I am not sure it will be cheaper, though.

I had to by this book for a class, and it is incredibly helpful! Anyone looking to become a personal trainer should at least check it out, if not by it.

THIS WAS JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I BOUGHT SOME WEIGHTS AND DIDN'T
KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT LIFTING BUT THIS BOOK AND DVD GETS RIGHT TO THE POINT
WITH THE PROPER WAY OF WORKING OUT. IT WAS WELL WORTH IT'S PRICE.

This book is excellent in describing muscle dysfunctions that many trainers don't recognize in prescribing weight training to clients. It shows the best way to optimally perform an exercise for max safety and max development.
This is one of the best books Ive read for personal training clients.
This book comes with a great course by the IFPA (google it) called the bodybuilding specialist course. It teaches you a ton of great material!

i'm am so happy with this purchase! bought it for my brother for christmas, when he see's that it is autographed by the authors and arnold he is going to freak!

yes it was thefirst book onbodybuilding published in the late 1970 .s but now in this new century pumping iron warriors are much more impressive . would need and update.

I book this book back in 1973 and then lost it in a flood but was able to get a copy at a used book store.These were the real champions and pioneers of bodybuilding; Arnold, Nubret, Columbu, Zane, Corney, Waller, Katz etc.You rarely see training photo's like this and heretofore, never saw bodybuilders depicted as real people as Gaines and Butler did with this work and the movie that followed.Pumping Iron and a Mega-Superstar German with a hard to prononunce last name literally took bodybuilding into the mainstream and turned the stars of our sport into household names.While I was lucky to find a copy of this book at a used book store, I really feel that Gaines and Butler should have a reprint for people who would like a new, first class copy; perhaps even a revised version showing where those champions are today.Great book Mr. Gaines and Mr. Butler.

I agree with all above that this is a fine book. I wish there were more such insightful forays into other sports. My one quibble with Pumping Iron is that whistles past the graveyard of the great dark evil, steroids. One reading this book would get the impression that all of the bodybuilders within had sculpted their physiques with weightlifting, diet, dedication, and genetics. The truth is, all the stars of that era relied heavily on steroids, as subsequent admissions by such as Arnold Schwarzenegger have revealed. That, and the near-death disaster to Steve Michalik from steroid overdose (the book attributes his great "sea change" gain of muscle mass to heavy weight training and eating a lot of chicken and tuna fish) are crucial facts for the reader to know. To ignore the dirty little secret of big-time bodybuilding is dishonest, and presents a disservice to the readership. I would enthusiastically welcome another edition of Pumping Iron, as suggested above- it's a fine book- but I would repect Messrs. Gaines and Butler the more if they would address the steroid issue.

It is no overstatement to attribute to the publication of this book much of the fitness revolution that first began in the 1970s. It lionized the then relatively obscure sport of bodybuilding, and in particular made much notice of the then only marginally known figure of a relatively young Austrian muscle freak with the unlikely name of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The book proved such a trenchant and penetrating look into the shadowy subculture of fitness freaks and muscle-heads that it created a boom in the gym business, which previously existed only in a few locations where the numbers of bodybuilders reached enough of a critical mass to allow such a commercial venture. In fact, as Gaines points out in the narrative, most of the gyms were owned by guys like Joe Gold, who weren't in the gym business to make a profit, and who merely managed to eke out a living, and who rarely made much of a return on their original investment.

Of course, this affectionate and knowing look at the life and lifestyles of several serious competitive bodybuilders was so successful that it encouraged the photographer, George Butler, to try to find backing for a film version of the book. And it was a difficult sell, for the movie mavens had little appreciation for the degree of public interest in muscles and muscle men then. Indeed, the movie was never released for wide commercial viewing, but was rather relegated to showings at art cinemas and other venues. Yet the book was a resounding success, and was on the best-selling trade books for months and months.

The book can still be found in used bookstores, and is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the history of bodybuilding or the lifestyles of the most famous musclemen of the late 1960s and 1970s. I have several copies, although I lost one in a fire last year. It is a shame it is now out of print, for the book (and the subsequent movie) capture the essence of the exotic little world of competitive bodybuilding as it existed in the days when the sport was marginalized, before it became big business, and before eager young men who want fame and riches got involved for that reason rather than because they just wanted to be bodybuilders. Ah, the good old days! Enjoy!

Greg's plan makes sense and you see immediate results. More importantly is how you feel about yourself. Early into the second week, you just start feeling trimmer, stonger, generally better! I highly recommend the Ultimate Lean Routine as a way of life and this book captures it all! Many thanks, Jill Bertolet

This is an excellent book. It's written simply and clearly, no real complications, and the author can really connect with the reader.

The workouts are expained in a an excellent way; the alternating of workouts is the most effective I have ever tried, and particularly the type of training applied to each workout can create incredible changes for the better WAY faster than any other workout system I tried. It's simple: with a test, you find the right rate YOU need wo do your cardio at (and no, it's not the same old stuff), and work at that rate, until you feel you have improved and then you can take the test again and work out at the newly found rate. Same for the strength training: you find your 10-rep max, perform 3 sets (a warm-up set, a work set and a blast set) and stretch in between sets - a technique that is most effective for increasing muscle strength and particularly for women, to get rid of cellulite in your thighs.

The dietary prescription may be too much work for some, not doable for some others and fast burners (see metabolic typing) will probably need a little more protein and good fats to feel full; but generally the dietary guidelines are good and a definite improvement over most people's diets. The fact that the diet part of the plan cannot really be personalized to the needs of the reader made it lose 1 star, I would have given it 5 stars otherwise. But it really is an excellent book. If you feel it's time you start working on improving your body shape and your health, or if you have been working out but you don't feel you are getting the results you deserve for your efforts, this is the book for you - you'll change for the better, really fast.

I used this routine last year for about 4 months, and found that I could achieve results that I had been unable to reach previously. Top notch stuff.

i liked the workout routines and overall it is a good book, but the diet breakdown was quite confusing with all the different percentages that you needed to figure out. not a simple plan.

This book is easy to understand and easy to follow. One does not have to follow every recipe. Just use it as a common sense guide, eat accordingly and follow the exersize regimen. It takes no more than one hour a day, sometime less than an hour. I lost 30 pounds of fat in 90 days following this program. I just wish that Greg Isaacs would write a follow up regimen for those who want to take his advice and move on to another level of health and fitness.

This book is charming. And to those who think this generations gymnasts don't know who Nadia or Olga are then you guys haven't been to many gym clubs lately-the best often have posters of the great Nadia Comaneci, the first gymnast in history to score a perfect ten at the Olympics (the newest Olympic Champion Carly Patterson, and her peers have all talked about Nadia in interviews for any who have followed gymnastics on tv these past four years.) Just like most sports fanatics gymnasts do their homework and todays gymnasts including myself DO know who Nadia and Olga were. Just like baseball fans know who Babe Ruth was, and so on. Those two great legends are a part of gym lore.

This book is supposed to be written from the point of view of the ten year old gymnast and the language is realistic and overall the book is lots of fun.

This was an interesting book but it was not all that well written. It seemed like Jill Krementz wrote down Torrance's words without seeing how they would look on the page as opposed to how they sounded in conversations with her. I've read some of the other A Very Young.... books and have similar observations about the writing-- Ms. Krementz's talents must lie more in photography.

This is an intriguing story about a very young gymnast. Children become mesmerized with the photographs and entranced with the little girl's dreams and successes. It is a great way for little girls to live vicariously, as not many have the ability to excel in gymnastics. It may be a bit extreme for young readers to understand the sacrifices required for such a level of competition, but it is demonstrated in a way that readers can experience the experience.

This is a wonderful book about gymnastics. It has lots of pictures. It's about a 10 year old gymnast who has aspirations to be in the olympics. It shows how she trains. The pictures are in black & white. Not only does it contains pictures of her, but also other gymnasts are here also. Nadia, Bart Conner & Kurt Thomas and more.

First published in 1978, it's a little dated-but it shows gymnastics as it once was. Very nice!

I got this book when I was 10 years old. Every once in a while I take it out again and look at it. While it may be "dated" in some sense such as going to see Nadia and Olga, and the equipment - note the WOODEN Balance Beam! :) It is still a good narrative of what a gymnast goes through. The fact that younger gymnasts may not know who Nadia and Olga are is quite amazing and perhaps this is a good read for those tikes who think that gymnastics started with Shannon Miller! :) A great read for older gymnasts looking back on the "good old days" and young gymnasts who never knew that there was anything but spring floors and padded beams.

I read this book cover to cover as I am interested in the subject. Overall I found it to be very informative but the book failed to link the different articles correctly and the sample programs just add to the confusion.

For example in the Power Phase of the program, power exercises are lumped in with strength exercises and some things just don't make sense. One of the exercises specifies doing 3-4 sets for 1-5 reps of squats with a rest period of "none". Does that mean you really just do 1 set of 15-20 reps?

It is a easy and good read especially for the person who wants to get into lifting for a specific sport

Well written and thoughtful book on conditioning for all cyclist (road & mountain). He talks about strength conditioning year round for the cyclist showing you not only why you should do it, but how. He also has added a nice section on core training and another on flexibility and the benefits of them and why you should be spending time doing them as well. Great book.

This is a very effective program that doesn't make you spend a ton of time in the gym. The authors give you an overview of the benefits and pitfalls of a weight training program for bike riders in the first few chapters. Then in the last few chapters there are very good diagrams of the exercises. And at the back of the book, there are workout programs that are periodized just like on-bike training.
The workout programs are geared toward lower body and core strength. But they will also help you develop upper body strength without putting on any unwanted extra weight.
All in all, this is a straightforward and effective way to get stronger without getting bigger.

There are some who feel that weight training is a waste of time for cyclists and the limited scientific studies carried out so far have had mixed results as to whether pumping iron makes you faster. There are fears that the possible addition of muscle mass in the upper body (remember Lance Armstrong pre-cancer?) will provide no tangible benefits and in fact will be just that much more weight to carry around.

In fact a strong torso contributes to pedalling action by providing rigidity against which the quadriceps can work. Most of the training programs for cyclists I have seen tend to be aimed at building strength rather than mass and as the riders moves into the racing season the weight program becomes one only of maintenance. Increased strength means reduced fatigue although aerobic capacity seems to be the limiter for endurance. Stronger muscles last longer and stabilize the body, improving technique and efficiency, allowing the cyclist to keep in the proper form longer.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that cyclists typically suffer from low bone density as cycling is not a weight-bearing exercise. Studies indicate that during the Tour de France pro riders can lose up to 25 percent of bone mass, and a surprising number of Masters-class racers suffer from symptoms of osteoporosis. Weight training helps combat this, as do weight-bearing exercises such as running, and calcium supplementation.

My coach has given me a simple program that provides the periodization recommended, working from light weights to much heavier weights and then backing off to more reps with lighter loads. In addition to my coach's comments, I have found a very useful guide to weight training to be the recently revised "Weight Training for Cyclists: A Total Body Program for Power and Endurance" by Ken Doyle and Eric Schmitz. This 2nd edition of their 1998 book, released in November 2008, incorporates new information on core training and lower body exercises. It is very clearly written and explains how strength training in the weight room translates to endurance and power on the bike.

Different exercises for the muscle groups are described and illustrated with very good line drawings that are simple but effective. I have photocopied the section on core workouts and have supplemented my coach's suggestions so that I am doing more work with a stability ball. There is also a chapter reviewing the best series of stretches I have seen.

The last part of the book presents a range of training plans that are time-efficient and look quite effective. I have incorporated parts of them into my own workout and although it is not quite My Year of Abs yet there is a definite improvement in my core strength.

"Weight Training for Cyclists" is an up-to-date and comprehensive book that is invaluable in building a program to increase strength. Clearly-written, attractively-presented and very reasonably priced, it belongs on the shelf of everyone interested in improving their riding. You may not end up looking like Mr. or Ms. Universe but you might get faster!

As soon as my husband started flipping through this book, he was so excited. I surprised him with it on Valentine's Day, and within a couple of minutes, he was checking out trick shots that had always eluded him, shots that he always wanted to learn, some he had never seen before, and some that he was doing incorrectly. It has great diagrams and excellent explanations. We whole-heartedly recommend this book!

Highly entertaining, and informative to boot, even for regular, non-trick play. Anyone who already has Byrnes Standard Book of Pool and Byrne's Advanced should also get this, and his Wonderful World of Pool & Billards book, as all four volumes regularly refer to (useful) information in eachother. While this is MOSTLY a fun book about cute tricks shots (and possibly profitable ones, if you can master them and find suckers for bar bets), your casual, league and even tournament play can learn a few good pointers from the materials herein.

This book covers the classics, such as the football shot, butterfly shot, machine gun shot, just showin' off, etc, plus variations, (i.e. masse machine gun shot) lesser known shots, and shots by the author. Some require almost no skill at all, while making others could keep pros happy all day.
Every shot has information about its history, how to do it, and sometimes even suggestions on what to say before you attempt it, plus a clear yet detailed digram of the setup and shot.
Almost any book will tell you how to do a few, common trick shots, but this one has them all.

The book is interesting, but I tried a number of the supposedly "easy" trick shots.. They're not easy and I'm a fairly decent shot (play in leagues etc..). I'm sure with consistent practice, you could actually make 1 or 2 of these shots, but even then they would be "low percentage" shots. The placement of the balls must be perfect and no text can tell where to place these balls with the kind of precision you'll need to make these shots. Just don't expect to buy this book and be making trick shots the next day.. - You'll be disappointed. Even so, it's fun just to see these shots diagramed and the historical facts/anecdotes are interesting.

Once again Byrne delivers concise info in an easy understandable manner. I currently own several of his books and videos; all of which are helpful. Some of his info may be found in earlier writings, but that's the case with many tomes in this area. It's no surprise he was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame for his wonderful contributions to this sport via his writings/videos.

This is an awesome book, not only for amateurs but for those of us that have been in the gym for years. The cycles are great, and it outlines and entire year worth of workouts and how to execute them with perfect form. I was immediately impressed with this book and recommend it for anyone getting into weight lifting or want to up their weight lifting regime. To top it off this book also including a nutrition program.

All bodybuilders need this magazine. High quality of all pictures and great tips. I recomend it.

FLEX has put out an excellent guide for bodybuilders and your ordinary recreational gym rat. An excellent manual with outstanding pictures to show positions and excercises to be performed. I've been lifting recreationally for 13 yrs and would recommend this book. Great diet and supplement section to help you maintain your workouts and increase muscle and strength gains

I like this book; great workout plans, really worked for me.I liked how they included good cycling of diffirent phases of excercise.I didnt care much for the nutrition section but might be useful to some.
The technique section is really good with very helpful diagrams
I didnt like the actual quality of the book isnt that good it fell apart too soon to my liking.

"HUGE A Complete Regimen from Bodybuilding's Superstars" (2007) is not a new book! Rather it is the renamed version of "HUGE Everything You Need to Get Really Big" (2003). The deepnotes and footnote references are all wrong! Because they're based on the 2003 version. It says "see the chart on pages 125 and 126" but the correct charts are on pages 113 and 114. I have already bought the 2003 version and since the name is different I thought this was a new book. But it wasn't. So I wasted my money for nothing but a wrong edited book. Still if you need a book for building a great body I recommend it... But instead of paying that much money go and get a second hand that is 10 times cheaper and good edited.