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(More customer reviews)In many respects this is the perfect first book for someone looking to get into regular exercise. More than most other books in the genre, this one seems to have more than a modicum of scientific understanding backing it. The first sections set the tone, going over the actual science of muscles, why they get bigger, and how. The authors know their audience, though, and don't overdo the science. However, if you are going to lift weights then you need some level of understanding of what things work and why. This first section gives you that. I personally would have liked to see more scientific detail and references but understand that that probably would alienate large chunks of their target audience.
After that primer you get introduced to the major muscles and the exercises that target them. There are also sections on diet, warming up, and stretching. While none of these sections are comprehensive, and many have been done better elsewhere, they are done well enough here that it makes the book a viable one stop shop for beginners.
Before you rush out and buy this, though, there are few caveats.
One, the book does not cater to the home exerciser. Depending on how well stocked your home gym is and how creative you are with coming up with replacement exercises this might not be a big deal, but the exercises DO assume access to barbells, dumbbells, and a machine.
Two, some of the exercise descriptions are lacking detail or, in a few cases, plain wrong. The upright row, for instance, shows a form -- bringing your elbows way above parallel -- that most trainers and researchers caution against because it causes shoulder injury in many people. I would expect the world's most authoritative guide to at least mention this.
Three, the routines provided sometimes leave me scratching my head. They give a cadence for things like the push up hold. The description of this exercise says to "hold the position for the specified period of time" yet the actual routines don't specify a period of time. Am I supposed to hold for 3 seconds or 30 or 90? Who knows?
Four, the routines -- at least early on -- take far too long and seem more like overtraining than training. In "Phase One" King prescribes circuit training and by week three you're supposed to be doing this circuit 2-3 times per day, three days a week. I found that doing the circuit twice took me over an hour. Doing it a third time would have pushed me well over 90 minutes of exercise. Throw in warm up and post-work out stretching and you're looking at a solid two hours. This is for "beginners" and they're supposed to do it three times a week.
Later on in "Phase One" King piles even more work on that. Not only are you supposed to do each circuit 2-3 times, you're supposed to do 2-3 reps of each exercise. In week 6, if you do the minimum number of reps, the minimum number of sets, the minimum number of circuits, all with the minimum recommended resting the whole thing will take you 93 minutes. Do that three times a week. This is for "beginners".
While I like the workouts I think this kind of time commitment is more likely to lead to overtraining rather than useful gains. Admittedly later on it looks like King scales back the time requirements but you have to persevere through 8 weeks of workouts that are easily 90 minutes in length.
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Men's Health: The Book of Muscle : The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your BodyThe World's Most AUTHORITATIVE Guide to Building Your Body You probably know a lot about building muscle. You know which curl is the best for your biceps, you do every possible exercise for your abdominals, and your 20-set bench-press routine is the envy of everyone in the gym. So why haven't you gotten the results you want? This book has the answer. In fact, it probably answers every question you've ever asked about how your muscles work: What makes them grow? What makes them show? Why didn't that champion bodybuilder's routine work for you? But The Book of Muscle does more than just explain how your muscles work. It also gives you comprehensive muscle-building programs from a world-class trainer. Ian King has spent 2 decades as strength coach to world-champion and Olympic athletes. He is in wide demand as a lecturer on athletic preparation and physique development, and he is a popular contributor to Men's Health magazine and T-mag.com, the most popular bodybuilding Web site on the planet. Now, for the first time, he brings his extraordinary knowledge and unique muscle-building systems to a book meant for regular guys who like to work out and want to see better results than they've gotten from conventional programs. Here's what you get from The Book of Muscle that you can't get from any other book: Three complete 6-month, progressive workout programs created by Ian King to optimize muscle growth by juxtaposing opposing muscle actions Ian King's revolutionary training-age system to help you determine which program is right for you Complete abdominal training that ensures you'll not only get that coveted six-pack but also develop the muscles that prevent injuries and produce better performance on the field--any field Vital advice on warming up, stretching, and recovering between workouts The latest and best information on how you need to eat to make your muscles grow s20If you've never before bought a workout book, this should be your first. And if you've tried all the others, this is the one that finally delivers everything you have ever wanted to know but couldn't find in one place.
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