Bodybuilding books

[evil_e]

Also, I'd suggest (and you might be surprised) to get a subscription of Oxygen Magazine. It's a women's magazine, but the information contained there is far, far better than what you'd find in men's fitness and bodybuilding magazines.

I made the same observation, oftentimes articles/books written for women's bodybuilding/strength training are superior to those written for men. I wonder why that is.

[JudOWNED]

If you're looking specifically to train for Bodybuilding, Arnold's is a great book to understand th nuances of bodybuilding (tanning, oil, proper posing, the history, etc etc), although it may be a little dated compared to modern stuff, in which case you might look up Ronnie Coleman's book to get a more contemporary view.

I have Arnold's (updated) Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and it is very good. And, for the beginner it does have plenty of general strength training info and pictorial examples with descriptions of many, many lifts. If you are a beginner, or specifically interested in body building, you can't go wrong. Of course, I don't imagine you'd go wrong with Coleman's book, either, but I haven't seen it myself.

...the sad truth is without performance enhancers you will get stronger you will get bigger but you will never get as big or as strong as the guys in the mags and the books without the Juice.

Common sense truth. But I would add, that even without (illegal) performance enhancers, it's amazing the mass you can pack on with heavy lifting and a 6000 calorie a day diet! lol

[foxguitar]

I have Arnold's (updated) Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and it is very good. And, for the beginner it does have plenty of general strength training info and pictorial examples with descriptions of many, many lifts. If you are a beginner, or specifically interested in body building, you can't go wrong. Of course, I don't imagine you'd go wrong with Coleman's book, either, but I haven't seen it myself.


Common sense truth. But I would add, that even without (illegal) performance enhancers, it's amazing the mass you can pack on with heavy lifting and a 6000 calorie a day diet! lol

Very true , but you have to be realistic and realize while you will make nice gains and get bigger and stronger you will not look like your favorite IFBB pro bodybuilder.

If you keep your goals realistic then you will be happy.:happy7:

[TheRuss]

Bompa et al.'s "Serious Strength Training" seemed solid.

[Emevas]

I have Arnold's (updated) Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and it is very good. And, for the beginner it does have plenty of general strength training info and pictorial examples with descriptions of many, many lifts. If you are a beginner, or specifically interested in body building, you can't go wrong. Of course, I don't imagine you'd go wrong with Coleman's book, either, but I haven't seen it myself.

I didn't really like the routines in Arnie's book, even for the beginner. Felt like it was too much frequency and volume for the average, non-chemically assisted trainee to really progress. I'm a bigger fan of the abbreviated routines perpetuated for the beginner to build a base, like stuff Pavel, McRobert, Rippetoe, Wendler, etc etc suggest.

[foxguitar]

I didn't really like the routines in Arnie's book, even for the beginner. Felt like it was too much frequency and volume for the average, non-chemically assisted trainee to really progress. I'm a bigger fan of the abbreviated routines perpetuated for the beginner to build a base, like stuff Pavel, McRobert, Rippetoe, Wendler, etc etc suggest.

Like I said before in a earlier post , you will have to experiment to see what routines and sets/rep scheme works for you best. remember though your body adjusts quick so once you get some experience and start to get a good feel you will have to change routines every so often to shock the muscles to grow.

[Emevas]

I've never really felt a need to employ the "shock" principle for the sake of hypertrophy, but at the same time, I've never really been one for finishing routines, so I can't quite speak on that.

[foxguitar]

I've never really felt a need to employ the "shock" principle for the sake of hypertrophy, but at the same time, I've never really been one for finishing routines, so I can't quite speak on that.

Only you know whats going to work for you, Ive had training partnesrs who swore by certain routines we did them I hated em I got nothing out of it other times I got the mother of all pumps. Go figure. But generally your body will quickly adapt if yoy bring the same old same old to the gym. You dont have to radically change things for example Id switch off from starting off with Incline rather than flats or go to hammer strength instead of free weights.

I was up to 260 at one times but I have decided to cut back on my weight and my weights . I used to go heavy as **** with a max bench of 405 for one.

Now I go 225 wide grip 3 sets of 12 , It actually hurts more to train lighter with more reps and faster than it did to do more weight take alot more time between sets.

Important point find what works for you and dont forget your diet and cardio are just as important if not more so.

[Portillo]

Thanks for all the answers. 1 question about arnolds book, does it have every free weight and machine exercise imaginable?

[foxguitar]

Thanks for all the answers. 1 question about arnolds book, does it have every free weight and machine exercise imaginable?

Its a good book to start you off.

Do you plan on working out at a gym?

my advice as a beginner stick to free weights and do just the basic compound exercise

bench Press Shoulder press

Rows for the Lats. Squats

Skull crushers. Curls.

Train the bigger muscles first

Most trainers do something like

Chest/Back/ Legs/ shoulders/arms.


Good luck