Men's Health: The Book of Muscle--The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body
by Lou Schuler, Ian King
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ian King, Lou SchulerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-10-17
ISBN: 1579547699
Number of pages: 364
Publisher: Rodale Books
Accessories:
- Clif Bar Energy Bars, Crunchy Peanut Butter, 2.4-Ounce Bars (Pack of 12)
- Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor
- Tanita BC554 Ironman Glass InnerScan Body Composition Monitor Elite Series
- Soldier Fuel Energy Bars, Real Chocolate, 2.29-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15).
Book Reviews of Men's Health: The Book of Muscle--The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body
Book Review: excellent training guide for a normal guy who's been training for 20 years
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this book after learning about Ian King from a reference in Tom Venuto's BFFM ebook. All I was looking for was a new way to split up my workouts.
Background
1. I have been working out for more than 20 years and have read and tried many programs including high volume and low volume workouts.
2. I've followed a 3-6x week lifting regimen. Since turning 40, I settled into 4 days lifting and 3 cardio. My results have always been mediocre. I was following the BodyRX program. After an initial 10 lb weight loss, I actually never lost another pound and ;earned I was eating far too much (thanks BFFM).
3. Mostly I focused on big muscle exercises using machines: Leg Press, Chest Press, Pulldowns, Rows and then supplemented with extensions, curls etc. I have not deadlifted or squatted for over 15 years because it made my back sore and didn't allow me to "focus" on the muscles being worked.
Results:
I started with the Intermediate program because the advanced program had so many strange exercises and rep schemes I hadn't done before. I am now in the 10th week of the program. I workout MWF. I do 30-40 minutes of bike riding 6 days a week because I want to lose 25 lbs. It's my warmup and lifting days and my cardio on off days. I do yoga at home on cardio days for my stretching- otherwise my lifting workouts would be too long.
1. I stopped using wrist straps when I started BOM. For the past 20 years I used them for all of my back exercises because my grip always gave out before my lats did. My forearms are stronger and more muscular than ever. I figured by this time I would always have a weak grip and small forearms. That appears to be untrue. My back seems to not have suffered at all although sometimes my grip gives out at the end of a set.
2. My calves have muscle in places they hadn't before even though I train them less than I did before. I know it is because of squatting because I felt a pain in the same area that muscle subsequently developed.
3. My abs, which I thought were strong, were not. They are getting stronger. I work them 3x weekly vs. my old 1x weekly.
4. My lower back has not been sore from squatting or deadlifting. In fact, I've grown to love these two exercises because they make me feel like I've really worked out instead of my old "going through the motions" workouts.
Am I stronger? Yes.
Am I leaner- surprisingly yes. I credit this to BFFM food tracking, eating less calories and doing more cardio.
Am I more muscular? Certainly in my glutes, quads, calves and forearms. I am hoping to see similar gains in my chest, backs and arms in the coming stages.
This program changes every 3 weeks. By the time I am familiar with the exercise and start to add serious weight, it's time to start a new stage.
This has kept me mentally invigorated and seems to be working.
Go figure- a book from Men's Health and a 3x weekly workout has re-charged this 41 year old guy who just wanted to lose 20 lbs, have bigger biceps and learn a new split.
I also bought "Get Buffed" from Ian King. That's the predecessor to this book. I tried creating a 4 day workout plan from it, but got overwhelmed with the new info and decided to try BOM first. I am glad I did.
Book Review-
The detailed exercise instructions and pictures help a lot, especially for some of the odd exercises like King Deadlifts and 1 leg squats. Also Deadlift and Squats were well detailed. I needed this because I had never done them correctly before.
The exercise physiology and the conclusions drawn from limited studies (very Men's Health like) didn't add much value for me.
I wish the workouts referenced the page the exercises were on. I have to flip through pages a lot when creating my new routine.
I also wish there were templates available for the workout tracker. I create my own in Numbers (or excel). But it would be easier if they were downloadable.
I highly recommend reading this book and trying the workouts if you are not getting the results you want.
More Men's Health: The Book of Muscle--The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body reviews:
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Summary of Men's Health: The Book of Muscle--The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body
Exercise ain't easy. The body is a complicated machine, with 650 muscles and 250 million individual muscle fibers. Some would say taming those fibers and building strong, healthy muscles is not an act of labor. Some would say it's an art. Here's a book worthy of that art. The Men's Health Book of Muscle is the big, lavishly illustrated, full-color coffee table book that only Men's Health could produce-one that doubles as the ultimate guide to building a better body. The goal of The Book of Muscle is simple: create a beautiful, artistic guide to the body that also helps guys build great physiques by showing in detail how muscles work and how that knowledge can be put to use. Inside, you'll find lush anatomical illustrations and photographs of a quality that no other book on fitness can match. You'll also find complex biological information, boiled down to language any guy can understand, and three 6-month workout programs, one each for beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifters. It's big muscles, big benefit, and beautiful all at the same time. It's the book you've always wanted from the guys at Men's Health, the fitness experts you trust.You might think that the subtitle, "The World's Most Authoritative Guide to Building Your Body," is hyperbole, but The Book of Muscle from Men's Health delivers as promised. Australian strength coach and former powerlifting champion Ian King and Men's Health fitness director Lou Schuler cover everything you want to know about your muscles and what makes them grow, complete with dietary recommendations, exercises for every muscle group, and exercise routines. Each muscle group is illustrated and discussed, with 149 pages of clearly described, well-photographed exercises using a variety of equipment. A section on workout routines helps you put together your own program, from beginner to advanced.
Schuler's guy-talk style makes the book enjoyable to read, even on days when you have no intention of going to the gym. The artistic drawings of muscle groups, full-color photographs of beginning and ending positions of every exercise, and stunning close-ups of buffed body parts make The Book of Muscle is as beautiful as it is practical and motivating, an exceptional gift for the fitness guy in your life, and well worth the price. Highly recommended for men wanting to get in shape or stay there. --Joan Price
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