Rating: 
Summary: Great Workouts Make Great Gains
Review: I have had this book for about 9 months now. I recently completed the intermediate program and made great gains. I followed the nutritional advice given in the book and gained 20 pounds. 20 Pounds may not sound like much, but it is a total body transformation when you go from 169 to 190...and it is all muscle.
The workouts are designed in such a way that you stress your muscles very hard and then have ample recovery time to get bigger and stronger.
I ran a marathon and a week after finishing it I started this book. So I basically started from scratch.
Starting I could bench press 40 pound dumbbells for a max 8 reps. After the six month intermediate workout I lifted 80s for 8 reps.
Shoulder press went from 65lbs barbell press for 5 reps to 120lbs for 5 reps.
Squat was the biggest improvement. Started at 65 for 10 reps. Finished at 185 for 10 reps.
The best exercise there is in my opinion I never knew about before this book. It is the DEADLIFT. The deadlift made me bigger and stronger overall than anyother exercise. And it focuses on a common weakness for most people, the LOWER BACK.
Deadlift start was 65 for 5 reps. Finish at 225 for 5 reps.
The key to this book is that it takes you through a cycling approach. By taking you through stages with varying sets, reps, and exercises, you muscles are always in a state of shock and always responsive to the workouts.
I am doing the intermediate workout again. After I complete it a second time I will advance to the advanced workout. You will never need another book for fitness. This is the best book I have EVER read and APPLIED for an extended period of time. The authors have done a wonderful job with writing. Again, the workouts are great and because of the cycling approach the author takes with the workouts, you can continure to do them and never have to switch to another program.
I got very good results from following this book exactly as the authors prescribed. I am continuing to make gains in strength and size by following this book. Ian King and Lou Schuler have put out what I consider the best book ever on the topic of getting strong and gaining size. The bottom line is that you WILL get injury-free results if you follow this book.
Rating:
Summary: BOOK=results
Review: I have purchased probably 50 or more workout books as well as magazines of all kinds. As I am a natural bodybuilder I was hesitant on buying this book as I thought it was more fitness orientated. After trying out and formulating literally hundreds of routines this one truly hits the jackpot! It's principles are simple: -eat enough to make sure you gain 1/2 kilo a week and eat according to a few principles that maximise the bodies natural hormone output. I've tried every supplement under the sun and I tell you the natural hormonal effects that I got from this far outweigh the synthetic stuff! No more complicated supplement cycles, just food and if I want some protein powder. The method of taining is simple, use the absolute best scientific way to build muscle and burn fat and you will get the desired result. How far you go is up to genetics. So far I have gained around 2 or so kg while leaning up in just two days of training. A must for any serious lifter or just anyone who wants a good body!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome and Jam packed
Review: I have read this book from cover to cover and I'm amazed at the sheer content and concise format in which it was presented. It reads easy so that even a novice can understand the terminology and the advanced lifter will even gain valuable information. The workouts are simply some of the best that I've ever done in my 15 years of lifting experience, and I haven't come across even one yet that can't be completed in an hour or less. Not only does the book layout fantastic workouts, but it gives the reader a plethora of outstanding exercise examples with progressive pictorals in many cases. I am now armed with some of the best information available out there regarding lifting AND nutrition. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's serious about gaining strength, mass or just plain wanting to look good on the beach this summer. Your lifting library should NOT be devoid of The Book Of Muscle!
Rating:
Summary: Apparent results, detailed instructions
Review: I really loved this book, I've been using it for 6 weeks now, my arms are much bigger and my stomach is becoming defined. The first 6 weeks are the longest workouts, having workouts as long as 75 minutes at the end. Usually it is set up so week 1 is one set, week 2 of the routine is 1 or 2 sets, adn week 3 is 2 or 3 sets. My personal recomendation is week 1 1 set, week2 2 sets, and week3 stay on 2 sets. 3 sets is really overkill and way too much time, 2 sets of 12 excercizes still allows your muscles to be completely worn down. I really think this book is exceptionally effective. I recomend it to everyone
ben grant
p.s. you need to use this in a gym with a fair amount of free weigths and some machines, pretty nice gym needed
Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a book for the masses!
Review: I was always apprehensive about purchasing a workout book, as many of them seemed to hardcore or too perplexing to me. Sure, I love to work out but most books appeared to be geared towards the hardcore bodybuilder or the aggressive gym rat. Like the majority of guys, I mainly work out to get an attractive body & to feel better about myself. If you're one of those guys, this book is for you!Ian King & Lou Schuler certainly know what they're talking about with decades of experience, and it clearly shows! The material in the book is comprehensive but not bewildering, and presented in an easy to read manner. The authors cover material ranging from the basics of how muscles work to specially designed workout programs. Oh, and before I forget, there are about 100 exercises that are covered, with lovely little variations to each exercise displayed (e.g. changing the grip etc). This is a very enjoyable and rewarding book, especially for someone who wants to enhance their routine with a simple, straightforward, yet powerful manual. Presentation of the book is top notch, with excellent photography. My only gripe would be its unavailability in Australia, so if you live here, Amazon.com is the only way to get it. All in all, well done Men's Health!
Rating: 
Summary: TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME
Review: I was unimpressed by every aspect of this book. The writing's sloppy, the information is basic and (where it stretches) suspect, the photography is so so '70s, the design non-existent. Buy a set of dumbbells instead of this book. It's an infinitely better investment.
Rating:
Summary: best book weightlifting book in ages
Review: I write this after finishing stage 3 of the beginner program. I don't care what anyone says about he book, the rouine, the exercises. Whatever. This is THE BEST book on building muscle I have ever found. PERIOD.
I have searched high and low for a book to be as complete as Book of Muscle. I searched all the shelves and found nothing but regurgitated materials or 20 year-old routine in most, if not all other fitness books. Book of Muscle is up to date with very unique approach to building muscle.
The reader has everything from explanation of how muscles work, build, react to weightlifting to a full 18 month program. The best part the program is written by Ian King. One of the best strength coaches in the world. Why haven't we heard about him before? Perhaps because he works with world-class athletes more than he does regular folks. He has 20 years of experience. I am sure he has much more as a strength athlete and as an all around athlete. There are trainers that go to him to get trained to be trainers. The man knows his stuff. PERIOD.
The majority of the text is written by award winning fitness journalist Lou Schuler, of Men's Health fame. The man is a gifted writer. He somehow manages to take complicated physiology, kinesology and makes into plain english for everyone else to understand.
As for my results. I dropped 30lbs since I started the book, and my strength went up. I hate doing cardio. The circuit training took care of that. I don't know what anyone else talking about, but my circuit training took about 1.5 hours at most. This book is not meant for home gym. Try Home Grown Muscle for that.
If you are looking for a very challenging, scientifically based program with a healthy dose of physiology in plain english, then this is it. I cannot praise this book enough. Schuler and King really out did themselves. THIS BOOK THE BEST THERE EVER WAS. PERIOD.
Rating:
Summary: TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent first book
Review: 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, while the provided exercise regimen is very good it can occasionally require more time than you'd like. Right off the bat King prescribes a circuit routine to break you in. Each circuit takes will take 25-30 minutes, and that's with spending almost no time waiting for equipment or setting it up. In Week 3 he says "perform two or three circuits". Then you throw in the 10 minute minimum warmup and the 10 minute minimum stretching that is also recommended. With three circuits that's 1 hour 40 minutes bare minimum. And that's not counting time spent changing or showering. You can only do 2 circuits and shave half an hour off. And not all weeks require that much time. Just be aware going in that this training programs prescribed require a certain amount of dedication. If you can't or won't muster up the time and focus King's programs require then much of the worth of this book will be lost on you and you should probably look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: It's a great text. It is the best workout program I have ever been involved with, period. My one problem with the book is I felt more should have been spent on nutritional information. However, as a workout manual, and also as a nice illustration of anatomy, this book can't be beat. I highly recommend it to anyone who desires an innovative, effective, and challenging workout. Also, it is a beautiful book...the pictures and diagrams make it an excellent reference after your 6 month(s) of workouts are over.
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