Rating: 
Summary: Good book
Review: It was a very good book with workout routines and everything. However i did have a problem with the nutrition with the constant protein shakes and a very limited selection of food. But it is a very good book for a beginer and would recomend it as a starting place.
Rating: 
Summary: Sculpting in the medieval ages
Review: This book is an addition to the list of vanity literature on physical training. Although the two authors are college graduates, they seem to have written this book while waiting in a drive-thru of a fast food place. Both authors are engineers yet were too lazy to consult references or visit a library before rushing to publishing. I admit that the two are clean-cut and nice guys and many of their advices are holistic and revealing of good nature. These are the good things in their work.
1- they do not claim that you could eat any thing you want even if you exercise.
2- they convey their good tip of "zone-and-tone" which translates to focusing while working out and isolating the muscle under consideration. This is an invaluable tip to people who do not understand anatomical details of the human body.
3- they do not recommend drugs or exotic supplementation.
4- the most important thing is their belief in free weight training and minimum machine usage. That is because they are engineers and could understand better the value of three-dimensional motion.
The pitfalls of the book are plenty. These are:
1- The authors improvise data and insert fallacies without attempting to verify their accuracy. They made the same mistake others have made, by assuming that alcohol is fattening since it contains seven calories per gram. I do not think they even know the difference between calorie and Calorie, with capital "c". Pure granulized sugar has 4 Calories per gram. If water is added to sugar, then the caloric content must be diluted.
2- They screw up physiological interpretation of exercise.
a- For example, they claim that Growth Hormone is maximal in the morning and that is why morning training is more effective. The truth is that growth hormone is released in bursts during sleep and maximal intensity exercise.
b- They claim that exercising more than an hour causes testosterone to decline and cortisol to increase thus causes muscle waste and fat increase. That is really "wacko". Farmers and laborers work out for longer hours and develop large muscle mass.
c- They contend that the 14-day period is the amount of time required to learn a new habit. This has no basis in science.
d- They explain that exercise enhances muscle growth by changing hormonal environment. They do not approach the real mechanism of building muscle mass or changing cellular elements.
e- They explain that since force is the product of mass by acceleration, therefore fast lifting activates more muscle fibers to get strong. That is very simplistic. Fast lifting requires fast twitching muscles while slow lifting requires slow twitchers. The slower the lifting, the more the isometric strain on the muscle, and the faster the muscle growth.
f- The authors explain that progressive training means either increasing the number of reps or the weight. Their rep recommendation is between 8 and 15 per set. The high number of sets enhances endurance not strength.
3- The book print sounds like typewriter's style and the photographs are lousy in quality and technical presentation. Many pictures show untidy guys wearing sloppy outfit with a hat worn backward while exercising. There is no pride in their discipline of training.
4- The exercises they describe start with leg squat, leg lounges and the deadlift is performed with dumbbells. That is medieval approach to strengthening. It is very clear from their list of exercises that they only changed the person in the photographs from those published in other vanity books. There is no logical structure in their sequence of exercising that indicates their familiarity with the musculoskeletal performance. All exercises in the book are described under two items: alignment and technique. The purpose or goal of exercises is not discussed neither are the muscles involved.
5- the book title "The Body Sculpting Bible for Men" is inaccurate and deceptive. There is nothing in the book particular to men alone. Women do the same or better in all these exercises even with heavier barbells, not only dumbbells. The book is hardly a bible. It is neither extensive nor inclusive.
Rating:
Summary: It worked for my husband....
Review: I bought this book for my husband who was frustrated with the yo-yo dieting and work-outs that weren't helping him tranform his body. He was slightly overweight and stuck in a rut. With the help of this book, he lost 22 pounds in 6 mths. and has kept it off for 2 years. He's tranformed his chubby frame into a leaner more muscular one. This book is not a diet, but a lifestyle make-over - that's why it works. I gave it 4 stars because the layout of the book could be a little better and there should be more food choices and sample recipes. It really works!
Rating: 
Summary: It Works
Review: I skipped the Break-In routine, and jumped to the Basic right away. I finished the Advanced Workout tonight. These are routines in the back of the book that really work.
I stayed in the Basic Workout for 4 weeks. I went to the gym 6 days a week, and then in the Advanced, I started going only 5 days a week. I noticed changes right away, and the smallest increments motivated me even more. I recommend having a workout buddy who is as enthusiastic about working out too. Otherwise, it's really difficult.
In just about 2 weeks, I noticed I looked much better. The differences are phenomenal. When I first started, I felt tight giving me the indication that I grew after that workout. Now, I feel tight only a few minutes after the workout, and it seems that I don't hypertrophe anymore. I deflate again real fast. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was swolen for two days after.
I'm going into the Body Sculpting Mass routine tomorrow, and upping the weight much much higher. Hopefully, I get bigger again.
The book is great because it gives the how's and the why's of working out, and my results are the clearest indication of my progress. Check out my pics at my site at haloflightleader dot net / ~pong / 02262005.
Rating:
Summary: "Finally"
Review: Finally it all makes since to me. I finaly found the information that put me on the road what I was looking for. I have worked out for years and really did not get a whole lot of results. I knew I was missing something, because I had been in the same gym for some time and I was seeing other people get results, but I really wasn't getting what I wanted. I would chat with others from time to time about what they were doing and I would only get bits and pieces , and it seemed it was almost like top secret infomation. I knew these people were doing something right, but I just didn't know. I would see these people eating a piece of fruit just as they would walk out the door of the gym , and I would see them mixing up a shake at the water fountain. I thought I would go to my local GNC and see what kind of stuff I need to get me where I want. I walk in to a mass of more confusion, there were more things to take and I did not know what they did. I walked out with nothing. I went to look for a book so that I could get educated on this stuff, and I looked at several books and a lot that I looked at appeared to go into too much "GREEK" detail. I came across the Body Sculpting Bible for Men, and I went for it, and read it, and it gave me everything I needed to know to get me where I wanted. THe inforamtion was plain and simple and easy to understand, and I could finally see how proper diet and exercise
can get you the result. The part that I was missing all those years was the diet part. I was not overweight at all I just wasn't getting the muscles to build. I have learned now that body building is a symphonic syphony of proper nutrition and exercise. If you do just as the book says , you will get the results. I was so impressed with the results , that I was telling others about this book as if it were the gospel. It is great for those searching for what they are missing in their body sculpting goals. Thanks, Blane
Rating:
Summary: MUST HAVE BOOK!!!!!!!!
Review: A friend of mine lent me this book and I couldn't put it down! I just HAD to buy a copy for myself. And that's what I did. Once I received MY copy, I read it over and over. At east 3 times now. It's very informative and is packed with useful tools and ideas. Everything you need to know is in this book! I would DEFINATELY recommend this book to any one interested in weight training.
Rating: 
Summary: Narrow audience, poor editing
Review: The word "Bible" should be reserved for truly ambitious, encyclopedic types of books. But the authors of this book have only a specific audience in mind and a single, specific workout method to offer (with variations). Though their plan may be excellent for their target audience (and for those who have access to the right equipment), it is hardly comprehensive. This is all to be expected from a normal workout manual -- but not from a "Bible".
For starters, do not buy this edition of the book if you are an ectomorph (skinny). The authors clearly show their bias in the introduction: "I can remember when I was 14 years old...very heavy and very depressed." The entire book is written from that perspective. The Appendix *does* include a "14-Day Mass Workout", but one must rely on divine insight to figure out that it will help ectomorphs to bulk up. You will find nothing but an obscure cross-reference to this workout in the main text. In fact, the authors claim on Page 48 that the book contains only "three different workouts": the Break-in, 14-Day Body Sculpting, and Advanced 14-Day Body Sculpting. What about the "Mass Workout"? It seems as if it was added to the appendix because the editors noted that ectomorphs had been ignored.
A further problem with this book involves the way the authors overlapped the different routines. Who should do the Break-in routine #1 versus #2? Who should do the 14-Day #1 versus #2? I vaguely remember this being explained somewhere in the text (which I read) but where? I can't find it without reading the entire book over again. A page-reference and a phrase should be included on the charts in the Appendix to remind readers which workout is for them. While this may not stop a determined reader, it will certainly frustrate him.
Finally, I appreciate the authors' enthusiasm, but it often seems disingenuous. Phrases like "blow your mind", "into the stratosphere", "soon to be amazing...life" are the stuff, not of "Bibles", but of quackery. I don't believe that these authors are quacks, but they certainly need an editor who will do more to keep their occasional bravado and personal editorializing below the "stratosphere".
I am willing to give their method a try; it seems sound. I only hope that the book can be improved for later editions.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book with Free Personal Advice from Authors
Review: I got this book 10 weeks ago as it was highly recommended by a trainer in my gym. I just wanted to lose those last 10 lbs that seemed to stick in the stomach area no matter what. In any case, 10 weeks later not only did I lost the baggage but also increased my energy levels, strength and muscle tone significantly while drastically cutting my time in the gym.The book was not only very informative as its 300 pages cover everything from myths, mind-set, training, nutrition, rest, supplements, and exercise descriptions, but much to my surprise I was able to easily get in touch with one of the authors (Hugo Rivera) by e-mail through his site www.hrfit.net. The fact that I got a reply within a week from one of the authors tells me the level of attention and care that they have towards their customers. I feel that the personal attention that I received was instrumental to my transformation as it was very comforting to hear from one of the authors themselves the reasons why my program prior to this one was failing. So if you want to get a book where not only you will learn a ton about fitness but also get personalized e-mail attention this is the book for you. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their looks, health and life. PS: Regarding the two similar e-mails on the Spotlight review section, something that I also found to be odd at first before posting my review, if you take a look at chefgrad's Sept 4, 2003 post, he does state that he is re-posting a previous opinion by saying "I read this post somewhere and couldn't think of a better way to say it... So I'll repost it here!". Also, if you click on chefgrad, he has at least another review on a different book which indicates that he is a real person. With the volume of e-mails and sales that the authors probably get, I doubt they have the time or need to be posting fake reviews on their work.
Rating: 
Summary: Self marketing????
Review: How amazing that the top two 5 star reviews that INCREDIBLY helped so many fine folks, are exactly the same review from the words "I'm currently doing the 14-Day Body Sculpting ..."! Check it out...
The best a man can get..., February 19, 2002
Reviewer: timothyigobran from Cambridge, Mass ultimate in men's fitness, September 4, 2003
Reviewer: chefgrad (see more about me) from Toronto, Ontario Canada I think that you should save your money & purchase from an author who doesn't self promote, & doesn't think that future readers are morons & won't notice those posts. Who knows, maybe the whole book is plagerized.
Rating:
Summary: It Makes Sense!
Review: I would definitely recommend this book! As someone who has struggled with weight in the past, and now is some what obessed with reading and searching for new information on health and fitness... I found this book finally made sense! It "clicked". If you are looking for a solution to control fat and build muscle... The Bodysculpting Bible for Men will work. It's clear, concise, and provides all the necessary building blocks to get you on the right track.
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