Power

Rating:
Summary: Great book by 'Dr Squat', with a powerlifting approach.
Review: Another great book by 'Dr Squat', with a powerlifting approach. If you seek an understanding of how your muscles work and grow his books are a must. You do not have to have a Ph.D. to understand his writings. This book covers all types of training, with good and bad points, with solid information on the how and why. He is very well researched and experienced. This book is a must have for bodybuilders as well as powerlifters.NBAF 'best'.

Rating:
Summary: Considering the 1989 release...
Review: At the time this book was published, a lot of trainers didn't fully understand that there might be a better way to build strength than with what was really a bodybuilding routine. (NOW LET'S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT: The best way to BEGIN strength training is to do what -is- essentially a bodybulding program for a sound foundation of lean tissue.) I differ with Hatfield in a crucial regard: I believe that much of the value in his various methods is due to novelty,(in the end, the only thing that'll keep a trainee interested long eough to reach his next possible functional strength level), rather than any particular problem with other methods. Athletic strength training has come a long way since 1989, but that takes nothing away from one of the modern pioneers.

Rating:
Summary: For nearly everyone....
Review: Dr. Hatfield's book is fantastic. Although he goes into several topics at length, he then breaks them down into easier terms to understand. This book deals with a wide array of subjects, including: cycling (training periodization, not bicycling), nutritional advice, biochemistry information, and more. I highly recommend it. Even though it is at times lengthy, the overall amount of information presented within it is well worth the effort.

Rating:
Summary: This book is junk
Review: The [money] I spent on this book was a waste. The arthur used his reputation to peddle a inferior book on training. The book may work in middle schools, but one could easily find more in depth articles online and in journals. Very little is given in terms of theory or application and more emphasis is given to rudimentary biological processes. I find this book to be a complete waste of a few hours better spent elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad book ... but needs revision.
Review: This is not a book for beginners who need someone to tell them what to do to get bigger--NO. This is a book more about the HOW and the WHY rather than the what. For instance, it talks about what muscles really are (biologically at the celluar level), how cells produce energy in the first portion and then goes on to cover all the other aspects of training, but again the WHY and the HOWs in great detail. The approach of this book is the knowledge of the HOW and WHY will help you in designing your own training regimen--not a completely ridiculous idea. In fact, this is a good book to have in your library if you are already underway (training regularly for a few weeks) and somewhat bewildered with all the fake jock-jargon you hear in the gym.

ONE BIG DISADVANTAGE is that this book is OLD!! The author cites references from journals dated in the 1980s ... A lot of new research has been performed in exercise science and this book needs a serious REVISION. Nonetheless, the book covers many DIVERSE approaches in detail and tells you exactly what makes them different and why they work.

If you trained yourself, and then had to train a beginner you would be able to do it because of this book.