Rating: 
Summary: A great book for the serious student of the Iron Game.
Review: After checking out a few different things on Olympic style weightlifting, I found myself disapointed. I couldn't find any that went into enough detail. I'd even purchased a book that didn't describe some of the assistance lifts it proscribed as part of their workout regime.Arthur Dreschlers text has to be the most informative text on weightlifting I've seen. Everything seems so meticulously researched and well presented, it has to be seen to be believed. I don't have the luxury of living in an area where proper instruction is available in the Olympic lifts, but Mr. Dreschlers book will be an invaluble guide in my progress.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Book On The Subject - but...
Review: Given that there are so few books about Weightlifting and given Dreschler's exhaustive treatment on the subject in this book, based on his valuable personal experience, this is a must-have book for any weightlifter. This book is without peer. That said, Dreschler could have used a good editor. The book could have covered the same material minus a few hundred pages. In addition, the book is text-long and diagram-short. Essays can be a wonderful tool, but so much of weightlifting can be explained better with photos and diagrams. For example, there is no freeze-frame analysis of lifting technique. How better to correct technique problems than to display examples of proper and improper technique? In this case, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. That said, the reader should also purchase Dreschler's companion video or some other weightlifting video.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Great for a beginner or advanced lifter. Great for a coach trying to teach the lifts.
Rating:
Summary: The book is a great resource , far exceeding my ex
Review: I CAN NOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL PIECE OF WORK . THE MANY JEWELS OF INFORMATION HAVE HELPED TO SPICE UP MY WORKOUTS AN ALSO IMPROVE ON MY MEET TOTAL . I ACHIEVED A TOTAL AT THE 1998 AMERICAN OPEN , THAT I HAD NOT DONE IN TEN YEARS . I ATRIBUTE A LARGE PART OF THAT SUCCESS TO ATHUR DRESCHLER AND HIS PIECE OF WORK , THE WEIGHTLIFTING ENCYCLOPEDIA .I SINCERELY BELIEVE THAT THIS BOOK WOULD HELP ANY FOLLOWER OF THE WEIGHT GAME AND THAT IT SHOULD BE THE STANDARD TEXTBOOK OF ALL PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS !
Rating:
Summary: It is about time to have a Second Edition.
Review: It is about time for Mr. Drechsler to refine his encyclopedia in a newer edition. He must find ways of reducing the lengthy pages of text, without illustration or appropriate paragraph breaks, into less boring and modern style. His wealth of knowledge is greatly undermined by his extensive literal description of techniques and approaches, with skimpy illustrations. The book contents attest to the dedication and genuine desire of its author to enhance the sport of Weightlifting and to convey the best information the author could offer. The design of the book cover is poor where the title is pushed aside and reduced into a tiny unnoticeable scratch. A book with such wealth of knowledge deserves better cover design, better paragraph design, and attractive illustrations and quotations between transitions of thoughts in order to keep the reader interested and staying awake while reading.
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Summary: This is an incredible book - a gold mine of information!
Review: It is incredibly hard to get authoritative information on weightlifting. There are scores of books on how "bodybuilders" like Arnold Scharzenegger train to give their muscles that surreal appearence, but finding information on how the strongest athletes in the world train is almost impossible. This is because that information has been closely guarded by the Eastern European weightlifting powers, resides in the back issues of weightlifting magazines that are no longer published, or is available only in the little known hard core weightlifting gyms scattered sparsely around this country and the rest of the world. Drechsler has pulled together most of what is out there in this truly monumental book. From training, to technique, to selecting the right equipment, to creating a training program, to preparing for competiton, to preventing and dealing with injuries, to eating right, to addressing the special needs of women, young and more mature athletes - it's all here in this near 600 page/400,000 word work. The annotated bibliography and resource list alone are worth the price of the book. Despite his obvious expertise, the author guides you with simple and clear language through what can be an incredibly complex subject. He gives you the benefit of his experience and is clear about his preferences with regard to such areas as technique and training, but he presents a balanced view on each topic that gives each of the often warring factions in weightlifting theory their due. Whether you want to read this book from cover to cover or by randomly selected topics, the unbelievably extensive table of contents and index provide a solid guide. There is even an explanation of how the beginner can select 50 pages or so from the book and be well prepared for a trip to the gym. It seems like the author has thought of everything! We've need a source of weightlifting information for years and this book is certainly it. If authors of other how to books about other sports (or anything else) would take notice,! we'd all get better at what we need to do a lot faster. This book is a home run!
Rating:
Summary: The "Weightlifting Encyclopedia" is a powerful book!
Review: It was obvious from the minute I picked up this book, that it was written by someone who had a true love of the sport of weightlifting. As a competitve weightlifter and instructor at New York Unversity who specializes in the area of resistance training I have had the opportunity to reveiw literally hundreds of weight training texts. Mr Dreschler's book is by far the most complete weight training text on the market today. The book covers every component of weightlifting and is unprecedented in its detailed explanation of each olympic lift. The author also does an excellent job in breaking down each exercise and is able to convey difficult physiological and biomechanical concepts for everyone to understand. The book is quite extensive and is a true reference text for anyone interested in strength training. I can not wait for the video!
Rating:
Summary: No serious weightlifter should be without this one
Review: One thing that strikes me about Mr. Drechsler's book, in its enormous length and striking detail, is the author's passion for the sport of olympic weightlifting. However, rather than being an encyclopedia of weightlifting, its a record of all things that this man has learned about developing a stronger clean and jerk and snatch in his career as an athlete and a coach. To be sure, Mr. Drechsler has accumulated quite a bit of wisdom on this topic, but even more striking is how careful he is to avoid injecting his own opinion on different training methods, but rather gives various different and frequently contradictory views on training equal treatment. Because of the author's neutral attitude towards various training method, the book does little to guide an athlete on how to enhance his strength, but it will definitely broaden the knowledge even the most seasoned weightlifter on various aspects of training. Moreover, since no other volume in the English language presents such a thorough and unbiased presentation of methods for stimulating strength gains, I can't see any reason for any serious weightlifter, powerlifter, or bodybuilder not to familiarize himself with this text.
Rating:
Summary: Super Comprehensive
Review: Probably the best overall book on Olympic style weightlifting in existence right now. It truly is an "encyclopedia" regarding weightlifting. I read the whole thing, cover to cover and learned a lot. Its a bit dry...but then a book labeled as an "Encyclopedia" you would expect it would be. But if you are interested in serious weightlifting you will drive on and soak up the info in this book. My only real complaint with this book is that the author didnt cover the old "clean and press" lift that was eliminated from the olympics in the early seventies. This was THE classic "brute strength lift" and its sad this lift was eliminated. Many Olympic lifters blame the gradual demise of Olympic style lifting in the USA on the elimination of this pure strength lift. Eliminating the clean and press from the olympics led to a loss of interest in olympic style weightlifting in the USA and probably paved the way for powerlifting to take over. I feel that even though the clean and press is no longer an offical aspect of Olympic weightlifting, the author could have included a chapter or half a chapter on the old clean and press. As many guys are still doing this oldtime lift or just learning about it and introducing it into their routines. It covers the current OL lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk, extremely well Eric
Rating:
Summary: Super Comprehensive
Review: Probably the best overall book on Olympic style weightlifting in existence right now. It truly is an "encyclopedia" regarding weightlifting. I read the whole thing, cover to cover and learned a lot. Its a bit dry...but then a book labeled as an "Encyclopedia" you would expect it would be. But if you are interested in serious weightlifting you will drive on and soak up the info in this book. My only real complaint with this book is that the author didnt cover the old "clean and press" lift that was eliminated from the olympics in the early seventies. This was THE classic "brute strength lift" and its sad this lift was eliminated. Many Olympic lifters blame the gradual demise of Olympic style lifting in the USA on the elimination of this pure strength lift. Eliminating the clean and press from the olympics led to a loss of interest in olympic style weightlifting in the USA and probably paved the way for powerlifting to take over. I feel that even though the clean and press is no longer an offical aspect of Olympic weightlifting, the author could have included a chapter or half a chapter on the old clean and press. As many guys are still doing this oldtime lift or just learning about it and introducing it into their routines. It covers the current OL lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk, extremely well Eric
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