Rating: 
Summary: This is the real deal
Review: I wish I had known about Beyond Brawn when I started working out over ten years ago. It would have saved me from endless hours of needless aggravation, injuries, and wasted money on supplements. I followed the conventional wisdom of the masses to the letter, and gave it my all at every workout, but my only reward was overtraining and injuries. McRobert details why the magazines and gyms promote improper routines, but more importantly, he outlines exactly how to build muscle mass, whether you are genetically gifted or only average, like me. If you are frustrated with your progress or are contemplating starting a weight program, buy this book! It will be the best thing you ever did for your health.
Rating:
Summary: the best book for anyone interested in lifting weights!
Review: For anyone interested in lifting weights this is a book that you MUST own. It covers pratically every topic that has to do with weight training, from nutrition to routine design to setting up your own home gym. Some of the other reviewers mentioned that the book doesn't present any research. That is a GOOD thing. The book tells you what YOU need to do to make YOUR routine effective (effective meaning progressively increasing the weights.) No amount of research can tell you that! This book really goes in depth about how to make routines that work for you!! Another reviewer mentioned that the book is repetitive, but it needs to be. So many of us have been brainwashed by mainstream exercise experts that we need to have the truth repeated over and over again. My last point is that the begining of the book states that you need to ready to reread and review the book. I found that this was completely true, I am constantly rereading sections that deal with whatever is going on in my training. This book is a weightlifting MASTERPIECE!
Rating:
Summary: The foundation of rational & productive training.
Review: Even though a certain Austrian juiced-up famous bodybuilder's book holds the title, Beyond Brawn should be known as the Bible of Bodybuilding and Weight Training. It is that good. Beyond Brawn is the foundation of all rational and productive training for any natural trainee. Before anybody starts training with weights, he should read this book. This book alone will cover all aspects of training more than thoroughly, even though it's not the only good HIT book out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but has no research to back it up
Review: I purchased this book based on the great reviews. When I started reading it I was impressed. The book is well put together (the book is one giant outline) and very detailed. However, as I continued I wondered where the research was to back up everything McRobert was saying. The book seems to be about his personal experience with weight training and how he would do it differently if he could do it again. That's great, but it purely annecdotal and can't be applied to the general weight training population. Another thing that took me back about the book was in the introduction. He basically warns you that this book is so detailed and deep that you'll have to read it a couple of times to get the full meaning. I found this judgement of his readers to be a bit insulting. I have yet to see a textbook with such a warning and there are much more difficult topics out there. All in all it was an interesting read. I can't say the program doesn't work or isn't worth trying, but given it's lack of research I would be incline to look elsewhere for a training program.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Before reading this book, I had trained fairly consistently with some reasonable gains. I then started to train with a friend who had read this book and was applying the principles in his training. Over 9 months, I gained at a incredible rate. I had to buy this book. I wasn't disappointed. The depth of information is incredible and its so honest, no magic formula or tricks, just sound advice which works. If you weight train or just thinking about it, buy this book, you will not find better!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Excellence
Review: I recently purchased a copy of McRobert's Beyond Brawn and was stunned. For years I have had an obsession with weightlifting and bodybuilding. Even with my supposedly exhaustive storehouse of knowledge on bodybuilding, I never made any substantial gains in muscle or strentgh. After reading Beyond Brawn I found out why. I don't want to ruin the book but it is sufficient to say that almost every iota of information about bodybuilding out there is false, misleading, and harmful to your health. I suggest you stop training altogethor right NOW, and then wait for your copy of Beyond Brawn to arrive before starting it again. You won't regret buying this book. The only negative thing I could say about this book is that the author is just a bit repetitive with some of his messages. Note that if you are on steroids that this book is against them and supports natural bodybuilding, powerlifting, and other forms of weightlifting.
Rating:
Summary: A Much Needed Book In the World Of Bodybuilding
Review: I am not going to write a long review. However, I would like to say that the contents of this book have greatly expanded my limited knowledge of bodybuilding and more importantly; helped me gain muscle mass! I use the super abreviated workouts twice a week and it seems to be working so far. I now realize that working out 3 times is way too much if you are using the proper intensity levels. The key is to work hard in proper form, rest a lot (more than you workout), eat properly and then grow like a weed! Kudos to Mr.McRobert for putting out a great book.
Rating:
Summary: No hype, No bull.
Review: Just look at any bodybuilding or fitness mags today and you can see the hype and bull that is thick throughout the industry. How often do you see "new" exercise equitment, techniques or technology pushed through late night tele ads? This book is not one of these items. If any of these "breakthroughs" actually work, why are there constantly new ones? Why, after a period of time, they simply disappear from where they came? Simple. They generate a large amount of hype around the merchandise using beutifual, energetic people who sell the product until those who have bought the item realise that it acutally doesn't work. If it did, they would recommened it to a friend and the item would keep on being sold. This books will stay. Most bodybuilders are up to their eyeballs in steroids. Lately, how much have you gained in muscle (or lost weight) using these fitness techniques. My bet - not much or they've injuired you. Personally, I have gained in the last 6 weeks over 10 kilos of muscle using the Master method advocated by the author. One of friends and my girlfriend are gaining just as well. This is no hype or no bull. It is sensible, common-sense training. And if you are like me, will shocked at the amount of bull that is spun around the fitness industry and how so many people are brainwashed by it. The author does sometimes overemphasis his points. But, I think, he is trying to get through the brainwashing of the industry and hammer it home. This sometimes does distract from the main points. But this books is a GEM of worthwhile information. Take control of YOUR own training, discover what works and why for YOU. This is what this books is about. If you follow the authors advice, actually work hard as described in the book, rest and eat properly you will get fit and stronger. No doubt. Don't be misled by the hype and bull.
Rating: 
Summary: It works, but....
Review: I've been following a routine in this book for three and a half weeks. My body weight is up 10 pounds; my arm size increased by an inch; my waist size remains the same. The weight increases also translated into stregnth increases. My TBDL increased 55 lbs, Dips increased 27 lbs, and chins increased by, well, only 4 reps. But I am repping with 10 extra pounds. Needless to say, there's a ton of good information in here. However, I can't give it five stars for the following reasons: 1) The author is too repetitive. 2) The author goes into unnecessary detail sometimes. 3) There's too much sermonizing against 'improper' ways of training. (I personally think this is a turn off.) Don't get me wrong. This is still a great book. My results speak for themselves. It's just not perfect. Bottom line. Highly recommended. One more thing. Contrary to popular opinion, the author does NOT recommend only training twice a week with no aerobics. To be more precise, the author doesn't ONLY recommend training twice a week with no aerobic exercise. What's so great about this book is its flexibility. It doesn't try to offer one solution to everyone. Depending on time and genetics, the author recommends training anywhere from once a week to three times a week. He also universally favors aerobics, both for fat loss and overall health and wellness.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't work for me
Review: I got into Hardgainer style training before i had tried other training methods. Unfortunately twice a week training with little or no aerobics and a heavy diet is going to make anyone genetically typical fat. I ended up looking worse than when i began - no muscle growth but a lot of fat. I recently began training every other day for longer periods on more exercises, using aerobics every day, quit drinking milk and have never looked better in my life. For those of you who are genetically superior twice a week training will be enough - for the rest of us to avoid getting fat i suggest more regular training.
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