Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This is by far the best bodybuilding book for just about anyone. Some reviewers have pointed out that the routines lead to overtraining. However, the book continually emphasizes tailoring the routines and ideas to your own individual needs. It does not promote the use of drugs. Overtraining is a highly individual problem and actually serves a useful purpose for short periods of time. Most of the routines presented are not for the average hack bodybuilder. His introductory routines are for people in good shape with some experience. They are a goal in their own right. The book also serves the interests of beginners by providing great descriptions of the vast majority of bodybuilding exercises in existence. Remember that the exercises have to be properly performed. If not their value is greatly reduced. So to even utilize the routines one must master the exercises. I suspect that many will find that after building up to the routines they will not be overtraining. Be very careful about signing up for the hardgainer mentality too quickly. Also, the nutrition section is not that out of date. It just emphasizes the basics which is all most people really need anyhow.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest Bodybuilding book ever
Review: Not only does Arnold give you everything you could possibly want in a book on weightlifting, he makes it so interesting the 800 pages fly by like nothing. I have spent the past year and a half trying to gain mass and find it very easy after reading this book. He makes you realize why you workout and breaks working out to an artform. He gets you in touch with the history of bodybuilding and makes it very interesting. The nutrition section was fabulous and his intricate detail on how to work each muscle and explanations of exactly how to get every muscle to be sculpted exactly how you want is amazing. His posing section puts the competion in perfect perspective and he gives you every pro secret you could ever want.
Rating: 
Summary: For serious bodybuilders only
Review: Anyone that is really serious in becoming big should read this book. It is really long, but covers everything you need to know about the topic of getting big. The pictures are fabulous and inspirational for anyone shooting for that kind of physique. I recommend some smaller books for beginners because this is just too much for someone starting out to digest. However, you should definitely read something on weighttraining or hire a personal trainer before you hit the gym because it is very easy to injure yourself if you don't know what you are doing or even if you think you know, you probably don't.
Rating: 
Summary: Depends on what you are looking for
Review: This is a well written book, but is not for everyone. It depends on what you are looking for. It's well worth the price if 1) you are looking for a source of all possible exercises and how do them right. 2) want to learn about this history about the sports, and some great champs from 50's/60's/70's. the book is full of inspirational photos. However the nutrition section is dated, not a whole lot of info on preventing injuries. The workout plan that Arnold outlines is simply insane. You need to rest each body part a week, and not 1-2 days as Arnold says. It would work if you are on steroids.
Rating:
Summary: BUY IT NOW!!!
Review: DONT U HESITATE TO SPEND MONEY FOR THIS BOOK.
IT 'S THE BEST YOU CAN BUY FOR HELP IN MORE ADVANCED EXERCISES BUT NOT FOR ADVANCED NUTRITION.
ARNOLD CAN TELL YOU WHAT EXERCISE TO DO FOR SPECIFIC PARTS OF UR BODY AND REALLY WORK! ALL OF THE PERSONAL TRAINERS IN GYMS SHOULD KNOW THESES DETAILS ANALYSED IN THIS BOOK.
BUY IT NOW.
Rating:
Summary: A complete bodybuilding book - Must read
Review: This book is indeed an encyclopedia on bodybuilding that covers it all it covers: diet, nutrition, exercises, supplements and attitude.You won't go stale due to the huge variety of exercises that are fabulously illustrated by Arnold. Almost every exercise in existance is in this book.Even if your goal is just to us progressive weight resistance to tone up, this book is for you. It is the best, most comphrehensive weight training book on the market today. These are the techniques that made ARNOLD the greatest of his day, perhaps the greatest of all time.Perhaps the most overlooked factor to Arnold's success first as a bodybuilder, then businessman and finally as a actor, is his incredible attitude. Arnold talks about this in his book. Even the late Mike Mentzer, who was never fond of Arnold said that Arnold made it on sheer determination and will power alone and was not blessed with great genetics. This book may not turn you into a future Mr. Olympia but it will get you results faster than you ever thought possible.Two techniques that I picked up from Arnold in this book were keeing the thumbs down while doing side laterals and turning the little finger up and inward while doing incline dumbell curls. WOW-what a difference.Other techniques were supersetting chest and back, the right way to do bench presses and squats (for bodybuilders-I am a former powerlifter). The right grip on barbell curls and foot stance while doing squats.It's great to see Arnold has become the super success both in movies and as a contest promter just as he predicted he would back in 1976. What Arnold has done with the Mr. Olympia contest and Professional bodybuilding, boggles the imagination. So if you want the be st bodybuilding book available, read and use Arnold's Encyclopedia.I also recommend Bill Pearls Keys to the Inner Universe and Building the Classic Physique by the late, great Steve Reeves.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, to-the-point, accurate and practical info
Review: This is my 1st purchase on bodybuilding. and i must admit that its very interesting and practical. I started weight training about a month back using the programs from Kurt's "Essential Chest and Shoulders" series. This encyclopedia gave me accurate info on my training program and made me able to design my own weight training program within the shortest possible time. Its very inspiring and an excellent resource for all the fitness lovers. This book is COMPLETE CONFIDENCE but there is no replacement for your dedication and determination to achieve the physique that you wished for. Friends, the formula to success is: STRONG DETERMINATION + DECIPLINE + THIS GREAT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Resource For bodybuilding Enthusiasts!
Review: This is, as one would expect, an excellent resource for anyone interested in pursuing progressive weight training as a pastime. Given the fact that Arnie has decades of personal experience and a wealth of knowledge on most aspects of the sport, who is better situated to write a comprehensive treatise of the sort offered here than Mr. Schwarzenegger? Included here is everything either a neophyte or even more experienced bodybuilder might need to engage himself fruitfully in the science of the sport.
I might also mention that for those of us who have spent the better part of our lifetimes working out, it is quite interesting when non-bodybuilders sometimes make commentary in passing regarding aspects of the sport they either poorly understand or about which they are totally clueless. So imagine my surprise when the editor for this item remarks that some of what Schwarzenegger says regarding bodybuilding advice is "lore" rather than science, such as expanding the ribcage or developing the inner or outer chest. Were he more knowledgeable about the sport, he would recognize that one can in fact successfully stretch the ligament, cartilage, and connective tissue to allow the klings to expand, and thereby expand the area through progressive exercise. Also, references made to the inner and outer aspects of the chest area actually refer to that area or aspect of the pectoralis major muscle group, which have several aspects, and to the surrounding muscle tissue and fascia. And these certainly can be improved and made much larger through progressive weight training. One look at someone like Mike Katz in his prime can show how well both the ribcage and the pectoral muscles can be encouraged to enlarge. So, contrary to what literary types might believe, it is not impossible to expand one's rib cage, especially for younger enthusiasts who are still in their adolescence, And while it may be difficult for older bodybuilders to do so, gains in chest expansion can be gained with persistence. At any rate, this is a terrific resource for anyone looking for good, solid advice regarding the essentials of progressive weight training. Schwarzenegger has updated and improved this book from the original, and has included a number of additional exercise, nutritional, and physiological aspects so that it is even more comprehensive than before. I can highly recommend the book, and know that anyone using it will have good, solid advice to follow in his or her physical training pursuits. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book! Lots of illustrations, and motivating.
Review: What an excellent book. This is probably the best book on body building that one can buy. It covers history of body building in the beginning, which is neat, confirming that it's an enclyclopedia. It has plenty of illustartions and information on techniques for weight lifting, it shows techniques and different exercises for each muscle group or muscle. It has info on gyms, equip., diet, nutrition, injuries, etc. It has pictures of top body builders as well. Reading this book will not only certainly educate you, but it will also motivate you. Every time I open it and dwelve into it, i feel like pumping weights, and sure enough hours later or the next day, I'm at the gym trying new exercises. It's like five books in one. Competition is talked about too. Arnold also gives pre set training programs for ones who cannot decide what muscles they wanna train on the same day. It's just an excellent choice.
Rating:
Summary: Review for Encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding
Review: Im using this book for two years and it is certainly worth
its moneys worth.It has enormus informations on exerscies and
diet.Arnolds method is hard,but it works.Hi achieved 120
kilograms when hi was stil in Austria and Germany,and steroids
were not so widespread then (35 years ago a black and white tv was rarity in his vilage,let alone advanced steroids and suplemments known today) as are today in America.What hi did have
was hard work and iron will,which so many so named "bodybuilders"
dont have.Those who train without breaking a sweat will not gain
any muscle no matter what they read,eat or train.
If you are a hardganer,split his 6 day routine on 3 days.
And work hard,really hard!You maybe think that just beacuse
you lift 30 kg for 3 times you worked hard,but think of work lumberyacks,miners and others do and you will know what back-braking work is.And they dont take steroids and supllements.
Today to many think that all this new stuff is a garantie of succes,but people gained muscles when there was no such things
as steroids.My point-Book is great,but it alone will not give
you muscles,hard work will.
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