Rating: 
Summary: Good book! Excellent exercise pictures!...
Review: There are plenty of exercise pictures (start-finish position).
There are a lot of ready weight training programs for different sports! But there are only a few information about weight training science!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great collection of exercises, narrow focus
Review: This book contains very extensive collection of exercises depicted in simple, hand-drawn diagrammatic format. The author's experience is well portrayed in the form of consistent reasoning of building physical strength, avoiding injuries, and coping with adaptation to training.The so many exercises listed in this book are described in very simple manner without detailed explanation of their anatomical or functional benefits. Thus, you have groups of exercises for the back, thighs, triceps, etc without any distinguishing criteria on which exercise should be chosen for a specific goal. The author only describes few levels of fitness (beginner, medium, and advanced) and assigns certain exercises to certain levels without explaining his disposition. The author randomly assigns exercise routines to blue-color workers, white-color workers, swimmers, boxers, wrestlers, ...etc without any compelling reasoning other than his unquestionable self-confidence. When you see an author with huge arms and shoulders that exceed the size of his thighs (see the front cover photo) you wonder if Mr. Pearl realizes the danger of developing unbalanced musculoskeletal frame. How would his knees fare in lifting such disproportionately heavy upper body with disproportionately weak thighs? I would not trust Mr. Pearl to plan long-term training strategy other than merely "getting stronger" which might mean becoming unbalanced, stiff-jointed, and chair-bound. All exercises in this book will help building muscular strength. However, they devoid of any full range floor-to-overhead lifting. The only floor-to-upright lifting is the deadlift and shoulder shrugs. The front squat exercises are faulty in the way the arms cross the chest to lie on opposite shoulders. The proper technique is to enhance wrist and shoulder range-of-motion without crisscrossing the forearms during front squat.
Rating:
Summary: Great collection of exercises, narrow focus
Review: This book contains very extensive collection of exercises depicted in simple, hand-drawn diagrammatic format. The author's experience is well portrayed in the form of consistent reasoning of building physical strength, avoiding injuries, and coping with adaptation to training. The so many exercises listed in this book are described in very simple manner without detailed explanation of their anatomical or functional benefits. Thus, you have groups of exercises for the back, thighs, triceps, etc without any distinguishing criteria on which exercise should be chosen for a specific goal. The author only describes few levels of fitness (beginner, medium, and advanced) and assigns certain exercises to certain levels without explaining his disposition. The author randomly assigns exercise routines to blue-color workers, white-color workers, swimmers, boxers, wrestlers, ...etc without any compelling reasoning other than his unquestionable self-confidence. When you see an author with huge arms and shoulders that exceed the size of his thighs (see the front cover photo) you wonder if Mr. Pearl realizes the danger of developing unbalanced musculoskeletal frame. How would his knees fare in lifting such disproportionately heavy upper body with disproportionately weak thighs? I would not trust Mr. Pearl to plan long-term training strategy other than merely "getting stronger" which might mean becoming unbalanced, stiff-jointed, and chair-bound. All exercises in this book will help building muscular strength. However, they devoid of any full range floor-to-overhead lifting. The only floor-to-upright lifting is the deadlift and shoulder shrugs. The front squat exercises are faulty in the way the arms cross the chest to lie on opposite shoulders. The proper technique is to enhance wrist and shoulder range-of-motion without crisscrossing the forearms during front squat.
Rating: 
Summary: great reference
Review: This book gives you 600 ways to work out. Only have dumbells? No problem. Prefer Nautilus? No problem. Just want to stay in shape? No problem. This book is full of tons of exercises for all kinds of equipment and all kinds of people. Many exercises require no weights at all. I've had this book for 10 years and refer to it time and time again. It is probably starting to show its age(the publication, not my specific copy, mind you), but is still has a lot going for it. There are programs here for all levels of weight training, from the white-collar workout(quick and easy) to the Competitive Bodybuilding workout; plus recommended workouts for dozens of specific sports. BTW, since the pictures only show the begin and end of each exercise(and impoper form can lead to injury)I recommend hooking up with someone knowledgable about weight training and having them check your form.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent information for the athlete.
Review: This book has everything an athlete of most sports needs to design a strength training program. There is information on how the muscles work, nutrition, specific programs for different sports, general principles of strength training and fitness, and specific exercises for different body parts. I really like this book because it gives specific programs suggested by professionals in those sports. It's not just what a body builder "thinks" a boxer or basketball player should train. Also, it gives enough general information and exercises that an athlete can individualize their program for their own needs. The illustrations are very good as well. If you play sports and are interested in improving your strength, I highly recommend this book. Actually, I have the older version of this book, so the revision should be even better.
Rating:
Summary: More Pearls of Wisdom
Review: This book has something for everybody, everybody that is into fitness that is.Whether you are interested in bodybuilding, power training, getting stronger for a sport or just toning up, who better to get advice from than this former Mr. America and 4-time Mr. Universe?In addition, Pearl has been in the gym business since 1953.Good book Bill.
Rating:
Summary: Great book but...
Review: This book has tons of exercises. But there are a few unsafe exercises recommended for beginner programs like stiff-leg barbell good morning, stiff-leg dead-lift with the hands go down almost to the ankles, and various ab exercises with the barbell resting behind the neck. These exercises are bad for your lower back and most weight training books now stay away from those. But these exercises may be good if they are done without weight, or substituting the barbell with a broom. But this book covers a lot of ground. It is an encyclopedia of execises, exercise routines, diet, etc. It also have many guest contributors like Bob Anderson on stretching and others for weight training for sports. But the execise programs for these sport specifics look almost the same. Bill Pearl,who has been around for a long time, is a wise man. He appears to be sincere, safety conscious, and motivating. But, I don't think that beginners should buy this as the only book. One should buy severals and makes her own judgement on what program is best to her.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference book
Review: This book is a great resource for anyone looking for a good "database" of excercises and workouts. It probably best fits an "independent" person who wants to design his/her own workouts and routines and is looking for excercises that do not require a rediculous machine in the gym. Nearly all of the excercises rely on free weights and can very well be performed at home or any gym. The book also explains quickly the basic principles behind the different workouts, how to choose the number of reps, diet basics, etc. Finally, the one thing I LOVED about this book is the complete and total absence of the motivational .... most books of this type are full of. If you just want to get in shape, stay in shape, build muscle, prepare yourself during a sport offseason, etc. and want none of the "How I lost 30 pounds in 3 months by eating more and excercising less" - THIS IS IT. The guiding principle of the books is - if you want to have results you need to do the work, if you want to do the work here is how.
Rating:
Summary: Good, no-fuss book
Review: This book is a mandatory book during my undergraduate Weight Tranining class and it's one of the books that I have kept all these years.
The specific and very graphical presentation for each excercise is very easy to follow and because several excercise working on the same muscle group are classified together at the end of the book (all the exercises are numbered and summarized), you could easily choose another exercise that suit you/your equipment better.
This is a perfect book for persons who have received some guidance (classes, training) before. If you start weight training from zero, although some programs are also presented inside this book and they can be easily followed, you may need some help from a real person to guide and tailor it for you.
Rating:
Summary: A perfect book beginner to seasoned Bodybuilders & Athletes
Review: This book is very easy to understand. The index has pictures of the different exercises for those of us that can't remember all of the names of the different exercises. The index is split into the different body parts (e.g shoulders..back..chest) The book also has sports specific information as well as diet info. A must read for all aspiring body builders and serious athlete's.
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