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Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilder's Book

Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilder's Book

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $24.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Draper the legend
Review: In a world of copycats, Dave Draper is a 100% original creation. When it was far from hip to be a bodybuilder, he quite simply became one of the best the world has ever seen. Later, when it became not only hip, but potentially highly profitable, to be a top bodybuilder, he walked away from the hype and "scene" of it all, returning to the serenity and purity of the movement and work for its own sake and its own inherent rewards. Rewards that many of the current crop of pros apparently fail to grasp, and will never attain. Dave now offers the lessons and teachings of a lifetime in the gym with the wisdom and patience of a true master of the discipline. With the volumes of words written on the subject, none so clearly impart their insights from the soul or with such delight in the work, play, love and philosophy of the world of iron. If you buy any bodybuilding book, make it this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: With humor and candor
Review: In Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilder's Book, bodybuilding champion Dave Draper draws upon his many years of experience and expertise (he has held the titles of Mr. America, Mr. Universe, and Mr. World) to provide the non-specialist general reader with an effective, "user friendly" approach to an developing an exercise program for a long term, systematic activity for improving health and appearance. Draper presents a wealth of training techniques, exercise descriptions, nutritional strategies, all with humor and candor arising from his genuine enjoyment of the play of the steel and its influence on the muscle and sinew of the human body. If you are considering a body-building regimen as part of your own approach to health improvement and maintenance, begin with a thorough reading of Dave Draper's Brother Iron, Sister Steel!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: For those with casual interest, everything you need to know!
Review: Like many people of an older generation, my interest in bodybuilding started when I was a kid, reading Charles Atlas's ads about how to build up muscles to keep bullies from kicking sand in my face. Building huge muscles is an appealing idea, even though relatively few people ever follow through in a serious way. I recently edited a new book (Nature's Ritalin for the Marathon Mind) about how exercise can substitute for drugs in treatment of ADHD. While aerobic exercise is most important, kids who have an interest in bodybuilding have a motivation to include aerobic exercise as part of their regimen.

Brother Iron, Sister Steel is a fun and informative book. For people like me who are basically just curious, it's probably everything we need to know about bodybuilding. For the serious practitioner, it's an important resource, with extensive references to the other materials that would be helpful.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Sense from one of the First Greats
Review: Mr Draper has written a book that has a lot of good common sense advise. This book would be excellent for a person who want to understand the ideas behind bodybuilding from one of the men who made this sport in to what it is today. I highly recommend to watch his A&E biography it will show Draper's struggle that lead to his down fall and eventual raise. It wil help you understand this man and should be a good companion to this book. His experiences made him a better man and bodybuilding. Dave you were among the first and you still the best. God Bless

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Buy my protein powder...
Review: Mr. Draper says that all it takes is hard work, persistence, and his protein powder. Even though he only pushed the product a few times in the book, he still pushed it. I don't like that. I worked hard for 2 years in the gym without gaining a substantial amount of muscle. I knew nothing about overtraining. Programs designed for genetically-typical people. What to eat. When to eat. This book doesn't cover any of these topics in a thorough fashion. Stuart McRobert's books are much more helpful if you ask me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: On target with the BLONDE BOMBER!
Review: No one is more qualified to discuss the heart and soul of what it takes to become a champion bodybuilder than Dave Draper.

I remember seeing Draper for the first in 1963 at the IFBB Mr. New Jersey contest which he won. What I saw was a big bulky guy that probably wouldn't go much further. Boy was I in for a surprise!

Two years later, Draper would win the IFBB Mr. America in a hotly contested event. He followed that with a win in the 1966 IFBB Mr. Universe. For whatever reason, Draper declined from entering the Mr. Olympia. In the shape he was in, he probably could have won.

1967 was a bad year for Draper. He got sick doing exhibitions in Mexico right before the Mr. Olympia. Oweing to the integrity of the guy, he competed anyway, although way out of shape.

In 1970, Draper would return placing third behind Arnold and Sergio Oliva in the AAU Mr. World in Columbus, Ohio. I was at that contest and in my opinion, Draper should have been second to Arnold. Oliva showed up smooth. Likewise, no way Draper should have lost to Reg Park in the NABBA Mr. Universe. In all due respect to Park, he was past his peak on that night. At his best....it would have been a different story.

Unfortunately, Draper dropped out of competition. What a shame. He surely would have become a Mr. Olympia had he stayed with it. But as Dave relates in his book, he had higher values.

Dave Draper had more heart and desire than probably any other champion bodybuilder other than Arnold. Perhaps it was training with Draper in the late 60's and 1970 that laid the foundation in Arnold for what he eventually became???

This book, Brother Iron Sister Steel is a must read for any serious bodybuilder. It contains the heart and soul of a champion bodybuilder who has done it, not just an author who writes about.

As a bodybulder from the 60's, I am excited to see legends like Draper writing books. It is rare that we can look inside the mind of a real champion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Does not just show you the path, But explains the journey.
Review: The alternate title for this book could have been, "The Tao of Bodybuilding". Similiar to Bruce Lees' "The Tao of Jeet Kun Do" Mr Draper teaches to use what is useful, discard the rest. He instructs the readers to "look inside" to keep your motivation, and even to construct your routines. It is farr better to be in the gym doing an off-beat routine than sitting at home on the couch with the "perfect", but uninspiring routine.There are hundreds of books that show you the how, but few tell you the why. If your are looking for pseudo-scientific jargon and "secret" eastern training techniques, look elsewhere. they "give you the fish". Dave teaches you how to fish.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Mind, Muscle, & Spirit Connected at Last....
Review: The quest for muscle and strength is not an easy journey for a man or woman of any age. I am a female in my twenties whose training life owes much to Dave Draper and the iron legion of his followers. While Dave Draper is part of the collective memory of many middle aged men, his writing is alive enough to infect anyone with motivation to "dig deep" in their workouts.

He brings to life a spirited discipline we rarely see in the world of bodybuilding today and makes you want to find this inside yourself. When you read this, you will ask yourself why you ever bothered subscribing to any of the 12 week gurus in the fitness world of today.

If perhaps my 6 year old son decides to train at some point in his young life, he will get this book with his set of dumbbells. Energy, experience, knowledge, and a true lifelong love of training and self discovery drip off the pages of this book. It's honest and pure-but it's not for sissies. One look at his condition should tell you that he advises what he himself has proven willing to do.

It is not his bodybuilding titles, but the fifty years of disciplined toil that are reflected in this book that earn my utmost respect and my 5 stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Where the soul and the world intersect.
Review: The will: free and unfettered. Dave Draper describes, in unique and vivid prose, the interior experience of weight training. If the meditation of bodybuilding has never occurred to you, this book teaches the importance of the union of mind, body and soul found in the rhythm of movement against iron and steel. While Mr. Draper avoids the clumsiness of my verbal characterization, with almost Arthurian romantic imagery he draws you into the hidden interior of trainig the body. Fantastic! Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outstanding read!!
Review: This book is a must read for those wanting to make weight training part of their fitness regime. Dave's style is very matter of fact, no nonsense but laced with subtle humor. I was so engrossed in trying to absorb the wealth of bodybuilding wisdom that I missed a lot of the humor. Upon a second read, I discovered the humor liberally scattered throughout. This man knows his stuff and knows how to convey his message in a well written style. A total "thumbs up" in my opinion.
Vince


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