Brawn

Rating:
Summary: I will share my secret...this book should be a reference boo
Review: So far I've read about three books on the subject and I've read several magazines and I must say that this book is by far THE BEST! I didn't want to say this because I was going to keep this book my own personal secret, but being as it is that Mr. McRobert's has done such an excellent job in writing it, (and in terms of the usefulness of the content) I felt that I really should make a comment about it. I also feel sorry for the vast majority of people who work out without the knowledge that this book provides. If you're into getting big read this book! By the way this book is a bit lengthy and challenging to read, but it's well worth it!

Rating:
Summary: Make this your first book on body building
Review: Stop reading the opinions of 300-pound pros in those magazines! Stop dumping hundreds of dollars of your hard-earned money in trendy supplements! Stuart provides a no-nonsense philosophy for bodybuilding for the average Joe. Here, he tries to help you accept you for who you are, set realistic goals, and give bodybuilding everything you've got. He really motivates you into doing your best. I read the first edition of this book, and I know this is worthwhile material.

Rating:
Summary: Average at best
Review: Stuart has a paranoia about weight-training that makes one wonder whey he's even involved. Granted, he's had back problems, but there are many other ways of strengthening the body than by using his approach. Hardgainer methodology works for some, but so do many other techniques. I suggest reading this book after reading "Science and Practice of Strength Training" or the "Poliquin Priciples" to keep a balanced approach to your training.

Bottom line, weight training should be a fun activity that benefits the body and mind. Stuart has a way of sucking the joy out of the activity.

Rating:
Summary: best book for those who want to become big without smack
Review: the book has got a lot of wisdom about bodybuilding techniques that allow bodybuilders to grow without ruining their brains and livers with steriods. all the pros became big this way (with steroids however) but no bodybuilding industry will want you to do this cuz it saves you money and hurts their business

Rating:
Summary: You must own this book!
Review: There is virtually no excuse not to add this book to your bodybuilding library. As a matter of fact you may want to add a new shelf for all of McRobert's books. I promise you, they will not sit on your shelf and collect dust. These are the BEST that YOUR money can buy. Unlike most other bb books, Brawn tells it like it is. YOU WILL SEE RESULTS as long as you are PATIENT, DEDICATED and REALISTIC in your expectations. I can not begin to say enough good to encourage you to buy, beg or borrow these books. If you are fed up with the hype, new gimmicks, improved routines, supplement crap and bb mags out there then you will LOVE Brawn. (...)My own muscle growth has been amazing since begining a program of progressive poundages in April 01. Best results I have ever had with ANY program...and I work out 2 days a week!

Rating:
Summary: Good Info., Lousy Writing Style -- A Diamond in the Rough
Review: This book contains a wealth of useful information -- if you can make sense of it.

The author is obviously quite intelligent, and writes on bodybuilding from an honest, hype-free perspective rarely discussed. In the world of bodybuilding, the truth is hard to come by, and this guy tells it like it is.

However, Stuart McRobert has much to learn about writing books. I hate to be the first reviewer to not give it 5 stars, but am I the only person who noticed that this is a badly written book? Trying to plow through this reference is like reading somebody's random thought patterns, laid out on paper in a "stream-of-consciousness" format. It's basically a whole hodge-podge of useful tidbits, scattered throughout a sea of words with very little formatting to break up the monotony -- Much like this paragraph! :-) Just pages and pages of humorless words, ideas, and points strung together without structure.

While I respect his reasons for not including photographs, some point-forms, tables, or diagrams would have gone a long way towards making his points clearer.

Speaking of points, his seem to be scattered throughout the book with little in the way of clear, progressive teaching methods. Usually in an instructional reference, the author builds progressively towards an important point. In this book, some important points are just stated, sometimes with no explanation, and sometimes with their explanations elsewhere in the book, under some unlikely chapter heading. Other less important points are stated over and over again ad nauseam. Very uneven. Chapter summaries would have helped. There are some rudimentary chapter intros, but they read rather like those annoying random "Tips of the Day" you get with some computer software.

Also his choice of words and phraseology are slightly more complicated than they need to be, often necessitating reading a phrase more than once to get the correct interpretation. I often find myself wondering, "Is he trying to say that I *should* do this, or is he using this as an example of something I *shouldn't* do?".

In summary, this book is not an easy read. Its writing style is clumsy and highly disorganized, and requires much effort on the part of the reader to organize all of its information into a usable workout program. However, it does contain some nuggets of brilliance that will take you a long way towards building a better body, if you...

- Are good at taking notes
- Are patient and have a high attention span
- Have good reading skills
- Can tolerate some humorless monotony
- Have some prior bodybuilding experience (this book is definitely *not* for beginners)
- Aren't expecting an easy-to-follow program (he provides some sample programs, but mostly leaves it up to you to create your own using the information he's given you)

Rating:
Summary: Crammed with information
Review: This book is aimed for a bodybuilder who has typical genetics, does not use anabolic steroids, and has a life outside the gym. The author does not advocate two-hour long workouts with 15 sets for each bodypart, as seems to be the case with some more conventional books. Still, this is not high intensity training, per se.

The author advocates the basic lifts and training style from the golden era of bodybuilding, when Reg Park and John Grimeg were dominant figures in the field. The emphasis is on squat, deadlift, stiff-legged deadlift, chins, dips and the like. Interestingly, McRobert even uses somewhat archaic names for the excercises, like overhead press for military press, and he advocates paying attention to grip and neck work. These issues are not handled routinely in most modern bodybuilding books.

I was surprised to find out that the author advises to train two, or even three total body workouts every week. I have been used to train each bodypart directly once in ten days, so that was almost a shock to me, especially considering that the author is otherwise against the modern trend of frequent and extensive workouts. However, as I read along, I discovered that actually, the author now advocates dividing the body to two or three parts, and doing the rotation once a week, of even less frequently. The confusion developed because the text from the first edition has not been edited at all, even if the author has changed his opinion towards a given matter. Rather, there is a boxed, "important note for the second edition" to note that now the author has different opinion on the matter. This can be very confusing, as in some matters, the authors' opinion has changed considerably, and the boxed note for second edition sometimes is not located right after the outdated information.

There is not a single picture of graph in the book. At first, that made the book appear to be heavy to read, but actually the text is very easy to read. Perhaps on some occasions a picture or two would have made it easier to understand what the author is saying, but as he can explain the things very well, I believe that I have not missed anything.

And speaking of pictures, there has been some criticism that as the author does not pose in his books, the training system is not believable. I have read dozens of training books, and I believe that there has not been a single picture of the author posing in any of the books, unless the book has been authored (or co-authored) by a professional bodybuilder or the like. Therefore, I don't understand this kind of critic.

This kind of training worked well for all great bodybuilders of the golden era, in a time before steroids, and when even the stars had to work for a living. Therefore, as man has not evolved considerably in past 50 years or so, the same principles work today, for a person who does not use steroids, and works for a living. Even without its' flaws, as the book is crammed with information that relates to typical, drug-free bodybuilder, it is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: No-nonsense practical advice
Review: This book is the best (other than maybe some of McRobert's newer books) written on the subject of bodybuilding. The book provides a real, practical, useful education on the how's and why's of training. From this information you can discover what works best for you, your body, your schedule and your finances. When something isn't working, the book provides you with ideas of what to change and how to change it. The book does not try to sell you some expensive, hard to find "supplement" or give you some rigid ridiculous training routine that no one with a family and job could handle. Instead, the suggestions focus around real things that you can control (frequency of workout, intensity, exercise type, diet, sleep, etc.) I think anyone interested in building a better body will benefit tremendously from this book. I also found the sections on realistic expectations to be very interesting and very motivating. My only disappointment was that it didn't have much in the way of describing specific lifts and lifting techniques. For the very novice who doesn't know a squat from a benchpress, some other book may be needed. I see McRobert now has a separate book on weightlifting techniques. I will be reading it soon.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book Period On Productive Bodybuilding!
Review: This is an outstanding and extremely comprehensive book on practical bodybuilding. This book will save you years of frustration and help you avoid serious injuries that can result from bodybuilding programs that were made for genetically gifted steroid monsters. Stuart is a great writer and this is an enjoyable read that anyone interested in weight training will enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Best training book out there
Review: This is hands down the most usefull book on weight training there is. Forget all the B.S. in the magazines, this is it. Everyone who wants to get big and strong needs this book. The concepts completely changed the way I train, and man do they work. Do only the big lifts, lift brief and heavy, never train on a set schedule, only train every 4 or 5 days, or even less, whatever it takes to recovery, these concepts will make you big and muscular, gauranteed. Plus, this book has minimal redundant or worthless information, like you may find in most training books.