Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I bought this book within the first year after it was published. I'd read some other books on lifting weights before, and I'd gone through periods where I'd lifted, but didn't really know what I was doing.While the criticism I've read in other reviews that not all exercises are properly defined, this isn't really a problem. He uses the proper name for the exercises and the owner of the gym or anyone working there who belongs there should be able to tell you how to do it. This should only happen four or five times, and actually once you really understand the terminology a lot of them become obvious without instructions. The thing that makes this book so powerful is the fact that the exercise routines are layed out for you. Bob Paris is an accomplished bodybuilder, and he knows what it takes to get the body you are looking for. This book is not going to pander to the idea that you can have a body like the guy in the Bowflex commercial in six weeks. It's not going to tell you "you can have a fantastic body in 20 minutes a day" because that's simply not true. If you want to be big and defined, you MUST work very hard. If you set up your own routines, if you're like me, you simply don't end up working hard enough to get the results. but if you go through the Apprentice 10 week program, and the two following 10 week programs, at the end of that seven month period (especially if you have been careful with the nutrition) you will look fantastic, and I don't care how old you are. But if you want the results you have to work. Whether or not it's inconvenient to have a 2 hour, 3 day a week commitment followed by a 2-hour, four day a week commitment followed by a 2-hour, five-to-six day a week commitment is irrelevant. You can work less, but below the Master level you are not working hard enough to maximize your potential. However, if you DO get into the master-level workout, and stick with it, you're training hard enough to be a competitive athlete. This isn't some stepped-down program aimed at simple fitness, this is a plan for getting ripped and huge. And if you follow the rules, and stick with it, you are on your way to maximizing your potential. I found the book readable, although it's not put together very professionally. That doesn't bother me any, but it's clear that when the book was originally published they didn't figure on selling a lot of copies. I'm sure it's sold far better than they expected. I have an on-again off-again relationship with weightlifting/bodybuilding. I'm going back to the "on again" phase now. But this book was the tool that made me understand what it really takes to properly exercise. Work with this book for six months and then look around the gym at how stupidly most of the other guys lift. Wailing on their pecs and never working balancing their muscles, guys with chicken legs and giant traps. Stupid. There are so many dumb mistakes people make when they first start lifting, thinking "I want a six pack" or "I wish my biceps were bigger" and having no concept that fixating on one thing is going to make them look pretty bad. Throwing the weights around, bouncing the bar off your chest, and doing the same damn few exercises every single time they work out because they don't know any better. Be one of the smart ones. Learn to do it right and get 10 times more out of your time in the gym. Aside from the book, my one piece of advice is to show up with headphones and don't get to know anybody beyond spotting each other. You'll just waste time. Save the socializing for the pool hall. You're there to lift.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Started: Looks Promising
Review: I enjoy the positive encouragement in the text. After my first day on the program, I'm looking forward to the gains I see possible now. I have a few questions though. Bob Paris, please e-mail me.
Rating:
Summary: This book saved my life
Review: I have been in the Bodybuilding game for a very long time but sorry to say i was one that thought I new every thing well infect i new nothing I am very fat and lots of injures from doing my routines wrong, I was so down in my life that I become a alcoholic lost my wife and kids. I have tried every routine that there is you know like cybergenices and so on. That in the end I was so down I tried to commit suicide. When I was in the hospital a friend come to visit me and told me never to give in and that I could get in to shape and back to a good new life well to cut a very long story sort he bought me this book I read it and read it and read it again I then decided there and then to give a last go, Oh boy this book as got my life back to where it should be, it really does work thank you both for saving my life and turning it back around for me. now I have the body to be proud of again thank you
Rating:
Summary: BEST WORK OUT BOOK I'VE EVER OWNED
Review: I have been working out on and off for a long time, mostly using exercies I saw on TV or in fitness magazines. This book is by far, the best instructional fitness compaliation I have ever owned. I am currently at the 5 week point in the program and can see and feel a HUGE difference. Everything is broken down day by day and week by week for ten weeks, NO GUESS WORK!!!! Wether your a beginner or advanced, this book is perfect, it's setup clearly and is easily understandable. I have seen serious growth in my arms and chest especially, I'm very surprised at the results I've gotten. The only KNOCK I have with it is there are a lot of exercises in the program that aren't demonstrated in the book, you'll need to buy another book with just exercise demos so you know exactly what your supposed to be doing.
Rating: 
Summary: Well intentioned but flawed in terms of real life
Review: I immediately got the impression that Bob Paris' book was written with complete sincerity. He truly wants to motivate the reader to change his/her life and promote good health as well as a great physique. Unfortunately, after reading the book, one comes to the realization that the author has had the luxury of focusing on his physique as a profession for so long he has no grasp of the day-to-day realities that pertain to the rest of the world. If you have 10 solid weeks of free time I have no doubt this book will guide you to a stunning physical transfomation. However if you have a family, a job and a home - let alone any interests beyond the creation and maintenance of your body - this book may well be a bit of a disappointment. I found the program not to be unrealistic in terms of difficulty, but far too time consuming. I kept the book because the author has some interesting things to say and there are some excellent exercises in it. But if you're looking for a truly useful "program guide" to help you create physical well being then this is probably not the route to go. I found Kurt Brungardt's books to be much more rooted in reality.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book! It is fantastic
Review: I purchased this book 10 weeks ago and read it cover to cover in the days that followed. After 10 weeks of strenuous work I am finally done and I am so glad I started his program. Bob Paris is so supportive and he makes you want to go to the gym and work hard towards the body you want. His book is not like the Arnold books and other books filled with men jacked up on steroids and with 50 pages on how to flex your forearms. Instead it is a book rooted in reality where there is no need to take dangerous supplements in order to accomplish your goals. Other books like "Body For Life" base their entire program on chemicals, and for me, that was not the way I wanted to train. His book has beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts. I chose the intermediate workout and followed it completely. This workout plan took me about an hour and a half to 2 hours to complete on average. The main thing I loved about the program is it forced me to work the whole body, not just the arms and chest like I used to find myself working before I used his program. I now work calves and abs just as often as I work bi's and chest. I made a great spread sheet with the exercises in the book and I used it each week and brought it with me to record the reps, sets, and weight for each exercise. This is the only thing the book did not include. They work great. There was also a few odd exercises like Donkey Raises and Good Mornings that the book did not explain but were mentioned in the weekly plans, but through the internet I was able to find all these exercises and the correct way to do them. Also, each week was a little different being the number of sets, reps, or exercises so I never got bored with the program. Instead I was excited to see what the next week will bring. I hope this review proved useful. If you have any questions about the book or you want me to e-mail you the day by day planner e-mail me at ollie526@aol.com
Rating:
Summary: Yup, it's one of the best on the topic
Review: I've got to join the unanimity of positive opinion regarding this book. In spite of the goofy title, Paris doesn't over-promise: he provides three complete, practical workout regimens, practical dietary recommendations, and exhibits a healthy (pun intended) skepticism with regard to most dietary supplements. All in all, well worth the money and time investment. The book contains two flaws: there is insufficient space devoted to describing some of the specified exercises (you can find out through further reasearch, but it would have been easy to provide a quick guide in an appendix) and Paris' reliance on "bi-sets" isn't always very practical in today's crowded gyms. All in all, though, I've found the advice clear, helpful and actually productive in the gym. Definately a buy.
Rating:
Summary: Really excellent workout book
Review: If you're looking for a good workout book, this is definitely it. Using the proscribed workouts will help a newbie make sure that he doesn't miss any important muscle groups, and that muscles are worked out at optimal intervals. The only down side of this book is that a few strange-named excersizes are not defined and you have to figure out what they must be on your own. If you go through all three 10-week programs sequentially like I did you will be one fit and muscular SOB when you finish. BTW, if you're a heterosexual like I am and you're closed-minded about homosexual lifestyles (which I'm not) try to give the author a chance-- he doesn't mention his lifestyle once in his workout books, I promise.
Rating:
Summary: An Amended Review from a Convert
Review: OK, I wrote an earlier review of this book criticizing Bob Paris' program for being unrealistic in terms of the amount of time it will take. Well, after many months of so-so results on other programs, I re-tried this one, and found I clicked with it. Pluses? Paris changes the routines for you, and that is an invaluable boost. Paris also spells out the daily plans for you, exercise by exercise, another huge benefit. There is a limited amount of guesswork here. Overall, the program are easy to follow, and I was able to satisfactorily complete the journeyman level in a reasonably well equipped home gym. Minuses? Paris frequently refers to exercises that he never shows you how to do - so you will need another exercise book to refer to, or access to a trainer for the occasional question. The time involved is still substantial - up to 2 consecutive hours 4 days per week at the journeyman (intermediate) level. More time is required at the higher level. The danger of over-training exists with this program, and you should not approach it, even at the beginners level, without some prior knowledge as to how your own body reacts to rigorous workout routines. As mentioned in other reviews, finding the time and assuring complete and proper nutrition are probably the greatest challenges of this program. End results? After trying three other programs, I got by far and away the best, most noticeable results out of this book. We're talking deeply satisfying, T-shirt stretching results for a 37 year old guy. This book can easily "hook" you if you give it a few weeks. I still say Paris wrote this out of a real, sincere desire to help you achieve a fantastic build. If you go into this well versed in your own body, you will get fantastic results. Don't be afraid to tailor it to your own needs, but the foundation of what Paris has laid out is as solid as he is on the cover of this book. I have just discovered a medical situation that will stop me from working out for at least 12 weeks due to surgery and recovery. I will likely lose everything I've gained, and be back at ground zero. Starting from the beginning, but this time not as a beginner, knowing all that I now know, I will start with this routine.
Rating:
Summary: An Amended Review from a Convert
Review: OK, I wrote an earlier review of this book criticizing Bob Paris' program for being unrealistic in terms of the amount of time it will take. Well, after many months of so-so results on other programs, I re-tried this one, and found I clicked with it. Pluses? Paris changes the routines for you, and that is an invaluable boost. Paris also spells out the daily plans for you, exercise by exercise, another huge benefit. There is a limited amount of guesswork here. Overall, the program are easy to follow, and I was able to satisfactorily complete the journeyman level in a reasonably well equipped home gym. Minuses? Paris frequently refers to exercises that he never shows you how to do - so you will need another exercise book to refer to, or access to a trainer for the occasional question. The time involved is still substantial - up to 2 consecutive hours 4 days per week at the journeyman (intermediate) level. More time is required at the higher level. The danger of over-training exists with this program, and you should not approach it, even at the beginners level, without some prior knowledge as to how your own body reacts to rigorous workout routines. As mentioned in other reviews, finding the time and assuring complete and proper nutrition are probably the greatest challenges of this program. End results? After trying three other programs, I got by far and away the best, most noticeable results out of this book. We're talking deeply satisfying, T-shirt stretching results for a 37 year old guy. This book can easily "hook" you if you give it a few weeks. I still say Paris wrote this out of a real, sincere desire to help you achieve a fantastic build. If you go into this well versed in your own body, you will get fantastic results. Don't be afraid to tailor it to your own needs, but the foundation of what Paris has laid out is as solid as he is on the cover of this book. I have just discovered a medical situation that will stop me from working out for at least 12 weeks due to surgery and recovery. I will likely lose everything I've gained, and be back at ground zero. Starting from the beginning, but this time not as a beginner, knowing all that I now know, I will start with this routine.
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