The Men's Health Big Book of Exercises: Four Weeks to a Leaner, Stronger, More Muscular You!

This book intrigued me after I started doing the much publicized "Spartacus Workout" from Men's Health, which a friend had ripped out of their copy of the magazine. I really enjoyed it, and when I looked it up on the website they had a little plug for this recently published book. Well, I have to say, this book is phenomenal -- especially for the price being offered on Amazon. I found the division of the exercises extremely coherent and logical -- each body part is given a section, with a "Main Move" that the other exercises stem from. For example, the main weightlifting move for quads and calves is the basic barbell squat, fully explained and with a full page photographic spread. Master the Main Move, and you'll be set for variations, etc. I was also pleased by the sheer breadth of body weight exercises offered in the book. For those of us who can't always get to the gym, this is a great resource, since there are some extremely challenging body weight variations to exercises for when lifting is impossible. Using this book to craft your own routines is a breeze, as it has both advice on how to optimize your lifting/cardio patterns, as well as pre-made workouts for different fitness goals in the back of the book. It gives equal weight to different lifting philosophies and their objectives -- low weight high rep vs. high rep low weight, for example. Additionally, each body part section has a workout tailored specifically to that body part, which is great if you're chasing after Schwarzenegger biceps or six pack abs. These are typically advised only one every four days are so, so you can just integrate them with another workout from the book, or your personal workout. Nutrition information is also covered, and the "Food Myths" section is particularly interesting. It's not a full-fledged diet plan per se, but since this is a big book of EXERCISES, it's a nice bonus. I highly recommend this book whether you're interested in a resource to craft your fitness routine, or if you just want to learn some new variations to your favorite standby exercises. It's a great primer for total body health, with lifting, cardio, nutrition, and even advice on the indispensable equipment for your home gym, and where to find it. I've never had so much fun spending time planning new ways to punish myself in the gym.

I love this book - it's a gem in my opinion; for anyone who is already working out or is looking to get fit or add variety in their workouts, this is an excellent book; it is very complete with dozens of different variations on standard exercises that will build your strength and health. This book explains each main exercise and its variations thoroughly with beautiful color photographs to help illustrate and explain. One of the highlights of this book for me was how it was organized and laid out; as described, it is partitioned into different sections of the body you are working out (e.g., back, chest, abs, etc.) which I really like. It also has a nice (albeit short, unfortunately)section in the back on basic nutrition/diet, as well as some very handy charts on different workout routines that you can do: e.g. short workouts for a crowded gym, routines to lose weight, to build a beach body (or, to gain muscle mass for fairly lean guys. Yeah, that's me; i'm working on adding muscle mass :)) etc. For the "intermediate or advanced athlete," or the people that have worked out for some time already, some of the exercises may seem basic or common sense, but there should be plenty of variety in each section and some challenging variations to the main workouts you already do and that are listed in the book. This is a great book to go through and add workouts to your already existing routine, if you'd like. *** In Summation: Excellent Book! 5/5: Pros: Detailed explanations, plenty of exercises and variations, color photos, basic nutrition info, workout plans/charts. Cons: Not much at all; my only wish is that the nutrition info would be a little more detailed and tailored to any specific workout plan included in the book. *** Well worth the price; i would consider it an essential workout book, especially for those new to working out, trying to get back in shape, or looking to vary up their exercise routines? Worried it won't be challenging enough? Don't be: like with any aspect of work, what you give is what you get, to a large extent. You can always try harder variations, add more weight/resistance, or do more reps.

This is great book listing so many exercises and their variations. I am an experienced lifter and looking to add some variety to my workouts and am very pleased with this book. Each exercise is shown very clearly in 2-3 pictures. So we dont have to sit though lot of talking as in youtube. Its really cheap for being under $ 20. They also have a good list of compound moves and weight based calorie burners. Overall very happy with the book.

A spectacular collection of exercises with and without weights, plus lots of tips, variations and selected workout programs, you can design your own workout and use it for the gym, or at home. It got me off the couch and into a regular exercise program. The suggested Spartacus workout is amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in getting in shape.

ممتاز

A must have for gym enthusiast.

Libro completo sobre entrenamiento. Ilustrado y técnico, te orienta bastante bien sobre rutinas y ejercicios de musculación. En inglés. Es de buena calidad. Recomendado.

Excelentes ejercicios, bien explicados, gráfico, super completo.