With over 450,000 copies sold, this book is arguably the best book of its kind. What's it useful for? Mainly to help the reader (from the weekend athlete to the athletic trainer to the professional bodybuilder) figure out what exercises work what muscles.
It's neatly divided up into sections (arms, shoulders, chest, back, etc.), so all you really have to do is flip to one of these sections and it will have detailed pictures of various exercises and exactly which muscles are involved.
A great reference to keep have around, I give it five stars easy. Readers who lift weights regularly might also be interested Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff to avoid shoulder problems a lot of lifters eventually get. Strength Training Anatomy-3rd Edition
Great book, very detailed. If you are looking to find new exercises to freshen up a stale workout, this is the book. It shows the exact muscle groups impacted by an exercise so you can focus on shaping and increasing that muscle group.
I bought the 2nd edition of this book well over a year ago when I was on a working out kick. Unfortunately life got in the way and I stopped going to the gym for several months, and even when I started back I only dabbled with cardio workouts. About 4 months ago I started back on weights and dug out this book. Prior to that I hadn't opened it. The book as it turns out had serious printing issues, making much of it unusable. It was long past the time frame in which I could have returned it to Amazon so I contacted the publisher, Human Kinetics, instead. Their customer service was excellent! They were aware of a small number of mis-prints that fit my description and were more than happy to replace it. The CS person asked if it would be ok if the replacement was delayed a few weeks until the 3rd edition was available which greatly pleased me. I received the new book about a week ago and it was in perfect condition. Many thanks to the HK folks for their fine customer service!
For those that don't already know what's in this book let me explain in detail. Everyone has seen the anatomy posters on the gym walls. The individual caricatures on the posters display a cut-away model of the human body sans skin. It highlights a muscle or group of muscles and then shows you an exercise that you can use to work that specific muscle. There usually isn't much more detail than that. Text is minimal. This book is at it basics a book version of those posters. However this book goes much, much further. The caricatures for individual muscles and muscle groups in this book usually have multiple exercise options. Text in this book explains in detail how to properly perform the exercise. It also provides useful tips on how to slightly alter the exercise to accommodate common injuries (ie, turn your wrists this way to not engage a torn wrist flexor). There are several pages of guides and background information on how to avoid certain injuries such as not fully extending your arms when doing curls to avoid tendinitis down the road. As another example the book goes into detail on how and why crunches should ALWAYS be performed with an inward curving spine (ie, fetal curve). This is to minimize the usage of the Psoas Major & Minor hip flexors and avoid the back injury they can cause. There are several excellent section of pure information in this book. The caricatures in this book are truly excellent. The artist did a fantastic job positioning and drawing the body to emphasize exactly what the reader needs to see and understand. The 3rd Edition also adds text on proper stretching among other things.
I highly recommend this book to every single person lifting weights at all levels. I've shown the book to friends, coworkers and people at the gym. I've even sung its praises to complete strangers in checkout lines and restaurants. I can't say enough good things about it. The only negative thing I can think of (more of a wishful thinking thing) is that it's only available in paperback. I wish it was also available as a hardback. Taking this to the gym with you will wear it out eventually. Of course for its low price replacing it is inexpensive. It's an excellent resource.
This book was recommended to me by my weight training instructor. She has a masters in kinesiology, and she used to be the US Women's National Volleyball Team, so I really trust her opinion. This book has great breakdowns of muscle groups and exercises for building them. The pictures really help emphasize which muscle groups are worked by which exercises. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in strength training.
This book is an excellent resource for anyone serious about strength training. Its illustrations are very helpful. It really helps you understand which muscles are being used during each exercise. It also gives good tips about technique, posture, and body types. It is also a good way to brush up on your human anatomy.
This book has great reviews so i won't go into the contents about this book. However i will comment on the most frequent negative (suggested improvement point) comments from the other reviewers. 1. This book doesn't fully explain form of the exercises described - Well its not supposed to! It however shows starting and ending positions and does talk about different grips. It does offer some suggestions on posture and variations on positions/grips which i found very informative. It also shows you exactly what muscles are targeted when performing the exercise in the mentioned positions/grip/posture. 2. Doesn't contain enough exercises for each body part - Are you kidding me! The book contains exercises that current pros use (Read Robert Keneddy's Encylopedia of Bodybuilding to see routines of the pros if you don't believe me). There are enough exercises in here. I'm sure future editions will contain more exercises. It also contains good advice on how to avoid injury which i found extremely useful. To get the most out of this book, use it as a reference guide along with either Arnold's or Robert Kennedy's bodybuilding books. Given that it shows exactly what muscles are being employed in different types of exercise, one can use that knowledge and experiment with low weights at the gym to hit the specific muscle and feel the pump! - Exercise - Bodybuilding - Anatomy - Fitness'
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