Most helpful customer reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Fair on nutrition and exercise, good on stretch, Jun 6 2004
I approached this book with reservation, because the front cover shows a young man (with hunched upper back) and a young woman, which gave me the feeling of some inexperienced folks having fun in writing without being serious. I paid $5.88 for the book after I enjoyed reading the nutrition and the stretch chapters and was convinced that the book format was simple. The authors do not claim to be licensed medical professionals but presented very extensive nutritional information, which might not be very perfect or even correct, yet extensive anyway. I was uncomfortable with the extensive list of references that was not cited duly when the authors offer opinions. The excessive length of the reference list indicates that the author is either exaggerating or disingenuous. However, these non-medical authors do not play the deceptive games of Dr. Atkin or Dr. Phil. They merely state what they believe with some air of naivety. For example, they use the term "good" for many medical conditions that are required for a fit person, such as: good heart rate, good muscle speed-strength, good muscle power, good bone health, etc. which lead one to believe that the authors are not in depth in medical knowledge. The authors coin the term "dynatrition" and define it in five steps, which do not serve any purpose other than inventing the wheels of nutrition anew. The authors are reasonable on the progressive planning of developing strength by training that starts by 2 to 7 sessions per week, on many months of incremental progression. They are also rational on prescribing modest dieting routines. The major drawback of their exercise strategy is the isolation approach. The photographs of exercises show a muscular man with stiff joints (cannot straighten elbows in shoulder press, cannot flex shoulders in front squat) and a proportionally fit woman with high flexibility and strength. The woman trainee does all the stretch exercises and the Power Clean with perfectly elevated shoulders (when the bar is shelved on the chest) while the male trainee does all the traumatic exercises with poor form and stiff posture. This trend (of women training wisely by balancing stretch, form, and overall performance versus guys training to gain size at the expense of flexibility and cardiaopulomnary fitness) constitues an epidemic in the strength training arena. Undoubtedly, this book is much better than "Body for Life" by Bill Phillips, although both books are structured similarly (a man and a woman trainees performing the exercises, both are young and overconfident in tackling specialized fields, both depict exercise figures in the same format of weight training of regional muscles without concern for compound exercises). Yet, this book ventures into the nutritional issues more aggressively and rationally.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
More of a nutritional book for bodybuilding, Jan 10 2004
Bottom line is, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY....if you are looking for a good bodybuilding exercise book without the nutrition stuff, you better stick with Arnold's Modern Bodybuilding Encyclopedia because you will be disappointed if you are looking for a good Joe Weider's training book ...I was not impressed with the muscles exercise section....only basic exercises are covered and they are described very vaguely....doesn't mention machine exercises at all....Weider Training techniques are covered very concisely....the nutritional section of the book is the strongest part of this book (a piece of work)...it covers everything from what to eat, when to eat and how to eat...very detailed guidelines on caloric and protein intakes per body weight, even tells you what foods to eat in order to lose or gain weight and build muscle with an astonishing detail...a complete overview of every single nutrient that your body produce and use to build muscles....it also covers all nutritional supplements out there in the market from vitamins, minerals and aminoacids.... If you are looking for a good nutritional reference to build muscles and strenght by eating correctly, this is the book you are looking for!....I guess bodybuilding nutritional books are so underrated that folks don't pay much attention to them...no wonder, this book sell at a bargain price...for what this book is worth, get it fast....this will make a good addition to your collection!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Edge by Weider et al., Aug 2 2003
This is an excellent work. It covers the basic weight training
exercises in the gym together with the nutritional dimension
involved in developing the body . For instance, the author
discusses alkalinizers to maintain pH/ (acid/base) balance.
In addition, he reviews the role of bioflavinoids, biotin,
bromelain (digestion) and Co Q 10-antioxidants. He describes
pertinent exercises for the head/neck (stretches), lower back
(extensions), mid-section (incline-sit-ups), bench press for
the chest and lateral pull-downs for the upper back. He
recommends slow inducers for insulin production; such as,
soy protein, peanuts, lentils, apples, yogurt and skim milk.
The work is a fairly complete rendition for maintaining
good health and muscle tone. This program may be best done
with the assistance of a personal trainer.
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