Amazon.com
Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't competed as a bodybuilder since he won the Mr. Olympia title in 1980, but he remains the sport's No. 1 icon. He hosts an annual bodybuilding contest in Columbus, Ohio, and allows a column to be ghost-written under his name in a muscle magazine. Today's bodybuilders may have bigger muscles than Arnold ever did, but everyone inside and outside the iron game gives him credit for exponentially broadening the popularity of physique training.
With this updated Encyclopedia (it was originally published in 1985), Schwarzenegger wraps his huge arms around the entire sport. He hits the history of bodybuilding, the champions (he's quite generous in his praise of predecessors, contemporaries, and successors alike), the training systems. Some of the information is more bodybuilding lore than science; for example, exercises are said to "expand the rib cage" or develop the "inner" or "outer" chest, all physiological impossibilities. But they're still good exercises, and the book includes every movement imaginable for every muscle group.
If you love the sport of bodybuilding, you'll want this book in your library, if for no other reason than to feast your eyes on the hundreds of photos of the best physiques in the history of the sport. And, in a pinch, the 800-page encyclopedia can fill in nicely for a missing dumbbell. --Lou Schuler
Book Description
From elite bodybuilding competitors to gymnasts, from golfers to fitness gurus, anyone who works out with weights must own this book -- a book that only Arnold Schwarzenegger could write, a book that has earned its reputation as "the bible of bodybuilding."
Inside, Arnold covers the very latest advances in both weight training and bodybuilding competition, with new sections on diet and nutrition, sports psychology, the treatment and prevention of injuries, and methods of training, each illustrated with detailed photos of some of bodybuilding's newest stars.
Plus, all the features that have made this book a classic are here:
- Arnold's tried-and-true tips for sculpting, strengthening, and defining each and every muscle to create the ultimate buff physique
- The most effective methods of strength training to stilt your needs, whether you're an amateur athlete or a pro bodybuilder preparing for a competition
- Comprehensive information on health, nutrition, and dietary supplements to help you build muscle, lose fat, and maintain optimum energy
- Expert advice on the prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries
- Strategies and tactics for competitive bodybuilders from selecting poses to handling publicity
- The fascinating history and growth of' bodybuilding as a sport, with a photographic "Bodybuilding Hall of Fame"
- And, of course, Arnold's individual brand of inspiration and motivation throughout
Covering every level of expertise and experience, The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding will help you achieve your personal best. With his unique perspective as a seven-time winner of the Mr. Olympia title and all international film star, Arnold shares his secrets to dedication, training, and commitment, and shows you how to take control of your body and realize your own potential for greatness.
Customer Reviews:
Don't hesitate to purchase this book! I bought it twice!.......2007-10-18
I had bought this book for my 18 year old son that is very health concious and is into weight lifting. From the time I got it, he read it in every night and has shown me a lot of information in it as well. My son's friend saw it and started reading on it every time he was over and he stated "This is my new favorite book". So I ended up buying another one for him for his birthday! They both are always looking things up in it and taking it when they go to work out. Two thumbs up!
Good Reference guide.......2007-10-18
This truly is an Encyclopedia that can be used not only by bodybuilders, but by anyone that wants to get involved with progressive resistance training. This can be a guide for the most experienced, to the novice who has never picked up a weight. Great reference for planning and maintaining an exercise program.
If the info inside doesn't make you bigger, just start lifting the book........2007-09-29
This book is exactly what it says it is- an encyclopedia. It is divided into no less than five "books." Measuring in at about one and a half inches thick, if the info contained inside doesn't help you get bigger, just try lifting the book!
A quick rundown of each chapter. The first book is basically an introduction to bodybuilding, covering a lot of miscellaneous, but important topics. The second book covers the training programs, the third the body part exercises, and the fourth book competing. The fifth and last book covers nutrition and diets.
As you can tell, there's really only one word to describe this book- comprehensive. Would have liked to see a little more on injuries, for example there only about a half page on shoulder injuries, but then again this isn't exactly a sports medicine book either. Also recommend Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff if you have a shoulder problem or rotator cuff tear that is keeping you out of the gym.
everything you will ever need to know.......2007-09-27
Forget the new diets, new exercises, uneducated personal trainers, just buy this book, and your have all the knowledge from diet, training, technique... just everything, even how to pose!
Arnie was the best, and he has given all his knowledge to the world in this book. This book is indeed "the bible"
Body Building Bible by Arnold Schwarzenegger.......2007-09-19
This book rocks, I have yet to really digest it but so far it has proven to be a great source of invaluable information regarding how to get in shape (even if you don't want to bulk up like Arnold!) I definitely recommend "The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised By Arnold Schwarzenegger with Bill Dobbins." (I wasn't able to put the link in somehow).
Sincerely,
Joel.
Book Description
Five-time Mr. Universe, seven-time Mr. Olympia, and Mr. World, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the name in bodybuilding.
Here is his classic bestselling autobiography, which explains how the "Austrian Oak" came to the sport of bodybuilding and aspired to be the star he has become.
"I still remember that first visit to the bodybuilding gym. I had never seen anyone lifting weights before. Those guys were huge and brutal....The weight lifters shone with sweat; they were powerful looking, Herculean. And there it was before me -- my life, the answer I'd been seeking. It clicked. It was something I suddenly just seemed to reach out and find, as if I'd been crossing a suspended bridge and finally stepped off onto solid ground."
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold shares his fitness and training secrets -- demonstrating with a comprehensive step-by-step program and dietary hints how to use bodybuilding for better health. His program includes a special four-day regimen of specific exercises to develop individual muscle groups -- each exercise illustrated with photos of Arnold in action.
For fans and would-be bodybuilders, this is Arnold in his own words.
Customer Reviews:
Arnold Schwarzenegger vs Timothy Ferriss.......2007-10-05
**Since two books are being reviewed, I'm posting reviews on each book.
I happened to decide to read some self-help type books because like everyone else, I hit a stagnating point in my career and wanted to read about how some of these purportedly self-made successful authors achieved success in life. By some strange coincidence, I read Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder" then TimothyFerriss's "The 4-Hour Workweek" in succession, and though these two authors may seem an anachronism, the similarities of their central message, namely, how they were able to achieve their dream lifestyle are exactly the same. Only the techniques and philosophical underpinnings differ.
Timothy Ferriss and 4WW as already reviewed on this page, advocates much of the platitudes written by other self-help authors such as life is short, do not spend every day in a job you hate to buy things you do not need, follow the Pareto 80/20 principle, etc. Of course the most interesting aspect is the notion of outsourcing the repetitive, low level work in your own business pursuits much like the big corporations are doing now to maximize your free time to pursue the things you enjoy, like the "mini-retirements" Ferriss takes regularly to all the exotic places that we all enviously wish we could do. I think this is really the core of the book and is why the book achieved such popularity in such a short time. The world has truly become flat, and the threats and discordance of an increasingly globalized world and outsourced workforce underlies all of us who occupy the once exalted white-collar job. Ferriss masterfully targets this underlying fear and concern, by turning it around and telling the Reader that you can fight back by doing the same think the big companies are doing to you, by utilizing the same technologies and outsourcing techniques, such that eventually you'll be able to kick back in a hammock with a drink in you hand, and in the other a laptop or cell phone with wireless Internet access to run your outsourced business in some exotic location like Tahiti or something, that the book cover depicts so well.
On Arnold, what can I say that has not already been written and talked about the man? To me and many others, he is the very embodiment and walking, living example of what all the self-help books advocate especially on topics like setting goals and visualizations. In the auto-biographical book, Arnold talks about how when he was 15 years old, he came upon bodybuilding and realized that "my life, the answer I'd been seeking. It clicked. It was something I suddenly just seemed to reach out and find, as if I'd been crossing a suspended bridge and finally stepped off onto solid ground." The first half of the book describes the single-minded determination, persistence and hard work he subjected himself to, to achieve his goal of becoming the greatest bodybuilder of all time, then parlaying that success as the foundation to achieve his other goals of becoming a successful businessman, actor and leader. It chronicles his life and achievements from the age of 15 to about 22 when he won the greatest bodybuilding competition, the Mr. Olympia for the first time. Reading this section really allows you to get a first hand account of the mindset Arnold had to achieve the great levels of success he was able to achieve and is eye-opening and invaluable. The second half describes exercises and diets you can do to achieve your own physical goals. While this section may be dated by recent advances in knowledge about strength training, and be biased to people like Arnold with great genetic, physical, nutritional and drug enhanced abilities, you can still benefit from his advices about regularity, dedication and sustained efforts required to obtain that six-pack ab, muscular biceps and of course good health.
Now, what I found so uncanny was the similarities of both authors, in that Ferriss is 29, and found great success in running a business in an innovated way, and used that success to write a best selling book on his first try. Likewise, Arnold was around 29 when he wrote and published his book, and used his great physical presence and huge success in a relatively unknown and marginalized sport of professional bodybuilding to publish a best selling book on his first try. Also, both men are savvy marketers and self-promoters and used those abilities shamelessly to catapult their first time published books to best seller status on their first try. Ferris from what I've read on his blog, used exactly that, his blog and Internet presence to build an audience long before the book was published and also by ensuring he got connected to other best selling authors and learning from them and using their connections to make sure his book would get published and read by a large audience. In another biography I read on Arnold, when the publishers of his book told him he would need to go a 10 city book tour, his response was "why only 10 cities, why not 50 cites", because he understood that to get his book sold and read by a large audience he had to get the word out.
But where the similarities end, the differences are quite pronounced. Though I do admire Ferriss and his marketing savvy, and his ability to articulate his agenda in an intelligent, if somewhat shallow way, I can't help but a feeling that his methods do not have long term viability. In addition, somewhat like Arnold, he's big on his athletic achievements but many seem exaggerated, and many if from what I've read online are unsubstantiated. Arnold, on the other hand, does not need to exaggerate anything, as he won the greatest bodybuilding championship 7 times, was at one time the highest paid actor, has made millions not only from acting, but owning real estate, a publishing company, restaurants and even leases a 747 airplane to southeast Asian countries, and is now governor of California, America's largest economy. His success and track record are for real, and when you read in his book about the psychological attitude he utilized such as goal setting and visualization and the use of good old fashion hard work, determination and perseverance, he never advocates a get quick success scheme.
In all fairness to Ferriss, he understands well the need for a catchy title and book cover and the frustrations of all the corporate cogs stuck in their Dilbertesque cubicles and to bank on their frustrations of now only working a dull and frustration job for long hours, but having that very job be outsourced to another country! And despite the ease with which he makes it all sound, there was much planning, strategic surveying, and persistent hard work to get his book and the image surrounding it to sell as well as it has. I think if anything, you can learn a great deal from how he got to where he is, and is in fact the very kind of traits Arnold talks about in his book that lead him to his success.
Not to berate the general attitude of this great country, but I think America has too much of a mentality of quick fixes and gains. Don't like your physical appearance, just to do plastic surgery or suck the fat out with liposuction. Likewise, all the get rich schemes too many to mention that permeate our national psyche. Reading how an immigrant like Arnold Schwarzenegger achieve his success with a positive attitude, gold old fashion hard work, determination, persistence, setting objective and attainable goals resonates with me much more deeply, especially since my parents are in his same age range and immigrated to this country with nothing and achieved success using his principles.
In conclusion, while I find Ferriss's book a bit gimmicky and shallow in details of how he achieved his lifestyle, it is still a worthwhile read and though many could claim much of his advice is common sense, if we all lived life utilizing true common sense intelligence, wouldn't we be all successful? Arnold's suggestions are to set clear and objective goals, visual yourself achieving success, and working hard everyday to achieve your vision. What could be more common sense?
Both books are worthwhile reads, but if you had to choose one, I'd pick Arnold's any day. His successful record speaks for itself.
-Don Kim
Get Motivated.......2007-04-09
The "Governator" shares his bodybuilding secrets while offering inspiration, not just for bodybuilding, but also for life.
Motivational.......2007-03-12
Very motivational and inspiring, plus realistic as far as workouts go. Suprising these days.
Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder .......2007-02-07
This book is very good and I just love the man. He's my altime favorite. Well, along with "The King" Elvia Aron Presley
Awesome story from the legend.......2007-01-27
I always wanted to know more about what went into Arnold's approach to bodybuilding, outside of what I learned from Pumping Iron. I stumbled across this book at the bookstore the other day, and read it from cover to cover, almost without putting it down.
I have never read a more motivational bodybuilding book in my life. Arnold really lays out what it takes for someone to become a champion, not only in life, but in the world of bodybuilding. His dedication to the sport was phenominal, and with his extremely strong mind and will, was able to become the greatest bodybuilder that ever lived.
The bulk of this book is from when Arnold is 15 to about 21. The rest of it briefly goes over the years 21+, and diet and training protocols. I was more intregued by the up and coming Arnold bodybuilder. There are some great stories in there, such as doing 35 sets of Squats out in the woods, then getting drunk on wine and beer afterwards. Then having the bright idea to bring girls out there with them the next time to cook and to have them to make love to. Man, Arnold is classic!!
Customer Reviews:
#1 BBS Manual: "Training to Failure" - D.I.Y Hercules for Everybody.......2006-01-03
*Note* There is a revised edition of this book.
The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding is the largest tome of bodybuilding information found in any publication, finishing up at around 800 pages with approximately 1000 pictures and weighing in at a whopping 5.8lbs, making it the only book that gives you a workout while reading it. Arnold divides his massive manuscript into a number of sections, starting with the history of bodybuilding, competitions, the gym experience and training techniques (the core exercises) before rounding up with various poses and additional information on bodybuilding supplements and diets. Arnold advocates trying to find pictures of a bodybuilder who fits your size and figure and then aiming to replicate their results. Arnold himself used Reg Park as a model for his first teenage foray in the gym while in subsequent years built each body part up using different bodybuilding models to achieve his own unique juggernaut definition. This is but a tiny fraction of the kind of good quality recommendations that the Encyclopedia comes up with. Bodybuilders (bbs) everywhere refer to the `encyclopedia' for its awesome display of photographs of superhuman bbs throughout the ages. There is no lack of snaps that detail the human anatomy. You will likely run through the book many times to find that muscle group or separation that you missed the first time. It is startling how much anatomy you need to get around before you can understand what impact each exercise has on the developing muscle. This is a fully fledged subject that will have your attention for years to come and there is no better place than to start here. Combining this book with the movie "Pumping Iron" on DVD will give you a much better idea of where the information is coming from and you will see most of the faces in this book actually exercising and involved in many of the competition photographs that are on display here. Arnold's description of the muscle groups and how to work them is coupled with illustrations and photographs to show the kind of development you should be aiming to achieve. Creating striations on muscle groups like deltoids and pectorals are topics that will cause you to go back to page one to re-examine everything you have read and seen. Anatomical research coupled with exercising methodology and application with dieting will transform your physique over the course of even a few months. As a lifelong hobby you will be bulking up before your first year is out. A few years will have you at competition level. The whole point is get into the gym to work off that fat to reveal your true shape, a shape that can be defined and built upon with muscle. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other world-class bodybuilders, advocate more than one set per exercise called High-Volume Training, HVT, the traditional method of using multiple sets to train to failure by training each set to failure, resting, and then repeating the set to failure, as many times as it takes before you just can not do anymore sets for that body part. You will build muscle no matter what kind of genetics you have if you stick with HVT. Hypertrophy is the scientific term for the enlargement of muscle tissue caused by a specific amount of intensity needed for the hypertrophy to occur. No intensity, no hypertrophy, no gain. HVT achieves hypertrophy every time because each muscle group is trained to failure. This is the key to building muscle. You must get that straining feeling where you just can't do another repetition. If you find yourself doing lots of repetitions (more than 10) then you need to add more weight. Arnold includes various Power-Training techniques to help shock the body into being able to lift heavier weights. They work. He also includes increasing intensity techniques by utilizing `forced reps', `negative reps', `isolation training', `supersets' and `stripping methods' among a host of others to learn about. There is much more here then any review can hope to explain (and look at the length of mine!). That is why it is 800 pages or so. Apart from the five stars which it deserves the book does have some major drawbacks. The first big drawback is that all the photographs involve drug use. There are only a few photographs of bodybuilders who have not used steroids and the reason is obvious. It is the little dirty secret that hides behind all the bigger muscle on display. You simply will not get as big as these legends without doing drugs. However you will certainly be able to achieve the same definition and still have very big muscles without drugs. The bodybuilders who did not do drugs are at the start of the book in the history of bodybuilding. Look at the photographs of everybody until you reach Reg Park. After that it is all drug users. Achieving the same sizes without drugs is near impossible apart from the exceptionally genetically gifted person. There is also a lesson to learn from this drug experimentation. Don't do it if you put any value on the most important muscle of all... your heart. All of the guys in this book are much older now and you can see them in the bonus material of the "Pumping Iron" DVD. Sadly they don't look good (sadly some are in wheelchairs) and even Arnold has had a bypass. Just go with food type supplements like 100% Whey Protein and Creatine and stay away from all forms of steroids. The other major drawback is that the 70s bodybuilding era did not give much regard to what is called perfect form. Perfect form is all about doing the exercises the right way to avoid injury. A lot... and I mean a lot... of the exercises in the Encyclopedia are considered very dangerous, mainly because of back arching. These include nearly all of the `Rows'-type exercises (Bent-Over Barbell Rows, Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows, T-bar Rows and the One-Arm Dumbbell Row) which are abandoned today. A `Straight-Leg Deadlift' is something you must do right or you can injure yourself. The `Goodmorning' is considered iffy. Using a Smith-machine for the `Vertical Machine Press' is bad because it has a set path. Triceps `Extensions' are a problem. Take care with `Dipping' and avoid `Sissy Squats'. Arnold's book does not do perfect form so well and in most cases just comes up with plainly dangerous material. This is not to say that you can not do the exercises now and again. Most you can, but in the long term you will only get an injury. Avoiding injury = gain. It is as simple as that. So learn perfect form. How to do this? If you want to learn perfecting form then read "The Insider's Tell-All Handbook on Weight-Training Technique" by Stuart McRobert. This book clearly explains how to perform Back Extension, Cable Row, Calf Raise, Close-Grip Bench Press, Crunch Abdominal Work, Curl, Decline Bench Press, Dumbbell Row, Finger Extension, Grip Machine Training, Incline Bench Press, Leg Press, Lever Bar Work, L-fly, Neck Work, Overhead Lockout, Overhead Press, Parallel Bar Dip, Partial Deadlift, Pinch-grip Lifting, Prone Row, Pulldown, Pullover, Pullup/Chin, Pushdown, Rader Chest Pull, Shrug, Side Bend, Squat, Stiff-legged Deadlift, Thick-bar Hold and the Wrist Roller Training. Get it along with this book and you will not be disappointed with what you can learn between the two. Getting that perfect form right is something that you can learn from the latter book and start doing better in a year than the bb who has been in the gym for ten years. It is that important. Slow and controlled exercising does not avoid injury. Injury has nothing to do with the speed or control of the exercise. Injury occurs because of bad form. So get the form right, learn what Arnold teaches you about developing muscle groups and stay away from drugs to live until you are 90 with a darn near perfect body. It can be done!
A Classic but dated.......2003-08-14
I bought and read this book about ten years ago. I used it to start a weightlifting program. There is alot of good information in this book. However, the book is somewhat dated. As I learned from other serious, competitive body builders, there is too much training advised in this volume. Even people who juice don't train this much - and you don't have to to achieve great results. For example, Dorian Yates trains alot less than what Arnold advises in this book and he was Mr. Olympia for a number of years. Consequently, you better off purchasing a more recently published book.
Great Book.......2001-11-09
This book was the original motivator to get me into the gym in the early 90's. I recall sitting day in and day out reading and re-reading this book. While it might not be the most up-to-date, it still hits all the key areas. Let's face it, there are only so many different workouts you can do to hit a particular muscle. This book covers them all. Lacking in diet information should not sway your decision to purchase, as you can find in depth diet information from EAS for free. I lost the book and am finally ordering my second copy. Can't wait to start looking it over again.
This book is the best body building book on the market........1999-11-10
After searching the book stores for a descriptive book on body building and i have finally found one. Arnold know's what he is talking about when it comes to working the body to severe extremes. I have found it useful in the gym. When questions have aroused on how to work a body part,i just flip to a page that specifies on that body part. I am so impressed with the photographs on every page showing a more indepth view of a work. I have brought this book to everyone's attention. If you have not already looked into this book, please do.
Good book but beginner beware!.......1999-10-23
I like the section on the history of bodybuilding. It shows how people went from being fat powerlifters to creating a cut physique. Most of these guys are big but don't have veins all over them, which is better than some of today's "champs." I have to commend Arnold for building a big but still proportionate body. Arnold's "beginner" programs will kill a beginner and may even stress an experienced bodybuilder into overtraining. Good book, lots of different exercises, good photos, interesting history.
Customer Reviews:
gossip, cheap gossip........2006-06-15
This is a cheap work from Wendy Leigh, considering her career at BBC Televison, one would think is will be a good book, but no, is just a show of cheap attacks on Arnold, no true facts, just cheap gossip. Trough the book it feels as the writer had a crush on Arnold but it did not work out , now she tries to satle some scores. All it comes to mind is : junk. After reading it , one will loose it's ability use common sense from the book's bad influence.
Arnold, America, Ambition.......2006-01-31
I was intrigued to read this book when I learned the biographer was prevented from appearing on ABC's Good Morning America by Arnold's publicist, the all powerful Pat Kingsley. It is a well researched and written book with no agenda. I held back a star because his journey to America was fascinating and the hunt is more exciting than the kill. It made me respect him more what sacrifices he made to come to this country and I pass no judgement about being a "boy toy" to a septegerian Spanish prince as a means to get out of Austria. Even it was only posing, and no touching. He used whatever he had to get to America. He has nothing to be ashamed of and his children will know if he did not do what he did they would not be here to judge him. It was a big mistake to kill this book it will one day idemnify him as a dreamer who took action.
the real arnold.......2004-03-20
there is a reason why you can't find this book when you type in arnolds name on amazon.com. this book is an unauthorized, unpublicized invesitigative report at the real arnold, the one that does not want to have his million dollar image and governorship ruined by sexual scandal, steroid use and various other elements that make him HUMAN. this book is the real deal about arnold, the one he does not want you to read, the one that is not being published, the one you had trouble finding.
Flaws and Triumphs.......2002-12-04
I've been reading about Arnold since I was 18 in 1972. His bodybuilding accomplishments are legendary and now he is a famous movie star. Leigh didn't necessarily dig for negative stuff on Arnold; she wrote what appears to be are the facts of his life. No one is perfect and each of us has comments and experiences we'd rather the world did not hear about. It's all part of Arnold's life good and bad but interesting and fascinating as well.
Is this the real Arnold's Life?.......2002-07-17
I'm a big arnold fan, so you know where I
stand on the subject. I've read all his books
"The education of a bodybuilder" ect. When
I read this book I thought all the facts are
here about Arnold's life ,whats wrong?
This book trys to give an investigative
reporter angle. It gives us the dingy
look at Arnold's life, on such topics as
sexuality, steriod use, and even racism!
Look, I don't know if any of these topics
covered are true or not. After all this
is the unauthorized bio of the Austrian Oak's
life. To sum it up this book tries to
bring to light the dark side of Arnold's
life. If thats your cup of tea ,then read this
book!
...
Book Description
The complete program for building and maintaining a well-conditioned, excellently proportioned body -- for a lifetime of fitness and health.
In Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men, legendary athlete Arnold Schwarzenegger shows you how to achieve the best physical condition of your life. For every man, at every age, Arnold outlines a step-by-step program of excercise, skillfully combining weight training and aerobic conditioning. The result -- total cardiovascular and muscular fitness.
Arnold's program of exercise features stretching, warm-up and warm-down routines, and three series of exercises, each more ambitious than the last, all calculated to help you progress at your own speed. In addition, Arnold contributes important advice about equipment, nutrition and diet, and getting started on your program of exercise.
Special sections of Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men cover training for teenagers, exercises designed to keep you in shape on the road or when you can't get to the gym, and the regimen Arnold followed to win his seven Mr. Olympia titles.
Illustrated with hundreds of photographs of Arnold and other top bodybuilders, Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men will help every man look great and feel terrific.
Customer Reviews:
Great for the price.......2007-05-14
I had looked at his other book thru a friend and the amount of information was way to much. I was looking for something a bit more moderate and productive. This book was very helpful. The exercises in here work for both levels with a limited amount of equipment. Local gym memberships were expensive around (85) a month and I had some free weights and a bar. This was the solution he even has a guide for buying equipment stating that you can get everything you need for around $300.
Timeless Advice That Works Well Today!.......2006-07-02
I got this book almost 15 years ago and it really worked for me. I used it to start my own workout regime and I got results within weeks. I still do many of the stretching exercises that I'd learned from this book today at the gym although I don't have as much time as before to do all the weight training exercises. I find both the stretching and the abdominal exercises here to be first class - easy to do and extremely effective - and should time permit and I get more time say at least 3 hours to spare at the gym, I'll try to restart in full the routines outlined in this book. This is highly recommended for anyone who has always wanted to get fit through weight training but didn't know how to start.
it works.......2005-12-06
I have been working out for over 10 years and never did any sort of workout like this,but it works. I had a surgey and found myself in the weakest shape of my life, so i bought the book read it thaught it was stupid, but gave it a try anyway and now have been doing it for 3 months and can do the circuit with no problem 3 times in 45-50 mininutes with heavey weights.
give it 4 weeks it works
Effective routines despite many erroneous explanations.......2004-11-19
A great bodybuilder yet a lousy and lazy author and communicator, Arnold could have shrunk this book into one forth of its length and hired a well-educated editor to present more compelling and accurate information. In this book, Arnold sounds more submissive to the cynicism of wealthy, lazy, and late starters from Santa Monica. He is pictured with his trainees in-person in the simplest and most ridiculous exercises that a mature adult could contemplate doing. Thus, the entire book is geared for those late starters that are hard to motivate who need the simplest routines, in a nutshell.
Though the book was first published in 1981, it was then well known that endurance training and strength training affect muscles in different ways. Arnold contends, on page 11, that Bodybuilders and Weightlifters were found to have less healthy hearts and lungs compared to runners. That is one of many of his erroneous interpretation of physiological issues related to exercise. Based on that false conclusion, he proposes adding an aerobic component to strength training. The fact is that aerobics enhances the cellular respiratory mechanism and has no impact on making healthier hearts or lungs.
His effort to explain how strength training benefits rehabilitation is limited to the versatility of applying resistance to the desired region of the body and at the desired rate. He does not delve into the desired enhancement of metabolism by activity that is beneficial to cell growth and repair. His dumbest interpretation of the effect of weight lifting on high blood pressure is claiming that pulsating blood massages the walls of arteries and prevents their hardening and that strength training strengthens the heart and keeps arteries flexible. That is not true unless the person's entire lifestyle is conducive to healthy living, the heart was not already diseased, and that there were no other causes of essential hypertension that are not preventable by exercise.
The rest of the book deals with progressive strength training, from Series I thru III and ending with competitive bodybuilding. I doubt that any late starter would be able to advance through the three levels unless completely committed, wealthy, and jobless. The three series has a common feature. They entail: (1) stretching with 5 exercises, (2) warm-up with 5 exercises, (3) warm-down with 5 to 7 exercises, (4) weight training of 5 regions of the body with 2 to 4 exercises each, and (5) abdominal training with 5 to 7 exercises.
The choice of exercises for each body region shows the depth of experience of the author. This is the positive aspect of this book. He assigns the Clean and Press and dumbbell lateral raises to the shoulders, bench press and dumbbell press to the chest, chin-up and bend-over rows to the back, arms curls and triceps press to the arms, and squat, lunges, and calf raises to the legs. As you go through the transitions from Series I through III, he suggests adding more weight, more exercises, and accomplishing the workout in lesser time intervals. This is another positive contribution by an experienced athlete.
The pictures are outdated, too large, unnecessarily fill whole pages, and there are a lot of blank tables to fill next to each picture. I never understood why this book was written for men only. May be that was the trend in 1981.
To the Point.......2002-12-19
I bought this book for my boyfriend and he loves it. The book is broken down in to specific areas and along with the pictures, make exercises easy to understand and do correctly. The pictures are VERY outdated which makes for a good laugh, but overall the book is great. NO FLUFF! And you can never go wrong with Arrrrnnnold.
Book Description
Laurence Leamer, author of three Kennedy bestsellers, presents the definitive biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger, his rise to fame and power, and his marriage to Maria Shriver T he life of Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most extraordinary success stories of our time. An immigrant with a heavy accent from a village in Austria, he became the greatest bodybuilder in history, the number one movie star in the world, the Republican husband of a Kennedy princess, and the governor of the greatest of American states. Fantastic shows how and why this man of willful ambition and limitless drive achieved hisunprecedented accomplishments. Leamer has had exclusive, intimate interviews with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, his closest associates, including his elementary school friends in Austria, his mentors, bodybuilding competitors, lifelong friends, first serious girlfriend, political rivals, agents, publicists and producers, many of whom have never been interviewed before. Leamer captures the public and private Schwarzenegger, a political/cultural figure unlike any other, who could change the face of politics in our country. This intimate book is studded with news-making revelations: -The untold story of Arnold's traumatic relationship with his father -How Arnold's first mentor, a Jewish partisan in WWII, helped shape the youth -The intimate story of Arnold's first great love and the five years the couple lived together -Why Arnold married Maria Shriver and the startling story of their wedding day -The star who hated Arnold and tried to ruin his career -How Arnold overcame sordid sexual revelations and prevailed politically -How Maria took over management of her husband's campaign -The game plan that may bring Arnold to the White House.
Customer Reviews:
boyfriend loves it.......2007-03-20
my boyfriend is a huge arnold fan so he loves this book that i bought for him
a very good book.......2007-02-06
this book is an objective and complete biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
it tells the rise to fame and power from his childhood to his first year of governorship. After reading it, one must observe that succes in life depends not on luck, as many believe so, but on discipline, wilful ambition,drive and
positive thinking followed by action.
i recommend this book not only for arnold fans (it should be mandatory for them :) ) but to anyone who wants to get an insight into one of the most extraordinary success stories of our times
Please excuse any language mistakes, i`m not a native english speaker
A Real Page-Turner.......2007-01-10
Larry Leamer's 'Fantastic' is fantastic. I couldn't put it down. It is amazing to learn that one human being, Arnold Schwarzenegger, built such an amazing life. Leamer catalogues this life in a readable, entertaining, objective way. If anyone wants to know what makes Arnold tick, this book will tell him.
Marc H. Rudov
Author
The Man's No-Nonsense Guide to Women
(ISBN: 978-0974501710)
A good read.......2006-11-07
As a big fan of Arnold I couldnt wait to buy this book.
However as he is now a politician I feared it may be nothing but pro Arnold propangada as there is a future possibility of this man running for president. Instead I found a well written, interesting and honest account of the man who was born with nothing material but had bucketfulls of determination, ambition and confidence. The early accounts of Arnolds life are facinating and the book gives an honest account of how Arnold was far from the perfect man providing details of his gamesmanship and arrogance in bodybuilding contests and his days of womanising.
Some people only knock this book because they despise the fact that Arnold won California. The facts are he is the greatest bodybuilder of all time, his movies while not oscar winners sold millions of cinema tickets and he did win California which was incredible. Love him or loathe him the mans a winner. My only knock against this book is that it contains too much political stuff and as I am from Spain im not very interested in American politics.
A Fantastic Book for a Fantastic Man .......2006-04-25
I read this book last summer, and it is just that...Fantastic. If you are a fan of Arnold, you will realize how this human being started out with nothing but dreams and ambition and the will to succeed, and how he was able to build a Fantastic Life.
Several black and white pictures of him and his family and friends are also included.
This book will hopefully shed some light into Arnolds biography and have people realize that he just didn't become Successful overnight, but he actually built his own road to success.
Average customer rating:
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Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)
Louise Krasniewicz , and
Michael Blitz
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak
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Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger
ASIN: 0313338108 |
Book Description
From his role in The Terminator to his more recent work as "Governator" of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has played a major role in American popular culture. This biography traces the fascinating trajectory of Arnold's career-sports figure turned movie star turned entrepreneur turned politician. Elected as governor of California in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger now dramatically and vividly represents the determination and, to a great extent, the relentlessness necessary for achieving great fame, political power, and iconic status. Arnold's life has been characterized by public notoriety. While many readers will have heard or read about his benchmark achievements, this biography will reveal the surprising complexities behind the public scenes and put them into a larger cultural context. Photos and a timeline of significant events round out this entertaining and insightful biography.
Customer Reviews:
Arnold's UNauthorized biography.......2004-09-14
This my may not be the best book you will ever read, but if you're interested in information about Arnold, this is not a bad choice. The author mentions all the obstacles he had in writing this book and does not try to make it seem like it is an authorized biography in any way. He does give you a look at Arnold without the childish self-promoting efforts that Arnold's autobiography seems to try. This is a fun book, with a slight edge to it like you're reading something that might have been printed in a tabloid were it not printed in a book. You can almost feel like you are sneeking around with the author trying to find out information about Arnold that is not some sort of publicity stunt. It might not be the most fair look at Arnold, but then again neither is Arnold's autobiography. I think the real story might be found somewhere in between the two books.
Not very easy to read but has alot of information........2004-08-04
Although the book is not that flattering for Arnold its not that bad either. I stopped following his career in the early 90's and it has alot of information about him since then. Most of the information about his career early on and into the 80's I already knew but had more detail than in previous material I had read.
No that Interesting.......2004-04-08
Andrews has no access to Arnold, and minimal time with the A-man's associates. So he does what he can, showing an Arnold with the midas touch who sets a goal, goes for it, and gets it. (Like in his pre-success 70's, saying he would marry into a powerful American family, and later "sweeping Maria Shriver off her feet"). Andrews is rarely negative, and praises Arnold's films more than most critics, for sure. The only "criticism" is a very minimal handful of he said he/she said comments from former co-workers... and Andrews' frustrations with his lack of access. With so little input, Andrews espouses cultural meaning to Arnold's work that may not, or may, exist. For example, Andrews may read more political ambition into Arnold's work than is really there... or, he is amazingly prescient. The book was published in 1995, yet Andrews projects - seriously - Arnold as Governor and U.S. President (post new Ammendment that would allow foreign borns to serve). In my humble opinion... Andrews gives too much cultural/political weight to Arnold's art. (Maybe my bias -- I buy into a lot of political interpretation to Warren Beatty's work... see book recommendation below). On page 195, Andrews describes Arnold's expansion from his 80's Reaganesque tough guy films:
Kindergarten Cop hints at the healing age of peacemaking with Russia and at President Bush's 'new world order'. The sentimental subplots about children reaching entente with divorced parents adumbrate both the messianic geo-political accords that had taken place under Reagan and the family values mandates that had issued from his and Bush's White House.
Uhhhhhh?
Ultimately, despite the potentially great material that is Arnold, I didn't find the book that interesting. Maybe there is something incongruous about a British intellectual like Andrews writing about a man of action like Arnold. The writing style lacks a certain muscle and speed (or even controversy :-)... to reflect Arnold's style.
Books I like more:
"Warren Beatty and Desert Eyes: A Life and a Story."
"Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder."
Bunch of bull.......2004-02-14
This author is out to make Arnold look bad, not to sure about this book...I think its a bunch of BS myself. Arnold is a true Idol, a star, a person someone wants to be. This guy makes Arnold out to be a pure bonified *%*$*@*...I do not believe the bullcrap from this book at all...
Great Book........2004-01-17
Great Book. Takes an honest look at the real life "Arnold Schwarzenegger". It may take the magic out of the man for some , but it puts a human face on one of the greatest personalities of our times. The book points out that, like all of us, Arnold has his imperfections, but through sheer will and a fanatical determination to succeed, he pulled himself up by his boot straps and propelled himself to success. An absolute "MUST READ" for all true Arnold fans.
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