We bought "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Training" shortly after getting a Marcy Classic Standard Bench with Arm Curl and Best Fitness BFMG20 Sportsmans Gym to make sure my son and I knew how to do the exercises properly. This is great starting point and will likely save newcomers to the "sport" from a lot of wasted effort or dangerous practices. Here are my observations:
Pros -
+ Authoritative Advice; the authors are actual athletes (a female powerlifter, a male Kayaker, and a male cyclist)
+ Safety Focused; everything is presents with a "safety first" mind set
+ Inclusive; has information on free weights, machines, and cardio
+ Easy to Follow Format; starts with the basics and progress to more advanced concepts (really needs to be read start to finish)
Cons -
- Pictures; while there are a good amount of pictures, they vary in usefulness
Misc -
* Humor; the authors included a lot of humor and idle banter that I enjoyed, but more serious reads might find it distracting
I strongly recommend reading this book all the way through as it really doesn't get into the actual lifting until Chapter 6 and it might be tempting to avoid the sections on nutrition, gym selection, and stretching, but there is a lot off really good information to be found in those earlier chapters.
The sections on debunking myths are very helpful as well, especially with the "weight vs reps" debate that is common among gym lifters.
Highly Recommended!
CFH The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Training Illustrated, 3rd Edition
This book provides fantastic easy to use information for the beginning weight-lifter. If you are more advanced, you may already know the information in this book--though it sheds light on faulty techniques commonly seen in the gym.
This book is more than meet's the eye. It has muscle diagrams for each exercise in the book so you can see exactly which muscle you're targeting. For instance, some exercises only target the middle deltoids, while others work on the rear or front.
Also, this book takes a more scientific approach to weight lifting instead of just repeating common sense and personal intuition of some olympic weight lifter. For example, it says that contrary to popular belief, multiple scientific studies have shown that just doing one set of an exercise is just as effective as wasting hours at the gym doing 5 or 10 sets like some guys do. Doing 1 set is MUCH more efficient than doing 5 or 10. Especially for beginners.
This is the only weight training book you will need: A+ - Mens Health - Bodybuilding - Fitness - Strength'
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