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

The book starts by explaining the basics and functionalities of different muscles - very informative. I found that this helped me understand my targets better as well as give me a sense of control over my workout. The illustrated exercises are very clear and simple to understand. When there's been an exercise I was not too sure about in the gym, I just asked a gym coach to explain it to me. I found the best feature of the book is towards the end where several workout programmes are given. I've been following a 12-week programme. I am in week 7 of 12 and have been seeing great results. One advice: remember to read the intro to each chapter (one page each) and not just jump straight to an exercise unless you are a regular gym goer.

I didn't used to be a very regular gym user but when my size demanded I loose some weight and get fitter this book came in great use. It gives you a break down of some exercises for each group of muscles as well as giving suggested training programs for you to follow depending on what results you are after. It is not just for the bigger guys it is for everyone as it give exercises ranging from very easy ones through to the hardest veriations for the larger, stronger guys. This book also has suggested eating programs, diets if you want to call them that but this is just a small section at the frount of the book. In conclustion if you want a book to give you ideas on exercises for a gym program or if you want some basic pre worked out program this is the book for you as it will give you ideas on how to train.

It's useful. It gives you a general overview of the muscles of the body and what exercises build up which muscles. It then shows the main exercise and then about ten similar exercises that you could do instead, like turning the hands the opposite way or lying on a bench etc. The only problem I have with it is that if it says do the exercise this different way, it sometimes doesn't say why so I'm wondering what the benefit of doing it that way would be. Other than that, it's an excellent book but a bit pricey considering it only has about five 'main moves' per section (arms, chest etc.) in which the differences may be just the same exercise using either a barbell or two dumbbells, plus the following alternative positions. So really it would only be useful for a complete beginner.

Informative and thorough.

Great book that has helped me with my fitness journey. The pictures have been extremely helpful.

I found Men's Health Big Book of Exercise to be a great help. I am coming from a practical angle - the sport and nutrition science discussed in other reviews goes straight over my head. My starting point was: middle aged, overweight and confused what to do. I went to the gym 6 month prior to buying the book 3 times a week doing only cardio: rowing, x-trainer, stepper, crunches, etc. That lost me about 6 kg (1 stone) and I got stuck. When I read the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises advice "you need to do weights" I was really sceptical. However, I followed the (excellent) workout plans in the back of the book and my weight loss got moving again - about 4.5 kg IN A MONTH. This will obviously slow down, but their advice was spot on for me. I would look at the book as a "beginners to intermediate" guide, written in plain layman's language the average (and not obsessed) man can actually understand. As all sports books, I recommend to read the summary, do the trial and error thing and reread the chapters properly once you start getting the hang of it. Personally, I am very grateful to Men's Health for having published the book, which has really met my needs.

Very pleased with this book, it has loads of information in it, which could be from the beginner to the advanced. It breaks down different areas of the body and gives you loads of exercises you can do, from the well known to the "well I didn't know that" bits. There are lots of programs within which can be tweeked with references within the chapters to suit all needs and abilities. A book well worth having if you're serious about changing your body.

a decent amount of exercises, could have done perhaps with fewer exercises and more explanation

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.

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.

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.