Top 8 Bodybuilding books of all time

[Purefilth]

http://spotmebro.com/bodybuilding-books/

Anyone read any of these? If so - any thoughts?

 

[DanZy]

I'd skip that Mike Mentzer book

 

[ebracer05]

I read Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength and thought it was excellent. I injured myself last fall and took about 9 months off from lifting... when I came back, I used his program and was amazing at how quickly I progressed back to where I had been.

I have not read it, but a few of my bros have Arnold's encyclopaedia and really liked it.

 

[Purefilth]

I havent but I did watch Dorian Yates video series on bodybuilding.com and found it to be very good.

Yeah I saw a couple of those. Agree.

 

[switch]

starting strength is good for beginners

delavier's strength training anatomy is amusing but not necessary,it just shows the muscles and stuff

arnol'd encyclopedia was written by someone else,and then "endorsed" by arnold's name....its crap

poliquin proncipals , is generic bro theory, but there are some good points to it as well,worth a read i guess

blood and guts is outdated BS. just like yates

mike mentzer's book is crap,unless you wanna die during your 40s like he did , his theory wont work unless you are pumping steroids for lunch, dinner and breakfast....oh and maybe supper too

 

[speed dawg]

I've read Schwarzeggar's book.

To me, one thing all those books neglect is flexibility training, ie getting your body adapted to having more muscle than it's accustomed to having.

 

[Colossus]

I think there are better books out there. Poloquin's stuff is very sound, so is Mark Rippetoe's book for beginners. Arnold's encyclopedia is a definite classic.

The Westside Barbell Book of Methods is good but you may be able to get more utility out of the soviet texts it was derived from.

Dinosaur Training is an awesome book getting back the very basics of heavy, hard, rugged training.

 

[DanZy]

Danzy, I'm interested to hear why you'd say this.. Mentzer did die of a heart attack and may have used drugs, but his training methods are now being heavily promoted by medical doctors who specialize in muscle growth research.

Here's one of the articles:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/AN00893

His HIT system was also used by Dorian Yates, who went on to win 6 consecutive Mr. Olympia titles.

I think heart problems ran in Mentzer's family, his dad died of heart problems and so did his brother. But I don't think this should take away from the efficiency of his training methods.

Dorian Yates trained far more often than Mentzer did and focused on heavy as fvck compounds. Doug McGuff is a quack, there's very little real world success of his programs. Were bodybuilding that easy, everyone would be huge.
Read all of this

 

[Krueg]

I also read (Own) Arnold Schwarzeneggers Bodybuilding Encyclopedia. It's mainly a bunch of pictures of bodybuilders, showing different excercises you can do. Has one or two routines laid out, that I don't know if they would truly work or not.. He does go into a very small portion on how beginners should stick to mainly compound movements on the heavier side to build up some strength and mass. Said a little bit about his early powerlifting days and how that helped him achieve his size and strength.. Talks a little bit about diet.. yada yada yada

I wouldn't really recommend it, maybe someone who has been bodybuilding for a few years and wants to enter a competition can get something out of it... I only got the book because I like Arnold, he's one of my idols. Though my weight lifting goals are different these days. Not something on my Top 10 list.

 

[[S]alvatore]

Danzy, I'm interested to hear why you'd say this.. Mentzer did die of a heart attack and may have used drugs, but his training methods are now being heavily promoted by medical doctors who specialize in muscle growth research.

Here's one of the articles:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/AN00893

His HIT system was also used by Dorian Yates, who went on to win 6 consecutive Mr. Olympia titles.

I think heart problems ran in Mentzer's family, his dad died of heart problems and so did his brother. But I don't think this should take away from the efficiency of his training methods.

Mentzers HIT is a really poor way to train for a natural. Muscle protein synthesis peaks at about the 24 hour mark, and almost returns to baseline at the 36-48 hour mark. Which means the muscle has recovered, and is ready to be stimulated again.

Now with most bodybuilding routines (HIT included), you're only hitting a muscle once per week. Why would you only hit a muscle once per week, when it has recovered in a couple of days?

Oner person hits their chest 52 times a year, the other, 104 times per year. Who will make the most progress?

Of course, you need to manage volume if you're hitting a bodypart multiple times per week, but frequency>failure training everytime. Unless you are using steroids yourself, don't follow any of the routines that the pros "use" or give out as advice.

Books to read on training:

Supertraining
Dinosaur Training
Power to the people
Beyond Brawn/Hardgainer

Nutrition:

Anything by Lyle Mcdonald: The Protein book, ketogenic diet, ultimate diet 2.0.
Burn the fat, feed the muscle
Dan Duchaine: Bodyopus

 

[elite7]

mike mentzer must be the most underrated bodybuilder of his time.Dorian,sergio and many other pros have used his methods true these guys shot steroids .But i'll take his training methods over arnies 3-4 hour workouts any day.By the way most of the strongest bodybuilders started out as powerlifters.