Dumbbell Training for Strength And Fitness

This great little book covers all the important details of using dumbells to work on each specific group of muscles. There is a larger book with thousands of dumbell variations (the "Great Big Book of") but nothing is left out of this little book. The other one in the must read list is New Rules of Lifting.The photos are small but quite clear. The instructions are quite specific about how things are held and how to stand so the photo isn't always needed. A big photo taking up half a page at a time in a big book is hardly an advantage.I think the secret is that the real facts of lifting don't really take up that much space. It has lifts arranged by muscle groups, not alphabetically, like the "Great Big Book of". It even a good size to take along with the workout gear.This book answered my questions on how to get by with squats using dumbells (one leg at a time, that's how). The book also does not focus entirely on isolation of single muscles which is a good thing. For the price I don't see what the problem is. It's great to have another view of what your doing to help keep it fresh. This and New Rules are my current reading.E

I wavered between a 3 star and 4 star review for this book. I ended up with 4 stars because it does what I think it advertises itself to do: provides a relatively simple set of dumbbell exercises and a wide range of routines to choose from.The exercises themselves are described well, with detailed instructions and tips. The photos, however, are small black and white photos that can be a bit challenging. The other issue could be taken as a positive or negative: The number of exercises in another book for abdominals are 12; here you get 4. It makes it simpler to put together a routine if you only have 4 well chosen exercises for the abdominals, but I prefer to have more choice.My preference is another book for exercise selection (I like Allen's Dumbbell training for this) and this book for a wide selection of "put it all together" sample routines.

The author is a Marine and earned his degree from Penn State. He has written over 350 articles and numerous books on fitness and strength training. One of his works is a book upon which my strength training program is built upon, Maximize Your Training, which is one of the most important books in bodybuilding in my professional and personal opinion.Maximize Your TrainingWhen I saw that he authored a book about dumbbell training, I knew his style and knowledge would truly give the most comprehensive information available. Starting out with the history of dumbbells, the advantages and disadvantages of this method of training, and the extensive training details related to technique and safety, this book is the definitive text on incorporating this fitness equipment into your lifestyle.A section broken down by body parts emphasized with black and white photographs, techniques and technical/physical limiting considerations are covered.There are numerous exercise routines that are outlined depending upon whether you work out 1 to 3 days a week. He covers exercise myths regarding sports specific training and other myths of core training with exercise balls and balance boards.His key theme is effective workouts with an emphasis on safety.I highly recommend this book.

Not bad if you know nothing about working out at all, but for another $10 you can get Arnold Schwarzenegger new encyclopedia of bodybuilding which has everything you could ever want to know like what workout hits which part of the muscle! And it's very easy to read

I have to laugh at some of the reviews, like the one that gave one star and says "don't waste your money". It's 10 bucks! Makes one wonder what axe they have to grind. Not surprisingly, the reviewer promotes a competing book.I find that many of the reviews are misleading. For one thing, this isn't a beginner's book. It describes 50 different exercises in good depth, with instructions and photos, and it contains around 30 different workouts.The photos are not too small or too blurry to see. My eyesight isn't great but I had no trouble at all. By keeping them on the small side, the book could be much more compact, which is helpful during my workouts.The background information runs from basic to advanced. I am no novice, yet I picked up quite a few new things I hadn't known previously.For $10, it's hard to go wrong with this book. I researched quite a few and this is the one I like best.

Some time ago I met a fellow who was into competitive body building. During our conversation he mentioned that he had developed his considerably fit and muscular physique using dumbbells, only. I was intrigued. I assumed weight training required huge heavy weights and lots of space. When I saw this book, I bought it to answer questions and satisfy my curiosity. I found the book to be detailed enough to let a novice understand the routines. There is enough technical jargon to convince me the author knows his stuff. Yet the book is very easy to understand. I thought it was nicely done. Recommended.

This is a fantastic book. It has a load of exercises, and more importantly, lots of workouts that you can try out. My only comment would be that some of the exercises are a bit unclear. I'm somewhat afraid to do a few of them without additional resources, for fear I'll hurt myself. The pictures are grainy as well, but they get the point across. It shouldn't be a problem for anybody.I wholly recommend this book. It's cheap, and you get far more then what you pay for.

great alternative to the status quo routines.

Bought for starting out with dumbbells and it tells me pretty much all I think I need to know for now. Good explanations of what you are trying to achieve when using dumbbells, repetitions, time under load, what "failure" is etc. The pictures are black and white and the printing process affects the quality (the pictures are generally fairly small) so sometimes you need to read the description to be certain of exact positioning. There are plenty of example workouts although I would have preferred more split workouts - most are total body - but that is probably because I am a cyclist looking to improve upper body strength, not lower. Overall, I am very pleased with the book and don't feel the need to buy another book to fill in any gaps, which is what happens with a lot of books.

this is a useful introduction for a beginner like me. It gives a good framework to understand training, good descriptions of basic exercises, and some recommended training routines. It met my needs fully.

I am just beginning dumbbell training and found this book to be very useful.

This book wasn't what i expected when i bought it, it was all in black and white, it was a paper back and quite small, but saying that once i opened it and started reading it, i was pleasantly surprised.It contains solid information and doesn't leave anything out on weight training and what weights can do for you. I also has all the excercises that you can do with dumbbells and alot of programmes at the end. The only thing that was missing for me was how to change your programme when you need to and what to do, how many sets to change to ect....but saying that maybe just trying some of the programmes they give you could benefit you. These guys definately know what they are talking about - plain and simple!