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

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.

I love this book - it's a gem in my opinion; for anyone who is already working out or is looking to get fit or add variety in their workouts, this is an excellent book; it is very complete with dozens of different variations on standard exercises that will build your strength and health. This book explains each main exercise and its variations thoroughly with beautiful color photographs to help illustrate and explain. One of the highlights of this book for me was how it was organized and laid out; as described, it is partitioned into different sections of the body you are working out (e.g., back, chest, abs, etc.) which I really like. It also has a nice (albeit short, unfortunately)section in the back on basic nutrition/diet, as well as some very handy charts on different workout routines that you can do: e.g. short workouts for a crowded gym, routines to lose weight, to build a beach body (or, to gain muscle mass for fairly lean guys. Yeah, that's me; i'm working on adding muscle mass :)) etc. For the "intermediate or advanced athlete," or the people that have worked out for some time already, some of the exercises may seem basic or common sense, but there should be plenty of variety in each section and some challenging variations to the main workouts you already do and that are listed in the book. This is a great book to go through and add workouts to your already existing routine, if you'd like. *** In Summation: Excellent Book! 5/5: Pros: Detailed explanations, plenty of exercises and variations, color photos, basic nutrition info, workout plans/charts. Cons: Not much at all; my only wish is that the nutrition info would be a little more detailed and tailored to any specific workout plan included in the book. *** Well worth the price; i would consider it an essential workout book, especially for those new to working out, trying to get back in shape, or looking to vary up their exercise routines? Worried it won't be challenging enough? Don't be: like with any aspect of work, what you give is what you get, to a large extent. You can always try harder variations, add more weight/resistance, or do more reps.

This is great book listing so many exercises and their variations. I am an experienced lifter and looking to add some variety to my workouts and am very pleased with this book. Each exercise is shown very clearly in 2-3 pictures. So we dont have to sit though lot of talking as in youtube. Its really cheap for being under $ 20. They also have a good list of compound moves and weight based calorie burners. Overall very happy with the book.

I have been working out for many years and have a decent collection of workout and fitness books. There are basically 3 categories of these books out there: Major Health Marketing Companies owned by Bodybuilders and Fitness Experts(Examples are Men's Health, Muscle & Fitness, any Weider Publication), second is Pro Bodybuilders and Athletes that have written there own advice books(Examples are Michael Matthews and Frederic Delavier, both which are admirable), third is Marketing materials produced by Endorsers(Examples are P90X, Hard Body Plans, and Diet Schemes). All Three have their benefits and downsides, but basically what I noticed is that some books are geared towards different types of people(I own Muscle and Fitness 101 Workouts which is geared towards guys wanting to Bodybuild, I own this book which is geared toward anyone wanting to loose weight, get in shape, and stay tone and has little or no interest in bodybuilding, and I own many Michael Matthews books which are geared towards giving direction to anyone who has been following bad advise for many years and can be used by any fitness minded person). I am a person who is very fit, but not interested in becoming a bodybuilder but more someone looking to keep things interesting and always out for new tips and new exercises to keep my gym routine enjoyable. I enjoyed this book very much...It gave me a reintroduction to many common and uncommon exercises which is always good, gave me good diet and general fitness advise, but I found the actual articles in the beginning and the end of the book to be geared more towards someone who is new or a beginner and needs common direction. So I found the articles to be misguiding for my fitness level and information I have heard over and over again. The number of illustrated exercises(full color pictures and in order by body part) made buying the book a very good investment. I also really like the fact that the models used in the book are not massively huge but just thin, fit, tone men which made reading it less intimidating. This Men's Health publication doesn't push any marketing agenda except a few references about where to buy certain equipment. I did, however, find that every fact they have in the book is refereced to some "University of so-and-so said that.... ", and I found that annoying. I would rather read straight facts although i guess it is nice to see where the facts where generated from. Overall anyone would benefit from having this book except advanced bodybuilders...If thats you I would consider the Muscle & Fitness Collection of Publications. This is a very good book for beginners looking for advise and exercise references especially those who want to loose weight and get in shape. I find the advise to be for men and women and everything is organized very well. I as an advaced lifter who desires to stay lean, fit, and thin found it a helpful addition to my library.

Impressed from initial time spent with book. Wealth of exercise examples, nice plans and extra information. Do not buy this book if you are looking for really strong diet advice. Has some straight forward tips but diet plan is not a strong point of the book. Which is fine by me, I just wanted the wealth of exercises and variations, and the book has that covered in spades!

This is the best exercise book ever, I have about 8 different ones and this one is far superior to all the others. I ended buying another one, one for inside and one for my garage gym. The book has nice glossy pages and color photos with several variants of each exercise. Someone complained about most of the exercises involved special equipment, a lot do. But you can improvise, you just have to be open minded and creative and want it bad enough to put a little effort in it. I bought two 3 1/2" pulleys and made a Lat Pulldown Station in my garage. Good luck in your weight loss exercise journey!

Great book! If you are looking to vary your workouts and exercises or hit a plateau, this is definitely the workout book for you! When you get this in the mail, yo will also be surprised how thick this book is--the spine is two fingers thick and it is 551 pages of color photos. PHOTOS AND EXPLANATIONS OF EXERCISES Lots of workouts with easy to understand photos AND explanations. Relies on both photos and description to explain what you need to feel as you do the movement/exercise. This is very helpful because it explains where you need to squeeze or pull to help exercise the muscle properly. There is an index in the back to help fine the exercise or muscles you are looking for too! HELPFUL INFORMATION AND VARIATIONS The book also provides tidbits on the side which are helpful, such as building muscle by doing certain variations. For example, there are 25 variations and combinations for biceps which you can do for a simple dumbbell curl to work different portions of your biceps! You can use them all to get a fuller shape, which is great to work into a rotation. MUSCLE DIAGRAMS Additionally, there are muscle diagrams which help you both learn about the muscles you are work. But it also helps you identify what you want to build. If you do not know what muscle it is that you want to grow bigger or stronger, you can go to the muscle diagrams at the front of the chapter to get the name (which is clearly pointed out and explains what it does and what movements target it). Then you can go into the chapter and look for the exercise which works that muscle. For example, ever wonder what that muscle is at the bottom of your biceps that connects to your forearm area? How to work that? It is called the brachioradialis, and you can now go into the chapter and look for exercises that target it! THOROUGH BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES If you are in an apartment or don't have time to get to a gym some days, there are great bodyweight exercises. This section is thorough and can be done at home, in the office at lunch, or while away on vacation. Most use minimal furniture too, so you can really do most of the exercises with nothing but you and a floor. WORKOUT ROUTINES Not only does this book have just workouts, but it also has some great workout routines for different goals. There are routines are generally broken down for strength building, endurance, and fat-burning. There are also routines to do at home with minimal equipment, such as just dumbbells, which will really challenge you and make a difference such as spartacus or the wheel. Many of the workouts also explain how you can vary them too to make them easier or harder. NUTRITION AND MEALS There is also a section about nutrition and healthier eating for your hard workouts. This is also helpful and gives meal plans, but I wouldn't say it is anything you could not find online. If you are an absolutely beginner and don't know where to look, this will certainly help!

This book is full of information and knowledge, not just workouts that explains how it affects the muscles and how the muscles are used. This is a great tool