Read Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy Bret Contreras 8601400742761 Books
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Increase strength, build mass, burn fat, and define your muscles. With full-color anatomical illustrations, step-by-step instructions, and training advice, Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy is the authoritative resource for sculpting your physique without free weights, machines, or expensive equipment.
Targeting all muscle zones and primary muscle regions--arms, chest, shoulders, back, core, thighs, glutes, and calves--Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy presents 156 of the most effective bodyweight exercises that can be performed anytime, anywhere. With expert advice from renowned strength trainer Bret Contreras, you'll learn how to modify, combine, and sequence exercises to ramp up your routine and avoid plateaus.
In depth yet practical, Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy takes you inside every exercise through stunning anatomical artwork that reveals primary muscles worked along with the relevant surrounding structures, including bones, ligaments, and tendons.
Whether you are just beginning your quest for a better body or simply seeking a proven approach for training at home, on the road, or on the go, Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy is a one-of-a-kind resource that you'll refer to again and again.
Read Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy Bret Contreras 8601400742761 Books
"This is a review of 3 bodyweight exercise books (paperback editions): "Your Body Is Your Barbell" by BJ Gaddour, "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren and "Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy" by Bret Contreras. These reviews are coming from my perspective of a 44 year old man who decided I needed to lose some weight and just get in a little bit better overall shape. After doing my research I decided to focus on bodyweight exercises for their simplicity, efficiency and effectiveness. Bodyweight exercises require minimal equipment, allow you to work many muscles at once (compound exercises), and use motions that are natural body movements unlike a lot of gym machines. All 3 of these books contain basic information on exercises, exercise plans and how to make each exercise easier or more difficult. The ability to change the difficulty level of each exercise (progressions or regressions) will fine tune an exercise to your current particular ability and allow you to keep challenging your body. Examples of bodyweight exercises can also be found on YouTube for further clarification.
Of these 3 books I think that "Your Body Is Your Barbell" by BJ Gaddour (let's refer to it as 'Barbell' for short) is the clear standout. If you are brand new to exercising or just want a solid foundation of the basics this is the book to get. 'Barbell' is a complete *program* clearly organized and aimed at raw beginners but contains enough to still challenge intermediate athletes. The superior organization and explanations are no doubt due to the resources of Men's Health magazine which has been writing about these types of exercises for quite a while. Its purpose is not to overwhelm the reader with all the different bodyweight exercises you can do, but to only focus on the minimum exercises that give the best overall results in the shortest amount of time. It explains the benefits of bodyweight training in a very clear and convincing manner, has a short easy-to-understand section on simple nutrition, and gives good clear information about general fitness. It has excellent photographs of exercises, a readable format and precise guidelines and instructions for what a beginner needs to do and focuses on only 8 basic bodyweight exercises to learn (you ultimately only need to choose 4). The 8 exercises are broken down into 4 movement categories (2 exercises per category that you can pick from). The 4 movement categories are upper body (pushing or pulling) and lower body (hip dominant or knee dominant). The 2 upper body *pushing* exercises are the pushup and handstand pushup, the 2 upper body *pulling* exercises are the row and the pullup. The 2 lower body hip dominant exercises are the hip hinge and the hip thrust, the 2 lower body knee dominant exercises are the deep squat and the single-leg squat. Each of the 8 exercises has its own chapter with 5 different difficulty levels, each with additional progressions and regressions to suit your current ability. The different levels of exercises start with complete beginners, who may be considerably overweight and never exercised a day in their life, to more difficult levels that in some cases might only be completed by Olympic athletes. Clearly the emphasis of the book is on complete beginners to intermediates who want maximum benefits with the shortest amount of time invested.
The next book is "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren (let's call it 'Gym' for short). The book begins with some background on the author's military training and his success in restructuring military exercise training routines that produced better results in much less time than traditional methods. He has an interesting section on the superiority of strength training to cardiovascular training and the nutrition chapter is very well written. There is some other good general information on strength training before introducing the exercise portion of the book. The exercises are organized by regions of the body and include descriptions, photos and variations (progressions and regressions) to suit your current physical conditioning. There are several exercise plans included based on your general level of fitness, from very basic to elite athletes. There are only a few photos of each exercise by necessity and the exercise plans require beginners to learn multiple different exercises instead of mastering a few and working in small progressions to increase difficulty. Unfortunately there is little guidance as to which exercises you should learn first and which will give you the most benefit for your time and effort.
The third book is "Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy" by Bret Contreras (let's call it 'Anatomy' for short). This book is a collection of bodyweight exercises organized by muscle region (arms, chest, back, glutes, etc.). Each exercise is beautifully illustrated to show the specific muscles involved. The muscles of each exercise are colored differently to indicate whether they are used primarily or secondarily in the exercise. The book includes muscle regions that the other two books leave out, such as the neck, and does a decent job of indicating many different exercises for a particular region, with variations that are easier or harder. Notes on the particular exercises are helpful as is the general descriptions of each muscle region. The book includes some brief general information aimed at beginners but this book is really for intermediate and advanced users. It seems to be more about bodybuilding than overall general fitness. 'Anatomy' has the same problem as the previous book 'Gym' in that it offers too many options and the suggested workout routines do not focus on general compound exercises but rather require mastering a wide variety of movements. This book is still a useful reference for people that already have a basic knowledge of bodyweight training and are perhaps looking for new techniques or specific information about what exercises target which exact muscles.
In my opinion, beginners need a clear, simple path to follow and "Your Body Is Your Barbell" by BJ Gaddour offers exactly what I needed and nothing which I didn’t to get in the best overall physical shape with a minimum investment of time and money."
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Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy Bret Contreras 8601400742761 Books Reviews :
Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy Bret Contreras 8601400742761 Books Reviews
- This is a review of 3 bodyweight exercise books (paperback editions) "Your Body Is Your Barbell" by BJ Gaddour, "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren and "Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy" by Bret Contreras. These reviews are coming from my perspective of a 44 year old man who decided I needed to lose some weight and just get in a little bit better overall shape. After doing my research I decided to focus on bodyweight exercises for their simplicity, efficiency and effectiveness. Bodyweight exercises require minimal equipment, allow you to work many muscles at once (compound exercises), and use motions that are natural body movements unlike a lot of gym machines. All 3 of these books contain basic information on exercises, exercise plans and how to make each exercise easier or more difficult. The ability to change the difficulty level of each exercise (progressions or regressions) will fine tune an exercise to your current particular ability and allow you to keep challenging your body. Examples of bodyweight exercises can also be found on YouTube for further clarification.
Of these 3 books I think that "Your Body Is Your Barbell" by BJ Gaddour (let's refer to it as 'Barbell' for short) is the clear standout. If you are brand new to exercising or just want a solid foundation of the basics this is the book to get. 'Barbell' is a complete *program* clearly organized and aimed at raw beginners but contains enough to still challenge intermediate athletes. The superior organization and explanations are no doubt due to the resources of Men's Health magazine which has been writing about these types of exercises for quite a while. Its purpose is not to overwhelm the reader with all the different bodyweight exercises you can do, but to only focus on the minimum exercises that give the best overall results in the shortest amount of time. It explains the benefits of bodyweight training in a very clear and convincing manner, has a short easy-to-understand section on simple nutrition, and gives good clear information about general fitness. It has excellent photographs of exercises, a readable format and precise guidelines and instructions for what a beginner needs to do and focuses on only 8 basic bodyweight exercises to learn (you ultimately only need to choose 4). The 8 exercises are broken down into 4 movement categories (2 exercises per category that you can pick from). The 4 movement categories are upper body (pushing or pulling) and lower body (hip dominant or knee dominant). The 2 upper body *pushing* exercises are the pushup and handstand pushup, the 2 upper body *pulling* exercises are the row and the pullup. The 2 lower body hip dominant exercises are the hip hinge and the hip thrust, the 2 lower body knee dominant exercises are the deep squat and the single-leg squat. Each of the 8 exercises has its own chapter with 5 different difficulty levels, each with additional progressions and regressions to suit your current ability. The different levels of exercises start with complete beginners, who may be considerably overweight and never exercised a day in their life, to more difficult levels that in some cases might only be completed by Olympic athletes. Clearly the emphasis of the book is on complete beginners to intermediates who want maximum benefits with the shortest amount of time invested.
The next book is "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren (let's call it 'Gym' for short). The book begins with some background on the author's military training and his success in restructuring military exercise training routines that produced better results in much less time than traditional methods. He has an interesting section on the superiority of strength training to cardiovascular training and the nutrition chapter is very well written. There is some other good general information on strength training before introducing the exercise portion of the book. The exercises are organized by regions of the body and include descriptions, photos and variations (progressions and regressions) to suit your current physical conditioning. There are several exercise plans included based on your general level of fitness, from very basic to elite athletes. There are only a few photos of each exercise by necessity and the exercise plans require beginners to learn multiple different exercises instead of mastering a few and working in small progressions to increase difficulty. Unfortunately there is little guidance as to which exercises you should learn first and which will give you the most benefit for your time and effort.
The third book is "Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy" by Bret Contreras (let's call it 'Anatomy' for short). This book is a collection of bodyweight exercises organized by muscle region (arms, chest, back, glutes, etc.). Each exercise is beautifully illustrated to show the specific muscles involved. The muscles of each exercise are colored differently to indicate whether they are used primarily or secondarily in the exercise. The book includes muscle regions that the other two books leave out, such as the neck, and does a decent job of indicating many different exercises for a particular region, with variations that are easier or harder. Notes on the particular exercises are helpful as is the general descriptions of each muscle region. The book includes some brief general information aimed at beginners but this book is really for intermediate and advanced users. It seems to be more about bodybuilding than overall general fitness. 'Anatomy' has the same problem as the previous book 'Gym' in that it offers too many options and the suggested workout routines do not focus on general compound exercises but rather require mastering a wide variety of movements. This book is still a useful reference for people that already have a basic knowledge of bodyweight training and are perhaps looking for new techniques or specific information about what exercises target which exact muscles.
In my opinion, beginners need a clear, simple path to follow and "Your Body Is Your Barbell" by BJ Gaddour offers exactly what I needed and nothing which I didn’t to get in the best overall physical shape with a minimum investment of time and money. - Ok, I bought this book to help me get in shape. I then opened the book and began reading and realized the work involved and sorta set it down. You know when your way out of shape and the sight of the pictures scare you because of at that moment you realize just reading the book and looking at the pictures won't get you in shape. You know you kinda shelf the book at that time hoping some miracle will come along and sorta magically whip you in shape while you sleep. Well, ain't gonna happen! So eventually you get over your fear and start to apply what you read and slowly with much effort you can do 5 pushups and till eventually, you can do 20 then 30 but still trying to hit 50 but you're trying so you know its the same with all you learn from the book. Try even if its sloppy and you struggle to do one rep of any exercise in this book at least your trying and you know what you are in your home away from those who judge so only one to be embarrassed by is yourself. I know I've embarrassed myself in front of myself plenty of other times and I'm now using the book. It's not easy when your more than 100 pounds overweight. Every journey begins with one step. I will keep stepping from here on.
- This is absolutely a superior book on bodyweight training. I did gymnastics growing up, so I am a bit familiar with body weight exercises, and I think his exercise and form descriptions are excellent and on point. And I love his emphasis on safety. I also really, really appreciate that in this book he lays out the different options for different types of body weight strength training goals and then gives you some guidance for how to set up a program to meet your individualized goals. As a person who will probably never set foot in a gym again, I really like that and think it has high value to someone who works out at home. And because my needs are somewhat specialized and a bit unique, I prefer reading resources that give a wide range of different options for customizing your individual training goals. And I really like that this book didn't go into selling any one specific idealized body image or size. Big fan of that.
In the interest of fairness, not everyone will want to read the descriptions of the muscles and their movements. I know I was having flashbacks to when I took Anatomy and Physiology nearly 20 years ago. Crud that makes me feel old...but I would argue that if you're going to take your strength training seriously, it's probably a good idea to know that information. And if you really don't want to read it, then just skip those paragraphs. Otherwise, I highly recommend this particular book. - This is a awesome book. It provides information on exercises you can do pretty much anywhere using body weight, and it has useful pointers for correctly executing each one. The images highlight which muscle group you're working on most, so it makes it easier to choose which exercises to focus on.
Overall, it's an informative guide to working out and a good reference to have.
