mokey4's review against another edition
4.0
I skimmed the nutrition section of this book, because that's not really of interest to me right now- as far as food goes, I know what I have to do.
But I was really interested in learning about lifting and getting strong and I desperately needed a good lifting program to challenge and motivate me. I found the introductory sections to be only somewhat worthwhile, since I've already lifted in the past and by reading things here and there and talking to different people I've already picked up most of what the book has to offer. I was hoping for a little deeper knowledge, which I suppose I can get elsewhere.
However, I am now doing the training plan found in the second half of the book, and it's worth the price of the book. So much so that I initially borrowed this book from the library and later bought it when I didn't want to give up the training plan and the descriptions of exercises. I do think that some of the instructions leave a little to be desired- I have never done full squats with the olympic bar before, and I was a bit apprehensive about doing them at my first workout, especially since I recently suffered a minor knee injury. I didn't feel like I had enough information from this book to do it- but I was able to get what I needed from a google and you tube search. Now I'm a squatting maniac, and I've found it doesn't hurt my knees as much as some other things I'm more accustomed to doing (like lunges). So I feel I owe something to this book for getting me to try new things. It has also gotten me to push a little harder in the gym than I am used to. The amazing thing is that the workouts are quicker than ones I've done in the past- I guess it just increases the intensity and decreases the time spent doing stuff. For the first time, I can do real push ups! Lots of them! And someday, I will do chin-ups!
I would not recommend this book to a complete beginner- if you have ever had someone show you around a gym, or if you have done any kind of athletic training, then it will be valuable. Even (especially) if you've allowed yourself to go to seed in recent years, like me.
I don't know if someone really experienced at lifting would get as much out of it. But I can say that my husband has spent a lot more time in the gym (and doing various sports) than me, and I've taught him a few new things from this book. So maybe there's something for everyone.
This book is not perfect, but it has gotten me excited about going to the gym again, and that is exactly what I needed.
But I was really interested in learning about lifting and getting strong and I desperately needed a good lifting program to challenge and motivate me. I found the introductory sections to be only somewhat worthwhile, since I've already lifted in the past and by reading things here and there and talking to different people I've already picked up most of what the book has to offer. I was hoping for a little deeper knowledge, which I suppose I can get elsewhere.
However, I am now doing the training plan found in the second half of the book, and it's worth the price of the book. So much so that I initially borrowed this book from the library and later bought it when I didn't want to give up the training plan and the descriptions of exercises. I do think that some of the instructions leave a little to be desired- I have never done full squats with the olympic bar before, and I was a bit apprehensive about doing them at my first workout, especially since I recently suffered a minor knee injury. I didn't feel like I had enough information from this book to do it- but I was able to get what I needed from a google and you tube search. Now I'm a squatting maniac, and I've found it doesn't hurt my knees as much as some other things I'm more accustomed to doing (like lunges). So I feel I owe something to this book for getting me to try new things. It has also gotten me to push a little harder in the gym than I am used to. The amazing thing is that the workouts are quicker than ones I've done in the past- I guess it just increases the intensity and decreases the time spent doing stuff. For the first time, I can do real push ups! Lots of them! And someday, I will do chin-ups!
I would not recommend this book to a complete beginner- if you have ever had someone show you around a gym, or if you have done any kind of athletic training, then it will be valuable. Even (especially) if you've allowed yourself to go to seed in recent years, like me.
I don't know if someone really experienced at lifting would get as much out of it. But I can say that my husband has spent a lot more time in the gym (and doing various sports) than me, and I've taught him a few new things from this book. So maybe there's something for everyone.
This book is not perfect, but it has gotten me excited about going to the gym again, and that is exactly what I needed.
skiracechick's review against another edition
5.0
This program sounds great - the moves are periodized, with different levels of difficulty for everyone, and the nutrition just makes sense. You can do this program at whatever level you want, which makes it work for anyone. I'm so excited to start this next month.
I LOVED the fact that they advocate for doing daily activity and to join a sports team, if desired. I've been playing indoor soccer for the last five years and I cannot tell you how beneficial it has been to all facets of life, never mind the fact that its good for you!
I read NROLFW and started the program back in 2008, and it worked wonders. My advances were impressive, however, I simply got burnt out and quit before I even got through phase one. It seemed to drag on forever. Hopefully this isn't like that.
I LOVED the fact that they advocate for doing daily activity and to join a sports team, if desired. I've been playing indoor soccer for the last five years and I cannot tell you how beneficial it has been to all facets of life, never mind the fact that its good for you!
I read NROLFW and started the program back in 2008, and it worked wonders. My advances were impressive, however, I simply got burnt out and quit before I even got through phase one. It seemed to drag on forever. Hopefully this isn't like that.
antidietleah's review against another edition
5.0
I think that this is Lou's best book yet in the NROL series. I have mass respect for a man that has little qualms about changing his ideas with the times. This book is a lot of common sense, backed up by a lot of science that is explained in laymen terms. Lou's voice is strong - witty, funny, smart, no-nonsense, informative, and endearing all at the same time.
The basics: stop doing crunches and ab work flat on your back - it damages your spine. Planks are the bomb, work up to dynamic core work that engage all your stabilizing muscles, basically everything you do is ab work.
The workouts: look insane. This is really the only drawback of the book is that it is MEGA intimidating. And it is also going to be a pain in the ass to do at my gym, which Lou acknowledges and offers a few alternatives for exercises to make it more accommodating for the big box gym set-up.
The diet: There isn't one. It's common sense, which I love. Don't be a moron, everything in moderation, consider nutrient timing if you are looking for more results, don't obsess.
The lifestyle: I think this was what really hit it home for me - he talked a lot about the modern day lifestyle: sitting at a desk, hunched over, watching tv, etc. Not only does it slow us down and jack up our posture, it isn't good for your brain. He's a huge proponent of moving more, even in everyday life. He'll even go as far to say that one of the upsides to drinking more water is that you have to get up to pee more frequently. In this book, he offers alternative schedules and rules of thumb for incorporating different types of workouts into your schedule which is fantastic. It could be anything from light walking in the evenings or playing on a sports team, or recreational running or cycling and everything in between. He explains the different activities toll on your body and appropriate rest times for each and how to work them into your weights workouts.
Overall, we have a winner. This is a solid fitness book and I know I will be highly recommending it to every gym rat I know and those that need the little extra push.
The basics: stop doing crunches and ab work flat on your back - it damages your spine. Planks are the bomb, work up to dynamic core work that engage all your stabilizing muscles, basically everything you do is ab work.
The workouts: look insane. This is really the only drawback of the book is that it is MEGA intimidating. And it is also going to be a pain in the ass to do at my gym, which Lou acknowledges and offers a few alternatives for exercises to make it more accommodating for the big box gym set-up.
The diet: There isn't one. It's common sense, which I love. Don't be a moron, everything in moderation, consider nutrient timing if you are looking for more results, don't obsess.
The lifestyle: I think this was what really hit it home for me - he talked a lot about the modern day lifestyle: sitting at a desk, hunched over, watching tv, etc. Not only does it slow us down and jack up our posture, it isn't good for your brain. He's a huge proponent of moving more, even in everyday life. He'll even go as far to say that one of the upsides to drinking more water is that you have to get up to pee more frequently. In this book, he offers alternative schedules and rules of thumb for incorporating different types of workouts into your schedule which is fantastic. It could be anything from light walking in the evenings or playing on a sports team, or recreational running or cycling and everything in between. He explains the different activities toll on your body and appropriate rest times for each and how to work them into your weights workouts.
Overall, we have a winner. This is a solid fitness book and I know I will be highly recommending it to every gym rat I know and those that need the little extra push.
sarahlisbeth84's review against another edition
4.0
This was excellent. I've been lifting heavy for awhile now, but it was nice to have all the reasoning laid out so clearly. I wish I could get every woman I know to read it! Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that I wasn't impressed with the nutrition section. Saying fat isn't bad and then listing non-fat or low-fat ingredients in all the recipes?? And saying nothing is wrong with artificial sweeteners? For shame. Time to get with the latest research, guys! But the section about the dangers of low-calorie diets and how they ruin your metabolism was great.
ac5206's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting read and well written. Explains why weight lifting and building muscle is healthy and essential for the femaile body. This book is divided into three parts and is very easy to follow. Discusses over-training and how to properly build your body in a way that anyone from beginner to expert can follow.
duffypratt's review against another edition
3.0
I first did weightlifting back when Nautilus routines were all the rage. The idea then was that one circuit of the machines, doing 8-12 reps on each machine, was all you needed. Also, the thinking then was that isolating the muscle you worked was most efficient. The only problem with these ideas is that they were probably all false.
This book makes a pretty good case against "doing the machines." In it's stead, it promotes six basic functional movements as the basis for an exercise program: squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushes, pulls and twists. It sounds pretty simple, but it turns out that there are complicating factors. (For example, a push overhead is very different than a push to the front (push-up) or a push down (dip). Completely gone is the idea of doing a single set, but there's no explanation why multiple sets are superior. As I recall, the best research still shows that there's limited benefit to doing multiple sets of strength exercises (other than the safety of going to exhaustion at lower weight).
There are two aspects of this book that make me skeptical. First, the writer has a clear bias that size itself is a good thing, and he seems to assume that his readers will share this bias. He makes clear that one of his new rules is that the amount of weight you lift is just a tool to get to your goals. But he never seems to consider the possibility that someone might have other goals than achieving maximum size or maximum strength. Neither of those things are my goals at all. I want to increase certain movement skills, and to slow down the aging process. If that means gaining size or strength, that would be fine with me, but I don't count either the size or the strength as an end in itself.
My other main problem with the book is the repeated disdain the author shows for yoga. He makes it clear that he dislikes yoga, and that he wants nothing to do with it. But he tends to bash it without understanding it at all. And it's that lack of understanding that makes me wonder about the quality of the programs that he suggests. I'm pretty sure that for people who truly enjoy lifting, this book is a great source of information and advice. But the focus is a bit myopic, and I'm not sure whether its for me.
That said, his arguments against the machines are very convincing. And the arguments for doing compound exercises to increase strength are just as convincing. I can buy into those, but I'm not sold on the overall program.
This book makes a pretty good case against "doing the machines." In it's stead, it promotes six basic functional movements as the basis for an exercise program: squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushes, pulls and twists. It sounds pretty simple, but it turns out that there are complicating factors. (For example, a push overhead is very different than a push to the front (push-up) or a push down (dip). Completely gone is the idea of doing a single set, but there's no explanation why multiple sets are superior. As I recall, the best research still shows that there's limited benefit to doing multiple sets of strength exercises (other than the safety of going to exhaustion at lower weight).
There are two aspects of this book that make me skeptical. First, the writer has a clear bias that size itself is a good thing, and he seems to assume that his readers will share this bias. He makes clear that one of his new rules is that the amount of weight you lift is just a tool to get to your goals. But he never seems to consider the possibility that someone might have other goals than achieving maximum size or maximum strength. Neither of those things are my goals at all. I want to increase certain movement skills, and to slow down the aging process. If that means gaining size or strength, that would be fine with me, but I don't count either the size or the strength as an end in itself.
My other main problem with the book is the repeated disdain the author shows for yoga. He makes it clear that he dislikes yoga, and that he wants nothing to do with it. But he tends to bash it without understanding it at all. And it's that lack of understanding that makes me wonder about the quality of the programs that he suggests. I'm pretty sure that for people who truly enjoy lifting, this book is a great source of information and advice. But the focus is a bit myopic, and I'm not sure whether its for me.
That said, his arguments against the machines are very convincing. And the arguments for doing compound exercises to increase strength are just as convincing. I can buy into those, but I'm not sold on the overall program.
duffypratt's review against another edition
4.0
I've been doing workouts from the first book in this series (The New Rules of Lifting), and they''ve helped enormously. This book has updated materials, and its workouts are designed for functional movements, and not just for building size and strength. The variations that Cosgrove gives all target the core and supporting muscles at least as much, or more, than the main muscle groups that you would ordinarily associate with an exercise.
For example, with a traditional squat, you load up a barbell with a ton of weight. You pick it up with the barbell behind your neck and resting on your shoulders. Then, keeping your back neutral, you bend your knees until the thighs are parallel to the floor and come back up. With this exercise, I could crank out the three sets of 12 reps with a load of 180+ pounds.
The first squat variation here does something different. Instead of balancing the barbell behind the neck, you hold it straight overhead with your arms extended. This makes the exercise much more a question of dynamic balance and shoulder flexibility, and much less a workout for the legs. I did it this way for the first time this week, and instead of using 180 pounds, I was reduced to two sets with 20 pounds and one set of 30 pounds.
And the surprising thing is that the workout was even harder than before. In fact it was way too hard for me. The next day, I felt good sore throughout the midsection, but it was an odd sort of soreness. When you do lots of ab work, ordinarily, you get sore on the outsde layers of muscle. Here, I was sore on the inside, almost like the way you feel in the early stages of food poisoning. And then the next day, the real soreness kicked in. I basically cramped and spasmed the entire day throughout my whole midsection, and ended up completely immobile. Now, I just feel like my midsection got severely beaten, but I'm getting slowly back to normal.
That doesn't sound like a recommendation for the book. I didn't think I had overdone it, but its obvious that my basic core muscles are even weaker than I thought. So I'm looking forward to going back to this program, but starting from scratch and using basically no weight at all to begin with. It's abundantly clear that this program really targets the muscles it says it does, and this little episode has made it even clearer that I need this kind of conditioning.
(As an aside, when I go to the gym, I see about 90% of the guys working with bicep curls and bench presses. Then some will do some lat pulldowns. Very few do any leg work at all. And core work is almost unheard of, and at best comes as an afterthought. For health and really good functional strength, I'm convinced that this is exactly backwards. Core work is probably the most important thing to do, followed by legs. Upper body work is mostly a question of vanity. I never thought I would start lifting weights again, but its helped me alot with some nagging injuries (especially my knees), and I think I will be OK so long as I focus more on being long and lean, and not worry at all about size.)
For example, with a traditional squat, you load up a barbell with a ton of weight. You pick it up with the barbell behind your neck and resting on your shoulders. Then, keeping your back neutral, you bend your knees until the thighs are parallel to the floor and come back up. With this exercise, I could crank out the three sets of 12 reps with a load of 180+ pounds.
The first squat variation here does something different. Instead of balancing the barbell behind the neck, you hold it straight overhead with your arms extended. This makes the exercise much more a question of dynamic balance and shoulder flexibility, and much less a workout for the legs. I did it this way for the first time this week, and instead of using 180 pounds, I was reduced to two sets with 20 pounds and one set of 30 pounds.
And the surprising thing is that the workout was even harder than before. In fact it was way too hard for me. The next day, I felt good sore throughout the midsection, but it was an odd sort of soreness. When you do lots of ab work, ordinarily, you get sore on the outsde layers of muscle. Here, I was sore on the inside, almost like the way you feel in the early stages of food poisoning. And then the next day, the real soreness kicked in. I basically cramped and spasmed the entire day throughout my whole midsection, and ended up completely immobile. Now, I just feel like my midsection got severely beaten, but I'm getting slowly back to normal.
That doesn't sound like a recommendation for the book. I didn't think I had overdone it, but its obvious that my basic core muscles are even weaker than I thought. So I'm looking forward to going back to this program, but starting from scratch and using basically no weight at all to begin with. It's abundantly clear that this program really targets the muscles it says it does, and this little episode has made it even clearer that I need this kind of conditioning.
(As an aside, when I go to the gym, I see about 90% of the guys working with bicep curls and bench presses. Then some will do some lat pulldowns. Very few do any leg work at all. And core work is almost unheard of, and at best comes as an afterthought. For health and really good functional strength, I'm convinced that this is exactly backwards. Core work is probably the most important thing to do, followed by legs. Upper body work is mostly a question of vanity. I never thought I would start lifting weights again, but its helped me alot with some nagging injuries (especially my knees), and I think I will be OK so long as I focus more on being long and lean, and not worry at all about size.)
kristinaray717's review against another edition
4.0
Read this book if you are a woman and you want to work out with weights. It is excellent and much different and more effective than most workouts aimed at women.
spidergirl502's review against another edition
4.0
I read the book, and it makes a lot of sense. I'm planning on starting their plan in February, so we'll see if it works for me.