Product Description

Get an inside view of the muscles in action during every exercise you perform. This ultimate strength reference contains full-color, detailed, anatomical drawings of exercises that target every major muscle group, along with full descriptions of how to perform them. The illustrations graphically depict both the muscles and the bones, with variations showing how the exercises can be modified to isolate specific muscles. It’s like having an X ray of each exercise!

The former editor-in-chief of the French magazine PowerMag, author and illustrator Frédéric Delavier is currently a journalist for the French magazine Le Monde du Muscle and a contributor to several other muscle publications, including Men’s Health Germany.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131425 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09
• Original language: French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 124 pages

From the Publisher
"Without question, this book is a must for anyone interested in strength training or in teaching strength training. No other book more clearly represents the functional anatomy of nearly every resistance training exercise. The illustrations are highly detailed and the material is accurate. This book will spend very little time on your bookshelf because you will constantly be referring to it."

David R. Pearson, PhD, CSCS Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology Ball State University, Muncie, IN

About the Author
The former editor-in-chief of the French magazine PowerMag, Frédéric Delavier is currently a journalist for the French magazine Le Monde du Muscle and a contributor to several other muscle publications, including Men’s Health Germany.

Delavier is a gifted artist with an exceptional knowledge of human anatomy. He studied morphology and anatomy for five years at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and studied dissection for three years at the Paris Faculté de Médicine.

Delavier won the French power-lifting title in 1988 and makes annual presentations on the sports applications of biomechanics at conferences in Switzerland. His teaching efforts have earned him the Grand Prix de Techniques et de Pédagogie Sportive. Delavier lives in Paris, France.

Customer Reviews

==Lots of Strengths==
With over 450,000 copies sold, this book is arguably the best book of its kind. What's it useful for? Mainly to help the reader (from the weekend athlete to the athletic trainer to the professional bodybuilder) figure out what exercises work what muscles.

It's neatly divided up into sections (arms, shoulders, chest, back, etc.), so all you really have to do is flip to one of these sections and it will have detailed pictures of various exercises and exactly which muscles are involved.

A great reference to keep have around, I give it five stars easy. Readers who lift weights regularly might also be interested Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff to avoid shoulder problems a lot of lifters eventually get.

Execllent Anatomical Reference for Weight Training
This book is an excellent weight training reference for insight into the anatomy of the major muscle groups, and the exercises best suited to train specific muscles.

The book is broken down into seven major muscle groups: arms, shoulders, chest, back, legs, buttocks, and abdomen. Within each muscle group are multiple exercises, each comprised of detailed anotomical illustrations, instructions on performing the exercises, and key information such as variations (for specific focus on particular muscles) and warnings (to aviod injury).

Using this book, one could easily select a variety of exercises to build a total body workout program. The selection of exercises also allows for some routine variation to keep one's workout from getting stale.

The illustrations are of an exellent quality, as are the materials. The pages are of heavyweight paper, with a semi-glossy finish.

Although I rated this title highly, I did so with the understanding that it suits a very specific purpose, and is not a general purpose introduction or guide to weight training. This is an ANATOMY REFERENCE, specific to selected weight training exercises. It does not contain any other information concerning weight training, diet, exercise, etc. In fact, there is not even a brief introduction by the author, simply the reference material itself. But, in terms of its intended purpose, it is an excellent reference. If you already have some sort of "Bodybuilding Encyclopedia", you probably already posess much of the information contained in this title. Having no interest in the history, self-promotion, and general testosterone driven attitudes of many of those types of titles (as well as the phonebook sized package), I much prefer this concise book as an exercise reference.

Indispensable!
I buy lots of fitness and strength training books, and this one is by far the best I've purchased. The book may look small, but it provides an extensive listing of exercises and includes tips about variations that will change how you work each muscle. This is important for a couple of reasons.

To maximize your gains in the gym, you have to constantly change your program so that your body doesn't hit a plateau. Regularly incorporating new exercises will also keep you from becoming bored with your workout. This book will show you how using a rope attachment with the pulley works a different part of the triceps as opposed to doing bench dips or doing a kickback. Also, the illustrations show you the auxiliary muscles that are recruited during compound movements like presses and deadlifts.

At first I was worried that the book might be too much for me to absorb, but it's not because the author does not get overly-technical with the explanations. The text is concise, yet thorough, and the pictures are highly detailed.

This is a wonderful reference book, and I highly recommend it.