Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
- ISBN13: 9789963916306
- Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
- Notes:
Build Muscles, Lose Fat, Look Great has 200 pages devoted to exercise technique, to provide the most complete descriptions on the market in addition to over 400 pages to cover other issues. Building on his popular titles Brawn and Beyond Brawn, this newest book by Stuart McRobert provides an extraordinary wealth of additional complementary information. It is crammed with practical, safe and highly effective instructions. This book is for men and women of all ages who want to transform their b
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(out of 24 reviews)
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Kathy Smith: Build Muscle Shrink Fat
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OverTheMoon
26 Jun, 2010
Review by OverTheMoon for Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
Rating:
Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great is the modern update of “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook on Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert. It is actually a whole new book, completely revised with so many additional sections that it is like the new Brawn + technical descriptions. Get this book if you can find it. It may be his best book to date and certainly one of the best muscle books around.
There are trainees out there who are bench pressing 90lbs of iron for twenty reps who praise themselves after doing it, but know in the back of their mind that their right wrist is starting to get a little sore from their workout. When moving onto the barbell curl that wrist just hurts too much to complete a full set. Well “pain is gain” so they drop the set and go back to the dressing room knowing that it will be two weeks before they recover. Try giving the same trainee “Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great” and watch them reduce the bench press from 90lbs to 45lbs for eight reps maximum. “What has gone wrong?” they might ask. “Why have I suddenly gone from brawn to frailty?” The truth is that nothing is wrong. They are just learning to do it right this time… and they will gain more because of it.
While motivation bodybuilding books like “Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding” by Arnold Schwarzenegger, will certainly show you the vast majority of exercises that are required for a great high volume training (HVT) program, it does not go to great length to show you everything that you need to know about doing the exercises correctly and the pitfalls of doing them incorrectly. Danger workouts include the Vertical Machine Press, Straight-Arm Pullover, Bent-Over Barbell Rows, Bent-Over dumbbell Rows, T-bar rows and the One-Arm Dumbbell Row to name but a few. Although nearly everyone can get away with doing these exercises in small amounts without injury, they are considered high risk exercises and long term applications can prove absolutely disastrous. If the basic low-risk workouts can cause injury when executed without perfect form do you really want to increase the odds of getting an injury by doing high-risk exercises with bad form?
While “Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great” does not promise an injury free bodybuilding career it will firmly establish conditions that will prevent injury. If you can workout as much as you like as often as you like and do not need to nurse an injury then naturally the result is a gain rather than a loss that could have been avoided.
Every exercise you learn from a book or a magazine should be cross-referenced with “Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great” to see what it has to say. Even bench pressing professionals who have been at this for years will find that their form is not as good as what this book can prescribe.
The fact that it covers the big three – Bench Press, Deadlift and Squat is enough to substantiate the price tag. It also includes Back Extension, Calf Raise, Close-Grip Bench Press, Crunch Abdominal Work, Curl, Dumbbell bench press, Decline Bench Press, Dumbbell Row, Finger Extension, Grip Machine Training, Incline Bench Press, Incline Dumbell Bench Press, Leg Press, Lever Bar Work, L-fly, Neck Work, Overhead Lockout, Overhead Press, Parallel Bar Dip, Partial Deadlift, Pinch-grip Lifting, Prone Row, Pulldown, Pullover, Pullup/Chin, Pushdown, Rader Chest Pull, Rotary Torso, Shrug, Side Bend, Squat, Stiff-legged Deadlift, Thick-bar Hold, Timed Holiding and the Wrist Roller Training. I had given up on ever doing a Close-Grip Bench Press.
I guessed that some exercises are just not for some people. It took me several readings of the Bench Press section to understand that even though I believed I was executing right angle holds I was not, meaning that my hands where too close. When I was told to bring them in closer for the Close-Grip Bench Press I just ended up murdering my wrists and elbows. This book eventually taught me that my Bench Press was more of a Close-Grip Bench Press and my Close-Grip Bench Press something that was just begging for an injury. I can now perform both. Also I am more aware of back arching where I thought there could not possibly be any. All you need to do is to look at the pictures in “Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding” to see that even these professionals had no qualms about using a photograph where there is evidently bad form being used. You can literally see the holes after learning from “Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great”.
“Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great” is the kind of book that becomes more useful the more you use it. This is by no means a quick-fix booklet but a much needed and much sought after bodybuilding manual. I would certainly read and learn everything in here before I consider any other book outside of it. While the Schwarzenegger bible is a great motivation tool this book is really where you want to focus.
Forget all the other books about different training methods until you get perfect form right first and then you will be in a much better position to judge other training methods, especially the ones that tend to have an impact on executing perfect form correctly. For some reason other books and bodybuilders keep making reference to slow and controlled exercising to avoid injury. They erroneously call this `perfect form’ from time to time. Injury has nothing to do with the speed or control of the exercise. Injury occurs because of bad form. But once you perfect form you should go slowly. If there is any advocate for `one method’ in bodybuilding that can improve on gains then that `one method’ is learning perfect form. I will update this review as I do more research/practice. Until then…
Astalavista baby!
*Updates*
- His other book “Brawn” teaches doing the big three progressively for the best gains – Squats, Deadlifts and Bench Press, so learn them and do them.
- Read “Brawn” after you read this.
- read “Beyond Brawn” for advanced training material.
- Have someone show you the deadlift before you do any.
Patrick D. Goonan
26 Jun, 2010
Review by Patrick D. Goonan for Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
Rating:
Formerly, I was a physiology teaching fellow, a biochemist and have also pursued graduate studies in psychology. I was an all state runner and later developed an interest in weight training. After graduate school, I was a fitness trainer and worked with one athlete who made it to the Olympics along with an exercise physiologist. That establishes the context for my review.
I was extremely impressed with this book. In one 625 page volume, you get an excellent summary about all aspects of weight training including how to train, basic anatomy, detailed explanations of exercises, how to build a training routine, periodization, etc. It really is one stop shopping and the information on proper form and bulking up is accurate and invaluable. This book also contains many excellent references and backs up what it says.
Although this book is targeted to people who want to lose weight and build muscle, it is entirely appropriate for any bodybuilder, strength trainee, etc. It covers a lot of ground very thoroughly.
Overall, this volume is encouraging in tone, easy to understand and gives you the “why” behind the author’s suggestions. Although it is long, it is well-organized with useful diagrams, charts, summaries, photos and descriptions of important exercises. I also have a listmania list on my profile with other suggestions, but this is the one volume I would be certain to own if I could only buy ONE book.
J. Warden
26 Jun, 2010
Review by J. Warden for Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
Rating:
I have followed the program as written and am now in Month 10 of ‘The Program’. I am enjoying it thoroughly. Working long hours and weekends, I sometimes train every four or five days instead of twice a week recommended in the book but that is the only change I have made. I took it extremely easy to begin with starting with a 40kg Squat and Deadlift, 30 kg Bench Press, 10 kg Dumbell Press, etc. It got toughish around the middle of month 7 so I changed to the optional split routine. In Month 10 I am following the full body workout training three times every two weeks and am now upto a 100kg squat for 15 reps, 81kg for 2 sets of six on the bench, 125 kg Deadlift and am using 24 kg dumbells in the Overhead Press. I can hold a 100kg barbell for 60 seconds and do 37 dips. I weighed 78 kg when I started and now weigh 82.5 kg at 180 cm tall.
One excellent part of the program is that it uses enough exercises to prevent any muscle imbalance so my shoulders, knees, back and everything else feels fine. People I meet sometime comment on my physique which surprises me because I haven’t noticed any change but do feel alot sharper and stronger. If you are able to do a desk job and eat lots, you will do progress alot further than me. I would recommend this book over all the books you can find if you want to get big and strong injury free and don’t want to spend all you life in the gym simply getting more and more tired. Of course Stuart’s other books are good too but, as this book has a year program from start to finish, it encourages you to stick with it and not switch and mess around with programs too often. Good Stuff!
El ingenioso hidalgo
26 Jun, 2010
Review by El ingenioso hidalgo for Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
Rating:
This book is a great asset because it is the first one I found that actually explains in detail the proper technique for performing the main exercises: squats, deadlifts, presses etc. It also provides arguments for why some exercises are dangerous and should not be used, such as the behind the neck pulldown and others I was only guessing before that they might be harmful or inefficient (such as the hack squat).
I speak from the perspective of someone without much experience in strength training and who does not even aspire to become a “big” bodybuilder, but merely wishes to be in good shape and be decently good looking. This book reveals how one can do that without training as an olympic sportsman and without risking hernia, shoulder pains and other injuries.
As mentioned, the description of the strength training exercises is really helpful, compared to most books or articles that summarizes everything in 2-3 obscure lines, leaving couches and trainees to fill in the gaps using their imagination (and risking their health, just to re-discover the wheel).
I will also follow the training program recommended in the book, at least for a while, to see if it works for me. But the book is also valuable as it gives ideas for creating one’s own program, which is always useful, even if some of the details the author gathered from his own experience may prove at some point not to fit the reader’s body and temperament.
Torben Breindahl
26 Jun, 2010
Review by Torben Breindahl for Build Muscle Lose Fat Look Great: Everything You Need to Know to Transform Your Body
Rating:
I highly recommend this book for beginners and experienced athletes, who want a refreshing view on modern weight/strength training techniques. It is a very detailed book filled with good advice presented by the author in a very personal way. It is the first book I have read on this subject that contains in-depth information and guidelines on safety, risk factors, training moral & ethics, mental attitudes etc. I also enjoyed the chapter on “How too handle weights between exercises”, a topic which is seldom mentioned in other books. The author has strong opinions on drug abuse in connection with body-building as well as several “myths” and general misinformation, which is widespread and accepted in many training environments.
The cover page and title of the book gave me a negative impression to start with (for me it sends the wrong signals to the reader). However, after reading it my opinion totally changed. The sound advice in this book made me change several exercise routines and quit using some machines, which I now consider to present a risk. It also helped me to form more realistic goals.
M. Simpson
26 Jun, 2010
Review by M. Simpson for Kathy Smith: Build Muscle Shrink Fat
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This is not a new workout. This is a re-release of Kathy Smith’s Matrix Method Ultimate Sculpt. That workout has plenty of reviews here on Amazon. In my opinion it’s an ok workout, nothing special. The main thing I just wanted to tell others is that this is not a new workout. If you own her Matrix Method Ultimate Sculpt workout you already own this workout. It’s just a new title given for an old workout – just a shiney new package is all.
K. Bauer
26 Jun, 2010
Review by K. Bauer for Kathy Smith: Build Muscle Shrink Fat
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I am very disappointed that amazon does not have this product listed as a re-release. I am a huge kathy smith fan and have many of her dvd’s. I was so excited to see the 3 new dvd’s listed for release on dec 18th and ordered 2 of them. In getting the package at home and going to do the workout today I realized that it was a re-release of ultimate sculpt. I went directly to the kathy smith website to email her contact people and see that her website has clearly stated that this is a re-release. I blame amazon for not advertising this correctly. The original dvd is great, I love it, so for those of you who don’t have it yet, this will be a great workout. It is very complete and makes you feel like you have covered working out all body part as well as cardio. Shame on Amazon though!!!!!
Katrina Matthews
26 Jun, 2010
Review by Katrina Matthews for Kathy Smith: Build Muscle Shrink Fat
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Like the other reviewers said, this is a re-release. I like this workout because its less than an hour and still feels like a GREAT workout. There is a workout, core and stretch section, so you can mix and match if you are short on time. The workout combines cardio and strength training, so its efficent and effective. There are options for beginners and if I need to make it more difficult, I just add more weights. The core section is pretty good as well, and there are lots of options, so you can work your abs at your level. I sweat a lot and often times I am sore the next day. The first time I did this DVD my legs hurt for a couple days, and I have pretty strong legs from years of dance.
Concerns: If you have bad knees, this may be a little bit hard on them, but I manage to get through it every time. This DVD is not made for a true beginner unless you like having something to work towards. I need to feel pushed to enjoy a DVD for longer than a week.
Yoga Dad
26 Jun, 2010
Review by Yoga Dad for Kathy Smith: Build Muscle Shrink Fat
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I purchased this workout a couple days ago and just did this workout this morning. I was very impressed overall!
I’m a certified personal trainer who is also an avid collector of fitness dvds (a couple hundred at least). As a trainer I think it’s important to stay fresh and continue to see what others are doing and dvds are one of many excellent ways to get exposure to a wide variety of approaches and concepts.
One thing I really respect about Kathy Smith is that she not only puts out consistently strong products, but she isn’t afraid to get input from others (such as Angela Freeman in this dvd, Rod Stryker in her Yoga Series, Keith Cook for Kickboxing etc.). Not only that, but she often has those same folks in her actual projects and gives credit where credit is due! (this is not as common as one might think).
This program is definitely for an intermediate and beyond exerciser. This is because there are complex movements involved that require a lot of neuromuscular coordination and if someone isn’t already experienced with training they definitely might be risking injury.
It’s very important to have an awareness of what is safe for your specific body. There are some movements that might be contraindicated for you and you will need to know how to modify. Even though I’m a fitness professional and very fit, I was in a car wreck many years ago that led me to have cervical spine surgery. As a result of both the injury and surgery, there are certain types of overhead movements that are unsafe for me to perform. I’m fortunate in that I have the knowledge to know how to modify or completely substitute movements. Someone without that experience might get themselves into trouble. While this should apply to any workout program, this particular program would certainly bear that out. This isn’t a criticism of the dvd, which I think is great, but it’s still an important consideration.
For example, this program contains multi-directional lunges (which are also combined with upper body movements). Front lunges in particular put a novice exerciser at the risk for placing too much shear force against their knees. With my own clients I always start with more stationary types of lunges (in fact I start with Yoga poses such as the various Warrior poses) and then move into reverse lunges in order to learn proper alignment and get a better inner feeling of the movements (kinesthetic awareness) before moving into forward lunge type movements.
For those who have done programs like P90X this program would be in the same general category as something like Core Synergistics. The exercises are different but the concept is very similar which is: multiplaner, multijoint, combination movements. What this means is that you might combine a rotating lunge with a row or press, so you are moving in a variety of directions with various combinations of lower and upper body movements at the same time.
This program definitely includes a lot of lower body work overall, squats and plies are present in addition to the lunges already mentioned.
There are also periods of “speed” work where you build into quick shuffle movements which are great for getting your heart rate up and also for working the muscles in a side to side pattern (in what is technically called the `Frontal Plane’).
This dvd is broken up into sections and has the main workout, a core section and a flexibility section as well.
I particularly like the fact that the core section doesn’t contain crunches. This falls in line with the cutting edge type of research done by people like Stuart McGill (a low back expert) who believe that repeated spinal flexion causes too much trauma to the intervertebral discs. Several exercises shown on this dvd are planks, side planks and bird-dog exercises which are considered by most knowledgeable trainers to be safe core exercises which not only do not aggravate the spine but in fact strengthens the core stabilizers and therefore gives stability to the spine.
The flexibility section is very well done and does a great job at targeting the muscles that were worked in the other sections of the dvd, they aren’t just random stretches thrown in for the sake of it.
So for a person who has already achieved a solid level of fitness and is looking for a different, more functional type of workout to do at home, I’d highly recommend this program. But this is definitely NOT for beginners nor those with knee issues.
If you are a stone beginner, especially if you have been sedentary and/or carrying some extra weight, I’d recommend getting some basic instruction with a certified fitness professional to learn basic exercise technique and what is safe for your specific body (and how to make modifications). I’m not just making this suggeston because I’m a personal trainer, but I have known about too many people that try to do training with a program like this and get injured because they try to follow verbatim what the person on the video is doing even though it may be completely inappropriate for their current fitness level or health status. What you might save by preventing a possible injury (not to mention medical expenses) is well worth the price of sessions from a really sound trainer.
A. Chandler
26 Jun, 2010
Review by A. Chandler for Kathy Smith: Build Muscle Shrink Fat
Rating:
First, I’ll note that, although I own several of Kathy Smith’s dvds I am not biased towards her…I’ve given one or two of them just one star before when the cueing is bad.
That said, this one is a real winner!
How I measure caloric burn:
First, let me add that I wear a bodybugg to monitor my daily caloric expenditure. I say this only so you’ll know what I note is based upon scientific measurement, rather than simply perceived exertion. It can also monitor calories burned per minute and just during a workout so I have great measurement in how a fitness dvd does, regardless of whether I feel I’m burning a lot or not. And I’ve amassed a large fitness dvd library over the years because I workout to them 6 days a week so I have a few to compare it to…
Caloric burn:
okay, so that said, I’ve learned that most dvds will fall into cardio dvds which tend to burn more calories as you do them and strength dvds which burn less during the workout but helps to continue burning more throughout the rest of the day and develps muscle which also raises metabolism. I have a much harder time finding a dvd that does both. One of the Crunch dvds does this and the Biggest Loser dvds are all pretty good at it as well. This one is one of those rare exercise dvds that builds and tones but scorches the calories and keeps your heart rate up the entire time.
Cueing:
Excellent. In some dvds Kathy can trip me up BADLY but this one is excellent and very easy to follow along to in spite of it being fast paced and full of energy.
Toning:
Full body workout, even standing ab work. Head to toe.
Cardio:
Keeps your heart rate in the target fat burning zone AND builds muscle
Equipment: You’ll need hand weights. She suggests light and heavy to medium but I used 6-7 lb the whole time in each hand. My preferred weights.
Instruction: Good instruction and advice on workout out safely and for the best effect.
Energy: good but not with some of the “wooop! “yeahs!” that Kathy has in some dvds that get a tad overdone and irritating at times…this one is upbeat but no silly screaming out by the backout team.
Conclusion: I can’t really find anything I’d change about this one. I mean sometimes Kathy isnt super high energy as though she’s really loving what she’s doing but that’s not a huge thing, just if I had to pick sometjhing in comparison to some other instructors…but the main thing is this one will do what it says…tone you and trim the fat and you’ll be able to easily follow along.