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Beyond Bodybuilding Review

I received my copy of Beyond Bodybuilding a few days ago and have not been able to put it down. I am simply overwhelmed with the amount of great information in this book. This is not coming from some novice trainee either. I have been strength training for thirteen years and I have read a ton of books on training. Some of my favorites include: Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubick, Brawn by Stuart McRobert, The Poliquin Prinicples, by Charles Poliquin, Super Squats, by Randall Strossum and a ton of others. Without any reservation, I state emphatically that Beyond Bodybuilding is the best book that I have ever read on training. Not just bodybuilding, but any form of strength training. Why? No other books contains a dense of combination of training regimens, exercises, training theory, and performance tips. Beyond Bodybuilding is 318 pages of no fluff quality information. Most training books are lucky if they get 10 pages of good information. Here are some of my favorite parts of the book:

1. The 5x5x5 program is awesome. I am using a similar version of it myself now with kettlebells and love it. Pavel goes over in detail what exercises to pick for this program, what pitfalls to avoid, and why it works.
2. The Smolov Squat Program section is great and I cannot wait to try this program. Again great attention to detail on how to get started and what to do to ensure success.
3. The importance of treating training as a practice.
4. The section on training cycling and several sample programs.
5. The section on Exercises that rule and exercises that drool.
6. I love the Q&A sections in that comes with every topic. Very useful and provides tremendous clarity to each topic.
7. I like the fact that the book is in a workbook format. It looked cheesy at first but is the right format for the book. This is a workbook that you will want to refer to constantly and find topics quickly. Not a Novel to add to your bookshelf where it will collect dust.
8. I like Pavel’s writing style. His combination of humor, wit, and straight forwardness is great and makes the information very accessible. No boring college style textbooks here that but the worst insomniacs to sleep in one minute flat.

What could have made the book better? More photos of me ;-) Just kidding. When the price was $97.00 I would have said lowering the price. Not because the book is not worth $97.00, but because more people will purchase it and benefit from it at a lower price. Fortunately, the price was reduced to $49.95, which I think is a great price for the book. If you think that it is too much then you are a cheap ass that just wants something for free. Fine, settle for mediocre results. Just go read about some more free programs that you will never use. When you do not pay for something you do not value it. Money equals commitment. I actually offered to pay John DuCane for the book (I received mine for free as a Senior RKC) as I did not want people to think that I was writing this review just because I got a free copy. John declined, but I am going to have to just spend $50.00 on something else at DD anyway ;-) maybe I will purchase a copy of “The Kettlebell Solution for Size and Strengthâ€

Based on your review, I ordered mine today.

Thanks, Mike. I hadn't looked at DD recently and wasn't aware that the price had dropped, but at $50 it's well worth the investment, especially since it appears to gather and consolidate the various articles Pavel has been writing for the last few years.

Got it Friday. I've only had time to browse through, looks real informative so far.

I think that you will really like the book Non Sequitur. I have been reading through it daily since I got it.

Mike, a question:

With regard to the strength training - and only strength training - stuff, how much of that is above and beyond what PTTP was?

Also, how much of content is KB oriented?

Please let me know. I think soley based on your review, and the fact that your among the few DD posters who's not an HBAD, I may order this book when I get back to the CONUS.

Lich,

I think it has a good mix of KB,PTTP and free weight training info. If you have a solid background in training, this will refresh you and if you have a minimal, it will give you some great suggestions. I've gone through the whole book and it is not one that you really read cover(IMO) but one where you can pick any point to read from and still get the point. I was skeptical at first but I think it is very useful for referencing.

Lich wrote:Mike, a question:

With regard to the strength training - and only strength training - stuff, how much of that is above and beyond what PTTP was?

Also, how much of content is KB oriented?

Please let me know. I think soley based on your review, and the fact that your among the few DD posters who's not an HBAD, I may order this book when I get back to the CONUS.

Lich, I would say that BB goes way beyond PTP for strength. There are enough programs in the book to last you the entire year and then some. Some exampes are the fatigue cycling program and the wave loading program, the Smolov squat program etc . A fair amount of kettlebell content, but not a ton.

I am confident that you will like the book and will refer to it frequently.

For it's [adjusted] price, BB is a bargain. Personally, I would have titled it Beyond Powerlifting, because that's the heaviest emphasis. It gives excellent options for shaking things up and getting through any plateaus.

So tell me how much of the content was not previously available for free elsewhere? Seems to me that any novice powerlifter or OLY competitior had access to every single bit of that knowlege at multiple web sites and forums.

Heywood Jablome wrote:So tell me how much of the content was not previously available for free elsewhere? Seems to me that any novice powerlifter or OLY competitior had access to every single bit of that knowlege at multiple web sites and forums.

I would say that 40% is free elsewhere, but not in the detail that is covered in the book. People that have every back issue of MM that Pavel was in have close to 100% of the info, however that was not free to obtain and cost much more than the price of the book.

I have notebooks full of articles gleaned from magazines and printed off web sites. Some by P, Louie S., Jack R., some fuck named Garm, etc, etc. If I had all those back issues of MM and Milo I would have no need for BB, but considering that is not the case it's worth the $50 IMO.

$100 NFW

IMO, the book is more valuable for a novice lifter than one who has a few years under him.

Most of what's in it I've seen before.

Eddie