There is so much to say about this book. Most of my Goodreads followers don’t know this, but I’m into weightlifting. I don’t have the Arnold body type at all, but I’d say I’m somewhat fit, maybe more the Bruce Lee type without the martial arts background. I’m not into lifting because of sports, looks, or because it’s trendy. It doesn’t matter why you are into lifting as long as you have a good reason. My reason is solely based on poor health as a teenager. I have something called cyclic vomiting syndrome, where I puke I can’t stop, I need IV’s hooked into me because I can’t drink fluids though my mouth. If I’m not careful, I will puke up blood and lose too much weight. It always off to the ER for me. Probably spent too much time in a hospital bed, but as I’ve gotten older and worked out more, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten better. I’m not 100%, but some days I feel golden. I’ve also had a stroke when I was in my teens, I’ve heard working out helps prevent strokes, not sure if it’s fully true, but helps me keep motivated and haven’t had another stroke since.

Now time to talk about the actual book. Overall, I loved this book. This isn’t something I’ll be reading once. Not going to reread the whole thing, but I will be looking back at certain parts from time to time. This has some very important and useful information about weightlifting and bodybuilding. You don’t have to look like Arnold to read this book. You can be underweight, overweight, young, old, male, female, doesn’t matter. You’ll most likely get something from this book. However, if you have no interest in weightlifting or bodybuilding, you won’t get much from this book, maybe you’ll start lifting or caring about your health more, which isn’t a bad thing to develop.

I loved the history of bodybuilding segment. Some of it I knew about already, but some names I didn’t know. There are tons of photos of half-naked muscular men in this book. Good for motivation (or eye-candy, whatever you prefer LOL). He briefly talks about how people lifted before the 19th century, but it seems like bodybuilding and actually caring about health didn’t kick in until the 19th century for the every-man. It was interesting how they developed their bodies back in the day, wouldn’t mind more of a history book on this topic though. One complaint I have about the first part is the lack of women lifters. He does talk about women’s health every now and then, but this book is more for men. Which makes sense to me because men and women don’t have the same body types and they work out differently than men. However, for the women reading this book, some photos and more information would have been helpful. Maybe there are books out there more for women.

When it comes to how to do a workout and finding a routine that fits your needs, I’ve found this book seems to do a better job than the internet. This book doesn’t have all the answers, so you will need extra help, but it’s better than watching a 10 min video on how to do a bench press where the person talks too fast or doesn’t have the right camera angels all the time. Each exercise gets a least two or more paragraphs, but not too long. They have photos and diagrams how to do the lift and they show you different ways to alter the lift. Moreover, sometimes I need a quick how-to before I lift and the internet doesn’t always work at my house nor do I want to get too distracted doing other things before my workout, so this book was just the thing I needed for that reason.

The diet and health parts I skipped some glanced over. I’m sure I don’t need to know how to lose fat right now; I don’t have much fat on me. At times, this book is a little dated. There is always new studies and scientific breakthroughs that change the way we look at ourselves. The over message of this section isn’t dated though. If your skinny like me, it’s a no-brainier you need to eat more or if your fat you need to eat less, but don’t over eat or under eat, just eat smarter. In addition, going back to the workout section, that part isn’t dated either. A bench press is a bench press. How you do a bench press most likely won’t ever change. I was told not to get this book because it was date, yet here I am reading this find most of the information still useful for basics. Moreover, someone who is famous on Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook doesn’t write this book. I don’t get the feeling this is all a fraud to make money off people who are desperate. He doesn’t talk like a know-it-all, but he doesn’t talk like an asshole either, sorry but there are a ton of asshole trainers for some reason that just want money and fame, but that’s another tale for another time.

Most of this book is dedicated to bodybuilding more than any other weightlifting sport. I’m not a bodybuilder, nor do I want to compete, but my workouts seem to be bodybuilding related. I tried to read one of Bruce Lee’s books, maybe I read the wrong one, but it was insightful, but not helpful for someone not doing martial arts, so I got this book instead. While I’ll never go into completion, I found it interesting to read the behind-the-scenes of those shows. For what Arnold says, there is a lot of dedication and attitude put into just showing off your aesthetic body. You can't just have workout a few months and say okay I ready, nor can you just compete as if you’re the best-looking person on stage. For what I got out of this, most of them seem like friends and workout partners. They have chemistry and they seem to compete as if they were old friend playing chess.

Overall, this book was exactly what I need. If only I read this in college when I started lifting weights. However, I feel more focused after reading this book. I care more about science than I use too and I actually want to keep better track of my measurements now. I really can’t go back to 120-125 lbs, that’s my sick weight. I should note this is an encyclopedia. Part of this is history, part of this is a how-to, parts are health and diet, and some motivation (but I would call this self-help, you have to find your own motivation). I say buy this book if you’re interested or do this type of stuff. It’s not something you’ll read once and never see it again.

More importantly, read this book in Arnold’s girlie man voice for entertainment value. ( )

A comprehensive introduction and reference for learning the proper techniques for weight training. ( )