Your sources of exercise theory?

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origination

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I've finally decided that there is no point in me having an interest in the theory side of exercise if I do not put in the hard work to learn about it myself. Asking people already in the know is not effective for a beginner like me as I don't know how to interpret what they are saying, and often you will get conflicting opinions.

So, I was hoping perhaps some of you could help me out by pointing me towards good sources of information? Any format, book, website, etc would be appreciated.

To let you know where I'm at: I've just gotten "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle". I intend to start reading it tomorrow as well as buying a book or two from its bibliography and Bill Pearl's "Keys to the Inner Universe" so that I can learn a lot of different exercises. I have gone through the worldfitness.com Articles section and bookmarked the ones I think are applicable to me. I've also gone through the Weight Training archives bookmarking those threads most applicable, most replied to or most viewed, and I will print these out. Finally, someone has suggested humankinetics.com to me, which I will check out later

I'm interested in all areas of relevant theory: cardio, weights, nutrition, supplements and anything else that you think I might find interesting. I know all of this is going to take me ages to get through, but I don't mind; it seems that's the way it has to be.

Thanks very much to anyone who bothers to reply :)
 
Check out "The Encyclopedia Of Bodybuilding" by Musclemag International. You can find it online at most bookstores, such as Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It is my Bible for working out. :)
 
No problem - if you do a search of the forums, you'll actually find some of my messages with 'quotes' from the book itself, so you can see how it's written.
 
Hey never be afriad to ask a question or ask someone to explain their responce more clearly. We wouldn't come to this forum if we didn't want to learn and discuss.

Its funny that we are talking about fitness books because I have just realized that I have learned about 5 times more information in reguards to biology in about a month of reading certain fitness books than I did in a year in Biology. Guess it's all about the delivery.

What you are striving for will help you determine what to find. THe problem is there are a LOT of crap fitness books. Just yesterday i went to barnes and noble to find a book on plyometrics (a type of exercise) and there was not one book on it. But about 10 books completely on abdominal development, none of which seemed all that impressive anyways.

I've found that finding new or having a diverse amount of exercises is important I recommend you find a book that explains how muscles, and the body work and the best way to achieve these results, backing it up with scientific knowledge.

Here's what I'm gonna recommend...

For strenght
The Naked Warrior
Power to the People

For Bodybuilding and still strenght
Beyond BodyBuilding (this book unbelievable, it is loaded with the best exercises, amazing programs, and scientific proof put into understandable words)

For athletic prowess
Super Training (this is on my things to get. it goes into more than just weight lifting. covers, stretching, speed, agility, plyometrics and strength) however it is a bit more advanced and the author leaves it up to the reader to come to his or her conclusions.



One last thing is that just because it's a book doesn't mean it's good. Some books are absolute garbage and you wonder how the author ever got the body he has in the "about the author" picture. I was flipping through a weight training book once and came to the "breaking platueas" section. The author actually recommended that you break proper form in order to get out a few extra reps to break your platuea.

good luck in your search
 
Wow, gymoch and mike, your replies were awesome. Thanks heaps.
I wil check out all those websites now gymoch, and mike, I'll go to Amazon and look at the reviews for those books. Thanks particularly for the strength focused ones (it seems you have to decide to either train for strength or size, right?)

Anyways much appreciated guys
 
right on!

no problem
(tosses virtual high five to gymcoch)

actually, there are some programs which maximize both strength and size. people don't usually know that strength can be gained without size so they assume that by bulking they will get stronger. however, there are some programs which focus on both. if size and strength is your goal, and you have access to a bench and barbell, then i recommend Beyond Bodybuilding. what are your goals?

I would also like to add that I don't know much about the size gaining part of lifting.
 
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My primary goal is to get stronger, but if I can do this while increasing in size it would be preferable to getting stronger without adding mass.
While we're talking about strength, I might ask you:
Say, for example, I can do 3 sets of 5 reps on a heavy setting (for me) on the lat pulldown and then I get tired. If I was to wait a little while I might be able to squeeze out another set, and then after that another half-set, and then perhaps another one, and another one, etc.
Point is, is it worth doing the little bit extra that I could be capable of after the 3x5 sets, or is not worth the bother?
Oh, and I've found that I can do more reps of any given exercise if I alternate the muscle groups I am working on as my rest. Say for example I do a lat pulldown, then a leg press, then pectorals (1 set each exercise) and then go back through the cycle doing the second set for each exercise in the same order (and then the third).
Doing it this way seems to allow me to do more for each muscle group and also because I am not really resting my whole body at any time it feels a bit more aerobic too.
Are there any downsides to this that you know of?
 
My opinion if you want to build stength concentrate on 1 or 2 body parts at a time. IE don't workout more than 2 parts per workout.
 
Thanks newf, this is exactly what I've been thinking of lately. At first I figure the bigger a split I could do (say a 5 day split) the harder I would work each muscle group, but then each group would get a 4 day rest.
It would probably be more efficient to do 2 groups per lifting session, right?
"Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" says I shouldn't do more than 3 exercises per muscle group - is this generally agreed upon? So I should basically do 3 different exercises, each of about 3 sets x 3-5 reps of the heaviest I can manage?
 
I would probably go for that. Personally i do 6 to 9 sets for each bodypart (heavy). It could be 3 excercises or even 4. But i like to give my back 12sets, old habit i guess lol

4 days is a good number. Some suggest 5 to 7 full days but i've heard nothing but good about that book your refering to.

I have a few single bodypart days and double in my routine. This best thing about single days is all your attention and focus is on that lift(s).
 
newf said:
The best thing about single days is all your attention and focus is on that lift(s).
Click to expand...

That sounds excellent, I'd love to have a day to focus on biceps or triceps. But doesn't that mean that you're only at the gym for like 20 minutes?
 
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