Books Every Lifter Should Read

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Beyond Bodybuilding by Pavel Tsastouline changed my life.

[/quote]

You saying this was enough to make me purchase the book lol[/quote]
Same lol.

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Beyond Bodybuilding by Pavel Tsastouline changed my life.

[/quote]

You saying this was enough to make me purchase the book lol[/quote]
Same lol.[/quote]

I think Pavel has a lot of good things to say, but I’m not sure that most of his books fall under “books every lifter should read”.

That being said, I have gotten lots of useful information out of:
Naked Warrior
Power to the People
The Russian Kettlebell Challenge
Relax Into Stretch
Enter the Kettlebell

For a new lifter, I think these books will send you astray for awhile and you’d be better served with something else. However, there is definitely some useful info in them.

I’ve heard good things about Beyond Bodybuilding, but haven’t ever taken a look. But, like the others, this endorsement has persuaded me.

Awesome thread idea! Perfect Christmas and Birthday suggestions lol.

I personally have:

  1. Enter the Kettlebell - Pavel
  2. Naked Warrior - Pavel
  3. Arnold’s Encyclopaedia
  4. Born to Run
  5. 5/3/1 First Edition
  6. Built Like a Badass - DeFranco
  7. Muscle Revolution - Waterbury
  8. Convict Conditioning
  9. 2 CT books

I found the Pavel ones a little light on actual substance, but I liked the information they did have and would be interested in getting more by him. Does anyone have specific Pavel book recommendations? Besides Beyond Bodybuilding which seems to be popular :slight_smile:

Arnold’s Encyclopaedia is awesome more for the background and introduction to the sport and just because Arnold.

I like the technique instruction and the way of thinking in Convict Conditioning but I’m not convinced by the progressions. It has definitely influenced my training heavily though.

My favourites of my collection are 5/3/1, Born to Run and Muscle Revolution.

Brother Iron, Sister Steel: A Bodybuilders Book by Dave Draper.

[quote]furo wrote:
I found the Pavel ones a little light on actual substance, but I liked the information they did have and would be interested in getting more by him. Does anyone have specific Pavel book recommendations? Besides Beyond Bodybuilding which seems to be popular :)[/quote]

For kettlebell training, RKC had a lot more content in it compared to ETK, but it’s kind of all over the place. Lots of things are mentioned but not really expanded on.

For mobility, Relax Into Stretch. However, I really only got one technique out of it that I used, which is basically… stretch, then contract for 15-30 seconds, then immediately push the stretch a little more. Basically using the contraction to overload the nervous system so it lets you stretch a little further. There’s probably more in the book, but that was the key for me.

And Power to the People was my first introduction to a very simplified weight training program.

Like most of Pavel’s writing, there’s little one or two sentence gems and techniques thrown in among tons of filler content. But I’m not sure the cost of the books justifies that.

I think you’ll get something out of all three of those but I wouldn’t consider them absolutely essential by any means.

Beyond Bodybuilding was and still is an excellent read. One of the best unheard of Hypertrophy routines is in there. Not to mention the Russian percentage weeks.

Pavel’s stuff is pure gold. I have all of his books and how he breaks down the technique or Template or whatever he is describing comes across as plain common sense. Very easy to read and understand.

John Christy: Real strength, real muscle. Another very good read.

A quick summary:

John?s Christy?s Magic List

Weight train 2 to 3 times per week

  1. A no-brainer for real trainees that don?t take steroids.

  2. Allows for complete recovery, which means you get bigger and stronger from every workout.

  3. Joints can recover ? no injuries ? consistent training ? great results.

Train hard but make sure the ?hard training? is put towards progression; lifting more weight

  1. Training hard pushes the body to adapt to a new level of development or performance.
  2. If that ?new level? is more muscle or more strength then it must be pushed with more weight.

Eat enough to gain muscle

  1. It takes a lot of effort to eat enough to gain, which is one main reason, most trainees? fail ? they won?t work at it.

  2. Eat 1000 more calories per day than you eat now and you will gain muscle (as long as the training is stimulating).

  3. IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT.

Do aerobic work to get in shape, which is good for your health but also promotes recovery from workouts

  1. Promotes recovery from weight workouts.

  2. Better recovery = bigger and stronger muscles.

  3. This can make the difference between gaining 25 pounds on your bench this year or a measly 10 (or a big fat zero ? which is what most gain).

Stretch to keep / get your joints healthy so that you don?t miss workouts or have to eliminate productive exercises

  1. Healthy joints = consistent workouts = bigger, stronger muscles.

  2. Healthy joints = ability to perform more productive exercises = bigger, stronger muscles.

Get yourself fired-up to train with goals, pictures, entering contests, etc

  1. Promotes putting out maximum effort allowing you to lift heavier weights, which produces bigger, stronger muscles.

I know it?s hard to believe that such simple ?non-sexy? methods can produce stunning results. But they do. I?ve seen it, and helped make it happen in many cases. And as a matter of fact I?ve never seen a ?sexy? (flashy, secret, underground, new-wave, instant, etc) method produce anything except a fat wallet for the seller of such garbage.

Do all the basics outlined above ? not just one or two of them ? and people will line-up to buy your magic pill.

Taken from the Skyler Tanner Blog

Not that it’s necessarily an indispensable part of this collection, but Cressey’s “Maximum Strength” was awesome. The mobility work alone is worth the price of the book, but the program’s great too. Highly recommend it.

The Complete Keys to Progress by John McCallum
The strongest shall survive by Bill starr
A portrait of Dorian yates: a warriors story by Dorian Yates and Peter McGough

Supertraining by Verkhoshansky and Siff


No love for Nate Green?

[quote]FISCHER613 wrote:
Beyond Bodybuilding was and still is an excellent read. One of the best unheard of Hypertrophy routines is in there. Not to mention the Russian percentage weeks.
[/quote]

A man needs a name.

50 Shades of Gains

[quote]ishinator wrote:

[quote]FISCHER613 wrote:
Beyond Bodybuilding was and still is an excellent read. One of the best unheard of Hypertrophy routines is in there. Not to mention the Russian percentage weeks.
[/quote]

A man needs a name.
[/quote]

Pavel’s Book.

The Hypertrophy Routine is based off of Delorme’s ideas.

Modern Trends In Strength Training by Charles Poliquin.
Black Book Of Training Secrets by Christian Thibaudeau.
Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods by Christian Thibaudeau.
Science And Practice Of Strength Training by Zatsiorski & Kraemer.

Block Periodization 1 & 2 by Vladimir Issurin

The Reactive Training Manual by Mike Tuchscherer

The concepts and applications in these books helped get my training to the next level. I’m really in debt to them.

Block Periodization 1 & 2 by Vladimir Issurin

The Reactive Training Manual by Mike Tuchscherer

The concepts and applications in these books helped get my training to the next level. I’m really in debt to them.

Strength Life Legacy-Paul Carter
Lift Run Bang-Paul Carter
Under the bar-Dave Tate
All 531 books- Jim Wendler
Most of Dan John’s books
The Cube Method- Brandon Lilly
The Refuge Method-Derek Stone

[quote]LiL MO wrote:
Most of Dan John’s books
[/quote]

Any specific recommendations? I really like his articles and I’m thinking of getting some of his books. Thanks.

Ya Iève been thinking of ordering some books, coarses from Paul Carter, his stuff seems good, can you give some details