These are my favorites, I have almost all of Darden’s books but these were the ones that inspired me the most. My first Darden book was Super High Intensity Bodybuilding, I still remember reading it back in the 80’s then waiting till I had some extra money and could get more of his books.
What’s others favs?
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My collection looks very similar! I have a few of those coming in and I’m currently reading through Super High Intensity Bodybuilding! Easily my favorite author on Training. His new e-book gets a big recommendation from me, it’s got a lot of really revolutionary ideas in it!
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very cool, those I posted are just my favorites, I actually own…a bunch more by El,
You just recently got super high intensity bodybuilding? that one is a great fun read
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Yep! I already had The New HIT, Nautilus Bodybuilding Book, and New Bodybuilding for Old School Results, and I was so enjoying those books that I just invested a lot in some more of his older and newer works. Fascinating that WWF’s Ultimate Warrior is on the cover of Super High Intensity Bodybuilding! Lots of great pictures and advanced bodybuilding specialization routines in there, as well as Viator’s workout before the Mr. America! I’m loving it!
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Cool that was my first HIT book in the 80’s, I think I bought it in 1987, then I found out there was one before it ‘High intensity Bodybuilding’ so I waited till I had some cash and got that, … then massive muscles, then BIG, then Bigger muscles, and many many many more after that. A few years ago I bought some other old ones I never had before, like Grow and the Nautilus Book and quite a few others. I’m just sad that paper books are less common now, I love a REAL book over ebooks. Something about an older real book with that smell of the pages… thumbing through it…
Those older ones were so inspiring. I still get mine out a couple times a year and re-read them.
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Living Longer Stronger was my first book.
Next was Upside Down Bodybuilding
I also have Flat Stomach ASAP.
Big
The New Bodybuilding for Old School Results
Body Fat Breakthrough and Killing fat.
30-10-30 Metabolic Challenges.
Deep down I think my favorite is Living Longer Stronger. It was my first Ellington Darden book. It helped me get back in shape after Mentzer’s extreme consolidation.
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Thank you all for your comments. Which of my books was my favorite, especially to write and to organize?
The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results.
From a writer’s and reader’s point of view, it’s LOADED. Loaded with content, both stories and photos. Loaded with layouts and designs: See the montage of Arthur Jones on pages 54 and 55, and close-ups of Sergio Oliva on pages 302 and 303.
The interviews of Kim Wood, Ben Sorenson, Roger Schwab, and Boyer Coe still inspire me to travel back to Muscle Beach, the DeLand Quonset Hut, and the Nautilus Headquarters in Lake Helen. I do often in my mind – and you will too, thanks to the great photos in these chapters.
Want workouts? Casey’s, Mike’s, Ray’s, and Boyer’s – they are there. Plus, the beginnings of the Metabolic Challenges introduced in 30-10-30.
I’m so pleased that this treasure chest is now available in an eBook style, where it can live virtually forever.
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That’s my favourite book on the subject too and I have a fair sized collection.
How did this one slip past the censors?
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My favorite one is this. HUGE nostalgia for me. I once mentioned in a prior thread, but it was my first exposure/reading ever about HIT. I stumbled across it in a book store (Walden maybe?) in a mall…around very late 1991 or early 1992. I still have it, but it lost pages over time. A few years back I bought a nice condition used copy from an Amazon retailer for a few bucks.
I used the legs-arm emphasis routine in the book for almost four weeks when I first bought the book…and my legs showed significant improvement. It was a tough routine! But using the leg press, leg extension, leg curl, squat, and calf raise with a fairly short rest between each movement had people even commenting to me how my legs were starting to match my upper body.
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The New Bodybuilding for Old School Results is easily my favorite bodybuilding book I’ve read, endless routines and chock full of great stories. I gave the Dan Riley Texans workout to my cousin, who’s about to play football in college! The photos and visual presentation make it a real page turner, with an eye catching cover with big letters and a picture of Casey that I hadn’t seen before.
I have 14 Darden books, I would say my fav is new bodybuilding for old school for the various content, killing fat is a fav for the introduction of 30-10-30 and bodyfat breakthrough is a fav for the introduction to xforce…and of course I also enjoy reading the old nautilus bodybuilding book because I just love the old nautilus machines
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Wasn’t High Intensity Bodybuilding the one with the story of the old timers trying to hold a 10 pound plate between their pecs? The photos in that book are amazing.
Yes, that story is on page 141 of High-Intensity Bodybuilding. The man who almost was able to pinch grip a 10-pound barbell plate between his pecs was George Eiferman. George won the 1948 AAU Mr. America.
I have 7 of Dr Darden’s books. The ones I liked best is a tie between The New HIT and Killing Fat.
The New HIT was the book that brought my attention to Dr Darden and HIT about 1,5 years ago, while looking for the most cost-beneficial routines. I really enjoyed reading that book, which enabled me to create my own successful Darden-inspired routine. Also got bitten by the HIT bug, one thing lead to another, and suddenly I am here in this great forum of thinkers and analysts. Thanks again Dr Darden!
Killing Fat was the second book by Darden that I bought. The 30-10-30 routine widened my perspectives on how to excercise. Revolutionary in its own right. Very fond of the 30-10-30 method (which Darden keeps refining). Impressive!
Since Dr Darden is such a good storyteller, I would love to read a book about his adventures with Arthur Jones. I am sure it would be a fun read! Any possibility that might happen, Dr Darden?
Maybe.
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Yes the cool stories are awesome in that book…
I myself just really really get inspired by a person being trained… there was something about BIG and MM in 10 weeks, the way it was written… all that… just so inspiring to make a person wanna train like that. The format in BIG to me, was the best.
Years ago I had a stack of Darden books on my desk at work that I looked through all the time and one day the air conditioner situated above my office leaked one weekend and water ran all over my desk ruining a whole bunch of papers and stuff on my desk and when I got in to work my boss heard me shriek and came running over. What happened did the damn break he shouted , and I said worse , my Darden High Intensity Bodybuilding books got soaked !!!
Scott
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My favorite still remains Bigger Muscles in 42 Days. I learned a lot when I first read it around 12 years ago as a newer trainee seeing examples of Keith’s meal plans each week and getting to see what each of his workouts were by weight and reps. Format wise it still remains my favorite of how Darden set up any of his books. It was the second one I ever read from him following The New HIT I got at Borders - which was also a huge departure when I previously had just known HIT from Mentzer’s early 2000’s book. The New HIT is a close second favorite (I wish we could see all of Hudlow’s training logs like Darden had Keith’s in the other book).
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My absolute favourite is the New High Intensity training
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