Maximum Strength (EC's New Book!)

Preordered this as soon as I heard about it and I have to say that it is EXCELLENT.

Long story short, it’s a 4 month program with each month as a phase. Each week is alternating volume/intensity with built in deloading and mini-strength tests.

I really like the program, not only as a strength routine but because it’s corrective- it’s got Anderson Front Squats right next to prehab exercises like Face Pulls and Lower Trap Raises that are important but that no one does. Add in there a great section on dynamic warmups and foam rolling and chances are that someone running this is going to come out a hell of a lot stronger and healthier than they were before.

I’ll be starting my log as soon as the semester is over.

Damn, 130 views and no replies. I would have thought that there would be more interest than this.

Cool, where’d you get it?

Right off of the ericcressey.com website.

His blog is a great source of info too if you have the time to sort through it.

Thanks for the kind words!

You’ll be able to pick it up through the T-Nation store soon, but in the meantime, here’s the place to get it:

http://www.ericcressey.com/maximumstrength.html

hey EC

i tried to order it about two hours ago but couldn’t get thru your ordering system???(hopefully that means you’re taking a squilion orders at the moment)

a question for you, is it an e-book or hard copy? if hard copy, how much would freight be to new zealand? cheers

[quote]schmichael wrote:
hey EC

i tried to order it about two hours ago but couldn’t get thru your ordering system???(hopefully that means you’re taking a squilion orders at the moment)

a question for you, is it an e-book or hard copy? if hard copy, how much would freight be to new zealand? cheers[/quote]

It’s a hard copy book - and international shipping isn’t bad at all.

Feel free to drop us an email at ec@ericcressey.com and we’ll take care of you.

Just wanted to add my $.02- this book is excellent!

My job involves reading a LOT of strength training books, and Eric’s is definitely of the highest quality. The program is detailed and comprehensive, and all of the exercises are explained very well.

But who is that model he used in all the photos?

…j/k Eric. :slight_smile:

[quote]lifting girl wrote:
Just wanted to add my $.02- this book is excellent!

My job involves reading a LOT of strength training books, and Eric’s is definitely of the highest quality. The program is detailed and comprehensive, and all of the exercises are explained very well.

But who is that model he used in all the photos?

…j/k Eric. :)[/quote]

Yeah, that guy was an ugly bastard.

Damn strong looking, though. :slight_smile:

It’s a nice read and a very good workout program.

Eric, do you ever plan to put out a relative strength book? I guess you can say I’m an athlete since I’m looking to jump higher and run faster, but I really just train for fun. I have your off season manual, but haven’t tried the program. What I’m looking for is to put on massive gains as far as strength, while putting on as little mass as possible. Any suggestions? I already do singles over 90% but what about assistance exercises and such?

So I trust there will be an official thread on T-Nation?

[quote]DjSm28 wrote:
It’s a nice read and a very good workout program.

Eric, do you ever plan to put out a relative strength book? I guess you can say I’m an athlete since I’m looking to jump higher and run faster, but I really just train for fun. I have your off season manual, but haven’t tried the program. What I’m looking for is to put on massive gains as far as strength, while putting on as little mass as possible. Any suggestions? I already do singles over 90% but what about assistance exercises and such?
[/quote]

You would be surprised at the similarities in my programming for relative strength athletes and absolute strength athletes. The truth is that diet is the biggest component - and then you drop assistance work by 15-20%. That’s really the nuts and bolts.

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
So I trust there will be an official thread on T-Nation?[/quote]

Hadn’t planned on it; do we need one?

Trainer at my gym told me about this last week. I have a couple other books I want to buy first, maybe he’ll let me borrow it at some point (yeah right).

EC, love the new book. I just finished reading it, and want to get started, however I do have a quick question. I am preparing for the upcoming football season which starts in August, so I was wondering how I would go about implementing speed/agiility training into the maximal strength program. Any help would me much appreciated. Thanks

[quote]joehawk wrote:
EC, love the new book. I just finished reading it, and want to get started, however I do have a quick question. I am preparing for the upcoming football season which starts in August, so I was wondering how I would go about implementing speed/agiility training into the maximal strength program. Any help would me much appreciated. Thanks[/quote]

I would keep the lifting roughly the same (perhaps slightly reduced volume) - but incorporate your movement training in place of the “energy” sessions. I prefer to sprint within 24 hours of a completed lower-body lift, whenever possible. You can also add some plyos and sprint-work pre-training, if you’d like.

Regardless, make sure you add something, as there really isn’t enough reactive work in there to prepare you for any sport other than, well, being strong!

Thanks EC! How about doing a little bit of speed work prior to each workout? On Monday maybe some 10’s, Wednesday some longer sprints of 20+yds, Friday some Short directional work, and Saturday some Tempo 40’s. I would keep the volume low using long enough rest periods where I fully recover between reps. And for conditioning, maybe add a little prowler or sled work after the lower body sessions? I would then just rest on Tues and Thurs.

[quote]joehawk wrote:
Thanks EC! How about doing a little bit of speed work prior to each workout? On Monday maybe some 10’s, Wednesday some longer sprints of 20+yds, Friday some Short directional work, and Saturday some Tempo 40’s. I would keep the volume low using long enough rest periods where I fully recover between reps. And for conditioning, maybe add a little prowler or sled work after the lower body sessions? I would then just rest on Tues and Thurs.[/quote]

So, in other words, do a completely different training program with which I disagree completely? :slight_smile:

[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
HoratioSandoval wrote:
So I trust there will be an official thread on T-Nation?

Hadn’t planned on it; do we need one?[/quote]

Haha… Have you ever written anything without it being microanalyzed to death or tweaked in ridiculous ways?? Plus I think the book might deserve more of a formal announcement here.

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
Eric Cressey wrote:
HoratioSandoval wrote:
So I trust there will be an official thread on T-Nation?

Hadn’t planned on it; do we need one?

Haha… Have you ever written anything without it being microanalyzed to death or tweaked in ridiculous ways?? Plus I think the book might deserve more of a formal announcement here.[/quote]

“Eric, i got ur book. can u change it 4 me? i only have access 10lb db, one broken band, a chin-up bar, and some ankle weights. i have two bad shoulders and no lumbar discs and can only workout on tuesdays.”

Or, more personal favorite:

“Can I do this entire program with a 33-pound kettlebell?”

:slight_smile: