Men's Health Big Book of Exercises, The: Four Weeks to a Leaner, Stronger, More Muscular You!

The book starts by explaining the basics and functionalities of different muscles - very informative. I found that this helped me understand my targets better as well as give me a sense of control over my workout. The illustrated exercises are very clear and simple to understand. When there's been an exercise I was not too sure about in the gym, I just asked a gym coach to explain it to me. I found the best feature of the book is towards the end where several workout programmes are given. I've been following a 12-week programme. I am in week 7 of 12 and have been seeing great results. One advice: remember to read the intro to each chapter (one page each) and not just jump straight to an exercise unless you are a regular gym goer.

I didn't used to be a very regular gym user but when my size demanded I loose some weight and get fitter this book came in great use. It gives you a break down of some exercises for each group of muscles as well as giving suggested training programs for you to follow depending on what results you are after. It is not just for the bigger guys it is for everyone as it give exercises ranging from very easy ones through to the hardest veriations for the larger, stronger guys. This book also has suggested eating programs, diets if you want to call them that but this is just a small section at the frount of the book. In conclustion if you want a book to give you ideas on exercises for a gym program or if you want some basic pre worked out program this is the book for you as it will give you ideas on how to train.

It's useful. It gives you a general overview of the muscles of the body and what exercises build up which muscles. It then shows the main exercise and then about ten similar exercises that you could do instead, like turning the hands the opposite way or lying on a bench etc. The only problem I have with it is that if it says do the exercise this different way, it sometimes doesn't say why so I'm wondering what the benefit of doing it that way would be. Other than that, it's an excellent book but a bit pricey considering it only has about five 'main moves' per section (arms, chest etc.) in which the differences may be just the same exercise using either a barbell or two dumbbells, plus the following alternative positions. So really it would only be useful for a complete beginner.

Informative and thorough.

Great book that has helped me with my fitness journey. The pictures have been extremely helpful.

I found Men's Health Big Book of Exercise to be a great help. I am coming from a practical angle - the sport and nutrition science discussed in other reviews goes straight over my head. My starting point was: middle aged, overweight and confused what to do. I went to the gym 6 month prior to buying the book 3 times a week doing only cardio: rowing, x-trainer, stepper, crunches, etc. That lost me about 6 kg (1 stone) and I got stuck. When I read the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises advice "you need to do weights" I was really sceptical. However, I followed the (excellent) workout plans in the back of the book and my weight loss got moving again - about 4.5 kg IN A MONTH. This will obviously slow down, but their advice was spot on for me. I would look at the book as a "beginners to intermediate" guide, written in plain layman's language the average (and not obsessed) man can actually understand. As all sports books, I recommend to read the summary, do the trial and error thing and reread the chapters properly once you start getting the hang of it. Personally, I am very grateful to Men's Health for having published the book, which has really met my needs.

Very pleased with this book, it has loads of information in it, which could be from the beginner to the advanced. It breaks down different areas of the body and gives you loads of exercises you can do, from the well known to the "well I didn't know that" bits. There are lots of programs within which can be tweeked with references within the chapters to suit all needs and abilities. A book well worth having if you're serious about changing your body.

a decent amount of exercises, could have done perhaps with fewer exercises and more explanation