Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building,   ISBN:9781552100516

Customer Rating: 

I bought this book after reading reviews that it was full of great information and better than Arnold's encyclopedia. Well it isn't. Looking for information on the pages is burdensome because of the excess of graphics surrounding the information and constant changes in font size/color meant to draw your attention. I'm not putting down the content. That I do believe is solid. I just hate the format.

Customer Rating: 

This book certainly covers just about everything concerning bodybuilding. Hence why I give it four stars. To read more about that, other reviewers have done well in explaining them. I do want to add two things however that haven't been addressed. In favor of the book, the author emphasizes THROUGHOUT the book about not overtraining. This is a great facet of the book as compared to Arnold's book who's workouts are clearly from his own workout regimes when he was taking steroids.

I, however, took away one star because the ONLY pictures that are in the book are ALL from bodybuilders who take steroids. The author spends a chapter discussing the side-effects of steroids and clearly speaks out against them, but all of his pictures of exercises and competitions are with those who use the drug enhancement drugs. Moreover, the author explicitly states in that chapter that professional bodybuilders all use steroids. That is an outright lie as "Natural Bodybuilding" is a growing sport with national competitions. One doesn't have to go far on google to find this fact and to see the difference in looks between the natural bodybuilders and those who use anabolic steroids. I believe it would have been more encouraging and motivating to hit the gym after reading through the encyclopedia if Natural Bodybuilders were shown rather than the people who I will never look like.

So overall it is definitely an informative book. You will not waste your money in purchasing it. My reservation is merely its indirect support of those bodybuilders who are heavily dosed on drugs.

Customer Rating: 

This book is very good. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in bodybuilding. Whether you are a beginner or experienced you will find this book helpful.

Customer Rating: 

I gave this book to my son for Christmas and he has not put it down except to go to work, so it must be pretty good. He is into fitness big time.

Customer Rating: 

Kennedy does/ has done a good job of covering most of what you want to know about bodybuilding with articles and photos of well known current Pro BB from around the world. For those that want to know more of what a pro life style is like this book provides some of the answers of what ones must do and scarifice to get at the pro level. Looking at the pictures you can see that many are of the current freaker muscle type achieve through the assist of steroids which is basically covered in the book- not a lot of depth here as to what really goes on to make it to this level of BB, which has always had a no tell policy on what one must do to bring it to the edge at the pro level.

On the history of BB the major players like Arnold is covered (known steroid user who had his pic removed from the Gold's Gym- guess he doesn't wnat to be remember as such) while leaving out such greats as Bob Paris, who lets you see the other side of BB in his book "Gorilla Suit- My Adventures in Bodybuilding", not just the idealistic views we get from the media and the BB mags.

The book is well worth the money for what you can get it on line, it will inspire anyone trying to body shape themselves, and insider look of how to get there, but not a complete one even with all the photos and well written 800 pages.