Science and Practice of Strength Training, Second Edition,   ISBN:9780736056281

Customer Rating: 

This book was a slight disappointment, wasn't as good as I expected. Contains good info anyway, and I found some interesting new pieces of info, but also some errors. Due to some errors I can't totally trust everything in this book, have to verify some things from other sources before I could trust them completely.

As an example, in "Injury prevention" section authors recommend including "trunk rotations against resistance" in training protocols (page 147). This is totally against scientific proof, according to scientific evidence this exercise should absolutely be EXCLUDED. Check this in Stuart McGill's book "Low back disorders- ..." and you will find the right kind of advice on injury prevention.

Same goes for the recommendation on page 145: "Persons at high risk of LBPS (low back pain syndrome) should perform sit-ups with the legs bent, as in this position the load on the spine is lighter and the effect on the abdominal wall is greater." This is old and erroneous information, the new scientific evidence proves that there is not a great difference in the load on the spine even if legs are bent. The pressure is again high and exactly from the injury prevention viewpoint there are superior rectus abdominis exercises. Once again, check for example above mentioned McGill's book for the scientific evidence and better recommendations.

For the above stated reasons, I can't totally trust this books information, especially the injury prevention section is clearly not updated to take into account the newer scientific evidence.

Customer Rating: 

The book is excellent. However, the few pages mentioning (EMS) are dated and reveal ignorance of the progress made in this field since the mid '90s. It only mentions Russian electrostimulation, an inferior technique of the past; it is surpassed by current know-how and machines utilizing square-wave technology, such as the Globus Premium Sport Muscle Electrostimulator. The author can be forgiven for not knowing this technique, but discussing it from the authoritative pedestal that these two authors have, is misleading. It also doesn't understand how EMS can complement traditional training. See Wikipedia for a better explanation of EMS.

Customer Rating: 

This book was recommended to me by one of Australias leading strength and conditioning coaches - Tony Boutagy. I do not regret buying this book, it has provided me with an abundance of information and is one of the best purchases i have made in quite a while.

Customer Rating: 

The information presented was very solid, and obviously based on a lot of knowledge and research. However, it seems to me that the target audience for this book should be coaches and professionals. The average person may feel overwhelmed by all the data presented. Even your average gym rat who works out regularly may have a hard time applying the principles in this book to his or her lifting program.

Customer Rating: 

".....Science and Practice of Strength Training is an OUTSTANDING REFERENCE AND TEXT that not only presents the scientific principles behind strength training, but also provides practical recommendations for optimizing muscular strength and development....."
[from the book of the back cover]