The Complete Book of Abs: Revised and Expanded Edition Reviews
The Complete Book of Abs: Revised and Expanded Edition
Anyone who works out knows that abdominal exercises have progressed light-years beyond the basic sit-up. In fact, a whole new generation of ab exercises and machines have advanced abdominal workouts to new levels of sophistication, designed for maximum efficiency to provide the trim, toned midsection that everyone wants. But how do you put the exercises together into a routine for your specific physique and needs? The Complete Book of Abs shows you how.
¸ The first ab book for every
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3 thoughts on “The Complete Book of Abs: Revised and Expanded Edition Reviews”
By comparing over 10 abs books, I concluded…,
I purchased about 10 books from Amazon on abs in order to compare them. This one has quite a bit of information, good lay-out and organization, and is well-written for this type of book. My conclusions on how it compares with the other books follow…
If You Want to Trim Your Waistline: You can’t trim your waistline without losing fat, and you can’t lose fat around your waist without losing it everywhere (focusing on a muscle group like the abdominal muscles doesn’t burn fat in that location, just a little bit of fat from everywhere on the body). So, if you want to trim your waistline, skip the ab workout books and go with a good, proven overall weight loss and fitness book like Bill Phillips’ Body for Life. The Abs Diet is a similar program, but like all the Men’s Health publications, it advertises a 6-week transformation, which is just a little unrealistic. Plan on more like 12-24 weeks to see really noticeable changes if you are fat.
If You Want Sculpted Six-Pack Abs: If you are overweight at all, see above–you can’t get a six pack while you’re overweight, and you can’t lose abdominal fat by doing an ab workout, so go for overall fitness. However, if you are already lean, see below.
If You Want to Strengthen or Build Your Ab Muscles: If you’re trying to improve for work, play, or rehab, you might consider the following books: The Body Sculpting Bible for Abs Deluxe DVD Edition contains decently up-to-date information and tells you exactly what to do and when to do it, based on a six-week fitness course. If you’re looking for a similar book with more information, you can choose from The Complete Book of Abs or The Complete Book of Core Training. The Complete Book of Abs (1998) is a little out of date in terms of its dietary/nutritional recommendations, but it focuses more on exercises that develop the external abdominal muscles (the ones you see in a six-pack), including lots of variations on leg lifts, bicycle motion, and sit-ups. It will also give you more resources for creating your own program, and, if that’s what you want to do, go with this one instead of The Body Sculpting Bible. The Complete Book of Core Training (2006) focuses more on the functional body core, including internal abdominal muscles, legs, etc., and includes more trendy exercises using medicine balls, exercise balls, yoga, etc. A different sort of book is Stronger Abs and Back (1997), which was written before the current fad of selling “core training,” but contains the elements of core training because it gives good functional sports-focused advice. Its dietary recommendations are out of date, but it recommends a 24-week workout plan, which is much more realistic than the 6-week plans advocated by many of the other books.
If You Have Back Pain: See your doctor, and if he prescribes abdominal/core strengthening, see above.
My one-book recommendation: Body for Life.
My two-book recommendation: Body for Life + Stronger Abs and Back.
My three-book recommendation: Body for Life + Stronger Abs and Back + The Complete Book of Abs.
My four-book recommendation: Body for Life + Stronger Abs and Back + The Complete Book of Abs + The Abs Diet.
Hope this helps!!
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|Arguably your best chance to build real abs!,
Hey, I’m no spring chicken in terms of real fitness, no bodybuilder or top-athlete either. And my body is my temple, a good one. Provided you know how to excercise and eat right, this book will take you step by step to ab stardom. It is a thoroughly rehearsed guide, someone tried it all before instead of concocting a recipe with its bum on a chair. It works. Slowly and methodically. It senses your moods, giving you phrases of encouragement at the right time. There are also lots of additional chapters that will be quite enlightening for the enthusiast or novice. My advise is buy it. It is a great reference book. Follow the plan for at least 4 months – provided you are not obese – and you will have a six-pack that won’t go away even if you stop excercising. Okay okay, all this does not come free: First, you will have to work bloody hard, but since the program is very well structured you will not really notice the load increase. However, the 15′ a day claim is a joke. You will clock up 20′ at start-up and about 45′ mid-progam, if you do the excercises right instead of bouncing up and down. The book is also tainted by some stupid typos midway through the program (level 3 I guess), which require patience to sort out. Have a pen handy. To finalise, the ‘ultimate abs’ level is bloody dangerous. I went twice up there and screwed my neck so badly that still hurts. I accept some blame for doing these at home with makeshift stuff. Overall, as said, top book. Once you try this you will realise that you possibly never did any decent ab work in your entire life, no matter if you are an amateur or a fitness pro. I have surprised many well seasoned coaches and personal trainers with the routines I learned in this book. hAB fun! -Adrian PS Kurt, send me your other books so I try them too!
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|ABS-solutely a MUST!,
Many bodybuilding enthusiasts hate working out their abs. The abs are arguably the least fun to work out. Having said that, the abs are the first part that catches the eye – whether washboard-ripped or flabby. More importantly, from the point of wellness, the abs are the most important part that needs to be kept strong. The abs are the centre of the human body and hold up the entire skeletal structure. If you have only time to work out one part daily, make it your abs.
I have been using The Complete Book of Abs for 2 years now. It was a fabulous gift from a friend, a fitness buff. Let me just say that this is THE book on working out the abs! This book tells you why one should work out the abs; describes the muscular and skeletal anatomy in respect of the abs; the nutritional aspects; warm-up, stretching and other support exercises; the specific exercises in respect of the abs, and the different systems and routines one can incorporate for various purposes. In other words, this book is truly “The COMPLETE Book of Abs”.
There are lots of photographs illustrating the various specific exercises for the various parts of the abs. I found this to be highly helpful and definitely of great assistance to the newcomer to working out.
My favourite part of this book is Chapter 4 which discusses The Mind. The Mind is where all success in life begins. Success in working out is no different. To succeed, it takes planning, mental focus, self-motivation, visualisation and mental-programming.
I supplement my reading of this book with Antonio Sabato Jr’s No Excuses: Workout for Life, which I would also highly recommend to the workout enthusiast.
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