Dumbbell Training

I bought this book for my dad and he loved it. He lost a lot of strength from having cancer and he found these exercises to be very useful in regaining strength.

I've been looking for some guides to routines for my wife and I (it will be different for her an me) to start a dumbell based exercise plan to get back in shape. We're an older couple, in our fifties, but I was an athlete in high school and college and familier with weights based exercise. What I am looking for is a good outline of exercises, dumbbell only (no barbells) for each of us. What this book doesn't really do is provide a relatively straightforward "Here is a set of sample routines for a woman" etc. This is really written with a focus on athletes training for various sports and discusses the difference in muscle training for speed sports vs. strangth sports, etc. At first I thought I'd made a mistake in buying this. However, what it DOES provide is a very well laid out set of exercises for each muscle group, with large pictures and detailed instructions on how to do the exercise correctly and, importantly, common mistakes for that exercise. And a large selection. For example, in another book (Brzzycki's Dumbbell Training for Strength and Fitness,) you get a nice selection of routines, but for the abdominals there are 4 exercises. In this book there are 12 exercises described and illustrated. While I don't think the routines in this book are what we need, I am using the wide range of exercises and detailed descriptions to put together our own routines.

Author is clearly knowledgeable but there is a lot of repetition (not as in sets, just words used over and over). Many of the exercises differ in a small detail (only use one arm, use both arms, alternate) and warrant an entire separate repeated entry so it feels like there is a lot of filler. There are also details missing that would be nice: what muscles are worked in each exercise, what differentiates the variations, etc. All that said, there is some good stuff in here. The meaty parts are well-written, the exercises are well-described, and the sample exercise routines will be useful for people. I learned from this book.

i like the book it will help you in you training like always great to buy from amazon easy download

The company treated me very good!

I agree with Michael (June 24, 2014) - this appears to be a good book, but is not a book for rookies. I would have liked a chapter for rookies, with a few basic exercises for the lower body, upper body, and the core. We're lucky that Allen Hedrick wasn't thinking about all the muscles, about 650, that are in the body. Otherwise we would have 650 exercises to sort through.

Excelent book

I can not add anything positive about this book that has not already been said. I can add one negative thing that sort of ruined it for me. All of the chest and several non chest exercises require an adjustable bench. In my mind minimal equipment means dumbbells only. Apparently the author does not agree. As someone who already has decent weight lifting knowledge I can easily work around this issue. But it could be seen as a major letdown for people who only have the money for a set of dumbbells.

A very detail and informative book on training guide which may aide an individual into the right approach of exercising/weight training.

This is at least a book that does not lie ! It says dumbbell training, it says 78 exercises, and that is what it does, faithfully : show you 78 exercises (no variations of the same exercise to puff up the number those are genuinely 78 exercises spread out to whole body training), with dumbbells. For each exercise there is a complete description with : - instructions on how to perform the movement - common errors (i.e. : how not to do it) - photos : a nice touch, the diverse models on the picture are... diverse :) ! (of both genders and of diverse ethnic background) Some exercises require a bench, but other than that, nothing else is needed but dumbbells. At the beginning of the book there is a very useful table which points you to the page you need to go to for each muscle you want to train. At the end of the book, some examples of workouts, adapted (for cyclists, for soccer player, for runners, for volleyball players, for increasing muscle size, for increasing power, and so on and so forth). A great book to have if you want to train at home, with basic equipment, and get the most you can out of those dumbbells !

I train alone and at home. I found barbell training got heavy and dangerous leading to potential injury. I switched to dumbbell only workout because of injury concerns. This book covers EVERYTHING a person needs to train with dumbells except how to calculate the weight so you can lift eg. 70% of your one lift max. However it covers everything you need to build a routine for power, muscle building or muscle endurance. Rep ranges for power/muscle/endurance, set ranges recovery times etc. So you get all the info you need for a workout that suits YOUR goals then it gives you numerous techniques that you can use in a routine again broken down into body part sections so you can target the muscle group you want.

perfectly acceptable on this side of the Atlantic

Useful tips along with using the dumbbells I have purchased.