Recomendation for a book on weightlifting for beginners.

Strong Lifts 5 x 5. Not sure if there is a book but there is an app and lots of information on internet. WONDERFUL beginners program. Start with bar and move up 5 lbs. each workout. This is a 3 day per week program and I love it. I'm in week 4 and seeing great results.

girlinahat wrote: »

Staring Strength as outlined above is a great book on form etc. Starting Strength OR Stronglifts 5x5 are all you need in terms of programming at this stage.

You could also get hold of New Rules of Lifting for Women. The actual programme I found to get too complicated, however the nutritional info is very good in it. Some people like Strong Curves but I've not looked at it.

I bought Strong Curves, I like it, it explains in detail and lots of pictures. Very step by step.

TR0berts wrote: »

Starting Strength, by Mark Rippetoe.

Links to purchase books (the one on the left, first) are at the bottom of the page: https://startingstrength.com/


eta: I don't really recall much about Calorie intake, but don't worry about that, really. Input your stats/goals into MFP and use those, or use a TDEE calculator, such as the one over at Scooby's.

There are also a multitude of copies on the secondary market. If Retail is too much for you.

Ditto on Starting Strength. He goes into a lot of good detail on form and what to watch for. Also, Strong Curves if you want to add in some glute-specific work. Another good basic program to start with is here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/. (I'd recommend Starting Strength for the form and detail even if you don't use his programming).

Rip did video tutorials on all the main lifts, which are available on Youtube. Should be very helpful for proper form.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

The great thing about Starting Strength is that it does a really good job of illustrating how to do the primary compound movements...but as a program, it is really geared towards beginners who want to focus primarily on linear gains in strength and not much else.

this is true. i skipped the whole section at the back of my edition where he goes through an example lifting routine for 'young angus mcsnort'. starting strength was my source for the 'how' of lifting, and also i guess for the 'why' of the 'how'. but for the programming part i took myself somewhere else.

part of me wants to say too 'even if you're not interested in learning to deadlift or clean, buy the book and read it anyway for the sake of the entertainment.' he's dry as a bone when he gets technical, but if you actually read all that text it's full of easter-egg funniness too.

Starting Strength is also my recommendation. Age or sex should not matter much if reasonably healthy. I was 45 and 300lbs at 5'9" when I started it. The book is one of the best resources for the compound lifts. The program has worked for thousands from teenagers to people in their 80's.

I would also recommend you listen to the Barbell Logic podcast and watch the videos from Starting Strength on youtube. The podcast is by 2 Starting Strength coaches and they go into the reasoning why you don't need isolation exercises or high amounts of volume but why recovery is as important as the lifts and progression. The videos will give you a much better picture of the lifts in motion.

Ya, I drank the kool-aid and it tasted good.

Okiludy wrote: »

Ya, I drank the kool-aid and it tasted good.

just don't drink the GOMAD if you're trying to maintain or lose weight.

I like Arnold Schwarzenegger Encyclopedia to Bodybuilding. I think it is quite full of knowledge for those just beginning in lifting for strength to those who want to gain muscle mass.

I would recommend Strong Curves and New Rules of Lifting for Women. Both of these books gave straightforward advice and plans with lots of detail but in an easy language to understand.

I've got Arnold's and Pearl's books. Bought them both over 30 yrs ago, when they were 1st published.

Haven't looked at either of them for years but they still would be useful if I needed to consider some isolation work or give myself a refresher on lifting options, but there's so much info in them that they really wouldn't be very useful for newbies; not focused enough.

Starting Stength is designed for and targeted specifically towards newbies. It focuses on the 4 main compound lifts and tells/shows you exactly how you should do them and why. No other book does that.

You can also supplement the book by watching the hrs of free instructional videos that Rip has posted on the Net. I've watched all of them and they're well worth the time.

You can also join the Starting Strength forum for free where you can actually ask Rip questions that he'll answer personally.

However, be careful if you decide to ask him something that's already been addressed repeatedly or involves something that's not part of the program. You'll get a very rude and non-PC response if you do. I seen it. LOL!

If that's too intimidating, you can also ask questions of certified SS coaches or other forum members as well. However, they can be equally rude.

Politeness and clean language generally prevail but are not strictly mandated on the SS forum. So, beware. If you think MFP is bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.