Bodybuilding a Realistic Approach: How You Can Have a Great Body!

by Frank A. Melfa

Book Overview

Bodybuilding A Realistic Approach, shows you how to realistically tone, shape, and build your body. It helps you set and reach realistic goals by first identifying your body type and showing how to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0964164078
• ISBN13: 9780964164079
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Power Writings
• Length: 437 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A Great book for Beginners and advanced bodybuilders

I've been working out now for about a year and a half. There has been a lot of books written about bodybuilding and training. But these books depict unrealistic training methods and physiques.Often times, these people use steroids and Growth hormone drugs.Frank Melfa's book takes you through in a realistic way whether you are just starting out or are planning on competing in a bodybuilding contest. He explains about understanding your body type and how this will determine what your goals may be. Whether you want to lose weight and tone up or if you want to gain muscle and lose fat, it will all be explained to you in a simple way. Some folks simply are'nt sure how much weight they should use, how many reps, sets, and how many days in week they should train. Again, it will all be explained to you in simple terms. Frank wants the reader to know that building muscle is not easy and that it will take hard work and good eating habits and working out consistently to see good results. This is one of only a handful of bodybuilding books out there that tells it like it is.If I were just starting out, this is the book I would buy. You will keep referring back to the book many times as I have. I have made my gains by working hard and eating right, so can anyone with the samedetermination and patience. Good luck and God bless America.

The handbook for a healthy body...

Supplements, gym memberships and exercise equipment are expensive. Before you spend any more money on these things, buy this book! I've lifted weights off and on throughout the years, but never got the results I was wanting. After I read Frank Melfa's book, I realized that a lot of my sets, technique, diet and exercises were wrong. Now I've been able to gain 9 pounds of muscle, for the first time. Even people at work have noticed the difference.There is so much info packed into this book, there's no way you can learn it all in one reading. I find myself referring to it often, even after owning it for 5 months. I even copied the exercise regiments on posterboard and hung it up in my basement-gym so they're easier to refer to.I've completely changed the way I eat. I was shocked to learn that I wasn't consuming nearly enough calories to gain muscle. Frank recommends logging food intake as well as exercises. This is hard at first, but well worth the effort. I also enter my weight, calorie intake, and carbs-protien-fat intake into a graph to see what trends are developing. Of course, the real measure of sucess is the mirror!Frank Melfa is a real guy, and this shines through in his writing. He has to squeeze his workouts and healthy meals into a normal busy life, just like all of us. But if you have a question about something in the book, Frank will even respond personally to your e-mail!The book includes pictures of Frank during his various competitions, as well as his appearance today. I think that pictures of the author should be a requirement for any exercise book. I bought this book for my sister, also. She's always had trouble gaining muscle mass, and this book has helped her as well.As Frank points out, changing the shape of your body is a difficult thing to do. For many of us, our body is the result of our habits and lifestyle. If you truly want to change the way you look, you will need to change your habits. For me, this has been a very fulfilling and worthwhile change...and it only gets better from here!

very helpful for a beginner

Before I found this book, I was always very intimidated by gyms and the equipment. I never could get myself to take an instructional class, but then I found this book. The pictures and descriptions in this book are very helpful for doing the exercises and using the equipment correctly without hurting yourself.This book is also very motivational. He tells you everything necessary for getting in shape. There are tips for beginners as well as tips for advanced bodybuilders who plan on competing. He gives you some sample workout plans and also has a very good chapter an your diet. I think this book could be helpful for people of all skill levels, but I am a beginner so I know it is helpful from that perspective.This book is also a very easy read. It kept my interest throughout even in the sections I don't plan on using such as professional competitions.If it helps, I have lost over 20 pounds after the first 2 months of having this book.

Excellent, Superb Guide!

I am a complete beginner to lifting weights--just started a month or two ago to look more attractive to women. I was looking for a basic introduction to weight training that was easily understood, down-to-earth, no BS, and no gimmicks, just hard work and discipline. I found exactly that in this book! Mr. Melfa writes with clarity and precision describing different exercises, about how to achieve different goals, nutrition and eating habits, stretching, posing, contests and more. Aside from the clear description of different exercises, I think what I have found most helpful in this book is Mr. Melfa's knowledge and experience regarding which specific exercises one should perform to meet one's goals (such as muscle size), how often, how many sets and how many reps. I also appreciate his comments about which exercises are most effective for different muscle groups. I think this book is ideal for a novice like myself but it also seems like it would be helpful to an experienced body builder who wanted more guidance and advice about nutrition, food, posing and contests. One more thing: I had an important personal question about my own wieght training which my lifting-buddy wasn't sure about. I e-mailed Frank Melfa on his AOL address listed here and got a VERY helpful and warm reply THE NEXT DAY! His personal advice was very worthwhile and exactly what I needed to know. THANKS FRANK!