Ironman's Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia

by Ironman Magazine and Peter Sisco

Book Overview

Continuously published since 1936, Ironman is the dean of bodybuilding magazines. Ironman has been showcasing every major bodybuilder, training technique, and scientific advance, along with other aspects of the iron game, longer than any other bodybuilding magazine. With articles by and photos of the greatest names in bodybuilding, the Ironman archives represent the best of bodybuilding in the 20th century. Here, in one definitive, information-packed...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0809228114
• ISBN13: 9780809228119
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 2.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.5" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Informative and Enjoyable Compilation of Ironman Articles

I've been reading this Ultimate Bodybuilding Encylopedia for the last few weeks and I find it very useful and motivating. This is very different than Arnold's encylopedia, not better or worse just different. If you want a systematic and comprehensive guide to bodybuilding exercises and their performance then Arnold's is what I would recommend. Note that (in my opinion), many of the routines are geared more for someone w/ performance enhancing drugs and would severly overtrain most natural bodybuilders. Still, Arnold's book is incredibly comprehensive and has been updated since the original release. The Ironman encyclopedia is more of a collection of articles from Ironman issues over the years. The great thing about that is you get a variety of points of view and approaches which is excellent. The price of the book is VERY inexpensive compared to what one would have to pay if you were to buy the same volume of valuable information in magazines. Personally I'm not a big fan of the overall direction bodybuilding has gone with the extreme juice monsters, but this book has a mix of material that can cater to a natural bodybuilder as well as those into the more extreme aspects of the sport. In addition to the many excellent articles, there are photographs which contain bodybuilders from both "schools" of bodybuilding which is not something you find very often. I've recently purchased the Ironman Natural Bodybuilding Book which is also excellent for those interested in focusing specifically on a drug free approach (though certainly some of the extreme supplementation used by "natural" bodybuilders almost approaches a middle ground between completely natural and pharmaceuticals). For me the most important thing has been learning the difference between how to approach training from a natural point of view. I train for health and appearance, but not even remotely with the idea of competition, and it's been great to learn so much about how to workout hard without overtraining, especially for someone drug free like myself. A lot of attention is paid to the fact that natural bodybuilders/weight trainers really have to learn how NOT to overtrain, something I most definitely did many years ago. I worked out way too much and really hit a wall. Anyway, the different articles contained in this book has a plethora of interesting information that I think most people interested in pumping iron will find useful and enjoyable to read. Another thing I really appreciate in the book is the honest discussion of the various drugs being used by non-natural bodybuilders. I especially liked the fact that Ironman had the guts to have interview with the anonymous IFBB Olympia competitor who frankly discusses the insane drug combinations he uses to stay competitive and the dangerous health issues he faces from that use. It's such an over the top interview that it actually had me going "Is this for real?", but most certainly it is. I've talked with several

Very Resourceful

I always rely on this book, scanning over and over certain mass-gaining strategies, like the featured article, "Compound Aftershock", which is an awesome biceps/triceps program that potentially explodes your arms. This book is awesome because it includes 3 to 5 pages of weightlifting stories from classic natural bodybuilders like Bill Pearl, Larry Scott, Mike Mentzer, Arnold, Tom Platz, and others too. For instance, Tom Platz explains how he made his legs huge and musculur. Also, how Larry made his football-sized biceps grow so huge with his routine. One bodybuilder will tell you that a good triceps exercise for gaining triceps mass is the decline barbell extentions, which is very effective for me when I superset it with dumbell kickbacks. I've never seen this type of growth before.I've only read half of the book so far and yet I'm gaining mass. If you have trouble gaining mass, scan over the "Training With A System" section. It makes you see your mistakes with the possibility of overtraining, using too much weight, inefficient diet, or too much strees. This article shows you how to prevent it.Ironman's section on the mental aspects of training is especially motivating and convincing--making you eager to workout and get huge.The Nutrition aspect of this book is weak though. One article is about vegetarianism, which I have no clue why they introduced such an inappropriate diet for a bodybuilder. However, they still give a few pages of bodybuilding type diets that you can gain mass upon.This book will never bore you because I find that I am always reading new ways to build mass from reading this book and that has helped me eliminate worthless workout routines. Anybody who bodybuilds naturally should get this book, as this book unleashes very clever and strategic workout routines. Buy it now and you will become more motivated that ever!

Too Long in Coming

Ironman's "Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia" is years overdue. I could have achieved my bodybuilding goals much faster and saved years of trial-and-error if this book had been available when I was in the competitive stage of my career.The book takes the guess-work out of training and is loaded with photos of the greatest bodybuilders performing the exercises. There is nothing about the book that I can find fault with. As always another tremendous job by Pete Sisco and Ironman.

Definitely Worthwhile

Ironman's Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia is exactly what I needed to really jumpstart my workouts. Most books on the topic of weight-trainging are written by a single person and, therefore, only express one person's experiences. However, everyone is different; what builds muscle for one person may leave another no larger than 6 months before. This book gives multiple opinions by some of the country's most renowned body builders. Sometimes their opinions conflict, sometimes they coincide. Regardless, the reader is given a very thorough overview of the different possible routines to follow. In addition, this book provide the most eye-opening section on the negative effects of drug-use in body-building that I have ever seen; it really makes you think.

Ironman's Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia

I have found this book to very informative in many ways. It contains every exercise needed to develop a strong and lean body. The book also has useful information on diet and supplements. I believe this book to be a necessary tool in my quest for physical wellness.