The Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir Zatsiorsky
Overall, I felt that I learned a lot from this book, although it may not be the best read for a pure bodybuilder. It seems to center mostly on strength training and/or training for sports. I can only recall the occasional focus on inducing hypertrophy, and there is virtually nothing about diet mentioned anywhere in this book. This can be good or bad, depending on what kind of information you are looking for, but I think the book contains valuable information that anyone could use. The chapters on injury prevention and rehabilitation, most notably, come to mind.
Although the quality of the information seemed to be very high, I felt the book read a bit too much like a textbook. Nearly everything mentioned in the book was backed by a study, even though some of the studies used small sample sizes of the population. There is a lot of good information related to the transmutation of training effects, the inner working of the central nervous system, force related to joint angles, and many more topics that sometimes get very scientific in explanation.
I think this book is a must read if you train for strength or sport. If you are a bodybuilder, there are probably other books I would read before this. Although I would definitely tack this onto the list somewhere down the line.
Overall, I felt that I learned a lot from this book, although it may not be the best read for a pure bodybuilder. It seems to center mostly on strength training and/or training for sports. I can only recall the occasional focus on inducing hypertrophy, and there is virtually nothing about diet mentioned anywhere in this book. This can be good or bad, depending on what kind of information you are looking for, but I think the book contains valuable information that anyone could use. The chapters on injury prevention and rehabilitation, most notably, come to mind.
Although the quality of the information seemed to be very high, I felt the book read a bit too much like a textbook. Nearly everything mentioned in the book was backed by a study, even though some of the studies used small sample sizes of the population. There is a lot of good information related to the transmutation of training effects, the inner working of the central nervous system, force related to joint angles, and many more topics that sometimes get very scientific in explanation.
I think this book is a must read if you train for strength or sport. If you are a bodybuilder, there are probably other books I would read before this. Although I would definitely tack this onto the list somewhere down the line.