Huge In A Hurry by Chad Waterbury.
Physical Book Qualities:
- 354 pages.
- Full color glossy book.
- Overall the book construction and page quality is very high. Easily one of the best workout books I have purchased in this regard.
Content:
The book is split into roughly three equal sections. The first section explains the thought process behind the workouts, diet recommendations, and other general useful workout information. The writing is clear and easy to follow.
The second section contains the workouts. They are clearly listed with each workout having a small introduction about why someone would do it, who the workout is targeted at, and any additional pointers specific to the workout. There are a lot of workouts, most lasting 4 weeks with 1 week de/re loads between them. Workout types are the typical strength, hypertrophy, and fat loss. Some of the workout types also have sub types that focus on a particular body part, for example arms or chest. I found these to be designed well as to let the participant focus on particular body part for a period of time while also not forgetting the rest of the body.
The final section contains detail instructions (with big color step-by-step pictures) of all of the exercises used in the book. I found this section to be quite useful just to thumb through and look at all the exercises. I've been working out for a long time and found some exercises or variations I had never tried.
Personal Opinion:
I really enjoyed the book for two main reasons. First, it presented a completely new way of thinking about my workouts. One of the main premises of the book is that the trainee forget about sets and focus on hitting a number of perfect explosive reps. For example, pick a weight that you can do 5 times for a single set. Now, lift that weight explosively (as quickly as possible) for as many reps as you can until the lifting speed slows or form breaks down (not to failure). Wait the prescribed rest time and do another set. Repeat this process until you hit the prescribed number of reps. If the first set had 6-7 reps, then add weight the next time you do that workout.
I had never lifted this way before and it was a great change up that I enjoyed and it appeared to work well for strength and size gains (someone at the gym commented I looked bigger even though I stayed close to may constant weight of 200lbs). The workout was hard to do at first though. After thinking sets/reps for so many years it was hard to break out of that habit. Luckily one of the early workouts is designed to help people like me break that habit.
The second reason was the workouts themselves. I found the rest times to be very aggressive and they led to quick, yet effective workouts. One of the early workouts humbled me as I only had 60-75 seconds between dead lift sets as opposed to my usual super heavy with minutes between sets.
Overall I rate the book a buy. It had new (to me anyways) lifting concepts and was only $16 on amazon.
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
"Losers make excuses, winners make it happen!"
http://www.thepensiveprogrammer.com/
Huge in a Hurry - Guest Review
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