Gobbla's Guides - Men's Health Power Training

[gobbla]

Who is this guy and what is this product?

“Men’s Health Power Training”

Robert do Remedios, MA, CSCS, director of speed, strength, and conditioning at College of the Canyons in Southern California, is the ceipient of the 2006 National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)collegiate strength coach of the year award. He has contributed articles to both Men's Health and Men's Fitness magazines. He currently resides in Santa Clarita, California.

What does this product claim?

For decades, the conventional measure of an individual’s strength was the amount of weight he could bench press. Now, that measure is being challenged by expert trainers like Robert dos Remedios who argue that the variety of movement patterns used in functional training is the real key to getting bigger, stronger, and more powerful. In Men’s Health Book of Strength, this acclaimed collegiate strength and conditioning coach describes in detail the methods he has used to develop hundreds of Division I scholarship athletes, including several current NFL players.

Where can I get it and how much does it cost?

14.00 @ Amazon

Review:

Layout\Format

It’s coming out of Rodale so if you’ve ever picked up one of their books before you’ve got a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into. Formatting itself is a pretty mixed bag. It’s easy to read and “Dos” comes off as a likable sort of fella. Illustrations are large and include easily followed directions.

On the negative the “extra’s” (the last 5 chapters) are freakishly weak trying to cover too many bases with not enough content. As you dive in, it makes you feel like they wanted to add more pages to a book that didn’t really need it and at the same time didn’t want to put enough effort into it to make the individual sections stand on their own. Every single part captures your attention and then drifts off into an entire different subject with a “huh?” feeling going on.

On the bright side the reason you bought the book (the first 20 chapters) in the first place is a refreshing change of pace compared to its peers. All routines are guided around a “build your own adventure” platform with a simple to follow and effective set of principles. You’re given a list of exercises and simple add this into the training template with a corresponding category. Pretty easy right? Too lazy to do that? Follow a pre-made routine. Yay! Principles are outlined on what you’re doing what you’re doing and as long as you can follow simple instruction then you’re good to go.

Does it do what it says?

Will it make you a better athlete? In and of itself, probably not. There’s a bit more too it than a strength training program. Will it help you get bigger\stronger? Likely. It comes off as a simple\effective programming scheme that strips away the glamour for the gritty basics. Thumbs up.

[kingkop182]

Thnaks Tony, I'll probably pick this up at some point - get it on the X-mas list.

[UConnJulie]

Thanks Tony ... just added this and TNT (Amazon has a special to buy both) to my library! Looks like it will be a good resource if nothing else!

[kaydubya]

I just picked it up yesterday, started reading it last night, and so far I'm pretty excited about putting the principles to use.

[Simon C]

Nice review, I knew you\'d pull through haha...

[McCarley]

I own it. It's a good book I know I will reference in times to come. I've been on the "program" for about 3 weeks now and am enjoying the workouts. The variety and simplicity are a good change of pace from what I had been doing. I recommend picking it up.

[soonermark99]

Rather than start a new thread for Power Training, I wanted to solicit current opinions on the approach. I just purchased (it's only $18) it and am thinking of starting to utilize the design templates it in 3 or 4 weeks. I've skimmed the book and have a good idea of the template design. What I'm really asking is has anyone seen tangible results on using these templates?

[Mahler]

Looks like a winner. Thanks, Tony.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by soonermark99

What I'm really asking is has anyone seen tangible results on using these templates?

Yes. I followed programs from Power Training for about 3 or 4 months back in the beginning of the year after coming off of a year of NROL. I found that after NROL, while I was much stronger, I didn't have much explosive power. (When I started playing hoops last fall I was really lumbering around the court.) Doing the Oly-type lifts in Power Training really helped turn that around. I had the benefit of getting some good instruction from the S&C coach for the D1 college hockey team in town here - having never done any Oly lifts, that helped dramatically.

I think you might see similar benefits after finishing Max Strength.

[soonermark99]

Originally Posted by Hunter

Yes. I followed programs from Power Training for about 3 or 4 months back in the beginning of the year after coming off of a year of NROL. I found that after NROL, while I was much stronger, I didn't have much explosive power. (When I started playing hoops last fall I was really lumbering around the court.) Doing the Oly-type lifts in Power Training really helped turn that around. I had the benefit of getting some good instruction from the S&C coach for the D1 college hockey team in town here - having never done any Oly lifts, that helped dramatically.

I think you might see similar benefits after finishing Max Strength.

That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks!

[UConnJulie]

Check out MissJane's log ... she's doing this program now and likes it a lot.

[soonermark99]

Originally Posted by UConnJulie

Check out MissJane's log ... she's doing this program now and likes it a lot.

I remember reading somewhere that she really like the flexibility of the templates. I'll check out her log. Thanks.

[missjane]

Yep, I love Power Training! I'll be starting 10th week of the Total Fitness regimen. Then, I'll move on to either Hypertrophy or Strength. Every 3 weeks, the reps switch up and I also try to incorporate new movements at that time. I've really enjoyed it a lot and have noticeable improvements in strength and definition.

[Chris Correia]

Originally Posted by Hunter

I had the benefit of getting some good instruction from the S&C coach for the D1 college hockey team in town here

Ah ha!! So THAT was your source. I bet I can score that, too. I take it, you felt the quality of instruction and knowledge base was good?

[nanook]

Dude, are you really qualified to review Dos's book?

[Lisa~]

HA!

[Bill2380]

Originally Posted by nanook

Dude, are you really qualified to review Dos's book?

If you'd attended last year's Summit you'd already know the answer to that question.