Building Strength & Stamina, 2nd ed.

Author: Westcott W Category: Strength Training Audience: Elite Athlete Length: 223 pages Publisher: Human Kinetics   Year Published: 2003 List Price: $21.95

AthleteInMe.com^® Rating: Excellent!

Building Strength & Stamina was first published in 1996. The 2nd edition was published in 2003. Most of the book is devoted to strength training, but several chapters cover endurance (aerobic) training.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne Westcott, PhD, CSCS is the fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts. With more than 35 years of experience as an athlete, coach, teacher, professor, researcher, author, and speaker, he is a nationally-recognized expert on strength training. He has served as a consultant for Nautilus, the President's Council on Physical Fitness, the International Association of Fitness Professionals, the American Council on Exercise, and others. He has authored or co-authored 15 other books on strength training.

CONTENT

• Chapter 1:  Integrating Strength and Endurance
• Chapter 2:  Training for Muscular Strength
• Chapter 3:  Strength Training Equipment
• Chapter 4:  Strength Training Exercises
• Chapter 5:  High-Intensity Strength Training
• Chapter 6:  Training for Cardiovascular Endurance
• Chapter 7:  Endurance Training Equipment and Exercises
• Chapter 8:  Circuit Training
• Chapter 9:  Two-Month Training Programs
• Chapter 10:  Six-Month Training Programs
• Chapter 11:  Fitness Program Design and Evaluation
• Chapter 12:  Advanced Training Programs

REVIEW

Roughly half of this book (Chapter 4) consists of summaries of specific weight-training exercises. This chapter is laid out such that the textual description of the exercise appears on the left page and 2 black and white photos of a person performing that exercise appears on the facing right-hand page. The photos are large and clear and the text is short and succinct. "Technique Tips" are provided for each exercise. This chapter is very well done.

But, even though Chapter 4 is the longest chapter, the rest of the book also provides excellent information. Chapters 6 and 7 focus on aerobic exercise. This is important because too many weight-lifters don't realize that elements of fitness such as cardiovascular endurance and flexibility are important, too. Westcott is to be commended for focusing on fitness and health and not letting this book emphasize muscular strength or muscular size.

SUMMARY

This book, similar to Fitness Weight Training by Baechle and Earle, is a very practical resource for the average weekend warrior. Although both books cover the fundamentals of weight training very well, Westcott's Building Strength & Stamina does a better job of discussing aerobic exercise and is, thus, a better choice for someone who wants to train for both muscular fitness and aerobic fitness.

In summary, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to develop a well-rounded exercise program.

Copyright ©2006 AthleteInMe, LLC. All rights reserved.