Strength Training, 2nd ed.

Author: Brown L, et al. Category: Strength Training Audience: Elite Athlete Length: 391 pages Publisher: Human Kinetics   Year Published: 2017 List Price: $24.95

AthleteInMe.com^® Rating: Excellent!

As with the 1st edition, Strength Training, 2nd ed. is a multi-authored book, edited by Lee Brown, EdD, and endorsed by the National Strength & Conditioning Assoc. (NSCA).

Recommended for:  Serious weight-trainers and weekend warriors. Athletic trainers and personal trainers will also find this book useful.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The 1st edition utilized 14 authors. This 2nd edition utilizes 22 authors:

• Lee Brown, EdD, CSCS, FACSM is the editor and co-authored several chapters. Dr. Brown is a professor of strength and conditioning in the department of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton. He obtained a Master's degree in exercise science and his EdD in educational leadership from Florida Atlantic University. He is a past president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

• Jose Arevalo, MS: He received his Masters degree in kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton. At the time of publication, he was pursuing a PhD.

• James Bagley, PhD: Dr. Bagley is an assistant professor of kinesiology and the co-director of the Exercise Physiology lab at San Francisco State University. He received his Masters degree in kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton and his PhD in human bioenergetics from Ball State.

• J. Albert Bartolini, MS: He is an instructor in kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton. He received his Masters degree in kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton.

• Katherine Bathgate, MS: She received her Masters degree in kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton.

• Jared Coburn, PhD: Dr. Coburn is a professor of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton. He received his PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Nebraska.

• Kristen Cochrane-Snyman, PhD: Dr. Cochrane-Snyman is an assistant professor of exercise physiology at Cal State Polytechnic. She received her PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Nebraska.

• Pablo Costa, PhD: Dr. Costa is an associate professor of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton. He received his Masters degree in exercise physiology from Florida Atlantic University and his PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Oklahoma.

• Dustin Dunnick, MS: He obtained a Masters degree in kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton. At the time of publication, he was pursuing a PhD at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

• Steven Fleck, PhD: Dr. Fleck is the executive director of the Andrews Research and Education Foundation in Gulf Breeze, FL. He is a past president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

• Maren Fragala, PhD: Dr. Fragala is the director of athlete health and performance for Quest Diagnostics. She obtained her Masters degree in exercise science from the U. of Massachusetts and her PhD in kinesiology from the U. Connecticut.

• David Fukuda, PhD: Dr. Fukuda is an assistant professor in the exercise science department at the U. of Central Florida. He obtained his PhD in exercise physiology from the U. of Oklahoma.

• Andrew Galpin, PhD: Dr. Galpin is an associate professor of strength and conditioning at Cal State Fullerton. He obtained his Masters degree in human movement science and his PhD in human bioenergetics.

• Kylie Harmon, MS: She is a researcher and certified strength and conditioning specialist. She obtained her Masters degree in kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton.

• Disa Hatfield, PhD: Dr. Hatfield is currently an associate professor in the department of kinesiology at the U. of Rhode Island. She obtained her Masters degree and PhD in kinesiology from the U. of Connecticut.

• William Kraemer, PhD: Dr. Kraemer is a professor in the dept. of human sciences at Ohio State. He has published 10 books and more than 450 papers.

• Ryan McManus, MS: At the time of this publication, McManus was working on his Masters degree at Cal State Fullerton.

• Vanessa Rojo, MS: She earned her Masters degree in kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton.

• Rob Salatto, MS: He earned his Masters degree in kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton.

• Evan Schick, PhD: Dr. Schick is an assistant professor of exercise physiology and the co-director of the exercise physiology lab at Cal State Long Beach. He obtained his Masters degree in strength conditioning from Cal State Fullerton and his PhD in exercise science from the U. of Toledo.

• Kavin Tsang, PhD: Dr. Tsang is an associate professor in the athletic training program and the chairman of the department of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton.

• Jakob Vingren, PhD: Dr. Vingren is an associate professor of exercise physiology and co-director of the Applied Physiology Lab at the U. of North Texas.

• Jeff Volek, PhD, RD: Dr. Volek is a professor in the dept. of human sciences at Ohio State.

All chapters are written by several authors.

CONTENT

This 391-page book is organized as follows:

• 1.  Muscle Anatomy 101
• 2.  How Muscle Grows
• 3.  Types of Muscle Training
• 4.  Nutrition for Muscle Growth

• 5.  Strength Assessment
• 6.  Types of Strength and Power Training
• 7.  Workout Schedule and Rest
• 8.  Safety, Soreness, and Injury

• 9.  Upper Body Exercises
• 10.  Lower Body Exercises
• 11.  Torso Exercises
• 12.  Explosive Movements

• 13.  Beginner Programs
• 14.  Intermediate Programs
• 15.  Advanced Programs
• 16.  Youth Programs
• 17.  Senior Programs

All of the section titles and all of the chapter titles are essentially unchanged from the 1st edition.

REVIEW

• Chapters 1 and 2: The first 2 chapters cover muscle anatomy and how muscle responds to resistance. There's good information here, but it's extremely academic. Much of this is likely over the head of the average weekend warrior or even elite athletes.

• Chapter 3: This chapter reviews all concepts relating to strength training: periodization, circuit training, isometrics, plyometrics, cross-training, muscular strength vs. muscular endurance, etc. Not only is this chapter excellent, it's the best review like this I've ever read.

• Chapter 4: This chapter addresses nutrition, vitamins and minerals, and several performance-enhancing dietary supplements. The discussion of carbs/fats/protein is good. The overview of vitamins and minerals is only 4 pages. It doesn't really contribute much to the theme of this book. As far as performance-enhancing supplements, only 3 are discussed: branched-chain amino acids, L-carnitine, and creatine. Why do they focus only on these 3? Maybe the authors wanted to avoid any mention of banned substances. Why were others omitted (caffeine)...?

• Chapter 5: This chapter explains how to assess strength. It's excellent. It summarizes performance tests like the 1-RM and the vertical jump test. But, it also explains the "Margaria-Kalamen Stair Climb Test," something I had never heard of.

• Chapter 6: This chapter is titled "Types of Strength and Power Training." It discusses different types of equipment: medicine balls, kettlebells, resistance bands, and suspension training. Curiously, there's no comparison of dumbbells, barbells, and weight-stack machines. Isometrics and plyometrics are mentioned here again; this material seems like it should have been folded into Chapter 3.

• Chapter 7: Concepts on how to design a workout schedule are presented: combining pulling exercises with pushing exercises, workout frequency, etc. This chapter provides useful information.

• Chapter 8: The information here matches the chapter's title: "Safety, Soreness, and Injury." The authors discuss warming up and cooling down, stretching, proper lifting technic, and dealing with DOMS and injuries.

• Chapters 9 through 12: These 4 chapters make up PART III. This section of the book (136 pages) is an encyclopedia of specific exercises. Each one includes 1-2 color photos of young, healthy-looking subjects demonstrating the technic, along with an explanation of how to perform it.

• Chapters 13 through 17: These 5 chapters make up PART IV: "Sample Programs." Each chapter suggests workout programs for a particular group: Beginners, Intermediates, Advanced Athletes, Youth, and Seniors. In general, the info in this section is good, though I felt the chapter for Seniors could have been better.

Other details:

• Photos & Illustrations: This book contains many color photos of people demonstrating the various exercises. These photos are well-done and enhance the reading. Several diagrams appear. These are in color and are well-done.

• Tables & Graphs: Tables appear in most of the chapters. These provide useful information. A handful of colorful graphs are also provided. These enhance the reading.

• Documentation / Accuracy: This is not intended to be an academic text, but all of the authors are academic. At the end of the book, about 100-120 reference citations are listed.

What I Liked

Everything about this book is well-done. The page layout is clean and visually appealing. The photos are sharp and not too dark. The figures and diagrams utilize multiple colors to make them easy to interpret. Most of the text is presented in a serif font which is easy to read. The Index at the end is thorough.

What Could Be Better

There's not much to criticize here. But a couple suggestions are:

The voicing of the content reads as if speaking directly to the athlete. However, the first 2 chapters are highly academic...these chapters really come across as if from a college textbook. Muscle proteins actin and myosin, and, metabolic pathways of glycolysis and the Krebs cycle are presented in detail. Does the average weekend warrior want this information? I doubt it. These 2 chapters could have been left out and it wouldn't detract from the overall quality of the rest of the book.

My 2nd suggestion concerns exercises and back health:

Despite the authors stating that the spine should be maintained in a neutral anatomic position (p. 160), the crunches on p. 244-245 do not demonstrate the subject using a pad or towel under his low back and the text does not recommend this.

Several other exercises could lead to back strain: Bent-Over Dumbbell Fly (p. 166) and Bent-Over Row (p. 192). A safer way to perform these exercises is to only exercise one side (arm) at a time and place the opposite hand on a bench to stabilize the spine. The exercises on p. 253-255 involve twisting of the spine. This is generally discouraged by back expert Stuart McGill, PhD. The planks on p. 256-257 state to "hold until failure," also not recommended by Dr. McGill.

Future editions of this book could be improved by including Dr. McGill as a contributor.

SUMMARY

Strength Training, 2nd ed. is a solid resource for weekend warriors, Cross-Fit enthusiasts, and serious athletes. Athletic trainers and personal trainers will also find this book useful. Seniors may prefer "Strength Training Past 50" by Wayne Westcott, PhD, and Thomas Baechle, EdD.

Other Books Like This

We also liked these resistance-training books:

• New Functional Training For Sports, 2nd ed. by Michael Boyle
• Strength Band Training, 3rd ed. by Phil Page and Todd Ellenbecker