Strength Training for Beginners: A 12-Week Program to Get Lean and Healthy at Home Paperback – July 28, 2020

So excited for this purchase! So much to learn and read in this book!

Great book to start getting strong at home or in a gym, with or without a barbell.

Coupled with my cardio, I understand it is essential to also get in weight/strength training. The inhibiting of age-related muscular decline is what will keep you ambulatory as you get older.I wanted to see what Kyle Hunt's advice was on the subject. He is the author of Strength Training for Beginners: A 12-Week Program. According to Hunt's bio, he is a competitive powerlifter. His program highlights starting strong, being able to work out from home, and eating right. The book is broken down into three main sections: Part 1 Unlocking Your Power, Part 2 The Exercises, and Part 3 The 12-Week Program.In Part 1, Hunt details how training works, dispels a few strength training myths, outlines the importance of proper nutrition, and emphasizes the need for plenty of sleep, self-care, and stress management. And while this book leans towards strength training, he does advise the old-adage of getting 10k steps a day for the aerobic benefits.I don't get that many steps in a day, most days. Instead, I do low impact circuit training for my cardio. As far as required equipment for this program, Hunt suggests getting dumbbells, barbells, a foam roller, either a squat stand or rack and a bench. I don't have space or money for most of this. I have a mat, some weights, and a roller. He does suggest trying to get these items at a discount whenever possible (yard sales, Craigslist, etc.).In Part 2, The Exercises are detailed and illustrated well. Each page explains the exercise, the affected muscle groups, instructions, and training tips coupled with illustrations. All of the activities seemed plausible for a beginner except for hand-stand pushups. Seriously? It was out of the blue and seemed more advanced of a movement to me. Just getting into a hand-stand for someone just starting out would be challenging. Hell, pushups can be challenging on their own. Putting the two together and suggesting someone attempt it, to me, is an irresponsible instruction. Beginners might not have enough strength built up just yet to try such a move.Part 3 outlines the 12-week workout program itself, broken down by months. Month one has the bodyweight exercises in a few workout options to choose from. Same with month two, with the addition of the dumbbells. And finally, month three incorporates all three (adding in barbells).Setting aside my feelings on instructions for attempting more advanced movements and acquiring specific equipment most people can't afford or don't have space for at home (hence why they tend to go to a gym), this is still a good beginner workout book. Overall, it is well-written and, for the most part, practical and sensible. I could use ~50% of the information and workouts provided, again, because I don't have barbells, a bench, or a rack. If you have space and equipment or have a gym membership, this overall 12-week program would likely be suitable for you. For me, I will use this book for warmup suggestions and bodyweight exercises.

Interesting bu not quite sure if this is truly for total beginners with no knowledge and fitness level. But the explanations are good.

I'm not necessarily a beginner when it comes to strength training, but I have not been going to the gym for a while due to a certain global pandemic and aside from riding my exercise bike, I don't do many workouts these days. I was hoping this book would help motivate me and it has! The book is written in a very approachable and friendly style, with the idea that the reader doesn't exercise and isn't sure where to even begin.The book starts off by dispelling several myths about strength training and how it's had a bad reputation for various reasons. It then dives into nutrition and self care topics before explaining the program and what is required to start. The book really emphasizes stretching and using a foam roller after you work out, something a lot of people neglect.The exercises themselves are broken into sections and there are so many more than I was expecting. The warm ups, bodyweight, dumbbell and barbell exercises all have their own chapters and guide you through each one using easy to follow language and helpful illustrations. The exercises gradually get more difficult, but as you go through them, you'll be anxious to order a weight bench and a barbell and some weights before you know it. If you don't have room or don't want to use barbell weights, you can do a lot with just dumbbells, and there's a surprising amount of things you can do with no equipment at all, although a pull-up bar will help. In order to do the full 12 week at home workout, you will need access to a weight bench and barbell and weights. It really is minimal equipment considering how many muscle groups are getting exercised and there may be an option to do the first 2 months at home and go to a gym for the third month.The final section of the book is the 12 week program, and everything in the book leads up to this. Each Month has 3 workouts you can alternate between, complete with individual warm-up and cool down routines. Month One starts you off focusing on bodyweight. No heavy lifting, it mostly aims to get your weight down and prepare for more difficult exercises as you progress through the program. Month two also focuses on bodyweight but adds in dumbbell exercises. You can guess what month three adds. Barbell weights, and this is when it gets more intense. Back squats, dead lifts, and bench press exercises that are all explained earlier in the book.I really like how this book is laid out and how it explains exercises to someone who knows nothing about working out. The author, Kyle Hunt, has a clear way of communicating the different exercises without being too basic. He provides his website as well as a podcast at the end of the book to further your workout knowledge and by the time you finish the 12 week program, you are pretty much on your way to a healthier lifestyle that hopefully will stay with you forever and help you live a longer and more productive life. I'm already seeing a lot of improvement personally and although I'm excited to eventually get back to my real gym, it's been great doing so much with my body weight and my dumbbell set.