BTB's Muscle and Strength Books You Must Read

[BendtheBar]

The 2 Ditillo books are great reading. I would consider them essential for the strength trainee.

Anthony Ditillo - The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power

The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power

The Development of Physical Strength

[jasonjduke]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

The 2 Ditillo books are great reading. I would consider them essential for the strength trainee.

Anthony Ditillo - The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power[/url]

The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power

The Development of Physical Strength

This man is a Knight of Iron who has slain the Iron Dragon and won every single coin of her treasure.

These two books by Ditillo are literally the voice of god on paper concerning the subject of weight training.

I would say these books are best read by all levels of trainees, but a beginner who studies them will be countless years ahead of nearly every other trainee he encounters.

Without his intelligently written wisdom I would have achieved very little in my own short training career.

Many blessings to Bill Hinbern for reprinting these priceless tomes.

[BigJosh]

I read Dan John's Never Let Go. I have to be honest here and say it didn't live up to my expectations. Disappointment really isn't the word to describe it, more like his ideas and techniques IMO aren't the best for someone looking to get big and strong. He is a strength and conditioning coach, but based on that book he is light on strength and heavy on conditioning. Which is ok for an athlete who's goal is to increase condiitioning. I'm sure his techniques and approach for conditioning work great. However I think the main demographic here at MaB are guys looking to get big and strong.
Just my opinion on the book.
I'll be ordering a Christy book next.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by BigJosh

I'll be ordering a Christy book next.

You won't be disappointed with Christy. Whether you like the 2 day approach or don't, John teaches hardcore progression, simplicity and doesn't buy into the bodybuilding magazine crap. His style is so dramatically different than what we see on forums that it's worth it for no other reason.

Btw, my AB splits are based loosely on his structures.

Some of my recommend books might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I do feel as a whole they present a broad look at non-split style magazine lifting.

I can see why Dan John might not be for everyone. Personally he has taught me quite a bit about programming, and several of his teachings linger with me to this day.

I spent 20 years trapped in a Weider box so it doesn't take much to entertain me.

Refunds available at the door...

[BigJosh]

I apologize if what I said about Dan John's book came off as rude or confrontational. That was not my aim. I just wanted to give my opinion that if someone is looking for a book about getting big and strong, Dan John's book "Never Let Go" may not be the best purchase compared to some of the other recommendations.
All in all your recommendations are very helpful and much appreciated.

Oh and you can send the refund to:
Zdravko Veselin Gaeta
1234 Encore Ct
Bakersfield, Ca
91234

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by BigJosh

I apologize if what I said about Dan John's book came off as rude or confrontational. That was not my aim. I just wanted to give my opinion that if someone is looking for a book about getting big and strong, Dan John's book "Never Let Go" may not be the best purchase compared to some of the other recommendations.
All in all your recommendations are very helpful and much appreciated.

Oh and you can send the refund to:
Zdravko Veselin Gaeta
1234 Encore Ct
Bakersfield, Ca
91234

I happen to agree, I also have the Dan John book "Never Let Go" and am a bit disappointed but mostly because he can't seem to stick to the point and though I'm several chapters in already, I sit wondering when he'll get around to actually saying something that counts.

It drives me nuts to have to wade through meaningless drivel when I expect a book to be about the subject and not about everything that can possibly be thrown into the book; though, I guess it does state "philosophy" on the cover, so it really should have come as no surprise

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by BigJosh

I apologize if what I said about Dan John's book came off as rude or confrontational.

I didn't take it that way.

Just remember that a lot of us old geezers grew up with limited information flow. Weider. Weider. Weider. Weider. Folks like Dan John who bring ideas and concepts that are foreign to us, and who present ideas that aren't broscience pseudo-babble, I feel are worthy to be added to this list.

I pulled many useful training concepts and approaches from Dan's book, including the one lift per day concept, the inclusion on hinge movements in programming, and the concept of if it's important, do it every day.

Dan also lead me to Pavel, and Pavel's book on bodybuilding which contains a myriad number of approaches that would be absolutely laughed at by parrots on any lifting forum across the web.

I would also say that there are a lot of Dan John concepts I use in my programming that might not be apparent to folks who aren't programming junkies.

Here is my personal litmus test on which books are important:

--Do they present ideas that counter and challenge decades of magazine tripe?
--Do they present concepts that are tested in the real world, and are not just broscience or theory?
--Do they open doors and get you to think about new ways of programming?

Some of you won't like everything on my list. I respect that. On the other hand, for every book on this list I have 10 sitting here that are absolute crap.

Dan John and John Christy and Anthony Ditillo might not be everyone's cup of tea, but when we look at common themes found in these books we are equipping ourselves with information that is desperately needed in the modern era.

Just several years ago when I joined M&S as the content manager the following names were completely foreign:

--Christy
--Rippetoe
--Wendler
--Simmons
--John
--Starr
--Butt
--Ditillo

I could go one and on, but suffice it to say that anything pre-1980, and anything that wasn't a 4 to 5 day split was seem as idiocy.

There is still a war being fought, and the books I recommend are merely tools that can equip lifters to battle the lingering Weiderism/buffet programming that exists on every corner of the web.

[Off Road]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

You won't be disappointed with Christy. Whether you like the 2 day approach or don't, John teaches hardcore progression, simplicity and doesn't buy into the bodybuilding magazine crap...

What? 2 day routines don't work!

At least that's what I read on all the forums when I introduce people to the concept. People honestly believe that you cannot make progress on two days a week. Even Wendler mentions that two days a week routines aren't very effective in his 5/3/1 book. I think it's just too far of a leap for them to take.

[BendtheBar]

Some days I wish I could time travel and run this during college. I might have received better grades.

[mab54]

Not sure if this has already been posted but I really enjoyed Paul Anderson: The Mightiest Minister. Not a whole lot of training advice but gave me a lot of motivation.