Oh, my goodness, what a book !!! You start your weights workout by only holding it … It has 800 pages !!! But you wouldn’t expect less from the Terminator, would you ??? 

There are a lot of books about Bodybuilding, but Arnie’s “The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding” from Amazon (click here to check it on Amazon) is a book that not only every serious or amateur bodybuilder should have, but, I would recommend, that every athlete, who uses weights in order to improve their performance, should have it, regardless of the sports they participate in !!! Ok, let’s start from the beginning, then.

The original First Edition was published in 1985, but with the evolution of the bodybuilding since then, Arnie produced a revised Second Edition, which was published in 1998. Although this second edition might seem obsolete in some aspects to some people, nevertheless, the bodybuilding principles still remain the same … The old traditional school of bodybuilding !!!

In this book, Arnold Schwarzenegger shares his secrets on how to take control of your body, achieve your personal best and realise your own potential for greatness. There are chapters to cover a vast range of  topics, not only about weight lifting and bodybuilding competitions, but also, diet & nutrition, sports psychology, methods of training, the treatment and prevention of injuries, etc.

Moreover, let’s not forget all the valuable tips we get from a guy who has won the titles of Mr. Olympia (7) seven times, Mr. Universe (3)three times, has won more bodybuilding titles than anyone else in the world and has trained with some of the most famous bodybuilders in the world, such as Bill Pearl, Frank Zane, Dorian Yates, Franco Colombu, Sergio Oliva, Dave Draper, Reg Park, Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray, and (8) eight time Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney and others … No wonder why they call this book the “bible of bodybuilding”.

I am not very much in the professional bodybuilding, I used to buy all these bodybuilding magazines when I was very young because I was looking for training and nutritional tips in order to improve my physique and my performance in football … Not to mention ofcourse, the desire to be healthy and have a nice body, as well !!! So, even now, years later, when there are so many books and internet sites out there about bodybuilding, nutrition & diet and health & fitness, I still find that this book is absolutely brilliant, fantastic, inspirational, comprehensive and a major building block into increasing your knowledge about bodybuilding, regardless how serious you are about the weights !!!

The Encyclopedia is divided in Five (5) Books: Book 1: Introduction To Bodybuilding; Book 2: Training Programs; Book 3: Body part exercises; Book 4: Competition and Book 5: Health, Nutrition & Diet. Every book is divided in chapters: 

• Book 1 has 5 chapters: Evolution and History, The ABCs of Bodybuilding, The Training Experience, The Gym, and Getting Started.
• Book 2 has 7 chapters: Basic Training Principles, Learning Your Body Type, The Basic Training Program, Advanced Training Principles, Building A Quality Physique:The Advance Training Program, Competition Training Program and Mind Over Matter: Mind, The Most Powerful Tool.
• Book 3 just explains everything about the Body Parts Exercises.
• Book 4 has 3 chapters: Posing, Total Preparation, Competition Strategy and Tactics, and
• Book 5 has 4 chapters: Nutrition & Diet, Weight Control: Gaining Muscle, Losing Fat, Contest Diet Strategies and, Injuries And How To Treat Them.