Basic- Training. Der ultimative Fitness- Guide für den Mann.

by Jon Giswold, David O. Morgan

So here's a you're a guy who's inundated with images of men whose rippling muscles are being used to sell everything from Abercrombie & Fitch shirts to Men's Health magazine. You'd like to have muscles like that, but you've never worked out and have no clue how to begin. Where do you turn? Basic Training is as good a place as any. It explains the fitness nomenclature, tells you exactly how and where to begin, and offers a very realistic view of just how fast you should expect your progress to be. (Not very, but the book still enumerates the many reasons why you should begin the journey, including immune-system improvements and stronger bones.) The descriptions of exercises are more conversational and detailed than any you'll find, and the photos by David Morgan offer very clear illustrations of the moves. One word of those photos--including close-ups of bulging shorts and bare gluteals--will probably be as big a turn-off to some readers as they will be motivational to others. --Lou Schuler

Genres: Fitness, Health

251 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 1999

Reviews

[Buck · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so gay. Like, literally gay. It's basically soft-core porn coyly disguised as a weight-training manual. Half the photos are gratuitous beefcake shots with zero instructional value. A tiny section on 'buttocks' serves as an excuse for a full-page close-up of some naked guy's fuzzy ass. Diet -- obviously an essential component of fitness -- gets a measly two pages of nutritional boilerplate.

To be fair, I didn't exactly read this - just flipped through it a couple of times. But as far as I can see, it's only good for a laugh - or a wank, depending on your proclivities.

[Ben]

Lots of homo-erotica spices up this how-to guide for pathetic slobby-muscled guys like me.

[Hom Sack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Due to the many gratuitous non-instructive photos that the book can do without, it gives the initial impression of a coffee table book. Consequently, it takes away from how informative it is.