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Lean and Hard: The Body You've Always Wanted in Just 24 Workouts
Mackie Shilstone is an expert in getting world-class professional athletes as well as ordinary people into peak shape in record time, helping them tone their bodies and maximize lean muscle. Now Shilstone lays out his time-tested, medically sound strategies for building lean muscle with his "work out smarter, not harder" plan for training rotation, nutrition, and state-of-the-art supplements.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2011
I'm interested in looking this one over. The results that Mr. Shilstone has achieved with his boxers, Bernard Hopkins in particular, have been astounding. I'm hoping to pick up a few interesting ideas from this one.
I was somewhat underwhelmed with Lean and Hard. It goes into vast detail about various anabolic processes, has strong recommendations from real studies, and appears to work, but it puts a very high premium on supplements, eating schedules, and long, complex workouts that could be difficult to properly achieve in a public gym. The Lean and Hard program also presupposes that you will have easy access to a running track.
All these things can be understood. Mr. Shilstone is a trainer of great renown and deals with athletes who are able to easily conform to a complex diet that includes fairly expensive supplements. I have seen his results with boxers, and he is able to put useful muscle on these top athletes in a way few seem to be able to replicate.
I was, however, let down to find that the resistance training element of the training was simply populated by set/rep breakdowns that are very "plain vanilla" stuff. More alarming were the representative pictures and instructions for each exercise. Most of the archetype movements were given in such a way as to direct trainees to perform what I would consider to be partial, sometimes almost half-motion repetitions. Perhaps this works, and is intentional, but I am skeptical. Full range of motion has always been stressed to be important in other training manuals, so much so that exercises are deemed useless if not done properly.
There is a lot to be learned here, and much of it is good information. Most people, especially those who appreciate a regimented, structured program, could certainly benefit from this. I am sure that I could, as well. From the very strong bias present in the book, however, I am left with the feeling that most of the unusual results that can be achieved are due to very careful diet and supplement application. Hmmm.
I was somewhat underwhelmed with Lean and Hard. It goes into vast detail about various anabolic processes, has strong recommendations from real studies, and appears to work, but it puts a very high premium on supplements, eating schedules, and long, complex workouts that could be difficult to properly achieve in a public gym. The Lean and Hard program also presupposes that you will have easy access to a running track.
All these things can be understood. Mr. Shilstone is a trainer of great renown and deals with athletes who are able to easily conform to a complex diet that includes fairly expensive supplements. I have seen his results with boxers, and he is able to put useful muscle on these top athletes in a way few seem to be able to replicate.
I was, however, let down to find that the resistance training element of the training was simply populated by set/rep breakdowns that are very "plain vanilla" stuff. More alarming were the representative pictures and instructions for each exercise. Most of the archetype movements were given in such a way as to direct trainees to perform what I would consider to be partial, sometimes almost half-motion repetitions. Perhaps this works, and is intentional, but I am skeptical. Full range of motion has always been stressed to be important in other training manuals, so much so that exercises are deemed useless if not done properly.
There is a lot to be learned here, and much of it is good information. Most people, especially those who appreciate a regimented, structured program, could certainly benefit from this. I am sure that I could, as well. From the very strong bias present in the book, however, I am left with the feeling that most of the unusual results that can be achieved are due to very careful diet and supplement application. Hmmm.
September 18, 2011
Going to try out the program listed. Liked the fact that everything is explained, from nutrition to the actual workouts.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews