Review: Definitely a must-read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2014
Pros:It works. I used the ‘Grey Man’ template. All my lifts went up big time, including my deadlift. I hadn’t progressed substantially with deadlifts in over a year…hello can you say ‘plateau’!? I added twenty pounds to my deadlifts alone. The test days make it VERY easy to see any progress or lack thereof. The testing itself is kind of a built in guarantee of the program’s effectiveness, isn’t it? I just feel strong, like a coiled solid feeling throughout my body, for lack of a better way to describe it.It’s flexible. There are several three day templates and even a couple two day a week templates. There are numerous exercise ‘clusters’ or groupings of exercises that you have to pick from when picking a template. After you get through the book you begin to see how you can incorporate proper strength training into your week regardless of your lifestyle. And we’re talking real periodization based strength training, not ‘do this for 8 reps’ type of lip service weight lifting.Gives newbies a thorough understanding of what ‘functional strength’ really is, along with the differences between strength training, conditioning, and bodybuilding.I’m seeing BIG changes in body composition. I’m getting denser, more muscular, and I’m losing fat. I’m looking hard and ripped, without any clumsy looking bulk. My shoulders, traps and quads are filling out nicely.  My diet and cardio have stayed pretty constant. My girlfriend asked what’s up and has started the program herself as of last month. She’s on the ‘Fighter’ template.Cons:The nutrition section sucks. Don’t get me wrong, the information provided is legit, but you have to already know something about eating for fitness. If you know nothing about nutrition you will need another source of information for all the fine details. You won’t get enough information from this book alone for a proper eating plan.Pictures – there are not enough pictures demonstrating the exercises. The author describes the movements well enough, but I like seeing picture demos. The author is correct in that most of the exercises are basic compound movements and video instruction can be found all over the net for any one of them. Still, more pictures would’ve been nice. If I spend money on a book, I like having everything in one place.Overall, this book is a MUST have if you have any interest in strength training, regardless of whether you’re a special forces guy or SWAT guy or whatever (I’m not). You’ll definitely cut your learning curve drastically and get some pretty impressive results. I daresay, this has probably been the most effective strength program I’ve used to date, as far as barbell training goes.