Gold's Gym Encyclopedia: Review by David Young, IRONMAN Win '99

Since the early 1970s bodybuilders from every point on the globe have packed their belongings and made the pilgrimage to the "mecca of bodybuilding"--Gold's Gym in Venice, California. You'll see why when you look through The Gold's Gym Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding.

This book allows you to step inside the famous walls of the mecca, with its electrifying atmosphere, and provides you with information and motivation to build some serious muscle. The owners of Gold's Gym and writer Michael J.B. McCormick accomplish the daunting task of reworking complicated material from diverse areas of research into user-friendly chapters.

The authors present the expected bodybuilding material—exercises and training—only after covering a broad scope of scientific information related to bodybuilding. There's a lot of essential biomedical data explained in a manner that readers will be able to grasp and use easily.

It's obvious that the authors’ priority is to educate, making certain that you understand what occurs in your body before you put a workout together. That understanding should help maximize your results. They do a tremendous job of sifting through volumes of research to present what they call "Essential Bodybuilding Knowledge" in Chapter 3, which includes terms, definitions and explanations for such topics as energy systems, how much muscle tissue damage occurs in training and reverse anorexia nervosa. After the chapters on technical instruction you get to the meat of the book, the chapters on muscle-group-specific exercise—and let me tell you, they rock!

I found the charts, tables and glossary extremely useful. The photos allow you to better understand the well-written exercise instructions and feature top IFBB pros as well as some incredible undiscovered talent. All photos are the work of master photographer Irvin Gelb. By the way, there's no shortage of gorgeous ladies to stimulate the male readers’ testosterone.

About halfway through my first reading I felt something was missing, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It occurred to me later that I had expected to encounter some smoothly written sales pitch for memberships or products. To my surprise there was nada, not a hint of any advertorial inclinations. The book is written in a concise and rational style, which makes it user-friendly, informative and inspirational for all readers, no matter their level.

At the risk of appearing to be a full-time heavy-duty GI Joe for Gold's Gym, I'm comfortable stating that The Gold's Gym Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding is one of the best books for bodybuilders available today. I've actually purchased three additional copies to give as Christmas presents.

Gold’s has had a definite mystique for decades, and for good reason—the biggest of the big train there day in and day out. The owners of Gold's and Michael McCormick write from years of firsthand bodybuilding knowledge, so if you’re even remotely sincere about achieving your bodybuilding goals, you need this book.