Product Description

This is not your conventional how-to book. With an emphasis on safety, it thoroughly covers all aspects of proper strength training while simultaneously debunking certain myths and misconceptions such as explosive training and sport-specific training. The book shows how to perform nearly 50 exercises with dumbbells in a safe and effective manner. Unique to this type of book is the inclusion of more than three dozen dumbbell workouts that have been submitted by approximately 24 strength and fitness professionals from across the USA.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18882 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHORS

MATT BRZYCKI, B.S., is the Coordinator of Recreational Fitness and Wellness Programs at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. He has more than 22 years of experience at the collegiate level as a coach, instructor and administrator. Matt has been a featured speaker throughout the United States and Canada, including presentations at the U. S. Secret Service Academy; the Princeton University Strength & Speed Camp; the National Strength & Science Seminar; the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Summit & Exposition; the Tampa Bay Buccaneer Strength and Conditioning Seminar; and the Toronto Football Clinic. He has written more than 280 articles/columns on strength and fitness that have been featured in 41 different publications. In addition, he has authored, co-authored or edited 14 books. Matt was appointed by the governor to serve on the New Jersey Council on Physical Fitness and Sports as well as the New Jersey Obesity Prevention Task Force.

FRED FORNICOLA, B.A., is the President and exclusive personal trainer of Premiere Personal Fitness in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In addition, he serves as a fitness equipment consultant for schools and corporations for Fitness Lifestyles, Inc. as well as the fitness professional who oversees Newberry Fitness (also of Asbury Park). Fred has been involved in the field of strength and fitness for nearly 30 years. He has authored more than 75 articles on strength and fitness while maintaining several regular columns on nutrition and training for numerous Internet websites. Also, Fred is the Editor-in-Chief of the High Performance Training newsletter and has been published in periodicals such as Master Trainer and Hardgainer. In addition, he’s a contributing author of the book Get Fit New Jersey! Fred serves as a resource member of the New Jersey Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Excerpted from Dumbbell Training for Strength and Fitness by Matt Brzycki, Fred Fornicola. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 1
WHY DUMBBELL TRAINING?

Believe it or not, there was a time when the fitness world wasn’t dominated by high-tech equipment as it is today. Years ago, the barbell was the equipment of choice for most strength and fitness enthusiasts – much as it is today. But even before the barbell came the dumbbell, a distinct device of early exercise that held a lofty place as one of the original pieces of equipment for developing might and muscle.

The fact of the matter is that people have been using dumbbells – or dumbbell-like objects – since ancient times to improve their strength and fitness. Way back in the fifth century B.C., Greek athletes employed halteres or "jumping weights." The oblong-shaped halteres were made of stone or lead and used by jumpers in competition. Prior to the takeoff, they were held as if grasping the handle of a shield and positioned behind the athletes. At the takeoff, the athletes extended the halteres forward in order to propel them further. At the time, ancient athletes also developed their strength for competitions by training with the halteres. While holding the weights, they did exercises that resembled the bicep curl, lunge and some type of back extension. The halteres were a valuable mainstay as a training tool that would be modified and improved over the centuries.

The importance of using exercise to increase strength and fitness became a necessity in many cultures – and not just for men. A mosaic that dates back to the second century clearly shows a bikini-clad woman doing some type of physical activity with a pair of hand-held weights.

It wasn’t until the middle of the 18th century in merry olde England that the name "dumbbell" was given to the object with two "bells." The bells were made by taking church-like bells and removing their clappers. They then were secured to both ends of a short handle. During this period, anyone who couldn’t speak was referred to as "dumb." Some researchers think that because the bell made no sound, it was christened a "dumb bell."

Here’s another historical nugget: Benjamin Franklin is renowned for his keen mind but he also took care of his body. In a letter to his son in August 1772, Franklin explained how he preferred "strenuous exercise" that was done "in short periods of time" – which, by the way, sure sounds a lot like an endorsement of High-Intensity Training (HIT)! He noted that the value of exercise could be judged by the "amount of warmth it produced in the body" and that dumbbell training was "an excellent way to produce bodily warmth." Clearly, Ben Franklin was no dumbbell.

At any rate, the early dumbbells were rather unsuitable as a standard piece of equipment. It was difficult to find bells that were different sizes and weights. This made them cost prohibitive. Eventually, the shot-loaded dumbbell was created by taking two hollow steel balls and securing one to each end of a short handle. Each ball had a plug that could be unscrewed to add or remove steel shot and viola, the first adjustable dumbbell was born! This advancement ultimately led to the modern-day dumbbell with which we’re more familiar. While on the subject, dumbbells now come in several different types including round and hex.

No doubt, the dumbbell had made its mark in fitness as being a highly effective, convenient and suitable piece of equipment for most anyone to use – even for one of our founding fathers!
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

All exercise equipment has its share of good points and bad points. And as a training tool, the dumbbell is no exception. Let’s take a glimpse at the advantages and disadvantages of dumbbells. Since the dumbbell is most closely related to the barbell, many of the discussions will make comparisons between the two modalities.

Customer Reviews

useful stuff
Considering that most things in health and fitness are inceasingly promoted around the lastest hot idea this is a pretty refreshing change. The book does not contain the latest earth shattering concept but rather gives an excellent overview of one that's been around for years. That is how to make the best use of dumbells and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
The book begins with a good overview of how to use dumbells and their benefits. There is then an excellent breakdown of the indvidual exercises and how to perform them followed by an extensive section on how to put it all together.
I would say this is a must have for anybody who either trains at home or is thinking of setting up a home gym. It would also be worth getting a hold of if you train in a big commercial gym just to remind yourself of an often neglected tool you could be using.

Good solid information
This book wasn't what i expected when i bought it, it was all in black and white, it was a paper back and quite small, but saying that once i opened it and started reading it, i was pleasantly surprised.
It contains solid information and doesn't leave anything out on weight training and what weights can do for you. I also has all the excercises that you can do with dumbbells and alot of programmes at the end. The only thing that was missing for me was how to change your programme when you need to and what to do, how many sets to change to ect....but saying that maybe just trying some of the programmes they give you could benefit you. These guys definately know what they are talking about - plain and simple!

This book is excellent!
There is an old saying, "What goes around, comes around", and that seems
to be exactly what is happening in the fitness industry these days. I
was pleased to hear of a new book on the market titled, "Dumbbell
Training for Strength and Fitness” by Matt Brzycki and Fred Fornicola.
At a time when the industry has become thick with convolution, Brzycki
and Fornicola have cut through the complexity to bring both the beginner
and advanced trainer back to school.

Almost lost in the shuffle of contemporary training technology, the book
resurrects the basic dumbbell to its rightful position as a very
effective workout tool. In researching my own book, I was led to
interview co-author Fred Fornicola - the editor of the
growing on-line "High Performance Training" newsletter. Fornicola
stressed the emphasis of safety, efficiency, and effectiveness in the
training protocols he and Brzycki present in their work.

With decades of training experience between the two athletes/authors,
they had no difficulties collecting contributions from almost two dozen
prominent strength coaches in the industry who share common ground in
the many philosophies of strength training. Brzycki and Fornicola cement
this dumbbell training commonality in a bed of solid coaching
information for the rank beginner to the advanced trainer.

This is definitely not a book out to simply try to please everyone. The
authors are not afraid to challenge some current sacred ground endorsed
by many in the coaching field. The controversial applications of sports
specific training, explosive training, and training in an unstable
environment are examined for soundness and validity. The dumbbell may
not be extravagant in its appearance, but its practicality as a very
effective training tool can be traced back centuries, even as far back
as the Greeks. Our modern day Iron Game pioneers of this century also
benefited tremendously from dumbbell exercise, and were training the
muscles of the trunk long before "Core and Functional Training" became buzz words.

This book should be in the library of every serious trainer out there
working in the industry. Matt Brzycki and Fred Fornicola have done a great
job in simplifying the unnecessarily complex views of today’s “trends” and collapsing the time required to produce fantastic results with such minimal equipment. The book is excellent, the timing is right; the price is an insult to
the experience of these two men. Good work Matt and Fred!

Randy Roach
Author of “Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors”