Delavier's Women's Strength Training Anatomy Workouts Paperback – Illustrated, October 16, 2014

Get this book! Really helpful for understanding how to add weights to exercise program.(+) nicely organized - easy to read, not too wordy, chock full of helpful info, nice use of pics; anatomy sketches are beautiful & useful to see what areas are being targeted; GREAT for post meno women but also for younger women (AND gives them things to think about as they age); good mix of exercises.. warm-ups/ stretches, free weights, machine assisted weights, and calisthenics.. tho most is weights, which is good. I had gotten another book "anatomy for strength & fitness training" but didn't like it because the exercises were far too simple.. more like exercises for PT / recovery.(-) only complaint.. spiral binding PLS!!

Great book for beginners to understand all the basics plus workouts for Beginner and Advanced lifters with minimal equipment or for gym use. It organized and easy to use. Great pictures and diagrams. It has it all!!!

This is by far my favorite strength training book that I have read or that I own. One of the most popular reviews of this book lambasts it for being more or less sexist and condescending. You know, as a woman who does consider herself a feminist, I actually have to respectfully disagree with that assessment. Having read the passages in question, the authors do mention that they can point you to exercises to do if the appearance of wearing high heels without actually having to do it is your goal, or to exercises that would produce a more natural spine alignment. It seemed to me more about giving options based on opinions about aesthetics.For me, personally, I think feminism shouldn't have to exclude any idea about wanting to be attractive to prospective or current mates. I've been married nearly 13 years, and I'm going to be 40 in less than 2 months, and recently my hubby told me he thought I looked stunning. I'm not going to lie, I loved that, because it matters to me that my mate finds me attractive and at my age, I don't take those kind of compliments for granted anymore. And I believe strength training has a vital role in that. It also helps me to de-stress and maintain my health goals.And that, if anything, would be my one criticism of this book, but I think it applies to many of the fitness books on the market. I think more of the emphasis should be on health. Looking the best a person can brings confidence, but age will usually remove one by one the things our society values as attractive. But higher levels of physical fitness are great for maintaining health and well being.Also, other reviewers have noted that this book heavily encourages gym equipment over free weights. This is certainly true, however, it does explain in great detail how to do all of the exercises with free weights if this is your choice, as it is mine. Owing to the personal circumstances of our family, working out at a gym doesn't work for me. Because I recognize that they recommend the gym equipment usually because it comes with a decreased risk of injury for beginners, I wasn't personally bothered by their repeated advice on that, especially since the explanations for the free weights was quite well done.Overall, I think this is an excellent book for women who are interested in strength training.

I ordered this book because the trainer at my gym would talk about specific muscles, but I wasn't always quite sure what he was talking about. This book was above and beyond my expectations. I really like how the book gives machine and dumbbell exercises for each muscle and recommends also specific stretching. The pictures are clear and professional--as if they came from a medical school textbook. I also appreciate the section in the back that recommends different workout routines based on your level of training and your time schedule.I wish I could give this a 4.9 star rating--the only drawback is that the book is not spiral bound, which would make it much easier to use in the gym. But that is a minor complaint. I still highly recommend this book.

Let me start by saying that I have some experience weight lifting and have performed many of these exercises but I don't workout everyday and I certainly don't go to the gym as often as I'd like. The honest truth of it is that I had so many questions and there is so much information out there that it's a bit overwhelming.With that in mind this book is fantastic! It is everything I could have ever asked (and I am tremendously inquisitive) and more. I have spent hours on days on weeks on months on YouTube and google trying to gather information and put pieces together to "do weight lifting right" so to speak. This book clearly lays everything out just perfectly. From how many sets to do, how often to train, reps , a breakdown of every muscle and how to build them. I mean I'm ranting now but I could go on and on about this book.As for the one star review that finds this book condescending, I have to disagree. I didnt find anything about this book to be insulting and I actually find the humor he uses keeps me reading.I have NEVER read a workout book cover to cover and I cant seem to put this one down, I feel 100% confident at the gym because I truly feel like I understand things now.For the record I was not at all influenced to give this review, this is just a really good buy for women who don't quite know how to fit together all the pieces of weight training.

I am 71, and have extensive experience lifting weights for 40 some years. However, after a major surgery I found myself weakened, lost weight, scared of course, and unsure how to proceed. This book helped me in that it explained when you’re older it takes longer to recover, and for older people he recommends two days a week and work upper and lower body both, so you are working all body parts twice a week. This gives lots of recovery time, and he says then you can move to 3 days aweek if desired, but not more than that. His exercises are also very helpful.

Explains workouts well and illustrates them beautifully. I purchased this book in a store years ago but lost it in a move. I was happy to see it on Amazon.

Excellent book with great information and insights on women’s muscular strength.