Thanks gentlemen.
Anthony - as you can see you have increased my desire to become "self sufficent" and one day I will know 10% of what you do. That will serve me well!
I have both books, and can reccomend them both. Delavier's book will give you a great all round knowledge of most exercises, along with a simple reference style format.
When you reach a point you want to be doing more technical lifts, McRobert's book will make a great study reference.
The 2 chapters that you really need are squat and deadlift (bent legged).
These are 2 lifts, that as Anthony says, when the weight goes up, you don't want to be skimping on form. They are the technical lifts. You could screw yourself up badly.
There are 34 chapters altogether, covering 144 pages.
The only other chapters you might need are for the barbell bench press and parallel bar dip.
One other chapter that did teach me something useful was the one arm dumbbell row.
Chin, pulldown, shrug, crunch, side bend, calf raise, bicep curl, tricep pushdown, back extension, leg press, overhead press, calf raise and pullover all have a little something to offer, maybe, but I felt that McRobert went overboard with these. With some moves it should, hopefully, be bloody obvious.
Form is simply, body position and alignment, distribution of weight and then speed of motion, range of motion and path of motion. It's good to learn it but isn't rocket science.
Looking on the bright side, many of the chapters are very quick reads on comparison with the big two. I've even been a geek and used a highlighter pen to make the key points stand out. so that if I need to refer back to it, I don't have to read everything.
The squat chapter is 16 pages long, deadlift is 18 pages and bench press is 10 pages. That 44 pages for 3 exercises.
The remaining 100 pages are split between 31 exercise, so you can see that, including photos, many of the chapters are barely there. Let's be honest, out of the exercises that are listed above, who needs a lengthy chapter on the shrug and calf raise? Even moves like the overhead press are astoundingly simple to execute compared with the deadlift.
After all that has been said, the book is worth getting for the squat and deadlift chapters alone.
Personally I dont do squats and deadlifts.
I have an "evaluation" of the mcrobert book.
Will have a look at it, to see if it is too complicated for me.
I appreciate good form might not be rocket science, but its something I need/want to learn. If the book offers even simple form guidance that will be useful to me as a reference/guide.
I dont want to patronise you Lardass, but I think the McRobert book may be a step too far at the mo. You can find hundreds of good form guides without paying big money for a book that will tell you how to squat in 40-odd pages!
There is such a thing as too much information, and it leads to confusion. Look around the internet for guides, then maybe get the Mc Robert book at a later date.
If you are not squatting or deadlifting yet then the vast majority of the benefit is going to be wasted on you anyway.
Thats fine Shuts.
I want a nice easy reference guide for form, something I can print/have at hand.
As you say I dont want something complex (just as complex as simple form needs to be) for a beginner like me.
Can anyone reccomend a website that will give me that?
I know I keep referring to the Delavier book, but seriously I rate it that highly! It tells you everything you need and is used by most PT's I know.
As Gary Internet pointed out, it may make you question what you already know.
The problem is with 'form' especially on an exercise like squats is that it is largely governed by our ROM in joints - soem people have larger ranges of movement than others, and as such will be able to squat in a textbook fasion. Others (especially those who have suffered injuries in the past) may not have such flexibilty and will have to squat in a slightly different manner. It doesn't mean its wrong, it is whatever is save and comfortable to the individual.
It's also really difficult, I think to teach yourself good form - whether it be a more complex, or a relatively 'easy' exercise, there is always something to be learnt - as if you try to look in the mirror to assess what you are doing, then you may well be screwing yourself up!
Use a book to learn the principles behind the moves, and which bits work what and how, but use a trained person to actually watch you executing the move, and then offer corrective advice if need be.
I have the MH Book of Muscle, which is a good reference to the basics, but sometimes the explanations confuse me a bit.
I also think the videos on Precision Nutrition are pretty good to look at how different exercises should look, especially the three view look.
The problem is with 'form' especially on an exercise like squats is that it is largely governed by our ROM in joints - soem people have larger ranges of movement than others, and as such will be able to squat in a textbook fasion. Others (especially those who have suffered injuries in the past) may not have such flexibilty and will have to squat in a slightly different manner.
I discovered the other week that I have one arm which goes straight, and one arm which doesn't. I think it was the aftermath of my fall down the mountain in Barcelona.
