An Encyclopedia of Exercise?

May 4, 2008 6:28 PM

What is, to your knowledge, the book with the most complete list of exercises?

Specifically, it would feature the name and aliases of an exercise, then list the primary muscles (not a vague "chestal area," but a bit more specific) and secondary muscles (the contributors who get some work, but aren't really the prime movers) for each exercise, with some demarcation between primary and secondary. Ideally, it would feature photographs and/or illustrations of each exercise, some notes about form, whether or not the exercise has been deprecated due to certain risks or just better exercises becoming available.

Mind you, what I'm not looking for are books about bodybuilding where 80% of the book is some long treatise about how only a shake made from kale, brewer's yeast, and ox blood will give you real results, or a story about how the author was some scrawny wasteoid surferboy whom, high on shrooms one night and washed ashore of Muscle Beach, the ghost of Charles Atlas came to and revealed that supersets were the answer. Or that Studies Show(TM) that the Amazing VibroBelt from ShakePower Labs will get you in shape. Or that, visiting Tibet, a scrawny monk with amazing physical strength spoke to him of the wisdom of negative-only reps. Or bits about waxing and oiling your chest, and getting pumped for competitions.

I've certainly run across books with some lists, but the aforementioned treatises seem to take up most of the bulk of the books.

While bits on machines are welcomed, free weights or other sorts of exercises (however many variations there are on pull-ups) are my primary interest. Just looking for what's basically an extensive encyclopedia of exercises, guru-free.

posted by adipocere to health & fitness (8 comments total)

I took a weight training class in college and the textbook we used was Weight training for life by James Hesson.

It features photographs of the movements, lists the muscles developed, and for many of the exercises also includes an illustration of the particular muscle(s) being worked. For any particular muscle group it includes exercises for both free weights and exercise equipment. And no lengthy treatises of the kind you describe.
posted by needled at 6:45 PM on May 4, 2008

It ain't an encyclopedia, but at our house we find the Mens Health Home Workout Bible to be pretty complete - and it's user friendly and just the right size to have handy to flick through when you're working out.
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:50 PM on May 4, 2008

Well, this isn't a book, but you may be interested in ExRx.net.
posted by Durin's Bane at 6:54 PM on May 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Strength Training Anatomy is exactly what you are looking for.
posted by shazzam at 6:58 PM on May 4, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

While bits on machines are welcomed, free weights or other sorts of exercises (however many variations there are on pull-ups) are my primary interest. Just looking for what's basically an extensive encyclopedia of exercises, guru-free.

Check out Ross Enamait's work. He has a couple of books detailing a low-tech approach to elite fitness. (He trains boxers.) Never Gymless, is mostly body-weight exercises. (Massive pull-up variations here.) Infinity Intensity takes a "if it works, we will use it" approach. Ross is a no-bullshit guy. He keeps it real and has massive integrity. If you buy one of his books, he'll answer almost any question you have.
posted by keith0718 at 9:39 PM on May 4, 2008

Strength Training Anatomy is exactly what you are looking for.
--shazzam

I was given that book by someone who was studying for their personal trainer's license, so it was highly recommended. There's 124 pages, with about 1 exercise per page (not including title pages), so there's roughly 120 exercises in it. Since I can imagine that other books would have more exercises, I wouldn't call it an "encyclopedia". But, the reason it's highly recommended is because those exercises are the basic ones that larger books might just have more variants on. Plus, for every exercise, it shows exactly which muscles it works and how to perform the exercise. (shazzam linked to the first edition, which is the one I have, but there's a second edition.)

Personally, I'm a fan of ExRx.net (mentioned above). They definitely have more exercises listed than that book. They also have directions for performing the exercise, extensive pictures and descriptions of which muscles are used in that exercise, and a little animation of someone doing it.
posted by philomathoholic at 10:59 PM on May 4, 2008

Another vote for ExRx.net. Very extensive and the muscle map and animations are a huge help.
posted by fire&wings at 4:12 AM on May 5, 2008

ExRx.net is one of the most useful resources I have come across for this purpose. I have used it for years and still use it.
posted by crunch buttsteak at 8:20 AM on May 5, 2008