Strength Basics: Your Guide to Resistance Training for Health and Optimal Performance

Whether you're young or old, male or female, seeking better health or better performance, success starts with Strength Basics.

This easy-to-understand guide explains the basics of resistance training and shows you how to design a training program using the most commonly found types of equipment.

Written for beginning and less-experienced strength trainers, the book's practical, how-to advice for safe and effective workouts will ensure you're on the right track. You'll discover the benefits of resistance training, how and why it works, how to choose equipment, and how to get the results you want. More than 140 illustrations show you how to perform the 75 exercises and use the equipment correctly.

Here's what you'll learn:

- The theory and benefits of resistance training
- How to set reasonable, attainable, and worthwhile goals
- How to adapt training programs for different age groups and fitness goals
- How to design an individualized program
- Tips for injury-free training, including stretching and warm-up routines
- 22 equipment-free exercises that use your own body weight or inexpensive tubing and exercise bands
- 20 well-balanced training routines using free weights and stack-weight equipment
- 24 advanced exercises to add to your workouts and help fight boredom
- 16 ready-to-use, sport-specific programs designed to meet the demands of your favorite sports or recreational activities

Strength Basics also includes forms to help you get started, monitor progress, and stay on track. Suggested readings list more advanced and specific sources of information.

Follow the sensible advice in Strength Basics and get stronger. It's that simple.

Coauthors Brian Cook and Gordon Stewart combine more than 40 years' experience in the health and fitness field. They have taught athletes, instructors, and participants the theory and techniques of resistance training and designed countless individualized programs. They also are the coauthors of Get Strong: A Sensible Guide to Strength Training for Fitness.

Brian Cook has a bachelor of science degree in human performance. He has extensive experience coordinating employee fitness programs and developing and managing private fitness clubs in British Columbia, Ontario, and in Singapore. As a consultant, Cook has trained staff in the fields of fitness, sport training, and rehabilitation. He is the senior kinesiologist at a large and progressive physiotherapy and rehabilitation clinic.

Cook has competed in a variety of sports, from track and field to flatwater canoe racing. An avid cyclist who lives in Burlington, Ontario, he enjoys a regular resistance-training program, and has returned to canoeing as a masters paddler.

Gordon Stewart has a master of science degree in kinesiology and more than 20 years' experience in fitness program management and consulting. Stewart specializes in health communications, serving a wide range of clients from his home base in Victoria, British Columbia. He is the author of several books, including Active Living: The Miracle Medicine for a Long and Healthy Life and Every Body's Fitness Book.

A former decathlete, Stewart competed internationally for Canada in the 1970s. Along with resistance training, Stewart enjoys rowing and running to stay fit.