Effective Strength Training: Analysis and Technique for Upper-Body, Lower-Body, and Trunk Exercises

With expert analysis of technique for more than 100 resistance training exercises, Effective Strength Training is just the guide you need to ensure these exercises are performed correctly and with minimal risk.

Drawing on the latest scientific principles and theories related to resistance training, Effective Strength Training provides the “how” and the “why” behind the proper performance of popular upper-body, lower-body, and trunk exercises. By understanding the purpose and correct form for each exercise, you can gain the full benefit each exercise provides and avoid injury. Whether you teach strength training or do it yourself, you'll find new and helpful information that you can put to use.

Douglas Brooks, one of the top personal trainers in the United States, questions the safety of controversial exercises such as the upright row, dipping movements, cable exercises, and machine chest presses. After putting these exercises to the test of objective scientific evaluation, he then recommends valuable guidelines for safe use.

Effective Strength Training also addresses high-risk situations where exercises fall short of safe biomechanical standards. If you're dealing with orthopedic limitations—such as knee or back problems—or challenging training goals, these solutions will help you make prudent, corrective modifications.

Practical and to the point, this book also presents the latest information related to resistance training program design and defines and discusses topics such as training systems, periodization principles, and a continuum of training programs.

Effective Strength Training is full of no-nonsense strategies and expert advice that will simplify the design and teaching of programs to meet the best interests of your clients or students. And, if you're a strength trainer yourself—especially if you're seeking certification by the International Weightlifting Association—this resource will help you successfully reach all your training goals.

Known as the “trainer's trainer,” Douglas Brooks is acknowledged as one of the premier personal trainers in the United States and internationally. He's widely recognized through his numerous appearances on home shopping networks, infomercials, the Cable Health Club Network, and fitness videos. An ACE-certified personal trainer since 1983, Brooks is also the fitness training director at Snowcreek Resort and Athletic Club and the co-owner of Moves International, a provider of educational resources, continuing education, and live workshops for fitness professionals.

Brooks has also authored Going Solo: The Art of Personal Training (a landmark publication written during personal training's infancy), Program Design for Personal Trainers: Bridging Theory Into Application, Your Personal Trainer, The Complete Book of Personal Training, and numerous educational manuals. He is active in many professional organizations, including IDEA—The Health and Fitness Source, the International Sports Trainers Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He also conducts lectures and workshops throughout the United States and internationally on the topics of personal training, strength training, kinesiology, and exercise physiology.

Brooks enjoys fitness activities of all kinds. He is active as a cyclist, marathoner, Ironman triathlete, alpine and Nordic skier, in-line skater, rock climber, and mountaineer. He holds a master's degree in exercise physiology from Central Michigan University. Brooks, his wife, Candice, and their two sons live in Mammoth Lakes, California.