February 16th, 2009
Bob Hoffman established the York Barbell company in 1932. With the weight lifting equipment and publications produced by his company, Hoffman had a profound influence on the fitness industry.
Although many of Hoffman’s publications have been out of print for some time, his books can be found on the site, “Eugen Sandow & The Golden Age of Iron Men” - a website primarily devoted to reproducing out of print collections of bodybuilding and weight lifting books circa “the strong man era”.
Although these books tend to be fiarly old, much of the material hasn’t changed much. In fact, books like the “York Handbalancing Course” are still very informative.
See the Hoffman archive, here.
3 Comments | In: book | tags: Bob Hoffman, Bodybuilding books, eugen sandow, golden age, hand balancing, strong man, weight lifting, weight lifting books, weightlifting, york barbell, york handbalancing manual. | #
April 26th, 2007
So what is this Zone thing? Is it another fad diet to drop into the South Beach or Atkins bucket? For ages, people have searched far and wide for the secret diet that will shed their pounds and rid themselves of evil fat. Unfortunately, as many professionals would tell them, there is no secret. To get desired results requires work, motivation and to some extent, will power - will power to not cave into cravings. This is one thing that all of these diets share - the necessity to have the will power to not cave for the sweets and high carb foods. There is a major difference with the Zone diet though. Instead of forgoing carbs and relying on protein or fat for nutrients and calories, the Zone diet just says that for every gram of carbs eaten, make sure that protein is consumed in a specific amount to make the ratio of carbs to protein always 40-30. And instead of telling readers what to eat and what to watch out for, in his book, “A Week in the Zone”, Dr. Sears (the creator of the Zone diet) instructs the reader about how the relationship of carbohydrates, protein and fats plays an important part in the regulation of insulin and ultimately how the pounds pile up. Dr. Sears says that keeping an insulin balance is the key to not only shedding the weight, but to maintaining a healthy body. He cites many advantages to the Zone diet including weight loss, disease prevention, graceful aging, blood sugar control to name a few.
“A Week in the Zone” also gives the reader sample eating plans for a full week, for both males and females. Included with these plans are the grocery shopping essentials and tips on how to shop. Other recipes are also included so that if the reader wishes to continue the Zone beyond a week, the meals won’t get boring. Beyond the eating information, in “A Week in the Zone”, Dr. Sears also defines what he believes are the important elements of a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle (and an essential part of losing and maintaining weight) includes exercise and Dr. Sears also presents basic exercising techniques to use in conjunction with his diet. Besides the exercise aspect, meditation is also a part of his plan and is also briefly discussed.
Overall, “A Week in the Zone” is a fairly good book that has actually helped me choose what and when I eat and if nothing else, has truly made a noticeable difference in my blood sugar levels. It’s a short book, but it lays out the basics for a healthy lifestyle in which a good diet is the key to success.
For more information, check out the Dr. Sears website.
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