If you've been reading my weblog for a few months, you know that I've been exercising regularly since the beginning of the year. Currently I'm working out about four times a week for about forty-five minutes each. Two of those workouts consist primarily of strength training with dumbbells, and two are aerobic workouts on an elliptic trainer. Since January, I've dropped about 15 pounds, lost an inch-and-a-half from my waist, and reduced my body fat (according to a fat-monitoring bathroom scale) from 20% to under 16%. I was sidelined for about five weeks after a neck injury, but I'm back on track now.

Strength Training Anatomy is a work of art as well as a useful reference guide. It was recommended to me by Anderson Mills , who read some of my earlier blog entries about fitness books. Each page of the book centers on a drawing showing proper form for a common exercise. The people in the drawings are cutaways showing musculature and somtimes skeletal structure. The primary muscles for the particular exercise are highlighted in red. Each drawing is accompanied by simple instructions for performing the exercise using proper form.

Although Strength Training Anatomy doesn't really supply me with any new exercises, it does show me exactly which muscles I'm working, and I can use that knowledge to make sure that I'm doing the exercises properly and exhausting the right muscles. Even without that benefit, it's still just really cool to look at.