Overcoming Gravity: A Systematic Approach to Gymnastics and Bodyweight Strength Paperback – 12 Nov. 2011

I've always had great respect for gymnasts and what they can do with their body's, but since buying this book i think they're super-human!I've always thought i'm pretty strong as i've been weight training for 10 years and always been quite good at body weight exercises like pull-ups, press-ups etc. But! since buying this book and doing some of the basic gymnastic moves, i've used muscles that you can't train with a pair of dumbells and they're very hard. Gravity is one hell of a workout, because that is what you're pushing against to acomplish the routines in this book.As the book's title says, this is a systematic approach so it starts with the basic moves and then builds up bit by bit to the advanced (super-human moves), which means anyone can bennefit from buying this book. You get detailed pictures and written descriptions of every routine, of which there are loads.EQUIPMENT - If you want to try and replicate all the routines in the book then you will need to purchase some gymnastic rings (i got mine on amazon) a good pull-up bar - one which you can get your body over the top of and a set of paralell bars. The paralell bars may sound a bit extreme, but these arn't the olympic size ones that need to be bolted into the floor, i got some which are about 1.5 meters high and 2 meters long. I needed to purchase all these as the nearest gymanstics centre is 100 miles away and i don't have a good park anywhere with bars etc.RESULTS - Since purchasing this book i've hardly used my weights, apart from some specific exercises which help strengthen the body to acheive certain routines from the book. Although i don't train just to look good when i'm at the beach, the results you get from bodyweight training like a gymnast are amazing. You know what gymnasts bodys are like, very ripped, amazing abs, big shoulders-(men) slim waist etc. I've been using this book for several weeks now and although i was in good shape before, i'm starting to see more definition on my whole upper body and my abs are popping out like never before! The reason for this is because alot of the routines you're engaging all your muscles at the same time in away no weights routines can emulate.FUN - It may sound stupid but learning these routines and trying to advance to the harder routines is alot of fun, hard work and very tiring but alot of fun and much more enjoyable than pumping iron for 90 minutes.Put simply this book is a MUST buy for anyone looking to improve their strength and conditioning.

I've been training exclusviely bodyweight for about 18 months and in that time i've been eager to learn what I can and have read quite a few books about the subject. I've gained what i thought was a fair bit of knowledge on the subject. I was suprised that i hadnt heard about this book earlier as i visit a lot of bodyweight related sites so i decided to buy it as the revies were excellent. I'm really glad i did.I've read it once and there's a lot of detail. There are summaries too if you just want to get to putting aoutine together straight away, but this book should read and re-read because it's got so much info that just isnt present in theother books i've read. It doesnt tell you to do this excercise and here's how to it. It tells you why you should do this excercise and why it works in balance when paired with this other excercise. It takes you down a path where you understand how and why to put together a routine and how to understand the progression of bodyweight work outsso you can build gymnastic strength abilities.The books i read previously i learnt something from each of them but i'd say that this covers everything they had to say and more.One shortcoming is that it only deals with the upper body, it doesnt discuss legs excercise, other than that author says for strength and hyper trophy you should use weighted excercises, not bodyweight. The book also has a fair few grammatical and spelling errors, nothing that bothers me personally as it's esy to read around them. It could have been better proof read (same could be said for this review) but that's easy to overlook when it's so full of knowledge.The book is a labour of love and at the sameprice as many inferior books it's too good not to buy. Plus on top of that the author responds to pretty much all queries relating to the book and routines directly, which is amazing.

Having weight trained from my early teens I would consider myself well versed in the application of weight training combined with nutritional discipline. This book has become a source of knowledge for me such that I wish I'd have had access to it when I first took up weight lifting. I can only imagine where I'd be today if this was the case.Where ever you are in terms of how long you've been training or what your preferences are in terms of routines this book will enhance your scope, knowledge and form beyond that of your peers. The author does a fine job guiding the reader in simple terms from beginner to novice and beyond if your committed enough, along with providing an almost encyclopaedic amount of information and reference points that never feels overwhelming or beyond the reach of an amateur enthusiast. Everything that is of benefit to weight training routines/ gymnastics is covered fully, strength, flexibility, injury prevention, good form, endurance, leavers, nutrition and rest periods. All descriptions of specific movements are well explained and diagrams and photos are provided to help the reader fully comprehend what is required of them during exercises and gymnastic movements. My core strength has rocketed after only two months of working my way through the strength gymnastics section, which is another aspect of the book that I enjoy: you gradually build from the lower difficulty levels (which can be surprisingly taxing at first) building your strength and balance until you can progress onto to the next exercise safely and it utilises weight lifting movements to compliment/ enhance the gymnastic routines and vice versa. If you are currently weight training/body building or if you mean to start in the near future then I simply cannot recommend this book enough. First and foremost it should keep you injury free, and secondly with this book in your arsenal of tools stagnation will be a thing of the past and due to the nature of the gymnastic movements your core strength will be pushed beyond the levels of your average gym user.