Training for Mass
by Gordon LaVelle
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Book Summary Information
Author: Gordon LaVelleEdition: Perfect Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-07-13
ISBN: 1604024380
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Romanart Books
Book Reviews of Training for Mass
Book Review: A Classical Understanding of Bodybuilding
Summary: 5 Stars
Of the 20-30 books I have read on weight training, this is the best and in a class of its own. It is very philosophical in spirit, though not in style or language, and so it is not at all difficult to read. It is admirable that the author can display a large vocabulary and use it well, while speaking so obviously 'from the heart' that the reader feels that he is having a conversation between sets with his buddy in the gym and always knows what is trying to say.
Many readers will want another book (or the internet) for some photographs and more details about particular exercises. But any young weight trainer would do well to read this early in his training and learn to exercise his mind in training as well as his body.
A student once reported having heard Arnold say, '[The philosopher] Plato teaches that happiness lies in a balance of the life of the body and the life of the mind. I believe I have reached that balance.' We both laughed at the thought. Mr. LaVelle's book is the first and only evidence I have seen of a step in the direction of that balance. The rest of this review will elaborate on this position.
I am a philosopher (doctorate from Notre Dame) and teach at a small Catholic liberal arts college that uses 'great books' (Thomas Aquinas College). My reading of Plato and Aristotle led me to begin some effort at fitness, after more than 30 years of books, music, and poetry. Plato taught that 'dressing up stands to gymnastics as rhetoric to legislation'. Aristotle, in his Ethics, states that 'just as we blame some men for the state of their bodies, we must blame some men for the state of their souls.' I finally got myself to the gym.
These comments by the two very greatest philosophers reflect the comprehensive character of Greek culture. They not only understood (and bequeathed to Western civilization) the life of the intellect but also the ideal of physical beauty. Much of Western art and even modern bodybuilding are an elaboration, development, and perhaps some corruption of this Greek ideal.
But modern bodybuilding has isolated this ideal from the intellectual life fostered among the best Greeks. (There are some buff dopes in Plato's dialogues.) Though he does not turn to the Greek philosophers, Mr. LaVelle's book exhibits this man's effort (quite on his own!) to reintegrate the life of the intellect and the training of his body.
Mr. LaVelle does this in three ways that I will focus on: a philosophical approach, appreciation of the role of the intellect in working out, and a sense of the moral dimension.
The book defends high-intensity training (HIT) against volume-training. In doing so, he identifies and defends the principles involved in HIT. He explains how these cause muscle growth. But he also allows the opposing position to have its say, in the tradition begun by Socrates in his conversations. This is done by examining and identifying the principles of volume-training, showing the strengths, but ultimate inconsistency, of the method. I do not think anyone who defends volume-training has done anything comparable to clarify and defend their position. They owe some thanks to Mr. LaVelle (if they can read his work and still propose volume-training). I could go on at length about Mr. LaVelle's achievement here. (In answer to an objection in another review, let me say that the book does not try to supplant the role of 'biomechanics'. Rather it teaches you how to judge training as it affects the man rather than the cell. This judgment must be made from what the man who trains can observe.)
Mr. LaVelle has a section on the 'role of philosophy' in his book. But throughout the book one recognizes that he is promoting (perhaps more than he is conscious of) a approach to weight training that does not begin by turning the intellect off. This involves training with a plan, thoughtfully applying the principles in training, and use of an intense concentration that only the intellect can produce. Again, I refrain from saying more.
A section on 'intangibles' is provided in the book. Mr. LaVelle himself may not be aware that much of what he is speaking about here is moral character. Weight training cannot bring about moral character, but it can be an instrument in developing the virtue of courage and the parts of courage recognized by the Greeks: high-mindedness, patience, magnificence, and perseverance. Mr. LaVelle speaks of courage, determination, and discipline. But through these words he is encouraging us to develop these 'parts' of courage. If a young trainer, especially a young man, could with the help of this book begin to train with the recognition that training is by its nature an instrument in becoming courageous (and ignore the drug-infested, sex-saturated industry), he would profit immensely.
A second moral aspect to Mr. LaVelle's work is that he recognizes there is a life outside the gym and not just the sexual life. As he suggests, until we see weight training as part of an integrated life, it will continue in the direction of the 'freak show'.
All this talk about the Greeks in my review may lead one to ask, without any reference to the book in question, didn't the Greeks let their ideal of male beauty lead them into immorality. In fact, this was an upper-class phenomenon, and the Greek philosophers held the highest moral precepts. Plato teaches that 'between men affection should never cross what is decent between a father and his son.'
Let me recognize with another reviewer that there are many typos, a few words (usually prepositions) left out. These are an unfortunate symptom of our computer age. They don't cause any particular confusion here.
One last comment: Mr. LaVelle's purity of purpose is nowhere more evident than in the fact that he has kept photos of his own magnificent physique out of the book. If I had such a physique, I would find it difficult not to put a few photos even on the back cover of a book of philosophy.
Summary of Training for Mass
The Second Edition of Training for Mass is now in print and available on Amazon.The definitive guide for building muscle: Training for Mass is a comprehensive, intelligent guide for constructing effective and efficient weight training workouts. It also offers a scientific analysis of current popular weight training strategies, and demonstrates how the vast majority of workout routines are neither scientific nor effective.
Based on observations about how the human body responds to exercise, Training for Mass advocates a less-is-more approach, and shows how spending endless hours in the gym is counterproductive and even harmful--debunking the myth that building muscle requires a great investment of time.
Training for Mass is not a picture book; rather, it is filled with useful information. Nor is it a rigid scientific journal or text book; the author draws upon unusual examples and provides uncommon insight into the factors required for success in weight training.
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