What are some great old classic bodybuilding books?

Robert Kennedy wrote a bunch of pamplets that were quite good. Topics like rest pause, negatives, pre-exhaust, visualization, etc. All long out of print I would assume and likely impossible to find today.
 
Bagua said:
I have all mine — Old Iron Man, Flex, Strength and Health, Muscle Mag etc. 100's of them. Going back to the '70s.
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Used to have a massive pile.Wish I kept them as M&F has the rights to so many photos.Mike Christian,his best shots you will never see online.
 
musclememory said:
I had a collection like that at one point but when my marrage in the USA went south (no pun intended) I lost everything except what I had with me in a suitcase. i was in Japan at the time when things ended and never went back under assurances I could get my stuff at a later date....ya that never happened as she cut off all communication. Oh well at least I left with my sanity....I think...lol
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And your balls.:)
 
Dorian Yates - training journal, Amazon $30
I found clips of it online through Google books and
It has write outs of his training logs or a few pages of them.

Still waiting for it to come in wife got it for me for Christmas and blood and guts, lol blood and guts my wife told me it wasn't cheap.
 
Damon said:
Dorian Yates - training journal, Amazon $30
I found clips of it online through Google books and
It has write outs of his training logs or a few pages of them.

Still waiting for it to come in wife got it for me for Christmas and blood and guts, lol blood and guts my wife told me it wasn't cheap.
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Oh I have both blood and guts books, they sell for a very high price now.:)
 
Funnyman said:
Oh I have both blood and guts books, they sell for a very high price now.:)
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You told me long ago to research his training and I have been, rep tempo, speed & form. I'm excited for his book to come in.
I didn't know there were 2 versions of his book hmmmmm now I gotta ask the wife for a 3rd book
 
The Old Guy said:
All of Mike Mentzer’s books. Even have a signed one.
Arnold’s Encyclopaedic of Modern Bodybuilding
Dan Duchaines Steroid Handbook.

Used to have a pile of Muscle and Fitness mags but lost them in my last move.
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Yes those are very good Books, I had Mike Mentzer's "Heavy Duty" training book and arnolds Encyclopedia as well. The last topic has been mainly research on the internet, talking to my gym friends and trial and error. I have heard Dan Duchaines book is very good as it has been referenced a few time in my readings
 
matt890ca said:
Hardcore bodybuilding - A scientific approach. by Dr Hatfield.

It has a couple versions/covers. I read it about 20 times in my teen years.


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hatfield is a very good author and very intelligent. First man to full squat over a 1000 lbs .... can't remember if it was raw or just single ply. I had this book as well but don't know where it has gone. Also Tom Platz is my Leg god. I have never seen such dense huge legs in all my life. Even today I think he is unsurpassed.
 
Funnyman said:
Oh I have both blood and guts books, they sell for a very high price now.:)
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Dorian ... one of my favorite bodybuilders. He lifted real heavy and was a man of few words... but very intelligent in terms of Bodybuilding. Strong as f**k.
 
Englishmustard said:
Ones you could maybe still buy on Amazon or find on eBay.
I know there are tons of online resources but I’d love to flip through some old paper pages.
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I would also suggest DVD or Blue rays as well ... put out by the top bodybuilders as then u get to see how they train and their life style. I have dvd's on Ronnie Coleman, Marcus Rule and Dexter jackson... on the Powerlifting side I have all Louise Simmons train VHS which I converted to MP3, Ed Coans 3 video's on squat, deads and bench, and Never Enough by mark Bell. All of these have helped me a lot. I have watched them many times and I pick up something new every time. I did have Muscle and Fitness all the way back into the early Ninties ( 1990 - 2000) but I gave them away to a good friend.
 
This ^^^
Similar to @pgmunn i was big into the magazine’s from the late 80’s until probably 2010 or so. Musclemag by Robert Kennedy was informative and I had a couple of his books but can’t remember the titles.
 
Cheapshot said:
Marty Gallagher,- starting strength and the purposefull primate
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I have both of those .. they are very good. He is very technical and goes into great depth on everything. And he has a good sense of humor
 
Bagua said:
I liked Robert Kennedy's books, but like a lot of people had quite a bit of Joe Weider's publications as well. A lot of people had a copy of Dan Duchaine's Underground Steroid book as part of their collection. I think you can get that as an online version.
The Wild Physique: The Complete Book of Championship Physique Training for Men and Women by Vince Gironda is another.
We used charts that came with our first weight sets in the early 70s.
E-bay is an excellent place to look for oldies.
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Vince Gironda ... now there is a name I have not heard in a while
 
Cheapshot said:
Brawn by stuart mcrobert
Never let go- dan john

Will check my bookshelf when i get home.
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I have Never Let Go by Dan John. A very good book with a lot of non conventional exercises and workouts. His writing style is very readable as tells a story or a tale I would say. Good sense of humor. He was a world class discus thrower. I can relate to that as I competed in and threw the discus and shot put during High School and University. Very technical throws and you have to learn and use proper technique if you want to get the implements any distance.
 
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