I’m going to make this to the point here, so excuse my not talking your ass off…
Question 1) Has anyone out there read Arnold’s The_New_Encyclopedia_of_Modern_Bodybuilding, and is it a good source for learning the overall basics of the sport? It is the only book I’ve read on the matter.
Question 2, somewhat related to #1) What other books out there can provide me with what I need to know in order to most successfully reach my goals?
Question 3) What magazines are creditable and respected in the professional bodybuilding community?
Ian King’s Get Buffed is a excellent book. Also try back issues of T-mag including the dawg school articles, Ian King’s cheat sheets (or some such title), and an articles by TC on…basic poloquin principles (I forget the exact title,but this was in the early days of t-mag).
Havn’t read Arnold’s book, but I’d be wary of buying a book by a juiced up bodybuilder, if indeed it was written by him and not ghosted. What you need is a book that teaches you to construct a program optimal to your own genetic individuality.
Ian King’s “Get Buffed” is an excellent book in this respect.
If you want to go into far greater depth (672 pages) Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning 2nd Edition by NSCA is brilliant.
The former can be found at http://www.kingsports.net the latter can be ordered from Human Kinetics.
From your post I’m assuming you’re just starting out so I’d like to offer this advice without sounding like a condescending prick. Educate yourself. It’s the one thing that will separate you from the Body for Life sheep and others of their ilk.
As for mags they all pretty much suck unless you like looking at the pictures. Besides which T-MAG routinely post’s anything worthwhile they have to say so save your money!
Good luck with your training and remeber 20 inch arms don’t happen overnight if at all. And DON’T JUICE!
I have Arpnolds MBBE; do you take a lot of roids? I also have Ian’s “Get Buffed” and have found it much more useful. I would highly recommend his stuff, he has posted a ton of info here, if you search back issues.
Arnold’s book is nice if you’re looking for some background about him and bodybuilding, but as for training and diet advice, the book falls way short. What worked for Arnold won’t work for most. As for books, Zatsiorsky’s “Science and Practice of Strength Training” gives great background on the theory and science behind lifting and training in general. There are pretty much no credible paper mags any more that you can find easily. Get your info from T-mag and look into the sites of T-mag contributers John Davies, Dave Tate, Ian King etc. Another interesting site is thinkmuscle.com if your looking for more info. Intensity.com is another interesting site that has just started. Coach Davies pens a weekly column and frequent forum contributor Kelly Baggett has added a few articles of his one. Also look into the stuff from Charles Poloquin, Pavel Tsatsouline, Louie Simmons, and Charles Staley. Read widely but critically. Lastly, head to the library once and a while and look into the Journal of Applied Physiology, Medicine Science Sports and Exercise and any other journal that seems interesting or get used to looking around pubmed.