On the Book Shelf: Body By Science

I read a lot. Religion, conspiracies, comic books, cartooning, and fitness books fill my rather substantial amount of book shelves. My trainer, Ellington Darden, had this book on his shelf recently and I borrowed it over a weekend. I couldn't put it down! It's been a long time since I've borrowed a book I then decided I HAD to own, but MY copy of "Body By Science" came in from Amazon just this week.

This is truly a manual for the science of building muscle. Over the past six months, since I've been with Dr. Darden, I have taken a crash course on the correct way to build muscle, burn fat, and work out the High Intensity Training ( HIT) way. "Body By Science", and Darden's many books, have made an incredible impact on me.

I think, for me, "Body By Science" really hit home because it helped explain further some concepts that Darden has been talking to me about for months. First, with HIT, it's all about brief, intense exercise with proper rest and diet. Then there's how that training affects different people, depending on their age, sex, and genetics.

In particular, it helped me understand fast muscle fibers. Darden has said for awhile that I have more of this type, but I didn't understand exactly what that meant, or what it meant for my training. After "Body By Science", I do. Suffice it to say, fast twitch muscles fibers exhibit a lot of strength, and can grow bigger than slower twitch fibers. However, they also tire quicker, get more sore, and take longer to heal. This is exactly the reason I am now continuing to make gains ( five pounds of muscle in three weeks) while on a "one workout every two weeks" schedule.


Think of "Body By Science" as a handbook for getting your body in shape. It's not a shallow read... believe me, some of the scientic jargon in it takes a while to understand. But go grab a copy, and you won't be sorry!