The Old School Back Training Bible

- Why I Read This BookI always enjoy reading about the training methods of past masters. In addition, I had been plagued with back problems, and I was particularly interested in the chapters on back ailments.- PositivesThis book has great histories about Louis Cyr, Hermann Goerner, and the Saxon brothers. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of George Jowett's entire booklet, Molding a Mighty Back (I also recommend reading  Molding A Mighty Grip ). This book has a few great technical articles. My favorite was by Vince Arnello, who also reviewed this book. There are a few good tips throughout that stuck with me, as for example to never let a bad back get cold (I purchased some back warmers from a military surplus site for this reason).Oddly enough, my favorite article in this anthology had nothing to do with the back...but with grip training: the "Grip" chapter on the bartender Mac Batchelor.- NegativesOf course, some articles are much better than others. For that reason, it took me a long time to work through this book (which was certainly worth the effort to get to the many gems).The biggest issues with this anthology are the formatting, editing, and picture quality. Sometimes it is difficult to discern what is part of the article and what is the editor's insert.-Final ThoughtsOverall, a great book for the serious deadlifter or the weight training historian. For more weight training history I strongly recommend  The Super-Athletes: a Record of the Limits of Human Strength, Speed, and Stamina . For those with bad backs, I recommend  7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life: How to Rapidly Relieve Back and Neck Pain  and  Fixing You: Back Pain 2nd edition: Self-Treatment for Back Pain, Sciatica, Bulging and Herniated Discs, Stenosis, Degenerative Discs, and other Diagnoses. .

Great information, but is in serious need of editing/layout help. It's mostly a book of copy/paste/print of articles from the 20th Century. Still very cool for someone like me who is an enthusiast and doesn't have time/can't find these old articles anywhere.

The Old School Back Training Bible ,WHEN I GOT THE BOOK "THE OLD SCHOOL BACK TRAINING BIBLE"IT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES!!! I WAS OBCESSED WITH PHYSICAL STRENGTH ALL MY LIFE.I DID RESEARCH REPORTS ON STRENGTH ATHLETES LIKE HERMANN GOERNER,BRAD STEINER,GEORGE JOWETT ,BOB PEOPLES,ARTHUR SAXON,LOUIS CYR AND OTHERS.WHEN I WAS A CHILD MY PARENTS TOOK ME TO YORK AND I MET THE GREAT JOHN GRIMEK.HE WAS SO NICE AND HE SHOOK MY HAND AND TOLD ME I LOOKED LIKE I HAD THE MAKINGS OF A CHAMPION AND TO CONTINUE TRAINING.I NEVER STOPPED!!!!I REMEMBER WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS ON THESE LEGENDS AS EARLY AS THE 6TH GRADE!!!! WHEN I GOT THIS BOOK AND SAW MYSELF INCLUDED WITH THESE GREAT LEGENDS AND ICONS ,I COULD NOT HOLD BACK THE TEARS!!!I HAVE READ MANY OF DAVE YARNELLS BOOKS.I BELIEVE HE IS NOT ONLY A GREAT LIFTER HIMSELF,BUT ALSO ONE ON THE BEST CONTEMPORARY HISTORIANS OF OUR STRENGTH SPORTS IN THE WORLD TODAY!!!I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH DAVE ,GOD BLESS!!!!A MUST READ FOR ALL STRENGTH ATHLETS AND THOSE INTERESTED IN THE HISTORY OF STRENGTH!!!

Lots of really useful and key information from many sources but one issue I found was that some of the text taken from past editions is presented here in such small size that it is difficult to get the pdf reader to magnify it enough to read comfortably. On the whole i would recommend as there may be a way around this issue anyway, I just havent found it yet.