Review of "The Ultimate Guide to Massive Arms"
eBook by Charles Staley

Review by Nick Nilsson

A Note From Nick... First off, full disclosure! I work with Charles as his Director of Online Operations. But one of the MAIN reasons I work with Charles is that I believe in his products and his training information. I KNOW this stuff is effective. I'm writing up this review because I told Charles it probably wouldn't look quite as "neutral" if he reviewed his own book. :)

"The Ultimate Guide to Massive Arms"... I have to say, it's pretty easy to tell what this book is about after reading the title! You guessed...building massive arms! I also have to say, if building massive arems is your goal, this book is a MUST HAVE in terms of effectiveness. While I haven't had a chance yet to do the programs myself, having been training for almost 18 years, I can tell pretty quickly what works and what doesn't. And Escalating Density Training...the guiding principle upon which this book is based...definitely WORKS. So let's get down to business...

One of the first things you're going to notice about this book is that Charles doesn't immediately jump right in and start talking about getting big arms. Sounds kind of crazy, but this is actually a very GOOD thing...

Because building big arms is NOT just about training the arms...it's also about doing a lot of the basic things right in order to set the stage for maximum arm growth. If you skip or gloss over important facets of the whole "training experience," you're going to shortchange yourself, not only in arm development but in whole-body development.

It's that important.

So step away from the pretty pictures in that "arm blaster" issue of Flex magazine and learn how REAL training is done as written by a professional coach with 25+ years of experience. You're going to learn a LOT.

Part One of the book deals with a number of these "stage setting" ideas, such as:

• Understanding The Principles That Create A Successful Training Program - once you know what factors affect training success, you'll know not only how to best train but how to change things up on the fly to get better results in ANY program you do in the future.
  
  
• Goal Directed Behavior - you'll learn how to set real, achievable goals that actually motivate you to progress rather than frustrate or intimidate. There's a real trick to it and Charles has done a nice job on this section - I've found that goal setting is pretty common topic for a lot of writers to wallow in "cliche". Not here. This is practical stuff.
  
  
• Why Your Training Is Not Just A “To Do” List But Rather, A Change In Your “Behaviors” - this section is a real eye-opener. Charles destroys quite a few dearly-held myths that a lot of weight-trainers have...such as the the need to feel "fragged" at the end of a workout. And I think you'll really enjoy the "7 Behaviors of Highly Successful Athletes" section.
  
  
• The Classic Things You Will Do To “Shoot Yourself In The Foot” - the stuff in this section is GOLD. You'll learn many of the things people unconsciously do that seriosly sabotages their progress. If you do ANY ONE of these things, I can promise you, it's holding you back.
  
  
• The Heart And Soul Of EDT. Why This Program Works And Why You Should Follow It - this is a quick primer on how EDT works. If you've not familiar with EDT, you're in for a treat. This truly is the engine behind the "Ultimate Guide to Massive Arms." Charles puts forware a great explanation of density training and how it pretty much automatically results in muscle growth and forward progress.

Where's the Beef?

Once you've set the stage for massive arms with the information in the first section, it's time to get into the real "meat" of the book...the programs and exercises.

Not only does Charles lay out all the programs in detail, he's also included suggested supplements and advanced recovery techniques to help maximize each training session you do.

If you're familiar with EDT, you know what the training is all about. If you're NOT familiar with EDT, you won't find the usually "set/rep" style of program here. You're going to find suggested exercises listed for each "PR Zone" in the program.

A PR (it stands for "personal record") Zone is basically a set block of time whein you try and get as many reps as possible. The idea is to improve your performance each and every time you do that PR Zone, e.g. if you get 50 reps in 15 minutes, you'll try and get more reps next time. As long as you get more reps with the same weight, it's automatic that you increase the workload on the muscle, which leads to muscle growth.

The key here with PR Zones is that you're RARELY, if ever, training to failure. The idea is to maximize your performance, not maximize your fatigue.

This is a VERY powerful concept and is the core of what EDT is all about. I've used EDT on many occasions and love it. It's such a fundamentally simple and effective way to train (in addition to being self-correcting and actually pretty fun!).

The only complaint I have about this section of the book is that the exercise pictures look a little goofy - they're actually illustrations rather than being actual photographs (case in point, there were a few pics where I couldn't tell if the guy in the drawing had fingers!).

Don't get me wrong...you'll definitely be able to figure what to do from these illustrations and from the detailed instructions that go along with them, but I think actual photos of people doing the exercises would work a little better.

Hey, I never said is was a big complaint...

The nice thing about the exercises in this program is that the VAST majority of them are done using free weights. There are a few cable exercises but if all you've got are free weights (e.g. you train at home), you'll have no problems making use of this program. Some very basic equipment is all you need.

Recovery...The Unsung Hero

This is a section that really stands out to me and honestly, it's really worth taking special note of when you get the book.

This quote from Charles from that chapter sums it up nicely...

Training is only as effective as your ability to recover from it. I often liken the training/recovery relationship to music: often, it’s not the notes themselves, but rather, the spaces between the notes, that determines the beauty of the piece. The relationship between training and recovery is similar. Once you accept the importance of recovery, the next important realization is that you can either allow recovery to take place, or you can make it take place. I prefer the latter option. I often joke that when you’re looking for something, it’s usually where you aren’t looking. When it comes to training, everyone looks at exercises and training programs, but few consider the importance of recovery techniques.

This is not simply a chapter about the importance of eating enough food and getting enough sleep...far from it. This chapter is LOADED with specific techniques you can use to accelerate your recovery from training.

This is important not just for this arms program but is stuff that is EXTREMELY valuable to ANY training program. It will really make a difference in your training.

One thing I did notice with this book is that Charles doesn't delve into the nutritional aspect of muscle growth, preferring to stick to the "setting the stage" style of info I metioned above, the training and exercises, and the recovery.

I could be wrong but I believe his thought is that if you're advanced enough to be working with a targeted arm specialization program like this, you should have a decent amount of nutritional knowledge to back it up already. Suffice to say, when you're training for mass, you should strive to eat a lot of protein and plenty of calories to support your efforts.

CONCLUSION:

The bottom line here is that if you ARE interested in building bigger arms, this program will definitely do the trick for you. Many users of it have reported gains of up to 1" in just 30 days. And that's solid muscle. Visually, that inch makes a BIG difference.

Not only are you going to get a powerful program to build your arms, you're going to learn a LOT about training in general, which this books even more valuable, in my opinion. Plus, it's a good, easy read...Charles is a very entertaining writer.

I HIGHLY recommend this book, especially for the dirt cheap price we're selling at right now (just 27 bucks).

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