Beyond Self Resistance 15 Week Bodybuilding Introductory Mini Course Paperback – July 4, 2012

I'm not into the self-resistance, isometric exercises all that much and one reason for this is because they haven't been explained that well. This is now solved with this book. Not only is it more informative than the Liederman, Atlas and Powerflex courses, it is much more reasonably priced, I could buy 3 of these books for what some of the other courses cost. Powerflex by Jim Forstyek is okay but not as elaborate by any means. Powerflex could easily have more pictures to demonstrate the points.The pictures and explanations are much more concise than I have found elsewhere in Beyond Self Resistance and the author is in the book showing how it is done. Honestly, some of these exercises as I have done and read about it in the past, almost have felt silly to do such as say the Thigh rows and from time to time, the author also imparts some motivational wisdom as well. Also, in a few parts, he demonstrates that an exercise can be done either standing or sitting. I have no problems with the pictures, someone says the front picture is "stretched", well, in reading muscle magazines or whatever, there is a lot of airbrushing of the models that goes on. As for the inside photos, for example, the already mentioned Thigh rows or resisted concentrated curls or resisted pressdown, the pictures and instructions are great. I really don't mean to praise the guy, I mulled around how I would state this review and came to the conclusion this is the best out there. I'm not sure if he mentions why the pages are not enumerated but this is my only question about the book and it's not really a criticism.---------------------Interesting, the stated thigh row and other exercises are very similar to bullworker exercises, of course, with out the bullworker/iso 7x itself.

I am 58 and practise the self resistance exercises since I was 16. Marlon's book added to my knowledge another six techniques which make 30 different techniques all together

Marlon Birch has produced a clearly written guide to self resistance exercises for strength and body building with excellent pictures of himself guiding the reader into the exercises. In his bio in the front of the book Mr. Birch states he has won two Pro-Cards in Natural Federations, being the only self resistance practitioner to do so.First Mr. Birch explains self resistance exercises with good tips for the practitioner. Then Mr. Birch lays out the exercises by body part, so the reader can visualize and understand the exercises. The pictures do a excellent job of instructing the reader into the exercises. This is good as these are not common exercises outside the self resistance world. Then Mr. Birch lays out a 15 week course for an individual to actually do the exercises and see how they will affect his/her body. Everything is well described and well laid out. There is not a problem following the course he intends for the reader to follow into self resistance practice.For an individual interested in exploring the self resistance exercises, this is an excellent guide.

First of all it is unfair to compare Marlon to Peterson or any other fitness professional. The author of this book shows a genuine love for fitness, and proved that a great body and fitness can both be achieved without lifting weights. I love the passion of this book because it shows that Marlon was willing to do the research by personally being his own "guinea pig."I am not a writing critic, neither will I stand in judgement trying to find grammatical errors in this book. I am tired of hype, and fancy infomercials about fitness. This man is the real deal. I E-Mailed him with a question, and he actually replied with some great information for me (free).In brief, I am sold on this book and the person. I am a former Charles Atlas student, and my father was also. Thus, we have always placed a premium on functional fitness without gaining over bulky muscles. I am waiting for his next book. Marlon just ignore the haters and keep on doing what you do best. Keep it real!

The Beyond Resistance book is the best resistance exercise book I've seen. Marlon Birch did an awesome job placing the best of the best exercises together as well as complete routines. Explaining sets, reps, and various methods. Can't believe how complete this book is. It explains in detail how each exercise is performed with proper clear instruction. There's no self resistance book out there that comes close. Marlon calls this a mini course but it's 148 pages with a special arm training section on top of it. I Highly recommend this book it's far ahead than every self resistance book out there. Marlon took the famous resistance exercises combined those with his methods and created a prize winning Pro Natural Bodybuilding Build. The book is complete and I've got a few for the boys and gifts for friends. You won't regret buying this classic. Like I've said it's the most complete book on self resistance out there. Love it.

Mr. Birch has achieved fantastic results with his methods of self resistance and is a living advertisement for the effectiveness of those methods. Unfortunately, this book falls short of clearly describing and illustrating these techniques. The text is filled with grammatical errors that distract from the exercise descriptions, and the exercises are poorly photographed. A clearer, much better written version of these exercises can be found in Pushing Yourself to Power by John Peterson. Mr. Birch's book sets forth specific routines, which Pushing Yourself to Power does not. However, the photos, text, and overall quality of Mr. Peterson's book are far superior to this book. Mr. Birch mentions plans to release another book describing his methods in greater detail. His future book would benefit tremendously from professional photography and editing.

Very interesting, full of good information. I don’t give five stars because the layout (for kindle on ipad) is terrible, and some correction of the text is due.