THIS BOOK IS NOT JUST FOR BODYBUILDERS.

No matter what you are training for, from power lifting to Ironman triathlon, from football to classical ballet, if you want your body to respond faster and more effectively to the training you are doing, then read this book.

Be aware that the authors do discuss Nutrition in a resistance training context, but there conclusions and their advice is consistent with conclusions of sport science as discuses by other authors, see "other materials of interest" later.

This is a a very to the point, non-technical, no pseudo-science guide to improving your body's ability to respond to your training and exercise time investment. Much of the training and exercise time athletes and fitness enthusiasts spend in the gym is work targeted at SAID (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) directed at making that individual better able to perform - stronger, faster, more powerful, or better protected from injury. This book is about knowing when to eat and what to eat to give your body the opportunity to perform at it best during exercise, game, or performance and to recover and adapt faster than it has before.

One piece of advice to readers - Don't obsess about minute details.
At least one of the Amazon reviewers posted complex recipes trying to exactly match the diet recommendations. Use the 'themes', such as including protein in your recovery drink, and then work within those themes to find out what works well for you over time.

Other materials of interest to athletes who want to learn more about sport nutrition:

For runners, and especially for female athletes, I strongly recommend "Fast Track : Training and Nutrition Secrets from America's Top Female Runner" by Suzy Favor-Hamilton. You will be very surprised how similar the dietary recommendations are.

For personal trainers, coaches, and athletes with some biology or chemistry foundation I would strongly recommend "Sport Nutrition: An Introduction to Energy Production and Performance" by A. Jeukendrup & M. Gleeson, which is a very up to date (published 2004), comprehensive, and peer reviewed treatment of the subject.

The authors of this book are prestigious scientists who convincingly make their core point that it is crucial to carefully time the intake of particular types of sports drinks during and after exercise in order to build muscles. The book has a table of contents, extensive bibliography, index, and provides charts for determining one's daily calorie needs as well as sample meal plans for the recommended diet. After carefully studying the book, I wanted to instantly put the authors' ideas into action. Unfortunately, that was very hard to do because the book is not particularly user-friendly: (1) Because the book is aimed at weight lifters, one has to read the authors' other book, The Performance Zone, to find out that their sport-drink recommendations apply to all types of exercise. (2) The book is written like a college textbook rather than a how-to for the general public. (3) The authors don't provide either a list of sources for their sports drinks or do-it-yourself recipes. (4) The math is confusing in the important charts on pages 96-104. They give 3 examples, a 200-lb male who works out an unspecified amount of time once/day who needs 3800 calories/day; a 200-lb male who works out an unspecified amount twice/day who needs 4200 calories/day; a 130-lb-female who works out an unspecified amount once/day who needs 2340 calories/day. All 3 are instructed to drink the same amount of the 3 sports drinks, regardless of muscle mass or length of workout, and only the first male is instructed to take the muscle-growth drink before bed. I believe a 130-lb woman would, logically, require only about HALF of the drinks the 200-lb guys would need, and I can't figure out why everyone wouldn't need the bedtime protein drink. For more detailed info on titrating your dosage, you'll need to go to the authors' other book.

Based on the information in the book, I laboriously created recipes for the drinks and am offering them here to save others the trouble. Note that the authors believe any simple sugar works well for the drink =except= fructose (fruit juice) because it can cause stomach upset in some people. Since I don't have this problem, I use fruit juice in my recipes but have provided the sugar equivalent for those who do. If you use sugar, I recommend that, to improve the taste, you flavor the drink with 1 tablespoon (T) lemon juice, which has only 1 gram (G) carbohydrate (C) per T. The drinks are made in a blender or shaker.

Energy Drink (6P, 24C): Combine fruit juice with water for a total of 16 oz (juice options: 7 oz pear juice OR 7 oz orange juice OR 6 oz pineapple juice). If sugar is preferred, instead of juice use: 2T sugar & 1T lemon juice in 16 oz water. Add 5 teaspoon (t) whey protein powder (calculated using Designer Whey Protein natural flavor, 19P, 2C per 1/3 cup). Add a few grains of potassium chloride (e.g. Nu-Salt salt substitute) & a few grains of table salt. Add 1/8t of Vitamin C crystals, a few drops of Vitamin E oil, 1G leucine powder, and the contents of a broken-open, gelatin capsule of magnesium powder (all from healthfood store). Blend well. Note: add enough water to this mixture so that you can drink 2 oz 10 minutes before you begin and every 20 minutes thereafter, ending with the final dose 20 minutes before you finish the workout--for a 2-hr workout, that would be 6 2-oz doses, or at least 12 ounces. The book recommends drinking plenty of water, as well.

Anabolic Drink (15P, 45C): 16 oz water plus juice (e.g., 13 oz orange juice OR 13 oz pear juice OR 11 oz pineapple juice). Sugar alternative: 4 T sugar & 1 T lemon juice in 16 oz water. Add 4 T whey protein powder, 2G leucine powder, 2G glutamine powder (healthfood store), pinch Vit. C crystals, few drops Vit. E oil. Drink the whole thing right after your workout--or within 45 minutes at the latest.

Growth Drink (20P, 4C): 2/3 cup water, 1/3 cup fat-free milk (provides 4C & 3P--2G of the P is casein & 1G whey), 3G leucine powder, 1G glutamine powder, 13G whey protein powder (3T & scant 4th T), 1/4t sugar. Note: some may be horrified that I provide the 2G of casein required for this drink from plain, nonfat milk instead of fancy casein protein powder. By all means use that if you have it on hand, simply substituting 2G of casein powder for the milk and adding a tad more whey protein and water to your batch. Drink the whole thing 2-4 hours after the workout and make another batch to drink at bedtime.

Scientifically backed-up, 100% capable of applying it in practice, will educate re sports nutrition anyone from the professional to the know-all gym rat. A truly excellent book one rarely finds, makes you realize you can buy a lot with just USD 12!
Negative critics above either: (a) have not read the book cover to cover (admittedly it is not an easy read), and/or (b) think they know everything. Reading the book - even the educated and experinced weightlifter - makes one realize how much valuable and time-saving information a small book like this can contain.

I picked up a copy of this book recently and - wow - it's got a ton of useful information for me. As a weight lifter and occasional runner (local 5k runs), it prescribes the best nutrition advice I've found. Not only is it research supported, it's practical.

A must read for any strength trainer or bodybuilder. Great insight on what to eat/take and when for your training. The mention of studies got a little monotonous, but the book is well done. Overall, it's a very good buy.