become a strength training genius.

I'm a cardio girl. I will run around in a circle for hours with the right music, but try to get me to pick up a weight and I'll look at you like you stole my last brownie. I recently began working with the T25 Focus DVD's which include strength training in some of the workouts. It's been working really well for me. I mean my arms get sore when Shaun T makes me punch the air, but whatever.

I know that lifting a couple ten pound dumbbells during a workout DVD isn't going to make my arms lose fat as quickly as I would like, so I decided to get a second opinion. Jim Stoppani's Encyclopedia of Muscle & Strength (2nd Edition) is seriously kick ass. It's a great manual for those of you just getting into strength training as Stoppani begins at the beginning with the basics and all the vocabulary. However, with 381 exercises and 116 specific strength training programs, this book will also benefit you gym rats looking for a change. A major thing I learned? How long I'm supposed to rest in between sets. Depending on the exercise that the answer ranges from 1-5 minutes. I was definitely doing that wrong. But hey, lesson learned. And that's the whole point of Stoppani's book, to learn what to do and what not to do in the world of strength training.