The Greyskull LP: Second Edition Paperback – May 24, 2012

First about me to give a perspective to my brief review and 5 star rating.I'm 43 with children, out of shape, little time to reinvent the wheel which is weight training, and I know Crossfit will result in personal injury to me due to my current physical condition. I'm not bashing Crossfit but for me, I feel high repetition movements can lead major joint and ligament issues (i.e. shoulder impingement) and the like. I'm not 20 anymore. My reason for even mentioning Crossfit is because its everywhere you look and the fitness levels of those accomplished at it are impressive. I just do not feel it is for the novice. In the course of my search for new work out Crossfit lead me to Johnny Pain (John Sheaffer). His affiliation and separation with Crossfit is an interesting story that is worth reading.I had success loosing weight (50 lbs) by going on a low cholesterol diet that consisted of good foods. My exercise was pure cardio like running, rowing (purchased a concept 2 rower), and the elliptical. I had returned to school to complete my degree and fell of the wagon. Sitting around reading all the time makes you fat (me anyway). So the weight returned.This time I'm back on the cholesterol conscience diet and was ready for the exercise program. But this time I wanted to focus on getting stronger. Because although last time I was successful I felt weak and lacking in something. So my weight lifting routine search began.The Greyskull LP workout is listed for free on the net but I needed clarification on the fundamentals and the reason for the concept of the routine, which is out there on the net, but I'm not looking to piece together a hundreds or thousands of forum postings to get all the information; rather use that time with the weights.So the Book and why the 5 stars. It is simple and gets to the point. I agree its nothing earth shattering like one negative review indicated, but it is complete, easy to follow, and understand. This book answered every question I had about Greyskull LP period. The book does what it sets out to do, explain the Greyskull LP program.As far as the program I only have 3 weeks in so I can not attest to the results. I can however say that I feel stronger, which could arguably be obtained from any type of exercise program in the first few weeks; however, I like it and look forward to each work out.My approach to this program was to creep up on my working weights slowly since its been a long time since I touched weights. I started with very light weight. Then, if my final set reps exceeded 12 and felt easy I would add 10 lbs for the next time I did that exercise. Doing this is helping with proper form development and reducing muscles soreness that affects beginners that try to much to fast and can result in missed workouts.The add-on exercises are explained with examples in this book. Also there are routine examples for different focuses such as getting bigger, shedding pounds ect. My goal is getting stronger through the Greyskull LP and shedding pounds with diet and off-day H.I.T. cardio that does not drain me to much for the weights on the days that follow. The book gives some good examples for this as well. I will admit to using a Crossfit WOD as my hit (its the 4 sets of rowing for 500 meters for time with 2-3 minute rest between sets). I'm still feeling things out. I don't want to get burned out from this. I want it to be a lasting lifestyle change.So for a 40+ guy looking for a simple easy to follow starting point, this is a good book.My commitment to this includes purchasing a power rack, Cap OB-86B barbell. Pendlay 260 bumper plate set. I had a bench and power block dumbbells. I'm saying you'll need some equipment to get this done. Yes you can join a gym but be careful because some gyms do not allow overhead press. In fact, Planet fitness has recently removed power racks because they are considered intimidating! My local crossfit box is $120 month and I would feel odd doing a structured routine instead of Wod's and such. I also purchased a neck harness from Rogue because the Greyskull LP routine calls for it. I never even worked my neck during my younger weight lifting days and never considered it. I have been doing the neck harness exercises for 3 weeks. I really like how it targets the upper trap and elsewhere, and I feel it goes well with the core exercise in the Greyskull LP.So take this for what it's worth as a review of a book about a weight lifting routine posted on the web.A final note about the spelling errors in this book (not those in this review!) I don't care! I didn't peg Johnny pain as a breakthrough literary marvel. Yes there are spelling errors in fact there is one with in the first few paragraphs. So know this before you buy the book. If misspelled words are the bane of your existence then be warned!!!!

TL;DR - Great program, not so great book. Buy Starting Strength, follow the version of Greyskull LP on the forums, and then paypal Johnny Pain $10.I LOVE Greyskull LP as a program. It's a perfect evolution from Starting Strength, and I've seen great gains on it while not being bored out of my mind. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get fit, strong, or ripped.But the book is kind of a mess. There's just not that much actual *content*. Most of it is sort of vaguely interesting background on how Greyskull LP evolved from Starting Strength. Which is great -- but completely irrelevant for a beginning lifter. The book doesn't even tell you how to do the core lifts until you get to the very end of it. As someone with a year's experience under my belt, and who had read Starting Strength, it all made sense. If you pick this book up as a novice and expect to learn how to lift from it, you're going to be completely confused.I mostly bought the book because I felt guilty about running this guy's program without giving him any money, and because I wanted more information on his "plugin" system. Unfortunately, the book doesn't really talk that much about figuring out plugins. It gives a few examples of complete, somewhat complicated programs (including cardio on off days and a daily "Greasing the Groove" style bodyweight work), but the formatting for them is poor, and I didn't really come out of the book with a better understanding of how to adapt the program to my specific goals.Finally, the book makes FAR too many references to his *other* $30 books. I get that he isn't going to list all 50 of his Villain workouts (or was it Viking workouts... I lost track) in this book. But include one or two examples when you're presenting a program, don't just tell me to buy your other book every third paragraph.All in all, this is a great program that deserves a better book. I could have gotten as much out of this book if it were a two-chapter pamphlet. New lifters would get as much out of it if it were three chapters. And it's not even a long book to begin with!If you're a novice lifter, Greyskull LP is IMO the best program for you to be following. But don't buy this book. Use Starting Strength to teach yourself how to do the lifts, and then follow the program template in this book (google for it, it's available online in a shortened form) to actually schedule your programming.

The program itself is solid but its nothing new. The author himself admits this. A lot of the info is online of course. The intro is a bit dry. I found myself skipping though a lot of the superfluous text as it's nothing groundbreaking in the sphere of the author/weightlifter. In fact the whole thing reads a lot like an e-book. Which is understandable given its origin.The books itself is flimsy. The cover is too thin and it feels like printout. There are no page numbers and it's riddled with spelling mistakes.For twenty quid I expected more. You'd be better served as a novice by purchasing a second hand copy of starting strength for the lifts and gleaning the small amount of additional information this book provides from online resources.

This book is amazing! It's a fun read and very eye opening. I like how the sets are set up, e.g. 2x 5, 1x 5+. I prefer this method to just keeping the reps of all sets really low all the time, although they should be low if it's a new weight for you.Also I like how JP gives you the base program (bench press, squat, press and deadlift) but leaves it up to you to add in the 'plug in' s' depending on your goals and preference. I am going to do dips, chin ups, farmer's walks and snatches. I'll also do core work and curls.JP then gives you example templates of how to fit your exercises into a program depending on your goals such as size, fat loss, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, etc. With this he includes different conditioning methods to suit each goal, adds in something called the frequency method for chin ups and push ups which you do for a few sets throughout the day to increase endurance and adds in challenges such as the burpee challenge, where you will build up to 100 burpees in 5 minutes.Then he gives fantastic descriptions of how to do the exercises and it's the easiest guide ever. It tells you exactly what to do so there's no uncertainty but doesn't ramble on forever like Rippetoe does. Nothing against Rippetoe, I think he's great but just goes on a bit.I highly recommend this book to someone who wants to be awesome!

Very good guide to the Greyskull plan. Concise without being confusing or too informative. Gives templates on the different add ins you can use for different goals.

Simple straight forward straight talking advice. No magic pill. Just your own hard work. Brilliant

Usage of the greyskull reset has made me love going gym more, I've seen great gains in strength, even OHP