Reviews

This book is more that just a great manual that gives training tricks and sample programs, while it does include those things the part of this book that I found most helpful was Zach's insight into the realities of training. While most books are written focusing on ideal environment and training under perfect conditions, this book is a great look at making training work when you don't have those things. Zach Even-Esh has written a book that shows how to make training brutally effective in any environment, whether in a collegiate weight room or your own back yard. Having gotten to meet and work with Zach in person it is immediately apparent that he truly enjoys training and that this is really what matters. Desire to work hard and improve will overcome any obstacles to success.

This is one of the best books I've ever read on hard work, dedication, and fitness. It is more than just a "how to" of getting strong. It's how to approach life. How to be strong in spirit as well as body.

Are you ready for a book that will radically change how you train? Do you use body weight, kettlebells, sandbags, or bars and just aren't getting the results you are looking for? Are you using all of these tools and just don?t have the tactics to utilize them to their maximum potential? I?m guessing that the answer is a disappointing ?NO?.

Zach Evan-Esh?s new book, The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning, is an epic sized introduction into the background, philosophy, and the nuts and bolts of how Zach trains his amazingly strong and resilient athletes. You?ll learn not only how he trains his athletes, but his philosophy and background that lead him to these amazingly effective protocols. Zach opens the doors to his underground training facility and shows you what it takes to truly be strong on the field and on the mat. You?ll find yourself referring to this book often in the future and learning more each time you crack the cover. Great job Zach and I look forward to your next project!

I'm in the military so I need to obtain a lot of skills (as strength, endurance, power) and stay ready to fight or be employed in any situation.
This is a MUST HAVE book for every person like me.

I really enjoyed reading this manual. I really could relate to Zach's story of how he began his training and evolved into what he practices today. Definitely a book I would recommend, not just for training advice, but for the background story.

When taking the book at first, I was expecting it to be more like an encyclopedia that will be divided to different training apparatuses and just a list of exercises to follow and do.
What I got instead, is a deep personal story of a journey through life in training experiences and a learning journal that is amazing to read. It put me in a place of ?I didn't do it all wrong...?

I just love the thinking behind ?Underground Strength?: play, check your limits, basics are the most important and love what your doing.
For me this is the main idea when I train Krav-Maga and strength. I love KB's, DVRT system and body weight exercise. I put myself through all kinds of crazy workouts that challenge me and my endurance. In this book I found the approval and confirmation that what I do is OK. I found someone that holds the same ideas regarding training and is not afraid to think out of the box. Personally, I feel I don't have to follow a plan by the letter, however, I need to tweak it so it fits me and my needs.

I love the fact that Zach Even-Esh plays with whatever he can put his hands on and wherever he can.

There is also a nice angle for me: Zach is partly Israeli, something that already gives him some bonus points...

In short I like this book. It has a lot of good simple ideas, thoughts and approaches to training and life.
I very much enjoyed the simplicity and straight forward approach that is a bit missing in this world of fitness and training. One thing I would have liked to have is a bit more on the exercise variations and tools of the trade.

This is one of the best books that I have read on fitness and strength. I have read Zach?s work over the years and always thought it was good information, but missed something. Now that he has laid out his background and the path that lead him to where he is, I fully get it. In this book, he tells you what to do to make people better.

Zach mentions Arnold?s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and how much he loved it. That book did chang bodybuilding. Zach?s book is as good and important. It will change strength and conditioning for the better. It is a true game changer for making yourself, as well as your students, better, stronger and faster.

While my methods were already in line with Zach?s thoughts, this book improved my gym from the start. I have already implemented some of his tools and tactics along with the reasons Zach uses them with my own students. They have noticed and liked the noticeable differences they felt in the first week.

The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning is a life changer. At 446 pages, a simple review cannot do it full justice. It is a an incredible resource and truly fits the definition of encyclopedia.

This is a must have in your library. Do yourself and your clients a favor and get this book.

First, I was very impressed with the quality of this publication. You get 400+ pages of reading plus a ton of great photos.

This is part storybook and part training manual. Lot's of interesting stories and anecdotes as well as good training advice along the way. Much discussion on toughness and functional training.

Zach seems to have experienced a lot in his life, and he's not even very old. He shares his journey and weaves in practical training advice, usually with a moral to every story.

This is not a concise workout guide or program - although he does sprinkle in a few specific workouts throughout. This book gives you hundreds or ideas on workouts and exercises and gives you the information needed to write your own program...with the only limit being your own creativity.

Let's be honest, the book is mostly autobiographical but the anecdotes and stories are amazing, this book will inspire you to lift your butt from the couch and go outside and lift heavy stuff.

The book will help you to eliminate all your excuses to avoid working out

The warmup section is worth the price of the book

Be strong

For less than 1 year been following Zach Even-esh work and has changed my life. Was lucky enough to find his podcasts on a random search on itunes and since then have been hooked. His mantra of Strong Body, Strong Mind & Strong Life resonates with me and this book Encyclopedia of Underground Strength & Conditioning tells the story of how he was formed, his training philosophy for himself & his Underground Strength Crew. I'm a 35 year old with 2 kids and some sports injuries from my youth, had been doing the usual bodybuilding routines but began incorporating strength work, calisthenics, grease the groove & farmer walks all from this book and learned via Zach's podcast. As Zach puts it do you want beach show muscles or functional muscles that will help you or your family in a crisis... am sure most fathers (and mothers) would choose the latter.
In this book your going to find tried and tested strength techniques that have lasted the ages and where most of the bodybuilding world is turning back to. Zach shares his passion for training, his life and training mistakes and how he formulated his current training programs for elite athletes. He's done this by being in the trenches of strength & conditioning from a young age, by trying & failing plus learning from his extensive list of top coaches in multiple fields of strength & conditioning. Most of these names I feel I know as have listened to them on Zach's podcast and these have really fired me up further in the gym & in life.
Obviously not all the techniques here for developing a young athlete I can use in my middle ages but Zach does a great job of balancing programs for developing young athletes plus sharing core foundational strength techniques to make you stronger and keep you going long into the future.
Overall a great read for a wide variety of people, the middle age needing a spark of motivation, the young athlete wanting to achieve the next level and beyond & the strength coach wishing to learn from others who achieve results! Great work, love it & live the code!

I bought the E-Book and instantly read half of it in one sitting. I stayed up until 4am reading it. The stories are so good and continue on from each other so well it is like a movie.

This book is not only a game changer but a life changer.
Definitely one to re-read many many times.

HIGHLY recommend.

This book pretty much confirms what I've known for years. There is no "Silver Bullet!" You just have to work hard. Everything is easy if you work hard at it. So just shut-up and do it. Get under the bar, do pull-ups, push-ups, lunges & squats, lift heavy stuff, work hard. And keep doing it every day so you don't lose that edge. I'm 62 and can still do 15 to 20 pull-ups, 5 pistols each leg, bench 200. I'm 5'5" and weigh 145. This book is inspiring because Zach is inspiring, energetic, and sticks with the fundamental exercises that make you strong. I read Zach's e-mails every day and thoroughly enjoy his perspective. This book is full of good ideas, but don't just read it; use it and get off your duff and do these things every day. It's worth it.

I have to admit I have not read the entire book yet. But the parts I have read makes me wish I would of had this book years ago. I am definitely taking notes and trying several of the items in this book. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

This is a great book about functional strength and conditioning training with many useful training methods and training tools, I would gladly recommend it to anyone regardless of sport and fitness level. This book is meant to elevate your work capacity and raise your GPP.
I could only wish for more detailed workouts.

I've been following Zach for several years, it was he who inspired me to get my trainers certificate and want to train younger athletes. I was so happy when I got my book I slammed through 6 chapters immediately. Although I have heard some of his stories before I still love hearing and reading about his life. I could feel the passion in his heart as I read trough the pages and it sometimes reminded me of where I came from. I recommend this book to anyone, not just lifters or athletes because it teaches you how to be a bad a** of your own caliber. I truly love this book and ordered he paper back so I could keep it for a long time and pass it down to my children of they wish.

Zach made promises about the book and he did not disappoint.
I thing this book will be the new gold standard in training.
This book is what I will hand down to my son , he will not
Train in the fluff gyms of today. He will demolish all who compete
Against him. Thank you Zach!

very good read, even if you don't need or use all the aspects in the book the knowledge about the whole spectrum of the conditioning world alone is worth it, glad I bought it

Zach's book has a little bit of everything. His life story, his journey as a coach and the lessons learned from his own training, his mentors and the training of others. This read feels like I am having a cuppa coffee with a very down-to-earth and wise soul. It is easy to read and has many nuggets of knowledge for the fitness coach, athlete or anyone interested in how someone responds to life's ups and downs. Get this book, sit back, learn and enjoy!

I think Zach nailed it. You don't need fancy equipment to get strong, you just need to want it. Zach is passionate about helping people be the best they can be and this book helps him do it. It should be a part of every strength coaches library.

This was a very good book for self body builder it has everything you need to know from weight lifting ,outside ,workout ,tire, robe, and strength I like it a lot you will get better by reading this book.

This book was so much fun I had a tough time putting it down. I planned on reading a chapter a day but instead read the whole thing in two days. Great stories help communicate solid information in a fun and easy to understand format. Zach's passion is second to none. Since reading the Encyclopedia I have written 2 months of training in this style not only for myself but also my family. Everyone is enjoying the workouts and getting stronger! Love this book.

I am only doing body weight exercises now and this book is worth it just for the section on body weight exercises.

My only knock on this book is I have been spoiled by other Dragon Door products that have a nice progression laid out for me. This book isn't designed that way. However, with a little bit of thought someone could figure out what they need to do to build up to the next exercise.

This book easily could have been divided in two based on the amount of information in here.

I found Zach Even-Esh's history and his training stories very inspirational. Just a great read overall.

Zach is one of the most bad to the bone trainers in the world, he's a no-nonsense in your face kind of guy, and what that produces is results and a strong mind.

This book is amazing and worth 10 times the price.

This book is full of inspiration and is great to pre-workout read before you go train! Zach is very open about is mistakes and failures and life and how he over came these challenges through Strength. You don't need to be an Athlete, trainier or a coach to read this book. I would recommend this book to anyone to read.

This is great stuff that I wish I had 30 years ago. Like Zach started my training back in the mid eighties based on bodybuilding as it was portrayed in the bodybuilding magazines of the time. It was all about "show" rather than "go"! information like this just wasn't talked about or available like it is now. It wasn't until the late eighties early nineties when I began to have a go at Olympic and power lifting trainning that my interest in training began to shift from "Show" to "Go"! Zach has done an excellent job by talking about his past training experiences and how his training has evolved over time, his early experiences have a lot of similarity to mine! I have fallen in love with this stuff so much that I have now purchased his Deluxe Underground Strength Training System which details how to implement his training in a lot of detail. I recommend this to anyone that is serious about this type of training! It is an excellent follow on from th encyclopaedia. I am still in the process of reading and digesting all of the exciting information from both the encyclopaedia and trainning system, I am also starting to set up an outside backyard gym with the necessary implements and odd objects and even various natural stones and limestone blocks, a true hardcore training backyard dungeon! Keep up the good work Zack I will be looking out for any new training info you put out.

I have been following Zach's stuff for 7-8 years by now, back when he was 'the crazy sandbag guy on Youtube'. I'm so glad that he's put out this book. It charts his growth from the bare-bones approach using bodyweight, stones and sandbags to his current mastery of the subtleties of Strength and Conditioning.

However, I have so many books on my bookshelf about methods, and progressive overload, and periodization. Where Zach's book really stands out is his passion, his honesty and his integrity. He doesn't try and bullshit you by telling you that he has the one secret method that's foolproof. He doesn't claim that he always made the right choices, or never made mistakes. What he does do is be honest about the mistake that he made (and learned from) so that WE don't have to make the same mistakes.

Zach is more about genuinely helping make stronger people, rather than making a quick buck, and in this industry I'm sorry to say that's rare. That's what makes this book so valuable.

I think that due to many positive prelease "reviews" I hoped for more, than this book is. Still it seems than Convict Conditioning is much better.

Moreover, I got really bored from the stories of Zach's childhood---there are too many of then and better selection would do great job.

Excellent read! Zach is the f**ckin' man!!

If you want to get strong in body and mind, read this book. But I don't just mean strong, I mean bad-ass mean motherfuckier strong. Zach Even-Esh is one of the most passionate men I have ever come across in my entire life. Every single word this man speaks, every single line this man writes, is 100% from the bottom of his heart. Writing this review does not do Zach justice, but just listen to him speak, read his writing, and you will understand what I'm trying to say. This man brings full out passion and intensity to everything he does in life.

Now, I haven't even touched on the book yet, but understanding who Zach is sets the entire tone of the book. First and foremost this truly is an Encyclopedia of strength training and condition. It has absolutely everything you need to be successful in your fitness goes regardless of age, income, where you live, genetics. Basically, anything you believe is holding you back from being strong and looking jacked, Zach has a plan for you.
There's honestly no need to write any more in depth on the training aspect because no matter who are this book has the recipe for success.

So far this book has changed my life physically. In the book Zach describes his journey and initially he falls victim to the body building style of training where no matter how much he lifted he wasn't getting stronger. This has been the story of my lifting life so far. That is until I met two men. The first was Jason Ferruggia and I have to credit him for initially helping me become stronger. But it wasn't until I discovered Zach Even-Esh that I finally realize what makes somebody strong. His intense and physical training has taken my own training and strength to new heights and every work in some way I become stronger. As far as gaining strength, this book is a step by step manual. But this isn't even the best or most important part of the book.

The way The Encyclopedia really changed my life is mentally. Before I read this book I would simply go to the gym and lift for a pre-planned amount of sets and reps and had a "good" workout. Reading this book showed me it's not just about lifting weights, it's about going in there and busting your ass with an intensity that defines you. What I mean by that is how you lift in the gym, is the same way you perform in life. When I finally realize this correlation my work out completely changed. Without getting into specific lifts, I now focus on the big ass lifts that take you through hell and back. I put myself in situations I feel uncomfortable in and sometime those which are down right scare of ( high rep SQUATS). This has thought me a whole new definition of pain, intensity, work ethic, and how hard I can push myself. What's absolutely amazing is how quickly this translated into every other aspect of my life. My efficiency and productivity has sky rocketed no matter what I'm doing. Because of Zach Even-Esh I wake up everyday and am ready to seize the day with my heart of my sleeve.

Word's can't describe the influence this man and book has had on my life. If I one day have children of my own (I'm only 20), I will buy this book for them as a way to live their lives. Finally, Zach lives by a code,one which I have adopted for myself.

-Honestly
-Integrity
-Commitment
- Work Ethic

Thank you Zach,
Live the Code
Andrew McDermot

If you are someone or know of someone who is stuck in the rut of endless isolation sets and feeling burned out on the monotony of bodybuilding style routines and programs, then this book will change the way you look at training forever.
This book is not just a reference of exercises and descriptions, though it has it, it is done from a narrative point on Zach's life in where he started with his training to where he is now and the methods he uses to train now. This book is well over 400+ pages and is so amazingly written it was hard to put it down. Highly recommend this for anyone who is looking to change their way of training or way of thinking in regards to training, or are looking for a new way to rekindle their love and passion for lifting again.

Great book , being a strength coach, this is a must read! Outstanding book!