“R.I.P.P.E.D. Weight Training”
Rating: 
Author: Steve Gwillim
Recommended For:
Beginner-Advanced
Price: $67
Format: E-Book (Electronic Delivery)
| Skip down to the “Bottom Line” |
This bodybuilding program focuses almost entirely on the training portion of the bodybuilding process. And because it is marketed at beginners (as well as advanced and expert bodybuilders and everyone in-between), this approach seems a little short-sighted to me.
In my experience, it just doesn’t matter what you do in the gym until you learn to feed the body for muscle growth.
You can do everything right in the gym but if your diet isn’t adequate, you simply aren’t going to see results. More often than not, it is inadequate dieting practices that cause the beginner frustration.
Who wrote this program? I don’t know. At some point this program went from being written and promoted by Gwillim to being written and promoted by Vince Sarcone, and then back again to Gwillim???
The photos used to represent the author are pretty common stock photos. In my opinion, this is a credibility killer right off the bat.
But on to the program…
R.I.P.P.E.D. is an acronym for Reinforcement, Intensity, Progression, Proportionality, Efficiency and Dedication. These are the 6 “pillars” to Gwillim’s program. The ebook organizes the bulk of its message into chapters adhering to those themes. This makes for some jumbled organization but it isn’t that bad. Gwillim is a decent enough writer and his message gets across.
Diet is covered under reinforcement and progression. There just isn’t enough here to give the beginner the solid understanding of the kind of kitchen work it takes to get to where they want to go. There isn’t much offered to the advanced trainer beyond some suggested macronutrient ratios. I’d also say Gwillim’s caloric projections are a bit below where a great many of his readers are going to need to get to succeed.
Supplements are also covered briefly. Gwillim repeats some supplement marketing hype here and doesn’t offer much in the way of real insight. There is little effort to lead his readers to an intelligent and economical supplement strategy.
Again, the majority of the ebook deals with the weight training approach Gwillim has developed. This approach centers around dividing the body into 8 parts, training in short 30-45 minute sessions and training each muscle group once every 5-7 days. As you advance, 2 training sessions a day or longer sessions are prescribed.
Gwillim does a good job of explaining not just the exercises and routines he recommends but the ways in which you must perform your weight training to get your muscles to react. Things like intensity, progression and tempo – which can be more important than routine design – are successfully installed in the reader’s minds.
Overall, the weight training strategy presented in “R.I.P.P.E.D. Weight Training” seems sound. But at no time did I become convinced that it was anything greater than one guy’s theory. I didn’t come away thinking I’d learned something and wanting to alter my own training approach because of it.
One place the program does excel is in exercise instruction and the accompanying exercise videos. This is done as well as you will find anywhere. Also included are training plans for the various levels of experience Gwillim identifies. Member’s only message board access is included. When I did this review there wasn’t anything yet on the board but it was only a few weeks after this program was put on sale.
The Bottom Line
2 of 5 Stars: This may hold some value for the person looking for a long-term, step-by-step weight training plan. But, really, where is the credibility? As a complete program, I find “R.I.P.P.E.D. Weight Training” lacking. I think there are an abundance of better, more credible sources for weight training information.
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