"Natural Bodybuilding”
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REVIEW by Brandi Kirk
I want to take this opportunity to personally thank you for all of the hard work that you poured into creating "Natural Bodybuilding by John Hansen." I am a Physical Therapist, who competes in natural bodybuilding competitions and my scientific background forces me to demand medical or scientific reasoning behind training and nutritional concepts. Your book has become my bible to natural bodybuilding.

I started training in January 2003, with a coach who used to be a natural bodybuilding competitor and judge. I also had a personal trainer, whom I saw 2 times a week. I read various books and magazines and tried to educate myself. However, it appeared as though there were numerous ways to train and diet but none of them seemed to work for me. I realized that my disappointment lay in the fact that it’s difficult for enhancing-drug-using authors to instruct completely natural bodybuilders in diet and nutrition.

From January 2003, to May 2003, I went from 153 pounds and a size 14 to 119 pounds and a size 4 on competition day. I placed 5th in the NPC Grand Prix Naturals in Rockford, IL. I had very little muscle mass, secondary to extreme weight loss. In 2004, I placed 4th in the open and 3rd in the novice class at the NPC Grand Prix Naturals and one week later competed again and placed 2nd in the open class at the NANBF Midwestern Classic in Chicago, IL. However, I did not feel like I had improved much over the previous year of training, definitely not as much as I had wanted to improve. This year, in 2005, I discovered your book in April, with a May 14th competition looming. I learned more in one month of reading your book than I had learned in the 2 years prior, training with professionals. I realized that I had been spent 2 years training in a catabolic state and I was making the huge mistake of trying to time my carb-loading with my time on stage. The result was a smooth stage look. During the month before my competition, I memorized your contest prep chapters, using the book so much, I ended up breaking the binding from trying to fit it on the rack of the cardio machines at the gym. The result on May 14th, 2005: 1st place in the open short class, 1st place overall, qualified for nationals and was awarded “Best Female Poser” at the NANBF Midwestern Classic in Chicago, IL. I still feel that I wasn’t at my best that day. I didn’t have the shredded look I was going for but attribute that fact to gaining too much weight in my off-season, something I plan to avoid this next year.

I am greatly looking forward to a full year of training with your book as my guide. My next competition is in July 2006, and I can’t wait to see what I am capable of with an entire year of proper training and nutrition designed explicitly for a natural bodybuilder. I would strongly recommend this book to other natural bodybuilders and that they follow it to a tee. I wish that I could have found your book in 2003, because I feel like I lost 2 years of effort. The book has taken the guesswork out of bodybuilding. I am forever grateful to you and I will keep you posted on my future competitions. Through your book you are helping me to fulfill my dreams.

-Brandi Kirk

REVIEW by Dan Solomon from Pro Muscle Online.com
From time to time I will come across a book that deserves the attention of my fellow bodybuilding public. John Hansen, 2 time Natural Mr. Universe, has authored a comprehensive collection of proven training and diet strategies. The 300+ pages are loaded with highly conceptual and well articulated training concepts. This is not your typical cookie-cutter “get big quick” books. Instead, you will be pleasantly surprised by the book’s unique ability to educate and motivate. Well done John!!!
Pick up your copy – Dan Solomon

Jeff Curtis

REVIEW by Jeff Curtis
My name is Jeff Curtis and I am a natural bodybuilder. It is hard to find information in the typical bodybuilding mags for the natural athlete. Most of the articles are printed by guys on drugs for guys on drugs. That is where the book Natural Bodybuilding comes in. This great guide fills the void left by the mags and gives the natural athlete the data that he or she needs to succeed. Every aspect of the sport of bodybuilding is adequately covered. Training, nutrition, supplementation and the mental aspects are all included. John cuts through the garbage and gives the reader the real information on bodybuilding! As a natural competitor John even includes a section as to what to expect at a competition. There is even information on how to pose and how to eat and train in the pre-contest mode. There is no other book that even comes close to this for a natural bodybuilder. I used this book to place second (the Mid-Michigan Natural) in my latest show, so I know the info in this book is right on the money! John's a great natural champion who gives you the reader all of his knowledge in this fantastic manual. He shares all of his expertise and experience and he holds nothing back. I wish I had this book when I started working out as it would have saved me a lot of wasted time and effort. If you are a bodybuilder just starting out or a natural bodybuilder you NEED to go buy this book. It is the best manual there is for a natural athlete. Natural Bodybuilding is a roadmap to success for the natural bodybuilder!
Jeff Curtis,
Runner-up 2005 NPC Mid-Michigan Natural

Below is a review of my book by someone who just purchased and read it. This was posted on www.musclemayhem.com under the
Natural Training section:

My Review of Natural Bodybuilding by John Hansen

I read this book today, and let me say that this is by FAR the most detailed, thorough, book on the market today. There is a TRUE lack of NATURAL bodybuilding books/resources out there, and this one, is extremely informative. I think that there is a true lack of not only the books I mentioned, but the natural role models that the sport needs. Everywhere you look, shows, magazines, ads, you see the typical "juice freak" that will not or cannot motivate "average joe".

Chapter by chapter, this book goes through the neccessary things that a natural bodybuilder needs, be it in his diet, training program, or routine. I have not seen many books (if any at all) that tell you what to do, or how to act when you get to the show site and that are this thorough. It even gives tips for posing routines and MUCH MUCH more!

You need to go to the site, RIGHT NOW if you are a natural bodybuilder, and order this book. I mean immediately. Seriously, go order this book.......

I think the better title is even The Precontest Bible for the Natural Athlete as it surely should be part of any natural competitor's bookshelf

I give the book, an A++

Way to go John, this one, is one I will read again, and highlight, and keep as a reference!!!