I don’t get overly excited when people send me programs and products to review because, honestly, there is a lot of garbage out there. I’m sure you hear all about every product on the internet, and I try hard to only talk about things I think are worthwhile – quality products created by quality people that are worth spending your hard-earned dollars to purchase.
If you’ve ever looked online for strength & conditioning information, I’m sure you’ve seen , heard or read about Eric Cressey at one point or another. If not, you’re missing out. Besides being a brilliant trainer, Eric is also one of the coolest, most humble guys on the planet. A real class act.
Eric’s past products have been outstanding, though, so when he sent me a pre-release copy of his new product The High Performance Handbook, I was really excited to check it out.
What I really like about this product is that he figured out a way to make it flexible enough so that it can be individualized for just about anyone. Most products just lay out a basic program and that’s it. Not Eric.
The HPH starts out with a self-assessment, which I thought that was a brilliant idea that most people miss altogether. This evaluation puts you onto a specific track that you follow for the rest of the program. He divides people up into two groups based on their lumbar spine orientation and tendencies. From there, you have additional options depending on your situation and needs. He has created dozens of workouts that you choose from depending on your circumstances. He even has modifications for people over 40 who still want to pretend like we’ve still got it.
I thought that was fantastic.
It also appears that Eric spent half his life creating a video library of hundreds of exercises. I’m serious. I think the HPH has over 200 videos!
Many of the workouts include super-sets and tri-sets, which I love, so I was glad to see him use them extensively. Eric’s programs also include a lot of variety, so you’re not going to get bored. He also made sure to choose exercises that don’t require too much equipment, so it can be done with limited resources.
Because there are so many programs, and they’re all quite detailed, the programs can get a little confusing to read. Once you understand how to read them, it clears up quickly.
I think some of his exercise choices are a bit off the wall, but that’s Eric, and he has a reason for each one. He even took the time to field a few questions from me about this, and I’ll post his responses soon so you understand more about where he’s coming from. I also asked him how to modify his program for athletes and groups, and I think you’ll enjoy reading his responses.
Eric also enlisted the help of Brian St. Pierre to create the High Performance Handbook Nutrition Guide, which is part of HPH. What Brian created is awesome, and is worth the price of the product by itself. Truly quality material about a broad range of nutritional issues.
This is not group fitness, speed development or something perfect for use with large groups of young athletes. But, if you want programs for strength development, fat loss, general conditioning, corrective strategies, mobility, to look and feel amazing at any age or just to get a million great ideas, then you owe it to yourself to get Eric’s new program, the High Performance Handbook.
Like I said before, there is plenty of garbage out there that I would never recommend, but there are other products that we should all have. This is one of them.
Eric is also including a ton of bonus items at no additional cost, making it an even better value. For more information, check out Eric Cressey’s High Performance Handbook
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