For anyone interested... if you want good posture, if you want to really be in shape, there are a million fads out there, but the best book by far is "Starting Strength" [1]. (It's also one of the best-selling on Amazon.)
It essentially focuses on just the squat, deadlift, press, bench press, and (later) power clean, devoting around forty pages to each, and explains why you really don't need much else. They're quite difficult to get right, but the incredibly in-depth explanations will especially appeal to programmers who like understanding how things work.
I say this just because the book completely changed the way I approach the gym, and it mirrors what the article author says about the exercises he used.
It essentially focuses on just the squat, deadlift, press, bench press, and (later) power clean, devoting around forty pages to each, and explains why you really don't need much else. They're quite difficult to get right, but the incredibly in-depth explanations will especially appeal to programmers who like understanding how things work.
I say this just because the book completely changed the way I approach the gym, and it mirrors what the article author says about the exercises he used.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp...