You are right. A warm up set is preferred (as opposed to stretching) because warm muscles are less likey to be injured. Stretching a cold muscle could possibly cause injuries, too.
It is not bad for a novice because it gives you a basic framework to begin with. You will adapt it to your own style with time, but you need to begin somewhere.
I just prefer a bear-bones appraoch as opposed to a uselessly complicated ones.
And why would that be? I’d honestly be interested to hear more.
I’m not someone who ever wanted to be a bodybuilder. I’m just someone who had tried and failed for many years to get fit, lose weight and build up some strength. The BFL book was the first I had come across that covered all three bases (attitude, exercise, diet), brought together all the good pieces of advice and left out the dross, and was well-written and clear.
I haven’t followed the book slavishly. For example, I was determined never to buy special supplement ‘bars’ and ‘shakes’. For one thing, they’re expensive. Also, I figured I wanted to achieve my goals just eating normal food.
Having created my own routine, based largely on the BFL book, I achieved the results I wanted. That’s all I can say - it worked for me, and I found it pretty easy, too! You can understand that after something like 15 years of failure, I’m pleased about this, and so naturally I tend to mention the book to other people. Got a problem with that?