Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

For a while, I was doing bodyweight workouts and just winging my diet. After reading this book, I learned everything I needed to know about achieving maximum, stunning results with my body! This book went into superb detail about the various factors of the diet that really matter when it comes to losing weight, gaining muscle and maintaining overall good health. Matthews defines the nutrient types and clearly deciphers the functions of each of them while dispelling myths the fad diets have perpetuated over the decades (ie fats are evil, carbs are evil). He outlines easy-to-follow strategies concerning calorie and nutrient intake for weight loss as well as for muscle gain when you want to build via weight training. His information matches what I have found in reputable body building forums and has worked for me personally in the weight loss phase, and I just recently started the bulking phase. He also gives you some suggestions for what to eat and includes some good recipes. In addition to the dieting portion of the book, Matthews provides a complete breakdown of how to begin weight training, from how many sets and reps to do to maximize the effectiveness of a workout to how to properly rest and allow muscle to build. He gives his beginner routine, a 5 day split muscle group routine, and breaks it down into a 4 or 3 day routine as well for those of us who are pressed for gym time. While I have only been at it for little over a week, I noticed on my second round of each workout that my weights are already increasing dramatically. If you are like me, then weight training can be a daunting experience at first with all the exercises you can possibly do, but Matthews turns this into an easily understandable program that gets results. It's alot simpler than one would think, and he makes you realize this fact. As a nice bonus, he even includes a downloadable guide that extends past the beginner's phase of training to help you continue to maximize your workouts and gains, as well as providing many more recipes and some diet and supplement information. Oh, and it is very refreshing that he does not push supplements much beyond the basics that everyone who lifts should have (whey protein and creatine monohydrate). For someone coming from bodyweight workouts (and nothing at all before that 6 months of exercise), this book gave me everything I needed to hit the gym effectively and establish a diet tailored to my goals that absolutely works. Even better, Matthews cares about your progress and will stay in contact with you to assist with any questions you have. I have personally contacted him regarding some specific things and he has gone above and beyond to help me in every way that he can, successfully. Would I recommend this book? Without a second thought. I think this should be a staple of every weight trainer's arsenal to reach his/her maximum potential! Mike

I never write reviews for stuff I buy on Amazon, but I've been moved to do so with this product. First and foremost, let me tell you a bit about myself before I get into why I'm such a fan of Michael Matthews and his methodology. Before I bought this book, I had been lifting for about 8 months. I gathered most of my information from more advanced lifters and places like Bodybuilding.com. I was able to do the whole bulk/cut thing by myself and get some results. but, for the most part, I wasn't educated as far as workout programs go. I would think "That guy looks better than me, I'm going to do what he's doing." I followed various routines to a T. And then I found this book. The routines in this book are kind of similar to Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength," but there is more variety and not as long of rest times so personally, I think these workouts are more fun. You won't really work in the 8-12 rep range that many "experts" call for; this is mostly about lifting heavy. I myself was slightly skeptical, but Mike Matthews backs up everything he says with references that are right in the back of the book. It's evident that he's done his research; I even skimmed through some of the studies he cites myself so I could see if I got the same essential meaning. I did. Yes, the workouts are kind of unconventional, but they work. More on that later. The real strength of this book is how thorough it is. I feel that it's simple enough that anyone could pick it up off a shelf, read it, and be ready to go, regardless of how much lifting experience he or she has had. Nutrition is spelled out so easily that a five-year-old could follow the thought process, and the supplement section opened my eyes to a few things I didn't know as well. There are a couple of drawbacks, though--- the book does seem to contain quite a bit of motivational junk-- which, some people may need-- but to me it seemed overdone and almost hyperbolic. Then again, I love working out so I didn't need the extra kicker. Maybe you do. It's in there. The other thing is this: Sometimes, you just get bored reading the book, man. I LOVE learning new things about fitness, but you can only take so much at a time. I read the book in three large chunks, but sometimes it was a struggle to push through. It's pretty well-written and easy to follow, but you can get bogged down nonetheless. Here's the big part. I wasn't going to post this review until I had actually tried the program for a few weeks. I am now finishing my first month, and I have seen strength gains pretty much across the board. (I should add that I transitioned from cutting to bulking, so more food almost certainly had something to do with it, but regardless, I am thrilled with the results.) I've been able to gain weight without gaining much body fat (something Mike teaches you how to do) and, for the most part, I still look pretty good. I haven't got the "puffy" look that most people do on a bulk. But, I digress. If I were just reviewing the book, I'd probably give it four stars. But that, coupled with the results it brings, pushes it to a 5. I wish I had a sixth star to give for what I'm about to say next. When you purchase the book, in the back there is a miscellaneous section where Mike links you to his website and other e-books. Yes, he obviously wants to advertise and ultimately get more money, but if you go to his website, there is TONS of free advice and he'll even throw in three free e-books when you get on his email list. You can find pretty much everything you need to know-- and yes, it's all backed up by science as well. I've also been able to personally interact with Mike on Twitter a couple times. Initially, I thought this book was a cash-grab and that would be it, but I was wrong. Mike actually cares to follow up with the people on his program. He's answered all of my additional questions and been very helpful throughout the process. He also constantly posts new, free articles on his social media, so he's worth a follow if you're serious about BLS. Obviously this is how he makes his living, but he seems to be a genuine person with a real passion for helping others achieve their goals. Well done, Mike, and I'll be sure to get in touch with you after finishing BLS.

This book was expertly crafted! it contains everything you would need to know to formulate a customized diet and nutrition plan and strength training regimen. Before I picked up this book my diet and exercise regimen was all over the map. I did not know where to go or who to believe in terms of getting the right diet and exercise advice. You see I'm a 47 yo male. I've tried all types of exercise over the years, but I never really knew what I was doing or how to achieve any results. In the past few years I had accumulated quite a bit of excess weight. I was barely exercising at all and eating a lot of junk food . So in April I started a weight-loss program and managed to knock off about 35 pounds which put me in a much better place. People were already saying how much younger and better I looked, but I knew the puzzle was not complete. I knew I had to incorporate a regular exercise program in my life for all of the obvious reasons. I feared if I just continued doing cardio type exercise I would continue to lose weight but also muscle and would end up looking like a skeleton at the end of it. When I started researching I was finding all sorts of conflicting information and I did not see a lot of current training/exercise programs ( no more than a few years old) available out there. Anyhow when I came across Mike Matthews' book, Bigger Leaner Stronger, I got very excited because it was the answer to my prayers. Now , I was not sure at first about starting a weight training program. I never thought it was my style or that I ever needed to bulk up in that manner. But when I started reading this book I realized that training and proper diet were so much more than just "bulking up ". You are not only going for looking aesthetically pleasing, but you are improving your overall health in many different ways as well as increasing your strength and stamina. And let's face it if you look kind of nice at the end of the whole thing that's not a bad thing is it? So anyhow the book covers the whole gamut, the whole ball of wax so to speak. He covers everything such as detailed medical and health terminology, muscle building and fat loss myths and mistakes, ideas on willpower and motivation, detailed diet and nutrition info (including pre and post workout nutrition and preparing your own diet plans for getting bigger or leaner), and of course a complete training and strengthening program including 3, 4 or 5 day training regimens. He also includes a separate section on Supplementation, which covers the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to supplements and those who make them. I think this section was a great addition, because most people are interested in taking them with the hopes of achieving better training results or simply optimal health. Mike helps you sort through the mess and come out with what is really worth taking and how it should benefit you. Two other things. One, Mike tries to back up almost every important claim or statement he makes by citing some study that was done or other reference. He has an almost 40 page reference section in the back of the book citing all of his sources section by section. This man has done his research, put the time in, and is giving us sound, no nonsense advice. And second, I've seen other reviews where it's mentioned that the author promotes his supplement line, customized meal plans etc. I absolutely do not see the issue with this at all. First of all when I read the information the first question I asked was where can I get the supplements or how can I get help with this. Thank you Mike for offering these things for us in the event we are interested. And why should he not promote his things in the books that he writes. They are his books, he wrote them and he should be able to promote whatever he likes. And he does not force feed this information to you, he just makes it available for you if you are interested. We are all adults and if we opt not to purchase anything then we simply do not have to. OK I hope I have proven my point. I am very very happy with my purchase. I have started the program and am happy with how I feel and the results I'm getting. I plan on publishing my success story with before and after photos, so hopefully you'll hear from me again. Sincerely, Neil

Great book that offers more of a lifestyle than a fitness routine or "get fit quick" scheme. Mike offers clear direction and guidance on nutrition and fitness that anyone can implement and follow. The program is adaptable to any level of fitness, age, and available resources, i.e. home or local gym. Nutrition options are provided for cutting, bulking, and maintaining depending on your goals and weight. Strength training is distilled down to the basics, with 3-, 4-, and 5-day options depending on your available time. Mike also provides insights into the mental aspects of training and overall fitness, along with exercises to help discover your inner "why" for embarking on a lifestyle change. I appreciate the straight-forward writing style, and depth of information provided (research-based with sources quoted.

There are very few books I would call “life changing,” but this is without a doubt one of them. I’m 41 years old and have spent most of my adult life in the gym, not aspiring to be a bodybuilder necessarily but simply striving to stay strong and lean, to feel good and to be healthy. My goal has always been to maintain an athletic look without excessively long and complicated workouts or bizarre and restrictive diets. I own or have read stacks and stacks of fitness books, from Arnold’s Encyclopedia to obscure spiral bound books from self-published authors, on every topic from the paleo diet to barefoot running to bodyweight exercises to genuine bodybuilding. I’ve wasted more money and paper than I care to think about over the years on magazines such as Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, and various bodybuilding mags to little or no avail. I’ve tried every conceivable workout method and fad from crossfit to circuit training to bodypump to good old fashioned iron pumping with supersets, drop sets and more. While I picked up some valuable information and skills along the way, my sheer dedication to fitness is what pulled me through and gave me results, mediocre though they were. But then I stumbled upon Bigger Leaner Stronger (BLS) on Amazon. Always open to reading new material, but jaded from a couple of decades of reading poor to mediocre books, I bought it with no great expectations. The first chapter or two is pretty much what you’d expect in a book on this topic -- big promises. But unlike any other book I’ve ever read on the topic, BLS delivers on those promises, and how! Of course I couldn’t know that until I had finished the book and actually tried the program for awhile, so here is a summary of my experience. As of this writing, I’m 11 weeks into the program. I started off at 175 pounds and 17.5% body fat. Today I’m 166 pounds and 11.5% body fat. If you run the numbers, I’ve lost 9 pounds, BUT I’ve also put on a few pounds of muscle at the same time, so the results are far more dramatic than simply losing 9 pounds. I’m on what’s called a “cutting diet” (outlined in the book) which is designed primarily to make you lose fat while maintaining or slightly gaining muscle. After the cutting diet, you follow with a bulking diet which does the opposite -- primarily designed to build muscle quickly while minimizing fat gain. A few cycles of cutting and bulking (with your workouts, of course) and you can have a body like Mike (the author of BLS.) I say this as a skeptic who was blown away by the results that this is without a doubt the easiest, most efficient, most effective, simplest and most comprehensible way to get the body you want. The real kicker here is that there’s almost nothing new in this book. There are no revolutionary secrets or cutting-edge fads, no complicated workouts or strange exercises, and no diet “tricks,” miracle pills or evil foods to fear. It’s all just basic sensible eating and good old fashioned sweat, and yet it works magic. So if there’s nothing new in it, why is this book so good? First, because Mike did what none of the rest of us took the time to do: he did his homework. I don’t mean he read Muscle and Fitness Magazine. I mean he read primary clinical research in peer reviewed journals, and then he tested it on himself. Second, and this is where he really shines, because Mike has an ability that apparently other authors of fitness books lack: the skill to take what he learned and put it in a clear, concise, highly organized, highly digestible format that anyone can understand without getting lost in the weeds or bored to tears. Mike has exhaustively researched and put into practice every principle in his book, and he includes references to all of the clinical trials he read so you can read the primary research for yourself if you’re so inclined. In addition to that, his website, muscleforlife.com, is brimming with FREE, interesting articles that go in greater depth about many topics and answer questions that newbies to the program will invariably have (as I myself did.) And as if that weren’t enough, Mike’s really good about personally responding to questions posted on the website. He also does live Q&A’s online which are helpful, as well as video podcasts which are also helpful. Here’s a bullet list of the major points I got from the book: *a few sets of heavy reps of basic lifts is all you need to build a ton of muscle *a few sets of heavy reps of basic lifts burns more fat that cardio *a few sets of heavy reps of basic lifts keeps your gym time surprisingly short *eating the right ratio of fats/carbs/protein is absolutely essential for success *eating the right ratio of fats/carbs/protein need not be an exhaustive chore *eating the right ratio of fats/carbs/protein need not be absurdly restrictive *eating the right ratio of fats/carbs/protein is not a starvation diet *doing cardio is important, but not as important as you think *doing cardio isn’t nearly as miserable or long as you think if you do it right *tracking your progress is absolutely essential to success and is hugely motivating too *tracking your progress need not be an exhaustive chore -- in fact I find it fun *your genetics, age, perceived bad luck, lack of experience, past failures and current state of couch-potatoness will not define your success on this program *your commitment to this program will define your success on this program *its not a program, it’s a lifestyle change just like a hobby, having kids, having pets, having a career or cooking at home instead of eating out every night Here’s how I think the book could be improved: There are a few details missing from the book that you won’t even realize are missing until you have a question as a result of actually being on the program. For example, your weight loss is unlikely to be linear, and it may even stop weeks or months into the program if you’re trying to cut fat. But that’s no reason to despair. There are simple ways to get it moving again, which are discussed in exact detail in various articles on the website. One important, very simple, very effective method is the reverse diet which isn’t discussed in BLS. It is discussed in the book’s sequel, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is for advanced lifters who’ve already gone through BLS and have been lifting at least 1-2 years. It is also discussed, as I already mentioned, in articles on the website for free. I also found his treatment of supplements a bit confusing. He’s extremely critical of supplements in the BLS book, but if you go to his website you’ll find that he’s got his own line of supplements which at first seems extremely hypocritical. I’ve since come to understand that he’s critical of the supplement industry as a whole for their various frauds (and rightly so) but that there are a number of mostly natural supplements that have been clinically proven to be effective, and his supplements are just that: clinically effective dosages of clinically proven substances, and nothing more. He also has made it clear that while supplements (even his own) can be helpful in getting faster results, they are by no means necessary and are absolutely no substitute for proper diet and exercise. Here are some tips/advice for anyone new to the program: The number one issue I feared with this program is the one thing I vowed never in my life to do: count calories or exclude entire food groups from my diet. If you share that fear, read on. I’m a prolific home cook. Cooking is one of my greatest joys in life and I hold the joys of food -- from growing it and hunting it, to cooking it and eating it, to sharing it with friends and family -- in reverence above nearly all else in life. I love dairy. I love breads. I love pork. I love dessert. And I will not give these things up. Ever. I have a small farm and raise pork and dairy goats, poultry and eggs, honey and red meat. I also hunt and fish. And I eat it all, every bit. So with great trepidation I read Mike’s stance on food, and I thought, well, at least I don’t have to give up any foods. I figured that maybe I could try tracking my calories, fat, etc IF it’s not a lot of trouble and doesn’t detract from my joy of food in any way. And you know what? After I thought about it, and then tried it, I realized I had been missing a tactic of awesome proportions. Let me explain. Even before BLS, I planned meals. I have to, but also I like to. I cook every meal. Literally, every meal. In order to feed my household and use the exceptional foods I grow on the farm and hunt in the mountains, I have to plan for what’s coming out of the garden each week, or what I’ll need to take out of the freezer to thaw in time, or what incidentals like baking powder I’ll need to pick up at the grocery store. I already had seasonally and weekly recurring meals and treats such as lasagna, beef stew, pumpkin bread, pancakes, etc. on the menu, and typically set aside Sunday to do the bulk of my weekly cooking so that weekday meals are a no-brainer. The only thing I wasn’t doing was tracking the nutrient ratios. But Mike proposed an ingenious solution: the spreadsheet. Instead of writing down my weekly meal planning on the chalkboard as I had previously done, I just moved it to a simple spreadsheet. The spreadsheet had the advantage of both making my planning faster and easier AND keeping track of my nutrient ratios automatically so I scarcely had to think about it. Mike shows examples of how to build and use a spreadsheet in his book but it’s really simple. I took it one step further. Admittedly my spreadsheet savvy is slightly more advanced than the average Joe, but nothing I did can’t be learned on Google in a few minutes. Nothing. Here’s what I did: For my favorite lasagna recipe, I put all the ingredients and their amounts in the spreadsheet, along with their total sodium, fiber, protein, fat, carbs and calories. Nutrient ratios can be gotten from boxes of food, manufacturer websites and from calorieking.com. It was a one time task that takes less than 10 minutes per recipe. Then, I just summed each column and divided by the number of servings in that recipe. In my weekly planner, I created separate tabs for each day of the week, and on each tab I created dropdown boxes where I could pick from the list of recipes I’d entered into my spreadsheet. So for example, on the Monday tab I simply click the dropdown box for lunch and choose any food or recipe I’d previously entered into my spreadsheet. Let’s say I choose lasagna. Well, the sodium, fiber, protein, carbs, fat and calories for 1 serving of lasagna automatically populate the fields for lunch and add them to the daily total. If I want 2 servings of lasagna, I just change the quantity to 2 and all the numbers are updated. Repeat for breakfast, dinner, post-workout, snacks, whatever, and you can instantly build your day and, subsequently, your entire week and never have to manually add a single number in your head. The only requirements are that you take the time upfront to build the spreadsheet and spend a few minutes per recipe to enter them into the spreadsheet. After that, you just have to commit to using it as an extremely fast and effective meal planner. I just added 2-4 recipes per week in the beginning until I had a large number of my favorite recipes in the spreadsheet, and now all I have to do is sit down and chose from the list what I’m going to cook that week. Adding something new is literally and figuratively a piece of cake. Another tip for the newbie is to track the physical changes in your body. I also use a spreadsheet for this. It’s very simple: weigh yourself every day (on the same scale, at the same time, like first thing in the morning) and enter that into your spreadsheet. I added a chart on a separate tab and I can see how my weight has changed over the weeks. It tends to go up and down daily, but the overall trend is down and it’s extremely encouraging to look at, especially on days where you “feel” like you aren’t making progress. One look at your little chart and all doubts are quashed. I find it extremely motivating. In a few clicks you can also add a regression line (I know, it sounds scary, but it’s not.) It’s just a line that shows the trend in your data points (your weight.) Basically it’s your average weight loss shown in a straight line that runs across your chart. You can use it to very effectively predict when you’ll hit a target weight. I also use the spreadsheet to track my body fat percentage, waist and other body measurements, calculate my lean body mass (LBM), my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), basal metabolic rate (BMR) and other things Mike explains in BLS. These terms may sound complicated but I assure you, if you can learn to drive a car you can very easily learn how to keep a simple spreadsheet and calculate these numbers and understand what they mean. The beauty of the spreadsheet is that once it’s all set up, you just add your daily weight and everything else is updated for you. A third tip is to use the website, muscleforlife.com. It’s absolutely brimming with fabulous, plain-English, no-nonsense articles that will answer most, if not all, of your additional questions. Failing that, just post a comment online and Mike will respond. Failing even that, you can call Legion legionathletics.com (Mike’s supplement company) and you can ask a live person your question. They’re very friendly and helpful. My final tip: take advantage of Mike’s suggestions. He doesn’t suggest stuff willy-nilly. His supplements are truly effective. The lifting shoes and body fat calipers he recommends really work. His exercises and diet advice are like magic. Again on his website you’ll find so many tidbits of helpful advice, but don’t feel like you have to know it all or have all the “stuff” before you can start. A lifestyle change like this isn’t something you achieve overnight. You don’t have to be an expert on day 1. Indeed you can’t be. It’s the journey that makes you the expert. As Lao Tzu said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but you’re lucky to have BLS because it lays out such a clear map.

I purchased this book several years ago, having seen it on Amazon. I got it at my local library and leafed through it, and found it good and comprehensible but "too much work." Fast forward to 2024: I did make, and actually stick to, a New Year's Resolution to "be healthy" and lose weight. I started the year at 216 pounds (6'2" male). I had been exercising daily for 3 years at that point (tried Crossfit, various workout programs, kettlebells) but was still gaining weight consistently year-on-year (3-5 pounds per year). I re-read the nutrition section of "BLS" and decided to put it into action. It was awkward at first. I'm married with children, and I can't ask my family to eat according to this lifestyle. Mike's system is very intense: he recommends planning out your meals to the calorie and macronutrient day-by-day and week-by-week, and reserving Sunday as a meal preparation day. I just didn't have the time or interest to do this. So I downloaded and used the "MyFitnessPal" app to track my calories and macros, and simply attempt to eat daily at a calorie restriction. Over a few weeks, I got used to tracking calories and macros, and was able to make healthy food choices more easily. I learned what foods have a high protein-to-100-calorie ratio and aim for those; I choose lower-fat meats and eat lots of fish. For religious reasons I eat a vegan diet several weeks a year, and that part is always difficult, but Mike does provide advice for vegan nutrition (and offers some sample meal plans in the freebie package that you can download with the book). I lost the first 10 pounds rather easily, within 2 months. I reached 190 pounds (26 pounds lighter than when I started) in June, and now (October 2024) I'm hovering around 183 pounds--over 30 pounds lost. I've had to adjust my calories and macros along the way. I have purchased a few other "bodybuilding meal prep" and meal plan cookbooks, and that has been a big help. At this point, my wife and I can plan our meals for the week, reach an agreement, and shop and prep for the meals in advance. I usually eat my own breakfast (most commonly, fat-free yogurt with whey protein); my wife prefers fattier ground beef (80%/20%), which means I will simply eat less of it. So, it is possible. As for the workout plan in the book: it's very good. I've had lower back injuries over the years, and again tweaked my back as I was approaching heavier weights according to Mike's plan (especially getting over 200# squat and deadlift). I've modified to suit what I can do and feel comfortable with. I've been doing barbell front squat instead of back squat (less pressure on my back), and adding in Kettlebell swings to strengthen my lower back for deadlift. I do "lift heavy," but I don't follow Mike's plan precisely, because I don't feel the need to add 10 pounds every lift and set a new PR. Sometimes I'll stay at the same squat weight for a few weeks, just to "own the weight" and get used to it. That said, I think the nutrition portion of this book is the most important. I am nowhere near the "strength standards" Mike proposes in the book (I believe he recommends being able to deadlift 2x your bodyweight?), but my body has been changing. My muscles are visible, and I even have the outline of abs appearing. If I'm judging from photos, I've probably gone from 25% bodyfat to somewhere in the 15-20% bodyfat range (I have not gotten a DEXA scan, so these are just visual estimates). Of course, now being at 183 pounds, I think it will be increasingly difficult to approach and maintain lower bodyfat percentages, because so much of that is diet. I will recommend two tools that have really helped me follow the book's plan. One is an Apple watch (or any fitness tracker), primarily because it provides a "calories burned" estimate day by day. Of course, it's an estimate, and people on the internet say it can be off 10-20% per day, so who knows; but it's a good aid in trying to establish what my baseline of calories-in vs calories-out should be. The second tool is MyFitnessPal (premium version), or any good calorie tracker. I don't like Mike's system of planning out your meals to the calorie, day by day; that's just not how I live or want to live. But if I can make meal-by-meal decisions and track those in MyFitnessPal, things seem simpler.

Overall I enjoyed this book. Mike has a pretty clear vision for what it takes to get muscley and the book contains quite a bit of information from workout techniques to diet to attitude. There is a lot of valuable information here and quite a bit of material is dedicated to debunking myths and building a more proven approach. I don't know that any of the ideas here are terribly groundbreaking, but Mike does claim that it is all backed up by the latest science, research, and personal experience. Actually, for me, that's the first place the book falters. Mike claims that his approach is based on facts, not myths, but he fails to provide any references to research that supports his claims. For example, he states that you want to consume easily digested proteins right after your workout so your glycogen starved muscles will get the nutrient boost they need to grow. However, there are no references given to legitimate scientific studies to back up this claim. And if you do a little research on your own, it's not hard to find people who make reasonable arguments that totally refute it. I'm not saying that Mike's claims aren't backed by legitimate science (in fact I know that this particular claim is), however if Mike really wants to sell this stuff, references to actual studies must be included. As it is, there's too much "trust me, I know what I'm talking about" and "if I had a nickel for every time I've seen some guy to A, B, or C totally wrong". Why should I believe him? Just because he's saying I should? Personal experience and anecdotal evidence does not equal science or even a convincing argument. The other problem I have with the book is that the layout really needs work. There's a lot that can be done to organize this book so it drives the important points across better (and I don't mean just CAPITALIZING IMPORTANT WORDS) and makes finding critical information easier. The book does have an overall progression of theory, to practice, to diet, to supplements, but it meanders along the way. Too many of the chapters (especially the diet related ones) seem kind of arbitrary and perhaps could be consolidated and clarified. Most of the book is just a big wall of text and it's pretty hard to thumb back through it and pick up the important points. Finally, I really wish he had given a sample weekly diet. He does give a good formula for calculating how much protein, carbs, and fat you should eat per day based on whether you are bulking, cutting, or maintaining, and that is extremely valuable information but taking that information and applying it to create a viable meal plan would be a great addition. He did this with training exercises, why not diet? I know I complained a lot, but I really did enjoy this book and I am actually planning on following its recommendations. I think if there was a little more emphasis on backing up claims with research and a better layout, this book could be great. And if it turns out that I "dramatically transform my body faster than I ever though possible", then I will wholeheartedly recommend this book and probably change my review.

This book was incredible. It has a the information you need to start your journey to a new, stronger you. Not just that though, it also gives you the confidence and motivation to achieve your goals. I first listened to the audio book and had to buy the physical copy for reference. There is also plenty of bonus material you can download to guide you. I can't wait to start the bigger leaner stronger workout program now that I'm armed with all the information. I can't recommend this book enough. I was so inspired I also bought thinner leaner stronger for my wife, the shredded chef, the little black book of motivation and the bigger leaner stronger year 1 guide. Bring on my new life.

Estupenda guia para el mundo del fitness con consejos de nutrición y entrenamiento tanto para pérdida de peso, mantenimiento y ganar masa muscular. La estructura un poco rara pero es fácil de leer y da muchos consejos que puedes ver aquí y allá pero compensa tener reunidos en un libro para referencia rápida. Incluye un enlace a la web para materiales varios del autor. Y encima, los métodos funcionan.

I'm into fitness and gym stuff for more than a deacade. I wish I had this book when I was at the young age. It could opened my eyes on such a lot of information, studies, myths, etc. It's essential not only for a newebie but for all the people who share the passion for fitness. I love the writing , the simplicity, the practical way in which explains concepts, the studies that are made.. Good job Michael, awesome book. Keep up the good work 💪🏻

Reviewing after following the book for 5 months and only cutting. Whatever he wrote in the book worked for me even though i felt bit skeptical sometimes, only because i was unaware. Followed what he said without judgement and the results are there. Yes, you can get six pack without losing much muscle mass (anyone). Yes, it’s hard. For me, it was the diet. But then again it made me appreciate the food more. Thank you Michael for sharing your experience and valuable knowledge! If anyone wishes to get shredded, just follow the book and don't bother searching google or YouTube for the advice.

This is a very good book. It is very detailed ad gives you all the important tips for building muscle and getting stronger. The information is based on research articles and it is very clear. It gives you real expectations and also teaches you how to tune your routine and diet depending on your goals. It is definitely a great book.