Bigger Leaner Stronger
If you want to be muscular, lean, and strong as quickly as possible without steroids, good genetics, or wasting ridiculous amounts of time in the gym and money on supplements...then you want to read this book. Here's the deal: Getting into awesome shape isn't nearly as complicated as the fitness industry wants you to believe. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars per month on the worthless supplements that steroid freaks shill in advertisements. You don't need to constantly change up your exercise routines to "confuse" your muscles. I'm pretty sure muscles lack cognitive abilities, but this approach is a good way to just confuse you instead. You don't need to burn through buckets of protein powder every month, stuffing down enough protein each day to feed a third world village. You don't need to toil away in the gym for a couple of hours per day, doing tons of sets, supersets, drop sets, giant sets, etc. (As a matter of fact, this is a great way to stunt gains and get nowhere.) You don't need to grind out hours and hours of boring cardio to shed ugly belly fat and love handles and get a shredded six-pack. (How many flabby treadmillers have you come across over the years?) You don't need to completely abstain from "cheat" foods while getting down to single-digit body fat percentages. If you plan cheat meals correctly, you can actually speed your metabolism up and accelerate fat loss.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
5mentions
5people
2016–2023years
40% recommend60% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- When I first started getting in better health and shape years ago, two resources helped me learn, provide structure, and form habits. One is a lengthy blog post and the other one is a popular book. Both are simple and accessible in their approach.
Nerdfitness - The Beginner Bodyweight Workout https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/beginner-body-weight-workou...
Bigger Leaner Stronger (Book)
- What gets lifting to stick and become a habit will be different for everyone.
But what worked for me was Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews
https://www.amazon.com/Bigger-Leaner-Stronger-Building-Ultim...
It's an updated approach to Starting Strength. It builds a weekly routine around the core lifts of bench, incline bench, overhead press, squat, and deadlift.
And while he dives into some iffy science at times and the diet section is – while informative and eye opening to me in the beginning about how much I needed to change my diet – it's also extremely unrealistic, especially for a beginner.
But, if you keep those things in mind, it's a strong base to build a lifting habit around.
I've been lifting 5 times a week for a couple years now and, while I've since modified much of the book to fit my personal goals and approach, it helped me get somewhere from no previous lifting experience (other than aimlessly wandering around the Y in my teens and 20s).
- I think it's important to point out to people that are hesitant to lift due to the perceived risk of injuring themselves is that lifting has a much lower injury rate than most other activities (with proper coaching and programming).
Citing from Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews, he points to a review of 20 studies performed by Bond University that found the average injury rates for the following activities:
1. Bodybuilding - 1 / 1000 hours
2. Crossfit, Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting - 2-6 / 1000 hours
3. Long Distance Running - 10 / 1000 hours
4. Hi Impact Sports (Hockey, Football, Soccer, Rugby) - 6 - 260 / 1000 hours
I'm personally committed to progressively lifting heavy until I turn 40 at which point it becomes more difficult to add muscle. At that point, I'll look into transitioning into a sustainable program that will let me preserve as much muscle as possible as I age with minimal risk.
- When trying to cut, bulk up, or maintain weight, I have created a simple spreadsheet to calculate your TDEE and target calorie/protein/carb/fat consumption (you need to know your weight, body fat %, and how much you exercise per week): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YeAgLanxOgJRAxf20cet...
It works well for me as I create my meal plan in the white space (see example) looking up the values from calorieking.com
EDIT: Note that this math comes from a book "Bigger, Leaner, Stronger" - calculated for Men. There is a similar book for Women that may differ.
- 1. Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham 2. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
3. Tribes by Seth Godin
4. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
5. The Industries of the Future by Alex Ross
6. Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews
7. The Science of Getting Rich: Financial Success Through Creative Thought by WALLACE D. WATTLES (The Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reads)
8. Money: Master the Game by Tony Robbins
9. Principles by Ray Dalio
10. Como Ganar Amigas e Influir Sobre las Personas by Dale Carnegie
11. Without Their Permission by Alexis Ohanian
12. Tribe by Sebastian Junger
13. Sapiens A Brief History of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harari
14. This is Water by David Foster Wallace
15. How Not to Be Wrong. The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg
16. Walt Disney By Neal Gabler
17. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
18. Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
19. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
20. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine
Out of all these, I would recommend only a few:
- Sapiens
- The Rational Optimist
- Walt Disney By Neal Gabler
- How Not to Be Wrong. The Power of Mathematical Thinking.
- A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
