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The Lean Muscle Diet: A Customized Nutrition and Workout Plan--Eat the Foods You Love to Build the Body You Want and Keep It for Life!
Research shows that although people can lose 5 to 10 percent of their body weight on any given diet, dieting itself is a consistent predictor of future weight gain. Why? At some point, everyone stops dieting. The Lean Muscle Diet solves the sustainability problem while offering immediate results. It's act as if you already have the body you want. If a reader is, say, a 220-pound man who wants to become a muscular 180-pounder, he then uses The Lean Muscle Diet's formula to eat and train to sustain a 180-pound body. The transformation begins immediately, and the results last for life.Lou Schuler, who has sold more than one million copies of his fitness books worldwide, and Alan Aragon, nutrition advisor to Men's Health, have created an eating and "metabolically expensive" exercise plan designed to melt fat while building muscle. the best part? the plan allows readers to eat their favorite foods, no matter how decadent. with full support from Men's Health, The Lean Muscle Diet delivers a simple—and simply sustainable—body transformation plan anyone can use.
404 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 23, 2014
121 people are currently reading
444 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 11, 2025
I had no idea this book was written solely for men, but I quickly figured. It’s full of motivational bits about how women will love the fruits of your hefty labor; how impressive your muscular strength and appearance will be to THEM.
Ha, silly for me to assume you can be building muscle for something other than ladies’ admiration. Indeed, the world spins all around us and for us only (insert bratty emoji).
“Women judge your physique, and by extension your reproductive suitability, by the proportion of your shoulders to your waist. You create that V shape primarily with pulling exercises, like chinups and rows.”
Those were the final sentences that assured me I am not the intended audience, which is a shame, because I enjoyed the author’s rather unique perspective (training body to what it evolved to do, which isn't muscle-isolated-sitting-exercises at gym).
I will nonetheless use some of his tips (I’d like to impress some ladies too).
Though in seriousness, I give a big, fat L to the authors for implying women don’t want lean muscle themselves.
Ha, silly for me to assume you can be building muscle for something other than ladies’ admiration. Indeed, the world spins all around us and for us only (insert bratty emoji).
“Women judge your physique, and by extension your reproductive suitability, by the proportion of your shoulders to your waist. You create that V shape primarily with pulling exercises, like chinups and rows.”
Those were the final sentences that assured me I am not the intended audience, which is a shame, because I enjoyed the author’s rather unique perspective (training body to what it evolved to do, which isn't muscle-isolated-sitting-exercises at gym).
I will nonetheless use some of his tips (I’d like to impress some ladies too).
Though in seriousness, I give a big, fat L to the authors for implying women don’t want lean muscle themselves.
September 30, 2015
The hallmark of any New Year brings the inevitable resolutions along with a stream of diet, exercise programs and late night infomercial purchases to satisfy the demand.
Bombarded with contradictory information telling us to eat this, don’t eat that, don’t eat at all, graze all day etc; it’s little wonder that the average person throws their hands up in frustration and abandons their good intentions.
The goal of this diet book is to simplify the madness by catering to the individual using a science based approach. If a diet works, the authors contend, then it basically adheres to two basic principles;
1) “If you want to change your weight in either direction you have to create an imbalance between the calories you take in and the calories you expend”
2) “To build more muscle, you need to get stronger”
Taking into account these keys to transformative success, the book is essentially a diet AND training book since both are inextricably intertwined. The authors also sprinkle in some psychology without getting too highbrow or convoluted in their message to the newly converted.
The authors break it down simply;
1) It’s supposed to be hard (but not impossible)
2) Begin with the end goal in mind and act as if.
Since changing one's psychology towards diet is integral to adherence and sustainability, one of the biggest failures of many fad diets is they exclude foods/macronutrients and don’t honor personal preference or individual tolerance. Saying that you can’t eat something, paradoxically causes many people to crave that food evermore. Striking dairy (as in the case of Paleo) seems nonsensical in those that tolerate dairy just fine.
Basing a diet around the foods you love goes a long way in maintaining sustainable compliance over the long term. Studies show that adherence to diets like the Ornish and Atkins diet resulted in a 50% dropout rate over a year compared to diets with more inbuilt flexibility like the Zone and Weight Watchers (a 35% drop-out rate respectively.)
Instead, a quality diet takes the form of being 80% whole and minimally processed foods you like, 10% of whole and minimally processed foods you don’t like but don’t necessarily hate (which basically entails “eat your fucking veges”) and 10% of whatever you want (i.e. junk)
Expanding on these themes further, the book is divided into 3 parts.
Part 1 looks at what makes a diet successful and debunks some of the more popular diet myths and gym-floor cliches (eg. “abs are made in the kitchen”, “pain is weakness leaving the body” etc).
Schuler also looks at what makes a workout “work” including the best combination of movements and exercises needed to create the classic physique outlined in the “special topic” - “What Women Want”
While discussing the ideal physique, Schuler is quick to interject early on (and then many other instances throughout) his own genetic shortcomings. In fact he dedicates a whole chapter lamenting his limitations in “Why It’s So Hard To Get The Body You Want”.
Adhering to Schuler’s early recommendation of acting “as if” is difficult when his constant bleatings make lifting and dieting come off sounding like a Sisyphean effort in futility for the majority.
Considering this book is pitched at the mainstream novice who already views anyone with a basic outline of their abs and the beginnings of a vein running down their arms as an obsessive-gym-going- #steroid junkie, Schuler's whining about his own shortcomings and injuries don’t exactly inure the novice with a solid psychological foothold of high expectations and confidence.
Part 2 lays out The Diet Plan which includes a method for Calculating Daily Calorie Needs (with some handy case studies using a wide spectrum of lifters as examples), food choices (encompassed by the acronym Megs Fabulous Figure Stopped Missing Fries: Meats, Fats, Fibrous Veges, Starches, Milk & Dairy, Fruits) and a really neat and simple way to approach carb cycling, or what “my friend Alan” refers to as “Nonlinear Carbohydrate Allotments”
Food Lists take up almost 30% of the book. I’m ambivalent when it comes to pages and pages of lists when there are so many sources and apps available to compiling this kind of information, but again, as this is a book aimed at the novice reader, a quick/easy all-in-one reference that enables the minimum of effort on their part is somewhat understandable.
The way the example meals are set out however, borders on the bizarrely frustrating. For example -
FLOATING MEAL A: 425 calories, 25 g protein, 25 g carbs, 25 g fat Three whole eggs, cooked any style (or) 3 ounces moderate- or high-fat meat, any type (or) 3 ounces very lean meat + ¼ cup nuts, any type (or) 1 scoop protein powder + 2 tablespoons nut butter, any type (or) 1 scoop protein powder + ¼ cup nuts, any type (or) 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese + 1 tablespoon nut butter, any type
1 serving of fruit: one large fruit, any type, such as apple, banana, or orange (or) 1½ cups fresh fruit (or) ⅓ cup dried fruit (or) two small fruits, such as apricots, figs, tangerines, or kiwis
Fibrous veggies can be added if/as desired; shoot for at least 3 servings total for the day (a serving of fibrous veggies is approximately 1 cup).
Firstly, WTF is a Floating Meal? And could they have formatted each meal combo any more confusingly?? When you have pages of these examples, your eyes begin going batshit trying to make head and tails of the content.
I also noticed there’s no female examples and assumed that there’s
a) female version of the diet is in the works ($$Ka-CHING!$$)
b) an assumption that women don’t read books.
Part 3 provides a training program which includes a warmup, some core training exercise, and an explanation of the primary and accessory exercises with pictures. The program is nothing special, but should give the newbie the knowledge to train with the minimum of fuck-around-itis.
Added to my ever list of growing hates are picture-text descriptions (especially when they take up an additional 15% of the book) of how to perform exercises since it’s not an effective medium to judge whether you’re performing an exercise correctly. It’s akin to following one of those origami books - fold this here, turn, flip, rotate 90 degrees and join the fold to tab C,.throw it in the air and catch it with your left hand....ahhhh fuck it.
A nice feature is the annotated notes and references Schuler incorporates at the back. I found some really cool books and articles and thought it made for interesting elaboration of some of the concepts discussed.
The book is written in Schuler’s conversational style that totters between entertaining and cornball. He has a tendency to meander, trying to be too cute with analogies and anecdotes while the reader’s left hoping he’s going to get the fucking point sometime soon. An article written by Schuler himself for Men’s Health summarising the essential points minus the filler shows how the book could have very easily been broken down to a 2 page article with very little substance omitted.
Alan’s overall contribution to the book is also somewhat confusing. His role is more consultant than co-writer. Schuler’s constant reference to Alan in the third person (around 144 times) gives the impression that Alan’s name is on the book is ornamental; he’s a respected albeit, bankable flavour of the month in the industry. This doesn’t detract from Aragon’s credibility however. Alan’s an excellent writer and it would have been nice to have more pages dedicated to his ideas in his words.
Overall, it’s a solid blueprint for the novice looking for a comprehensive reference work on structuring a sustainable diet that doesn’t require the user to suffer under imposed extremes. I’d especially recommend it to a personal trainer who’s wanting to adopt a workable program that caters to the individuality of each client. There’s enough in here for the veteran to digest and enjoy, but I’d direct you towards Alan’s excellent “Research Review” for a more comprehensive and satisfying intellectual meal.
Novice Lifters 4/5
Advanced Lifters 3/5
Favourite Quotes
"The best way to get more omega-6 fats is to eat more nuts. To Alan, nuts may be the strongest argument against the importance of balancing the two types of PUFAs. That’s because nuts are outrageously unbalanced—almonds have more than 2,000 times as much omega-6 as omega-3—and yet they’re associated with a long list of health benefits. People who eat the most nuts tend to be the leanest, with the lowest risk of diabetes, respiratory problems, and cardiovascular disease".
“So should you take a “just in case” multivitamin? That’s a surprisingly complicated question. Most vitamin research can be summed up with one word: “meh,” followed by dozens of references. The most we can say is that a basic, inexpensive multi, taken daily, can’t hurt, and might help in some minor way. Alan recommends two brands: Kirkland and Nature Made. Both have USP verification, which ensures label accuracy, purity, and potency, and that it will dissolve in your stomach and be properly absorbed.”
"As for bathroom scales that purport to measure body fat via bioelectrical impedance, you’re lucky if they measure your weight accurately. Body-fat readings are all over the place."
"....in early 2014, there doesn’t seem to be any cause-and-effect link between breakfast eating and weight control. Alan says the evidence isn’t compelling enough for you to change lifelong habits and preferences. If you don’t like eating breakfast, you can reach your goals without it. If you’re more like me, and wake up hungry every morning, there’s no problem with that either."
Bombarded with contradictory information telling us to eat this, don’t eat that, don’t eat at all, graze all day etc; it’s little wonder that the average person throws their hands up in frustration and abandons their good intentions.
The goal of this diet book is to simplify the madness by catering to the individual using a science based approach. If a diet works, the authors contend, then it basically adheres to two basic principles;
1) “If you want to change your weight in either direction you have to create an imbalance between the calories you take in and the calories you expend”
2) “To build more muscle, you need to get stronger”
Taking into account these keys to transformative success, the book is essentially a diet AND training book since both are inextricably intertwined. The authors also sprinkle in some psychology without getting too highbrow or convoluted in their message to the newly converted.
The authors break it down simply;
1) It’s supposed to be hard (but not impossible)
2) Begin with the end goal in mind and act as if.
Since changing one's psychology towards diet is integral to adherence and sustainability, one of the biggest failures of many fad diets is they exclude foods/macronutrients and don’t honor personal preference or individual tolerance. Saying that you can’t eat something, paradoxically causes many people to crave that food evermore. Striking dairy (as in the case of Paleo) seems nonsensical in those that tolerate dairy just fine.
Basing a diet around the foods you love goes a long way in maintaining sustainable compliance over the long term. Studies show that adherence to diets like the Ornish and Atkins diet resulted in a 50% dropout rate over a year compared to diets with more inbuilt flexibility like the Zone and Weight Watchers (a 35% drop-out rate respectively.)
Instead, a quality diet takes the form of being 80% whole and minimally processed foods you like, 10% of whole and minimally processed foods you don’t like but don’t necessarily hate (which basically entails “eat your fucking veges”) and 10% of whatever you want (i.e. junk)
Expanding on these themes further, the book is divided into 3 parts.
Part 1 looks at what makes a diet successful and debunks some of the more popular diet myths and gym-floor cliches (eg. “abs are made in the kitchen”, “pain is weakness leaving the body” etc).
Schuler also looks at what makes a workout “work” including the best combination of movements and exercises needed to create the classic physique outlined in the “special topic” - “What Women Want”
While discussing the ideal physique, Schuler is quick to interject early on (and then many other instances throughout) his own genetic shortcomings. In fact he dedicates a whole chapter lamenting his limitations in “Why It’s So Hard To Get The Body You Want”.
Adhering to Schuler’s early recommendation of acting “as if” is difficult when his constant bleatings make lifting and dieting come off sounding like a Sisyphean effort in futility for the majority.
Considering this book is pitched at the mainstream novice who already views anyone with a basic outline of their abs and the beginnings of a vein running down their arms as an obsessive-gym-going- #steroid junkie, Schuler's whining about his own shortcomings and injuries don’t exactly inure the novice with a solid psychological foothold of high expectations and confidence.
Part 2 lays out The Diet Plan which includes a method for Calculating Daily Calorie Needs (with some handy case studies using a wide spectrum of lifters as examples), food choices (encompassed by the acronym Megs Fabulous Figure Stopped Missing Fries: Meats, Fats, Fibrous Veges, Starches, Milk & Dairy, Fruits) and a really neat and simple way to approach carb cycling, or what “my friend Alan” refers to as “Nonlinear Carbohydrate Allotments”
Food Lists take up almost 30% of the book. I’m ambivalent when it comes to pages and pages of lists when there are so many sources and apps available to compiling this kind of information, but again, as this is a book aimed at the novice reader, a quick/easy all-in-one reference that enables the minimum of effort on their part is somewhat understandable.
The way the example meals are set out however, borders on the bizarrely frustrating. For example -
FLOATING MEAL A: 425 calories, 25 g protein, 25 g carbs, 25 g fat Three whole eggs, cooked any style (or) 3 ounces moderate- or high-fat meat, any type (or) 3 ounces very lean meat + ¼ cup nuts, any type (or) 1 scoop protein powder + 2 tablespoons nut butter, any type (or) 1 scoop protein powder + ¼ cup nuts, any type (or) 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese + 1 tablespoon nut butter, any type
1 serving of fruit: one large fruit, any type, such as apple, banana, or orange (or) 1½ cups fresh fruit (or) ⅓ cup dried fruit (or) two small fruits, such as apricots, figs, tangerines, or kiwis
Fibrous veggies can be added if/as desired; shoot for at least 3 servings total for the day (a serving of fibrous veggies is approximately 1 cup).
Firstly, WTF is a Floating Meal? And could they have formatted each meal combo any more confusingly?? When you have pages of these examples, your eyes begin going batshit trying to make head and tails of the content.
I also noticed there’s no female examples and assumed that there’s
a) female version of the diet is in the works ($$Ka-CHING!$$)
b) an assumption that women don’t read books.
Part 3 provides a training program which includes a warmup, some core training exercise, and an explanation of the primary and accessory exercises with pictures. The program is nothing special, but should give the newbie the knowledge to train with the minimum of fuck-around-itis.
Added to my ever list of growing hates are picture-text descriptions (especially when they take up an additional 15% of the book) of how to perform exercises since it’s not an effective medium to judge whether you’re performing an exercise correctly. It’s akin to following one of those origami books - fold this here, turn, flip, rotate 90 degrees and join the fold to tab C,.throw it in the air and catch it with your left hand....ahhhh fuck it.
A nice feature is the annotated notes and references Schuler incorporates at the back. I found some really cool books and articles and thought it made for interesting elaboration of some of the concepts discussed.
The book is written in Schuler’s conversational style that totters between entertaining and cornball. He has a tendency to meander, trying to be too cute with analogies and anecdotes while the reader’s left hoping he’s going to get the fucking point sometime soon. An article written by Schuler himself for Men’s Health summarising the essential points minus the filler shows how the book could have very easily been broken down to a 2 page article with very little substance omitted.
Alan’s overall contribution to the book is also somewhat confusing. His role is more consultant than co-writer. Schuler’s constant reference to Alan in the third person (around 144 times) gives the impression that Alan’s name is on the book is ornamental; he’s a respected albeit, bankable flavour of the month in the industry. This doesn’t detract from Aragon’s credibility however. Alan’s an excellent writer and it would have been nice to have more pages dedicated to his ideas in his words.
Overall, it’s a solid blueprint for the novice looking for a comprehensive reference work on structuring a sustainable diet that doesn’t require the user to suffer under imposed extremes. I’d especially recommend it to a personal trainer who’s wanting to adopt a workable program that caters to the individuality of each client. There’s enough in here for the veteran to digest and enjoy, but I’d direct you towards Alan’s excellent “Research Review” for a more comprehensive and satisfying intellectual meal.
Novice Lifters 4/5
Advanced Lifters 3/5
Favourite Quotes
"The best way to get more omega-6 fats is to eat more nuts. To Alan, nuts may be the strongest argument against the importance of balancing the two types of PUFAs. That’s because nuts are outrageously unbalanced—almonds have more than 2,000 times as much omega-6 as omega-3—and yet they’re associated with a long list of health benefits. People who eat the most nuts tend to be the leanest, with the lowest risk of diabetes, respiratory problems, and cardiovascular disease".
“So should you take a “just in case” multivitamin? That’s a surprisingly complicated question. Most vitamin research can be summed up with one word: “meh,” followed by dozens of references. The most we can say is that a basic, inexpensive multi, taken daily, can’t hurt, and might help in some minor way. Alan recommends two brands: Kirkland and Nature Made. Both have USP verification, which ensures label accuracy, purity, and potency, and that it will dissolve in your stomach and be properly absorbed.”
"As for bathroom scales that purport to measure body fat via bioelectrical impedance, you’re lucky if they measure your weight accurately. Body-fat readings are all over the place."
"....in early 2014, there doesn’t seem to be any cause-and-effect link between breakfast eating and weight control. Alan says the evidence isn’t compelling enough for you to change lifelong habits and preferences. If you don’t like eating breakfast, you can reach your goals without it. If you’re more like me, and wake up hungry every morning, there’s no problem with that either."
October 2, 2014
"IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFICULT"
That's right, the authors say. Your body does an excellent job of keeping you at the current weight (well, at least for most people, anyway.) So, it's not surprising that it's very difficult to lose weight and keep it off: "It's supposed to be ahrd. A mature human body is built for homeostasis. It wants to stay the same."
So, to change your weight, "you must find a way to create an imbalance between the calories you take in and the calories you expend." That's where most of the exercise and diet plans have it right--they have different ways of achieving the same thing--that delta between calories in and calories expended.
The authors have a bit of a funny twist on diet plans. They point out that staying on a diet is a key problem. So, pick the foods that you like to eat: "Honoring personal preference is the most overlooked and underutilized tool for long-term success in a weight loss plan...We have solid science to back it up." By that, the authors mean ADHERENCE. All the diets work pretty well; the difference is how well you adhere to them.
One funny part about the workout plans--they each have a "big boy" option. That means for those of you who find the workouts TOO EASY. Right.
There are also numerous case studies, with men of different body types/condition. Then, the authors present a diet and exercise plan for each case.
Interesting dating advice in the book: The authors point out that women judge men by a certain proportion (No, not THAT proportion!) Women look at the ratio of shoulder width to your waist. "You create that V shape primarily with pulling exercises, like chin-ups and rows." Most men are doing the wrong type of exercises--ones that are different than how our bodies are designed to move.
All in all, THE LEAN MUSCLE DIET is a very well researched, thorough book that covers how to get lean via solid workouts in conjunction with sustainable diet plans. There are EXTENSIVE charts showing numerous foods, with their nutritional value, grouped by their leanness--e.g., "very lean." There are also extensive end-notes and glossary.
Recommend!
That's right, the authors say. Your body does an excellent job of keeping you at the current weight (well, at least for most people, anyway.) So, it's not surprising that it's very difficult to lose weight and keep it off: "It's supposed to be ahrd. A mature human body is built for homeostasis. It wants to stay the same."
So, to change your weight, "you must find a way to create an imbalance between the calories you take in and the calories you expend." That's where most of the exercise and diet plans have it right--they have different ways of achieving the same thing--that delta between calories in and calories expended.
The authors have a bit of a funny twist on diet plans. They point out that staying on a diet is a key problem. So, pick the foods that you like to eat: "Honoring personal preference is the most overlooked and underutilized tool for long-term success in a weight loss plan...We have solid science to back it up." By that, the authors mean ADHERENCE. All the diets work pretty well; the difference is how well you adhere to them.
One funny part about the workout plans--they each have a "big boy" option. That means for those of you who find the workouts TOO EASY. Right.
There are also numerous case studies, with men of different body types/condition. Then, the authors present a diet and exercise plan for each case.
Interesting dating advice in the book: The authors point out that women judge men by a certain proportion (No, not THAT proportion!) Women look at the ratio of shoulder width to your waist. "You create that V shape primarily with pulling exercises, like chin-ups and rows." Most men are doing the wrong type of exercises--ones that are different than how our bodies are designed to move.
All in all, THE LEAN MUSCLE DIET is a very well researched, thorough book that covers how to get lean via solid workouts in conjunction with sustainable diet plans. There are EXTENSIVE charts showing numerous foods, with their nutritional value, grouped by their leanness--e.g., "very lean." There are also extensive end-notes and glossary.
Recommend!
January 9, 2015
Read this first: This is a good book with great dieting advice from one of the most reputable guys in the industry, Alan Aragon, made interesting and entertaining and layman-like by a reputable author, Lou Schuler. What follows is a rant on one aspect of the workout program portion of the book. But keep in mind, it's only one portion. The rest of the book is quality, and it's well worth a read.
For those in the know, I'm only saying that because I want Alan to mod-rep me (even though I haven't posted in years). Phil185. I'll be waiting...
No, but seriously. Well-formatted with solid advice, especially for dieting. I'm following the guidelines to the diet program as we speak and it's hard for me to believe that there are any other, better options out there. Read the book. You won't regret it.
Now, for the rant.
I would've given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the (almost purely nonsensical) idea that you should do any sort of core exercise before squatting or deadlifting or performing heavy free-weight compound exercises, especially if this book is aimed at beginners who are just starting to train--which is likely given the end-of-the-year release date, presumably designed to attract 2015 Resolutioners.
Actually, I would be okay (well, less PO'd) with that idea if the basis for it weren't this: "Most of us, left on our own, will do our core training at the end of the workout. If we do it last, it means we assign to it the least importance. I think it makes more sense to do those exercises early, right after the warmup but before the first heavy lifts of the day." The thing is that, if a workout calls for core work, most people will do the core work. If they don't, it's their loss. The reasoning shouldn't be that the authors consider their audience lazy. The reasoning should be rooted in actual scientific evidence. And I think that, if your goal is lean muscle, heavy compound exercises are more important than core-specific exercises, so it would follow that you assign the compounds more importance, not less.
So let's take a look at one of the claimed benefits of starting with core work: "Doing core exercises before heavy lifts also, I think, activates key stabilizing muscles without exhausting them to the point that they can’t do their job when you need them most."
I just want to highlight two important snippets from the above quotes: "right after the warmup," and "I think." The first one shows that the core work is not actually considered a warmup; the second one shows that the author isn't 100% sure that "key stabilizing muscles" won't get exhausted if you do core work, which is a risky claim to make when you're considering a general audience whose bodyweights could range from 80-350+ pounds. Maybe a 60-second plank wouldn't exhaust a 110-pound teenage girl, but a 300-pound coach potato? Whole other story.
My point is that the warmup sets for any barbell exercise does the job of "activating key stabilizing muscles" just fine without running the risk of exhausting them. Quoting Starting Strength: "Specific warmups, like the unweighted and empty bar sets of the barbell exercise itself, also serve to warm, mobilize, and stretch the specific tissues involved in that particular movement. This is important for injury prevention." (Page 290 of the 2nd Edition).
My advice would be to do the core work after the heavy compounds, not before.
But again, I'm nitpicking a small piece of an otherwise quality book.
For those in the know, I'm only saying that because I want Alan to mod-rep me (even though I haven't posted in years). Phil185. I'll be waiting...
No, but seriously. Well-formatted with solid advice, especially for dieting. I'm following the guidelines to the diet program as we speak and it's hard for me to believe that there are any other, better options out there. Read the book. You won't regret it.
Now, for the rant.
I would've given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the (almost purely nonsensical) idea that you should do any sort of core exercise before squatting or deadlifting or performing heavy free-weight compound exercises, especially if this book is aimed at beginners who are just starting to train--which is likely given the end-of-the-year release date, presumably designed to attract 2015 Resolutioners.
Actually, I would be okay (well, less PO'd) with that idea if the basis for it weren't this: "Most of us, left on our own, will do our core training at the end of the workout. If we do it last, it means we assign to it the least importance. I think it makes more sense to do those exercises early, right after the warmup but before the first heavy lifts of the day." The thing is that, if a workout calls for core work, most people will do the core work. If they don't, it's their loss. The reasoning shouldn't be that the authors consider their audience lazy. The reasoning should be rooted in actual scientific evidence. And I think that, if your goal is lean muscle, heavy compound exercises are more important than core-specific exercises, so it would follow that you assign the compounds more importance, not less.
So let's take a look at one of the claimed benefits of starting with core work: "Doing core exercises before heavy lifts also, I think, activates key stabilizing muscles without exhausting them to the point that they can’t do their job when you need them most."
I just want to highlight two important snippets from the above quotes: "right after the warmup," and "I think." The first one shows that the core work is not actually considered a warmup; the second one shows that the author isn't 100% sure that "key stabilizing muscles" won't get exhausted if you do core work, which is a risky claim to make when you're considering a general audience whose bodyweights could range from 80-350+ pounds. Maybe a 60-second plank wouldn't exhaust a 110-pound teenage girl, but a 300-pound coach potato? Whole other story.
My point is that the warmup sets for any barbell exercise does the job of "activating key stabilizing muscles" just fine without running the risk of exhausting them. Quoting Starting Strength: "Specific warmups, like the unweighted and empty bar sets of the barbell exercise itself, also serve to warm, mobilize, and stretch the specific tissues involved in that particular movement. This is important for injury prevention." (Page 290 of the 2nd Edition).
My advice would be to do the core work after the heavy compounds, not before.
But again, I'm nitpicking a small piece of an otherwise quality book.
April 23, 2018
Great information presented. No bro science, everything in this book has proven to work and it's based on the foundations that many other successful trainers have been talking about for years, only that this has the "Men's Health" sign of approval in the cover, which makes it appealing for people just starting to learn about this. I have successfully used this book as a reference for many friends that want to start working out and be lean. They always show certain amount of suspicion to my methods and philosophies until I show them this book. Since this looks like a professional book that talks about the same things I might have presented them from a youtube video or a blog post, they tend to believe it a little bit more. I started following Alan Aragon after learning about Martin Berkhan's leangains.com site. After that, it became evident that Alan Aragon knows what he's talking about. I understand he is a well respected person in the scene of research for nutrition and exercise science and he's published academic research from the degrees he's earned himself doing studies in these topics so this is a great book for fitness enthusiasts looking for real information on both workouts and the diet aspect of it. Special praise to the stretching section, I have used that for my routines a lot
November 4, 2015
Good foundational information for beginners, but probably not for the more experienced crowd.
Read
April 10, 2015My dad made me read this, it's damn well counting towards my GoodReads total.
We're going to try it, but IDK it's pretty much designed for men so who knows if it'll work for me.
We're going to try it, but IDK it's pretty much designed for men so who knows if it'll work for me.
August 23, 2017
Good book by Alan and Lou. I specifically read this for the nutrition part, which did not disappoint. I also enjoyed reading about the genetic component and the tendency of 'genetic freaks' to blame the lack of results by the average Joe on a lack of work ethic, which often isn't a honest representation of reality. I often see this happening on both sides. At the same time it's not an excuse as Alan mentioned, but definitely something that should be accounted for when working with clients. Overall good read and well-explained.
August 19, 2021
good book for the basics in nutrition for people who don't know anything about nutrition and wanna dive in the book is not the best source to learn about training and how to design your appropriate workout plan otherwise it's good
December 18, 2025
Informative. As described.
I liked the simple layout. Begins with the theory of diet and training then it introduces the diet and workout plan.
References to academic studies is made but without the jargon. This makes it accessible.
I liked the simple layout. Begins with the theory of diet and training then it introduces the diet and workout plan.
References to academic studies is made but without the jargon. This makes it accessible.
February 2, 2019
Great book from Lou and Alan. If you want a no-BS, evidence-based approach to training and diet, look no further.
March 25, 2018
Great book. Best single book on lifting and diet.
February 10, 2019
Libro molto basilare, per principianti.
April 17, 2019
Excellent explanation of exercise and diet. If you are looking for scientific and accurate information, you can't go wrong with this.
Read
December 9, 2019Great exercise explanations and nutrition information
December 13, 2019
Simple. To the point. I will be using eating formulas and workout plans from this book for myself. Great read.
February 22, 2025
A small caloric deficit meets a sufficient intake of protein - the book.
April 15, 2015
This is a really solid book from two experienced, intelligent, and moderate voices in the fitness industry. There are so many bad health and fitness books out there, and this book is basically a response to all of them, in the sense that it says: everything you've been told is correct. To get lean and fit, you need to eat a mostly whole foods diet, focus on your macros, and work out hard but intelligently. It is agnostic in terms of diets (finally, a book that doesn't advocate Paleo...they seem to be dominating the market), and it encourages you to make room for foods and drinks that you like to eat within your target macronutrients. The fitness plan is solid, and focuses on the most important exercises (leaving you room to do additional accessory work, should you desire).
I am sure a lot of people - particularly those not familiar with the authors - will be disappointed that this book provides no silver bullet or quick fix. The premise of the book is 'what if everything you knew was right?' in stark contrast to the gimmicky, Paleo and 'quantified self' books that pervade the market at the moment. But the book is solidly evidence based, and it illustrates just how straighforward it is to get health, while also emphasising that it's not easy.
Even though I am a big fan of Lou and Alan, I almost didn't buy this book because I am a female; and it is clearly directed toward men on the cover. Although the 'voice' is clearly directed toward men, I would absolutely encourage women to buy, read, and use this book. I read on Alan's blog that he thought women would benefit from the book (though using a smaller multiplier in calculating target calories), and I am glad I listened. There are very few things in the book that I felt didn't apply to me as a female.
I read a review somewhere where the reader said they couldn't figure out all the math. That really surprises me, as I think it is clearly explained, and it's basic arithmetic. If that happens to you, then just email the authors and I am sure they will share a spreadsheet that one of their readers made for them.
The only reasons I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 are: 1) the explanations of the exercises wouldn't be great for beginners. Some better illustrations and more extensive options would have been good (like those in 'Strong Curves', and 2) a few notes here and there about how the advice might be modified for women might be nice. I realise this isn't their target market, but their advice is good for all humans, and a hat tip to the ladies here and there would have been nice.
I am sure a lot of people - particularly those not familiar with the authors - will be disappointed that this book provides no silver bullet or quick fix. The premise of the book is 'what if everything you knew was right?' in stark contrast to the gimmicky, Paleo and 'quantified self' books that pervade the market at the moment. But the book is solidly evidence based, and it illustrates just how straighforward it is to get health, while also emphasising that it's not easy.
Even though I am a big fan of Lou and Alan, I almost didn't buy this book because I am a female; and it is clearly directed toward men on the cover. Although the 'voice' is clearly directed toward men, I would absolutely encourage women to buy, read, and use this book. I read on Alan's blog that he thought women would benefit from the book (though using a smaller multiplier in calculating target calories), and I am glad I listened. There are very few things in the book that I felt didn't apply to me as a female.
I read a review somewhere where the reader said they couldn't figure out all the math. That really surprises me, as I think it is clearly explained, and it's basic arithmetic. If that happens to you, then just email the authors and I am sure they will share a spreadsheet that one of their readers made for them.
The only reasons I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 are: 1) the explanations of the exercises wouldn't be great for beginners. Some better illustrations and more extensive options would have been good (like those in 'Strong Curves', and 2) a few notes here and there about how the advice might be modified for women might be nice. I realise this isn't their target market, but their advice is good for all humans, and a hat tip to the ladies here and there would have been nice.
September 3, 2015
The book started very well. Great writing and very easy to read. I've learned about the various diets there are, and how most of them can work because they follow a basic rule that is:
- If you want to change your weight you need to create a calorie imbalance.
Eating as if I had the target body weight and fat %.
I really enjoyed the Alan Aragon part of the book. I learned a ton about nutrition and how tons of stuff doesn't matter. The big stones are what matters.
The smaller ones like, meal timing, macros % contribute just a little bit.
Lou Schuler defends that we should focus on movements instead of muscles, and I can see how this makes sense, since we were made to walk, run, jump, push, pull lift, carry and throw. It's a great idea to focus on that to be a stronger overall.
But what If you want to get that aesthetics? I love and heard from some big names to focus on the muscles. And that, I think, It's the way to go.
But as stated in the beginning of the book, everything works if you go past your comfort zone and fully recover.
Focusing on movement, and having raw strenght is great. But working focused on the muscles is great too.
The workouts look very soft. And Lou's physique doesn't inspire me a lot. But, hey, I could be very very wrong. He's been in the industry for longer.
I loved the nutrition info and will do the math Alan sugests, just to have an idea. But will not follow the Lou workout. Maybe some core exercices.
Overall is a great book. And I recommend everyone interested in fitness to read it. There are lots of goodies in here
- If you want to change your weight you need to create a calorie imbalance.
Eating as if I had the target body weight and fat %.
I really enjoyed the Alan Aragon part of the book. I learned a ton about nutrition and how tons of stuff doesn't matter. The big stones are what matters.
The smaller ones like, meal timing, macros % contribute just a little bit.
Lou Schuler defends that we should focus on movements instead of muscles, and I can see how this makes sense, since we were made to walk, run, jump, push, pull lift, carry and throw. It's a great idea to focus on that to be a stronger overall.
But what If you want to get that aesthetics? I love and heard from some big names to focus on the muscles. And that, I think, It's the way to go.
But as stated in the beginning of the book, everything works if you go past your comfort zone and fully recover.
Focusing on movement, and having raw strenght is great. But working focused on the muscles is great too.
The workouts look very soft. And Lou's physique doesn't inspire me a lot. But, hey, I could be very very wrong. He's been in the industry for longer.
I loved the nutrition info and will do the math Alan sugests, just to have an idea. But will not follow the Lou workout. Maybe some core exercices.
Overall is a great book. And I recommend everyone interested in fitness to read it. There are lots of goodies in here
February 25, 2016
I don't diet and I don't like to lift weights, but I started reading Lou Schuler's books when I did diet and forced myself to lift weights and some how I can't stop reading them.
This one is published by Men's Health, which I didn't realize initially, so the audience is clearly men, but I read it anyway.
I appreciate that Schuler does not sell his advice with magical thinking. He goes out of his way to be honest about what realistic expectations are and how wildly results will vary from person to person. I appreciate that he writes about movement in a way that is easy follow. And everything he writes is pleasantly humorous with a thread of self-deprecation. Overall he has a fairly balanced attitude toward movement--it's valuable, can improve your health and function, and should be enjoyable, but shouldn't be your identity or take over your life. His attitude toward food is also fairly matter-of-fact--he doesn't demonize particular foods or suggest that certain foods have magical effects.
All that to say I have no intention of following any part of his plan, but I still enjoyed reading his book.
This one is published by Men's Health, which I didn't realize initially, so the audience is clearly men, but I read it anyway.
I appreciate that Schuler does not sell his advice with magical thinking. He goes out of his way to be honest about what realistic expectations are and how wildly results will vary from person to person. I appreciate that he writes about movement in a way that is easy follow. And everything he writes is pleasantly humorous with a thread of self-deprecation. Overall he has a fairly balanced attitude toward movement--it's valuable, can improve your health and function, and should be enjoyable, but shouldn't be your identity or take over your life. His attitude toward food is also fairly matter-of-fact--he doesn't demonize particular foods or suggest that certain foods have magical effects.
All that to say I have no intention of following any part of his plan, but I still enjoyed reading his book.
January 4, 2015
Great book about nutrition, fitness and workout. There are many of them out there but this one rounds about everything. Alan Aragon and Lou Schuler are gurus in fitness industry and most of the people look up to them for facts and non BS advice. It is well written and easy to read and understand with a pinch of humour. They debunk some myths that were rooted in fitness for a long time. I like their approach and they do not push forward one simple solution or one side, they take into consideration many aspect that can work for individual. There is also great workout plan with pictures and explanation of every exercise.
I would recommend this book to everybody who is interested in scientific and non BS advice about workout and nutrition and realistic goals. There are no shortcuts, you have to train hard and eat right 80-85% of your time.
I loved how in the beginning of the book author says: “It’s supposed to be difficult”.
I would recommend this book to everybody who is interested in scientific and non BS advice about workout and nutrition and realistic goals. There are no shortcuts, you have to train hard and eat right 80-85% of your time.
I loved how in the beginning of the book author says: “It’s supposed to be difficult”.
January 14, 2015
I felt like this book was essentially two books, a diet book and a workout book. The diet part was by Alan Aragon, though he didn't do the actual writing. I have read Girth Control by Alan and felt like this was a nice distillation. Whereas girth control was about what the current scientific knowledge is, this was more about how to apply it and use it for whatever results you are looking for. It starts with proven principles and works it's way around that. There is info about what other diets do well and where they falter. Paleo, atkins and more vegetarian approaches are discussed.
The workout part starts of with a weak premise, that there are ways your body should move based on some examples Lou has in his life. Much less regard for the goals of the reader is shown. So with such a weak base on which Lou hangs his knowledge on the workout part boils down to, do these exercises because they work for me.
The workout part starts of with a weak premise, that there are ways your body should move based on some examples Lou has in his life. Much less regard for the goals of the reader is shown. So with such a weak base on which Lou hangs his knowledge on the workout part boils down to, do these exercises because they work for me.
February 16, 2015
I was quite dissapointed reagrding every bit of byte of this ebook. I quite antecipated some good info, but actually found it so blantly written, with a no-even funny aproach despite trying too hard to be one.
You can find all the info in any fitness forum STICK threads...
You can find all the info in any fitness forum STICK threads...
July 9, 2016
Very good recommendations on food and training schedules.
Easy to understand and down to earth recommendations. I just started the plan. So far, after a week, I feel a little sore and I have been lifting for one and a half years and lost 25 pounds.
Easy to understand and down to earth recommendations. I just started the plan. So far, after a week, I feel a little sore and I have been lifting for one and a half years and lost 25 pounds.
February 11, 2015
Fine book that covers the basics, but the programming is overly complicated for a beginner.
June 11, 2015
A good look at basic fitness
It really is what it says. Basic, simple info on how to get leaner, quick. Good random find from fitcast podcast.
It really is what it says. Basic, simple info on how to get leaner, quick. Good random find from fitcast podcast.
November 21, 2016
A great science-based nutrition and training program for any gen-pop beginner. Highly-recommended.
April 21, 2017
Some useful advice, but distractingly corny
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