Stronger

The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives

By: Michael Joseph Gross

Narrated by: Dan Woren

A groundbreaking, richly informative exploration of the central role of muscle in human life and health, Stronger sounds an urgent call for each of us to recognize muscle as “the vital, inextricable and effective partner of the soul.”

“Even if you’ve never picked up a weight—Stronger is for you.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger

Stronger tells a story of breathtaking scope, from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston, where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail ninety-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as thirty-year-olds if they lift weights.

These surprising tales play out against a background of clashing worldviews, an age-old competition between athletic trainers and medical doctors to define our understanding and experience of muscle. In this conflict, muscle got typecast: Simplistic binaries of brain versus brawn created a persistent prejudice against muscle, and against weight training, the type of exercise that best builds muscular strength and power.

Stronger shows muscle and weight training in a whole new light. With warmth and humor, Michael Joseph Gross blends history and firsthand reporting in an inspiring narrative packed with practical information based on rigorous scientific studies from around the world. The research proves that weight training can help prevent or treat many chronic diseases and disabilities throughout the lifespan, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and depression. Stronger reveals how all of us, from elite powerlifters to people who have never played sports at all, can learn to lift weights in ways that yield life's ultimate prize: the ability to act upon the world in the ways that we wish.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of source notes from the book.

Terrific, Important Book

What some of us sensed intuitively about the value and importance of strength training is documented here with references to groundbreaking research.

Enthralling

This book touched every nerve in me as I listened to it. The historical sweep, the people profiled, the careful and clear attention to the uses of muscle and the importance of weight training are absolutely compelling. I am 79 years old with the health and strength of a 60 year old man, so the doctors say. I have lived the message of this book. It could be a game changer for people picking it up for the first time.

Compelling well researched, lots of information for lovers of science kinesiology, and the history of muscle

Narration is excellent, research is ambitious and plenty people. Lots of noted studies and overall just a very interesting listen for anyone who truly loves fitness and the science of muscle.

undervalued story

I love the historical narratives painted in this book. It zooms in on a few different people / eras as shown in the book description. I would recommend looking at that description first. The chapter titles are vague, and don't tell much about the book's contents. Ultimately, I don't know what led me to pick this book, but I am very pleased. I have read other books with anecdotal stories, but these felt more historically significant. This book focuses on society's long-standing dis / mistrust of the use of muscle. Long ago, we didn't even know what muscle was. Then, there was a lot of push back against building muscle for health. The book ends with a conclusion about the usefulness of muscle and resistance training for all people, namely men and women. One simple way to describe the conclusion is that building muscle is especially for elderly, frail and many sick individuals.

To me, the book could be broken into the narrative parts relating to the characters it focused on. A large portion of the book describes natural female individuals such as Jan Todd, who is a respectable figure on her own merit. I imagine this book is like walking through a museum and perusing the topics that the author wanted to see. Ultimately, it was an interesting guide. It was a welcomed diversion from the simple anecdotal stories or exclusively scientific dives I have heard from other books and podcasts.

Very motivating!

This book was so good and interesting, not only did it give the history of strength training and the subsequent years in history of people trying to demonize it, it gave evidence as to why our muscle is as important as the brain to our life and longevity. These are the years that we can change our end of life quality and it’s never ever too late to start as proven by the many 60-90 year olds this book highlights! Definitely a good read or listen!