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

I came across this book after googling "best bodybuilding books" and it genuinely changed my life. He delivers his knowledge in an evidence-based and completely jargon free manner. He's also a good writer that leaves drops of humour throughout that make it a far more engaging read than you would imagine for this sort of material. I went from being chronically skinny 77kg, to 88kg lean. My bench, squat and deadlift skyrocketed beyond what I thought was achievable for a "hard-gainer" such as myself - all without coming close to injury.You will finish this book more thoroughly educated than most PT's and will feel like you know EXACTLY what you are doing walking into the gym. You will understand how to diet and control your body composition at will. Mike's training plan only involves training 45min-1hr per day - fits into anyone's schedule and will make you massive gains.A highly underrated section in this book is when Mike goes into the mindset, goal setting and beliefs required to succeed in building your dream physique. This section is the key that will make you consistent, and these lessons have improved virtually every area of my life.In short, track your lifts, track your weight, track your diet and have a visual goal - success is inevitable no matter your starting point. As mike said himself - this book is written to be the LAST book you will ever read to get in shape.

I found it helpful- the workout plan is really useful and applicable. Definitely good value and motivational. I read it all in a week flat

As requested from Michael at the end of his book, I am here to write a review about Bigger, Leaner Stronger (BLS). I have been studying strength and conditioning for the past 6 months, I also read another book called Overcoming Gravity (OG). I think OG is superior in terms of how to properly train, the explanation of each component of a routine and methods of progression (especially this). However, BLS is superior in highlighting the importance of Diet. Generally speaking, I would say that BLS is a book more oriented towards esthetics while OG is more oriented towards the adequate development of strength. Other than reading this book I have spent hundreds of hours looking at youtubers like Jeff Cavaliere, Jeff Nippard and Alan Thrall. Contrasting what I’ve learned with the content of the book, here are some points I consider relevant:The positive:-BLS provides a method of becoming stronger and more muscular that, if properly applied, should produce excellent results.-Most of the content of the book is linked to scientific literature. This is not a “i tried these methods and they work, just do as I say” type of book. There are great explanations as to why things should be done in a certain way-The accounting of many fat loss myths, especially the difference between weight loss and fat loss-Explanation of many mistakes people do at the gym and why they are plateauing for years and years.-A procedure that allows you to implement a diet plan that will help you reach the goals (Seems a bit overreaching at first, but once you start paying attention to macro nutrient content and calories then it starts to become more and more intuitive).-The simplicity and straightforwardness of the training approach. In particular, I like how you he stresses that you shouldn’t be changing your routine all the time, and focus on working hard on a few exercises.-The fact that he encourages you to work on “the big three”. Everywhere you go and starting learning about strength, you realise how important these exercises are. Michael also has a whole chapter explaining how to properly perform them-In essence, if you do what he proposes, you will see results.Some things that are incomplete/require further analysis:-The false dichotomy of “bulking” or “cutting”.... Why choose? In fact, Michael has an example in his own book of a study that puts two groups into a caloric deficit. One is doing cardio, one is doing weights. The cardio one loses fat and muscle. The weights group losses fat while gaining muscle. He hasn’t done a proper job explaining why/how this can happen simultaneously and simply attributes this to a novice lifter effect called “newby gains”. Well, this is not the whole picture, because similar experiments have been done with high performing athletes (football players) showing that they can burn fat and gain muscle at the same time. Not to say that choosing between “bulking” and “cutting” is wrong, because it is a proven approach. But it is not the only way and it is presented as if it was the only way.-Imbalanced routines. This is one of the reasons I consider this to be more of an esthetic book. The template routines have a heavy focus on front body muscles (beach muscles). In OG, the author explains how you should have a “pull” exercise for each “push” exercise in your routine. Jeff Cavlalier says something similar, that you should have one exercise for the rear part of your body for each exercise done on the front part. When you look at the 5 day routine, you can see that this is not the case of a balanced routine. This can lead to imbalances, and imbalances can lead to injuries.-Population considerations. I don’t know if jumping straight into heavy sets of 4-6 reps is ideal for people over 50 who haven’t trained in years. Or anyone who hasn’t trained in years for that matter. I would assume some kind of gradual progression to strength training. BLS proposes a 9 week mesocycle of training. Instead of pure strength, some people could do something like: Weeks 1-3: Endurance, Weeks 4-6: Hypertrophy, weeks 7-8: Strength, week 9: deload. You can make people have the ultimate goal of lifting heavy and developing strength, but at least propose some alternative paths depending on the type of person who is starting to train.-The macronutrient intake per day. (40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% Fat) This rigidness will have you eating 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. This is what everyone in the fitness industry does, but it has become something of a controversial topic lately. Some studies show that anything beyond 0.8 grams of protein per day has no additional benefits for muscle development.. Others say that even as low as 0.6 grams is enough to be in a state of positive nitrogen balance and build muscle. Well, perhaps you could have ranges instead of a fixed number, and allow people to explore those ranges to see what works best for them. Example: protein: 30-40%, carbs: 30-50%, Fat: 10-20%.-In essence, don’t take everything in this book as gospel. Many things can be tweaked and improved to fit your personal journey. But I think it’s a good starting point.

It was a good read

The reason I bought this book is that I was training for 6 months in Afghanistan and I didn't get the Tom Hardy from Warrior body I was hoping for, I had modest gains.Everybody you talk to has their own views and opinions on how to train, the magazines contradict each other and I wanted one source of information to avoid all the confusion. So I had look and this had some pretty good reviews already so I got it.I didn't get to read until I got home and after a week of partying away my modest gains I picked it up without knowing what to expect.After a couple of pages I knew this guy knew what he was talking about.He mentions all the bro science and explains why it doesn't work and just makes everything in the gym clearer and simpler. Everything he says is backed up by evidence and is really just simple science. I was so amazed at how much I thought I knew that turned out was just more "bro science". What he says, just makes senseHe tells you to forget everything you know (not all of it, just the fitness stuff ;)) and starts from scratch in how the body works and grows and burns fat, he describes exactly what proteins and carbs and fats are, which really is essential in the nutrition side of things. He continues to explain exactly what makes muscles grow and also all the myths that don't.There is also a program to follow, although you don't have to.Anyway I'm completely happy with what he's taught me, I don't bother with the forums and magazines any more, you just don't need them!Have a look at his website and you'll see pics of how scrawny he used to be, and now the lad is HENCH! (buildhealthymuscle.com)These reviews speak for themselves to be fair and I'm merely just reiterating what everyone else has said.The lad who posted this "Anyone attempting to train 5 times a week doing 4-6 reps (to failure mind you) with excellent form performing squats , dead lifts, benches, overhead presses and curls/triceps all on different days is delusional." is delusional! It's 5 hours of strenuous activity a week and it's easily doable.There are some other reviews that annoyed me too about supplements. He explains what the supplements do and then just says which ones he uses, which is pretty much Protein, Creatine and multi vitamins, which your body need.Also, as a side note, he's a pretty genuine person and replies to every comment on Facebook, every email and any correspondence that he gets and is available to help you with any problems you have which I think makes him a cut above the rest :)That's it from me.Review virgin has popped his cherry

This book is currently changing my life for the better. It is much more thorough than I expected when looking at the cover, I have been humbled.Great education on mindset, fitness, food, and of course the workouts.Coming from the CrossFit world, which I still love, these workouts I don't dread as much. They are challenging and satisfying instead of feeling spent and exhausted.Cheers, and God bless.

I recently started my fitness journey and the inputs from this book will play a major role in coming years. I read a lot of books on health , Diet and metabolism but this is the 1st on fitness and I am not dissapoited , overall he emphasizes the importance of fitness through strength training and its relative advantages, diet absolutely plus the most important role and he gives a lot of ideas around it. He provides what exercises at what frequency you need to do and provides tips on supplements and how to use them.

This is a book that made me fall in love with training and bodybuilding.

This book not only gives you all the practical information you need to get started with dieting and training, but it also explains the science behind them, all of which is backed up by studies. This makes it a very trustworthy book, because I think it’s important to understand these basic scientific principles before you get started. Bigger Leaner Stronger basically gives you everything you need to know to start off on your fitness journey. I highly recommend it!

This book is a good guide but it has a lot of marketing in it. Would be a five star without that marketing bs.