Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body (The Build Muscle, Get Lean, and Stay Healthy Series) Kindle Edition

When I bought this book I weighed 180, and I was severely depressed that was almost 2 years ago.
Today I am a happy for 57 year old woman.
Mike is telling the truth when he tells you you can achieve the body of your dreams. I stuck to the program and ignored the naysayers. I am now 115lbs and only 14% body fat. Over 30 years of yoyo dieting and different exercise programs including running and I finally found what works, that is the program you will learn in "Thinner Leaner Stronger"

A lot of other reviewers comment that this book is not for experienced weightlifters and gave it negative reviews for that. This book ("Thinner, Leaner, Stronger," or TLS) wasn't written for them - it was written for people like me.

I've been a regular (4-6 times/week) gym rat for at least 12 years. I started doing conditioning for varsity sports in college, but after I quit sports, I continued working out quite regularly in an attempt to lose/maintain weight and stay healthy. I'm sad to say I've mostly been doing it wrong. The good thing about TLS is that it convinces you that the best way to achieve fitness and lose fat is to lift heavy weights, high intensity cardio, and diet. I was missing the heavy weights part. I'd lifted weights for conditioning in sports but soon stopped after I quit sports. Since then, I had done basically every kind of exercise out there, including group fitness classes and a boutique boxing gym, in order to stay motivated. Many of these mix cardio and strength training (sometimes with weights, sometimes with body weight) into the same 30-60 minute exercise. I always felt like I was getting a good workout but had trouble looking leaner even though I'd sit on the elliptical or treadmill for almost an hour a day.

I've now been following TLS for a little more than 2 weeks. It's not enough time to prove the theory, but it's enough to let me know that this is a great way to work out. It isn't as difficult as some cardio-heavy routines I've done in the past, and I feel like I'm already looking leaner and losing weight. I like that the author goes to great lengths to prove that the workout he suggests, the diet, and the supplements are the best proven ways to achieve lean fitness. If you're wondering whether or not this book is for you, I would suggest reading Mike Matthews' website, "Muscle for Life." Most of the advice, except for the specific workout, are included on that website. The best thing about this workout is that Mike Matthews will answer your questions, either by email or on the website forum.

I love this book so much that I want to tell everyone I know about it. I don't because that would just be annoying - but I can't help it. This book has converted me. I believe I've found the best way to be leaner, thinner, and stronger after 12 years of essentially wasting my time. And you'll notice no bigger theme in this review than that I hate wasting time.

However, I want to point out that this book is not necessarily for everyone. That's why I suggested reading the articles on the website first. Here are some of the downsides of this fitness approach:
- It's best for people who are already in decent shape and used to working out. People just starting to exercise regularly for the first time in their lives might want to adapt some of the exercises, such as less intense cardio to start and lifting in the 8-12 rep range for the first few weeks.
- You'll need access to heavy weights and gym equipment, including a bench, olympic weights, bar, and power rack at a minimum. I priced this out and think it would cost around $1000 to outfit a home gym, less if you can find equipment on craigslist. Your only other option is a gym membership. I've been working out at home lately and prefer home workouts to going to a gym because of the amount of extra time it takes (driving there, changing, showering afterwards, driving back home). But because of the startup cost, as well as the lack of space in my home, I got a gym membership. The downside to all this is that most people don't keep up with fitness routines despite their best intentions to lose weight and then they stop using their gym memberships or their home gym. So this is money down the drain if you can't keep up with it. Gyms are actually relying on people purchasing memberships and then just not going. It's their business model. I personally resent the extra time it takes to go to the gym, even though I've done it for years. Working out at home is my preference. Someday I will save the money to do so.
- This workout is best for people who can devote 45-60 minutes 5-6 days a week to working out. That's just elapsed time doing the workouts, not the extra time I mentioned for getting to/from the gym. It's a little bit longer than fits comfortably in most working folks' schedules. More specifically, the workout requires lifting heavy weights for 3-5 days a week (the routines take about 45 minutes) and then doing 20-30 minutes of cardio 3-5 days a week. The author recommends separating the lifting and cardio by several hours. That isn't possible for me because of my job, and it isn't possible for most people. The alternative is to do the cardio workout right after the lifting workout, squeezing it into the 60 or so minutes if you're really disicplined about rest times and very organized with all the equipment you'll need. Otherwise it takes 15+ minutes longer. Or you could do the minimum 3 lifting days a week and separate 3 cardio days per week. I suspect the fitness improvement will be slower and/or less impressive this way, but it's technically possible. The reason this bothers me is that I've found that I can keep to a workout routine best if it's less than 60 minutes per day, which is a bit tight for this program if I lift 5 days/week with cardio right after.
- I am struggling with the diet, which emphasizes a particular proportion of macro nutrients in addition to calorie deficit, specifically, 45% protein, 20% carbs, and 35% fat. Calorie deficit I can do, but somehow I have to eat 160 or so grams of protein per day and less than 70 grams of carbs, which I haven't managed to do so far. It seems that protein supplements more than once a day would be required. My natural diet of whole foods seem to be 33% protein, 33% carbs, and 33% fat. At the same time, this is a low carb diet, and I've found with willpower issues that it's easier just to reduce calorie intake than it is to worry about exactly what you're eating. I don't mind dieting so much if I can have a frozen lean cuisine pizza for dinner to calm my food cravings. This is not possible on the diet in TLS.
- The supplements section is fairly informative, but I'll point out again the startup cost involved in purchasing supplements. Luckily, supplements are technically optional since they just don't help as much as diet and workouts.

The reduced star to my review, despite the fact that I love this book, is due to the downsides to the program listed above as well as the fact that there is no quick reference guide to the major topics (workout, diet, supplements). Instead, you have to read through all the text to find the piece of information you're looking for. In other words, the information should be summarized more simply, since there are more than a few details to keep straight. I wrote the author about this and he mentioned it will be improved in a future edition of the book.

I am a long distance triathlete marathoner that was sidelined due to a running injury and was looking for a good book on weight training. I did a search on Amazon and this book stood out among the rest because it was specifically written for women beginning strength training/body building and few good books exist. What surprised me the most was when I received an email from the author asking me if I had any questions about the book or training. At first I thought this can't be a real person but it was. Michael Matthews is a very generous person who really wants to help you by teaching you the most effective method to get leaner and stronger.

Mike's straight forward no-nonsense nuts and bolts approach to weight training appealed to me. Through his personal trials and errors with his own journey in body building, Mike tells you what you should do. He gives you a training menu, supplement advice and a diet guideline. 5 days of less than one hour per day of weight training and 3 hours of cardio per week is all you need. I am new to this whole world of body building and it's my first week, but the program and eating is so far easy for me to follow. Eating right and lifting heavy weights seems to be the important key to reach success.

I am enjoying the gym for the first time after I quit going years ago because I got bored and saw no results. I have a specific goal to transform my body and see the same gym members from 9 years ago doing the same routines with no visible results. My target is to build upper body strength and muscle, make my legs stronger, get rid of my mini muffin top on my backside and have a power butt. Don't let your husband, trainers or hulks at the gym intimidate you from trying to use the men's machines at the gym which women often are afraid to use fearing that they will bulk up with big muscles which is nonsense. It's never too late to try something new at any age. I am 50 years old and it has been a personal dream of mine to do some sort of body building like this since I was a teenager. Since I bought this book, I am having fun doing something new and different from what all the other women here in Japan are doing at my gym.

I have ALWAYS struggled with my weight; I don't even know what it's like to be in shape. I workout but tend to hover around the same weight and body shape. The more I have read into what people do to get in better shape, the more I began to see how important it is to control what/how you eat. I researched books on fitness and came across this. I read it within 2 days and immediately started doing what the book advised. I lost 3 lbs my first week and the weight continues to come off. I have always worked out but for once it's actually paying off and I am seeing the weight melt while my muscles get stronger.

This is a very inexpensive book and it's worth reading it and trying out the program. Michael gets right to the point and breaks down how everything works. I refuse to do anything until I understand the science behind it. He explained it very simply and I am happy with the results I've seen.

I'd recommend this book for every woman, especially those like me that have always struggled with their weight and knowing what to do.

I purchased Bigger Leaner Stronger and loved the book and am currently following the program. My wife started getting into lifting and nutrition as well, so I purchased Thinner Leaner Stronger (audio book) so she could listen to the book and do the program if she liked it. I listened to the book too because I was curious about it, and I quickly realized that most of the book was copied word for word from bigger leaner stronger. For the most part this is not a big problem because most of the advice the author gives applies to both men and women and is good advice. However, there are several instances in this book where the author gives an example by applying it to a 160 pound male or whatever, and that was a little irritating because it's not going to resonate with women if the book is talking about men the whole time.

The real problem is in the section on bulking and cutting. This is directly copied from Bigger Leaner Stronger and certain parts of it apply to men only. For example, the book talks about how men should cut down to 10% body fat and bulk to around 15 or 17%, but the book made no mention that these numbers aren't ideal for women. Since it didn't even mention how women should bulk or cut properly, women are left to think that they should cut down to 10% like men, which would be excessive and possibly unhealthy.

As a final thought, I'm not sure if these problems are only in the audio book, or if they're in the hard copy as well. It's something I hope the author checks and can revise.

I'd return the audio book if I could, unfortunately there are no returns on audible unless you're paying for a membership. Another disappointment.