Muscle Myths: 50 Health & Fitness Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making (The Build Muscle, Get Lean, and Stay Healthy Series)

Well written, well organized, and well researched. Then extensive reference list contains academic/scientific studies and not the usual unsupported assertions of many so-called health and fitness books and magazines. A very informative, no nonsense approach to building muscle without all the hype of "bro-science". I highly recommend this book to all.

I am in my mid-thrities, and a mom of 4 young kids. While I have always been fairly athletic, I've also always carried extra weight, to the tune of at least 50 pounds or so. In the last 18 months, something clicked for me and I finally made a big push to get healthy and fit. During that time, I found some workout programs that worked for me and learned how to eat "clean" as much as possible. Consequently, I've lost 60 pounds and am in the best health of my life, with what i truly think is the best body i can achieve, at least from a weight-loss perpective. Since I am still new to the fitness world, my fitness journy has been pretty bumpy over the last 25 years. I bought this book recently as I am reaching the point in my journey where I want to kick up my fitness level even more, and focus more on building lean muscle since I've finally hit what I think is probably my target weight, and i also want to make sure i maintain this new physique, and am employing the right habits, for life. I soooooooo wish I had read this book BEFORE I started this process, or that it was available 10 years ago - it would have made this process so much simpler and easier. The hardest thing I've had to do is to distill useful information from fiction from the prolific world of fitness in the last 18 months, and Mike does this beautifully, in a well-written, tongue-in-cheek style that I found very accessible. He manages to simplify somewhat complicated concepts and debunk widespread misbeliefs at the same time. I'll definitely be sharing this book with friends and family, and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about how to better their health, and their body. Mike doesn't BS you - his approach is straighforward and honest and, at least for me, was refreshing.

I grew up reading Joe Weider's Muscle and Fitness as well as the magazines from Bill Phillips and EAS and I remember thinking when I was eighteen how freaking hard and complicated it seemed to build muscle. I came very close to giving up my dream of having a musclar, lean, and strong body. A couple years went by. I experimented with HIT, HVT, and eventually came upon the books by Nate Green and Lou Schuler and finally started to make some signicant gains in strength and size. Unfortunately though it came with a price. Their so called "functional exercises" messed up my joints from the high impact forces and while I was bigger I didn't feel like I was defined enough and still thought a lot of body parts were lacking from no direct exercise whatsoever.I discovered Michael Matthews' Bigger, Leaner, Stronger in December of 2012 and have been following his routines and advice for over a year now and have seen a signifcant improvement in my physique (especially my chest and shoulders) and have gained strength relatively easily compared to other routines I had done in the past. After a year though I still had some questions about training, nutrition, and lifestyle that were only just touched upon in BLS. Thankfully this book filled in those gaps and has greatly expanded my knowledge of exercise and has shown me that losing fat, building muscle, and getting healthy is no where near as complicated as the Joe Weider's and Bill Phillips' would have you believe.One thing that I truly appreciated in this book is that Michael truly does seem unbiased. There are a lot of myths in the book that he discredits even though he uses a different method (an example is intermittent fasting). That goes very far with me. Thanks Mike for putting out practical and true information for us to benefit from.

I received the kindle version of this book for Xmas and wanted to pass on a quick review.I'm a 64 year old man who has been bodybuilding for 30 years. I am in excellent shape and have maintained a very musclular V-shape most of my adult life due to my dedication to bodybuilding. I am constantly stopped on the streets in the summertime when I stroll through my home city of Boston in the summertime dressed in tanks or sleeveless T's. Practically every night during these walks I am approached and asked how old I am. When I tell them I am 64 I usually get a handshake and a 'I hope I look as good as you do when I get to be your age.' remark. I take that as a great compliment becuase I achieved my physique with years of discipline, hard work, and diet. No supplements, no drugs, no magic elixirs.There is no magic and no shortcuts to a lifetime of good health and a great looking physique. I tell people this all the time, and if I were a writer I would have written the exact same book that Mike has written here. Stick to the basics, as outlined in this book, and forgot about all the hype. Mike has done a great job in cutting out all the BS and trying to steer you folks in the right direction. Great job, Mike! I agree with you 100% and am living proof that if you stick to the basics you can also enjoy a life of great health and a powerful physique.Bill

I can't praise this book enough. I had been weight training for about 18 months and I really felt like I knew what I was doing. To be fair I looked pretty damn good for 47, but just not good enough!I am an Ectopmorph, so naturally tall and slim and I had kind of accepted that I wouldn't be able to gain a lot of muscle. However I read this book and realised I was making some simple dietary and training mistakes. Now rectified, in under 2 months I have gained over half a stone in muscle while still looking quite defined.Turns out I can have big muscles after all! Oh and I have been able to achieve this with 3, 30 min sessions a week, which I fit in at lunch break from work.I am so pleased with this book and I really look forward to every training session now, knowing that every session is making a difference, because I can actually see it!Thanks Mike!

This book is essential reading, whether you're a bodybuilder, or just want to get into shape. Fairly easy to understand, straight to the point, Michael Matthews debunks the industry endorsed fitness myths that have hung around like the boogeyman for far too long, garbage like 'muscle turns into fat' (No it doesn't. fat and muscle are two entirely different things, okay, Mr Bro science?) or cardio is best for 'fat loss' (high intensity weight lifting burns way more fat than cardio). Just two examples of the fifty fitness myths he takes on. Get this book, because getting into good shape, isn't terribly complicated, nor should it be. Better education is the first step. People have been misinformed for far too long.

I found this book extremely useful. There is so much conflicting information out there and this book provided a way to evaluate the best way for a healthy path forward.Well written and convincing..

If you haven't read BLS by Mike Matthews already, I would advise starting there, and then moving onto this book, which goes onto dispelling some of the countless myths and hearsay regarding exercise and nutrition and supplements.I honestly thought I had a fair bit of knowledge after 10 years of training in gyms, but these two books set me straight.They are most effective because they fall back on the scientific research done with people in clinical test groups and athletes to support their guidance, and because the information is presented in a user friendly format you don't need a medical dictionary to get this up to date information straight into your work out programme and nutrition plan.Something else, I had a small number of queries about this system, and have emailed the author Mike several times.In all cases he has got back to me within about 48hrs with advice, and I found that there is a bit of a community out there set up by him via his website, that will pretty much answer any question you can come up with.No more plodding along, losing time in gyms and wasting money on ineffective supplements. This one is the real deal and belongs on your bookshelf!

Busts some of the myths that have proven to last and go round gyms and communities, great knowledge to gain when working out.