Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.