Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives
Michael Joseph Gross
Mar 2025 · Weidenfeld & Nicolson · Narrated by Dan Woren
headphones
Audiobook
15 hr 8 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 1 hr 30 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
'Even if you've never picked up a weight, Stronger is for you' - Arnold Schwarzenegger
No matter how you think of yourself - strong or weak, large or small - you are substantially made of muscle. To the last day of your life, your ability to stand and go where you want to go, your agency and effectiveness in the world, will depend on it. But what is muscle?
From the battlefields of Homer's Iliad where muscles first enter world literature, to the Victorian-era gymnasiums where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights, to the retirement home in Boston where a young doctor discovers that training at high intensity can produce the same relative gains for frail ninety-year-olds as for thirty-year-olds, Stronger places the science and significance of our muscles in an astonishing new light.
Ancient binaries of brain versus brawn created an enduring prejudice against muscle and against the type of exercise that best builds strength. Yet the research proves that weight training can help prevent or treat many chronic diseases and disabilities throughout life, including depression, cancer, and diabetes. 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 in the world.
No matter how you think of yourself - strong or weak, large or small - you are substantially made of muscle. To the last day of your life, your ability to stand and go where you want to go, your agency and effectiveness in the world, will depend on it. But what is muscle?
From the battlefields of Homer's Iliad where muscles first enter world literature, to the Victorian-era gymnasiums where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights, to the retirement home in Boston where a young doctor discovers that training at high intensity can produce the same relative gains for frail ninety-year-olds as for thirty-year-olds, Stronger places the science and significance of our muscles in an astonishing new light.
Ancient binaries of brain versus brawn created an enduring prejudice against muscle and against the type of exercise that best builds strength. Yet the research proves that weight training can help prevent or treat many chronic diseases and disabilities throughout life, including depression, cancer, and diabetes. 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 in the world.
About the author
A longtime Vanity Fair contributing editor, Michael Joseph Gross has published investigative reporting, essays, and books about culture, technology, politics, religion and business. He was raised in rural Illinois and lives in New York City.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
