Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives

Ages 18 And Up, Grades 13 And Up

A groundbreaking, richly informative exploration of the central yet underappreciated role of muscle in human life and health, Stronger sounds an urgent call for each of us to recognize muscle as “the vital, inextricable and effective partner of the soul.”

“Even if you’ve never picked up a weight—Stronger is for you.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger

Stronger tells a story of breathtaking scope, from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail ninety-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as thirty-year-olds if they lift weights.

All these surprising tales play out against a background of clashing worldviews, an age-old competition between athletic trainers and medical doctors to define our understanding and experience of muscle. In this conflict, muscle got typecast: Simplistic binaries of brain versus brawn created a persistent prejudice against muscle, and against weight training, the type of exercise that best builds muscular strength and power. 

But Stronger shows muscle and weight training in a whole new light. Michael Joseph Gross blends history and firsthand reporting in a profoundly inspiring narrative, conveyed with warmth and humor, that’s packed with practical information based on rigorous scientific studies from around the world. The research is compelling. Weight training can help prevent or treat many chronic diseases and disabilities throughout the lifespan—including cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and depression. Unforgettably, Stronger reveals how 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 upon the world in the ways that we wish.

About the Author

A longtime Vanity Fair contribuing 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.

Author Residence: New York

Author Hometown: Illinois