“If you want to use strength training for aesthetics, Mike is your source. Read this book, and read mine too, and come away with what you need to know. The rest will be up to you.”

–Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training and Practical Programming for Strength Training

“I highly, highly recommend Bigger Leaner Stronger. You don’t just read it. You do it. And you see immediate changes and results.”

–Hafthor “The Mountain” Björnsson, World’s Strongest Man champion

“Nobody cuts through the fitness and nutrition confusion and clutter like Mike Matthews. And in Bigger Leaner Stronger, he draws on a powerful combination of time in the trenches and hard-core research to give you the straight talk about what actually works.

“This book is easy to read and incredibly effective. I highly recommend.”

–Ben Greenfield, CEO of Kion & New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Training: Mastering Endurance, Health & Life

I don’t know anybody who can find time to exercise. I’ve never had anyone tell me, “Mike, I have too much free time these days. I think I’ll spend a few hours in the gym every day to get in shape. What should I do while I’m there?”

It’s always the opposite. Most of us lead busy, hectic lives and feel we don’t have time for anything new. But in almost all cases, that just isn’t true.

As much as some people would like to think they’re too busy to exercise, when they analyze in detail how they actually spend their every waking minute every day, they discover how it could be worked out (no pun intended). And especially when they realize how little time it really takes to get fit!

The reality is people who have successfully transformed their bodies have the same 24 hours in a day as you and the rest of us, and they still have lives to live.

They still have to go work, spend time with their loved ones, maintain some semblance of a social life, and remember to decompress and have some fun now and then. The only difference is they’ve decided exercise is important enough to be in the plan.

For some, that means watching less TV or giving it up altogether. For others, it means waking up an hour earlier than normal a few days per week to get into the gym. For others still it means asking the wife to take the kids after dinner (a flavor that can be repaid for her workouts!).

My point is: if you really want to carve out an hour a few days per week to train, I’m positive you can.

Absolutely.

With Bigger Leaner Stronger, you can gain up to 25 pounds of muscle in just your first year while also dropping pounds of unwanted fat and greatly increasing your whole-body strength.

Moreover, you’re also going to experience firsthand things most people will never know about effective diet and training, including how to perform key exercises with perfect form, ensure you keep progressing in your workouts, break through fat loss and muscle gain plateaus, prevent injuries, and much more.

The bottom line is by the end of your first year of Bigger Leaner Stronger, you’re not only going to be thrilled with the results, but even more so with what you’re going to be able to accomplish in the following year, two, three, and beyond.

Definitely.

Every week I get emailed by at least a few people asking if it’s too late to build muscle and get fit.

Most are very pleasantly surprised when I explain that it’s definitely not too late, and that I’m regularly working with guys and gals in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s who are building their best bodies ever.

How should people in their 40s and beyond go about building a great body, though? Certainly they can’t eat and train like the 20-year-olds, right?

You might be surprised to learn that not nearly as much changes as people think.

One of the first things I refer people to who are worried about age squashing their dreams of being fit is a study conducted by scientists at the University of Oklahoma, which had 24 college-aged (18 to 22) and 25 middle-aged (35 to 50) men follow the same weightlifting routine for eight weeks.

Researchers then analysed everyone’s body composition and found that the middle-aged men had gained just as much muscle as their college-aged counterparts had. Strength gains were very similar as well.

In my experience, this is equally true for women. Middle age isn’t a physiological strikeout, even when compared to your 20s. You can do just fine.

People in their 60s and beyond aren’t left out of the party, either. Studies show that they too can gain significant amounts of muscle and strength, and more importantly, that training and developing their muscles is a great way to fight the “dwindling health spiral” normally associated with ageing.

Furthermore, despite what you’ve probably heard, your metabolism doesn’t crater and your hormones don’t implode as you get older.

Research shows that the average adult’s metabolism slows by just 1 to 3 percent per decade and that the primary reason for this is muscle loss, not genetic programming.

Therefore, if you maintain your muscle as you age, you maintain your metabolism. And if you add muscle to your frame, you can increase it.

And as far as hormones go, it was once believed that the hormonal disturbance associated with ageing was inevitable. We now know this isn’t true. Research shows that lifestyle factors are equally causative of hormonal changes as ageing itself, if not more so.

For example, here’s a short list of the biggest lifestyle factors that can depress your testosterone levels:

• Weight gain

• Stopping exercise

• Chronic illness

• Use of medications

• Sleeping too little

• Moderate alcohol consumption

These are all under your control. Your hormone health truly is in your hands.

For example, studies show that there are plenty of ways to naturally improve your hormone profile, including staying lean, doing regular resistance training, and maintaining good sleep hygiene.

You’ll also be happy to know you don’t need stellar hormone levels to get fit. If you’re willing to work hard, you can have below-average hormones and a far-above-average physique.

All that said, there are several key differences between college-aged and middle-aged bodies that make fitness a little harder as you get older.

Research shows that after about age 50, your muscles recover slower from exercise and that you begin to lose muscle over time (if you don’t do anything to stop it).

Your tendons and ligaments also become stiffer and recover slower, which can increase the risk of injury.

Overall, though, the science is clear: you can stay in remarkably good shape well into old age if you stay active and take care of your body, and that’s just as true for men as it is for women.

Probably.

With over 400 pages of practical, science-based information on the inner and outer games of getting and staying in the best shape of your life, even the most veteran gym rats can learn a thing or two from Bigger Leaner Stronger.

And if nothing else, it’ll serve as a powerful refresher on the 20% of diet and exercise information and strategies that delivers 80% of the results.

One of the best things about Bigger Leaner Stronger is how quickly it works.

You’ll see marked improvements in the gym and mirror within your first month, and it’ll only get better and better from there.

No.

You don’t have to take any supplements if you don’t want to, because the vast majority of pills and powders are a waste of money.

If you have the budget and inclination, however, certain supplements can help you gain muscle and strength, lose fat, and get healthy faster. You’ll learn all about this in the book.

Absolutely.

Bigger Leaner Stronger comes in three flavors–5, 4, and 3 days per week–and individual workouts range from 45 to 70 minutes.

The bottom line is if you can dedicate 3 to 6 hours per week to Bigger Leaner Stronger, you can build the body you’ve always wanted.

Yup.

The diet principles are very flexible and can accommodate any and all food preferences and limitations.

If you want to get muscular, lean, and strong as quickly as possible without steroids, good genetics, extreme dieting, or wasting ridiculous amounts of time in the gym . . . regardless of your age . . . you want to read this book.

• You don’t need to: Spend hundreds of dollars per month on the worthless supplements steroid-furled bodybuilders “swear by.” Most pills and powders do absolutely nothing.

• You don’t need to: Constantly change up your weightlifting routine to gain muscle mass quickly and effectively. Muscle building is much simpler than that.

• You don’t need to: Waste a couple of hours in the gym every day grinding through gruelling workouts. In fact, this is a great way to get nowhere.

• You don’t need to: Slog away at boring cardio to shed ugly belly fat and get a six-pack. In fact, you don’t have to do any cardio to get the body you really want.

• You don’t need to: Obsess over “clean eating” and avoiding “unhealthy” foods to get ripped. Instead, you can get the body you want eating the foods you love.

Those are just a few of the harmful lies and myths that keep guys from ever achieving the lean, muscular, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire.

And in this book you’re going to learn something most guys will never know . . .The exact methods of diet and training that make putting on 10 to 15 pounds of quality lean mass a breeze . . . and it only takes a few months.

Here are just a few of the things you’re going to discover in this book:

• The 10 biggest fat loss and muscle building myths and mistakes that keep guys fat, weak, and frustrated.

• The 3 scientific laws of muscle growth and fat loss that literally force your body to get bigger, leaner, and stronger. You’ll be shocked at how easy it really is to build muscle and lose fat once you know what you’re doing.

• How to create flexible diet plans that help you transform your body composition eating the foods you love…and without ever feeling starved, deprived, or like you’re “on a diet.”

• A paint-by-numbers training system that will help you build a big, full chest . . . a wide, tapered back . . . thick, powerful legs . . . and strong, bulging arms…spending no more than 3 to 6 hours in the gym every week…doing challenging, fun workouts that you enjoy.

• A no-BS guide to supplements that will show you what works and what doesn’t, saving you hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year.

• And a whole lot more!

Imagine . . . just 12 weeks from now . . . being constantly complimented on how great you look and asked how the heck you’re doing it . . .

Imagine enjoying the added benefits of high energy levels, no aches and pains, better spirits, and knowing that you’re getting healthier every day . . .

The bottom line is you CAN get that “Hollywood hunk” body without following boring, bland “bodybuilder” diets or living in the gym. This book shows you how.

SPECIAL BONUS FOR READERS!

With this fitness book, you’ll also get a FREE 56-page reference guide with all of the book’s key takeaways, a year’s worth of Bigger Leaner Stronger workouts, 10 premade meal plans for cutting and lean bulking, and more!

Scroll up, click the “Buy” button now, and begin your journey to a bigger, leaner, and stronger you!

If you want to get muscular, lean, and strong as quickly as possible without steroids, good genetics, extreme dieting, or wasting ridiculous amounts of time in the gym . . . regardless of your age . . . you want to read this book.

• You don’t need to: Spend hundreds of dollars per month on the worthless supplements steroid-furled bodybuilders “swear by.” Most pills and powders do absolutely nothing.

• You don’t need to: Constantly change up your weightlifting routine to gain muscle mass quickly and effectively. Muscle building is much simpler than that.

• You don’t need to: Waste a couple of hours in the gym every day grinding through gruelling workouts. In fact, this is a great way to get nowhere.

• You don’t need to: Slog away at boring cardio to shed ugly belly fat and get a six-pack. In fact, you don’t have to do any cardio to get the body you really want.

• You don’t need to: Obsess over “clean eating” and avoiding “unhealthy” foods to get ripped. Instead, you can get the body you want eating the foods you love.

Those are just a few of the harmful lies and myths that keep guys from ever achieving the lean, muscular, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire.

And in this book you’re going to learn something most guys will never know . . .The exact methods of diet and training that make putting on 10 to 15 pounds of quality lean mass a breeze . . . and it only takes a few months.

Here are just a few of the things you’re going to discover in this book:

• The 10 biggest fat loss and muscle building myths and mistakes that keep guys fat, weak, and frustrated.

• The 3 scientific laws of muscle growth and fat loss that literally force your body to get bigger, leaner, and stronger. You’ll be shocked at how easy it really is to build muscle and lose fat once you know what you’re doing.

• How to create flexible diet plans that help you transform your body composition eating the foods you love…and without ever feeling starved, deprived, or like you’re “on a diet.”

• A paint-by-numbers training system that will help you build a big, full chest . . . a wide, tapered back . . . thick, powerful legs . . . and strong, bulging arms…spending no more than 3 to 6 hours in the gym every week…doing challenging, fun workouts that you enjoy.

• A no-BS guide to supplements that will show you what works and what doesn’t, saving you hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year.

• And a whole lot more!

Imagine . . . just 12 weeks from now . . . being constantly complimented on how great you look and asked how the heck you’re doing it . . .

Imagine enjoying the added benefits of high energy levels, no aches and pains, better spirits, and knowing that you’re getting healthier every day . . .

The bottom line is you CAN get that “Hollywood hunk” body without following boring, bland “bodybuilder” diets or living in the gym. This book shows you how.

SPECIAL BONUS FOR READERS!

With this fitness book, you’ll also get a FREE 56-page reference guide with all of the book’s key takeaways, a year’s worth of Bigger Leaner Stronger workouts, 10 premade meal plans for cutting and lean bulking, and more!

Scroll up, click the “Buy” button now, and begin your journey to a bigger, leaner, and stronger you!

Mike Matthews is a bestselling fitness author of Bigger Leaner Stronger, Thinner Leaner Stronger, and The Shredded Chef, as well the founder of Legion Athletics.

His simple and science-based approach to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy has sold over a million books and helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever, and his work has been featured in many popular outlets including Esquire, Men’s Health, Elle, Women’s Health, Muscle & Strength, and more, as well as on FOX and ABC.