Stronger - by Michael Joseph Gross (Hardcover)

About the Book

An account of the history and science of muscle and weight training, from the Trojan War to modern-day research, highlighting how strength-building exercises can prevent and treat chronic diseases, improve quality of life, and challenge age-old biases against muscle.

Book Synopsis

A groundbreaking, richly informative exploration of the central 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.

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.

Stronger shows muscle and weight training in a whole new light. With warmth and humor, Michael Joseph Gross blends history and firsthand reporting in an inspiring narrative packed with practical information based on rigorous scientific studies from around the world. The research proves that 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. 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.

Review Quotes

"When I heard about Stronger, I was in heaven. The history, science, and practice of lifting weights, all in one place? That's my kind of book! It tells the inspiring stories of athletes and scholars such as my friend Jan Todd, the pioneer of women's powerlifting, and it shows the powerful research that proves that building strength and muscle could be a type of medicine for all kinds of people. Even if you've never picked up a weight--Stronger is for you. But be careful: Something tells me that by the time you finish, you'll find plenty of reasons to try out resistance training."
--Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California, seven-time Mr. Olympia, and bestselling author of The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and Be Useful

"The very definition of cutting-edge... Stronger is an elegant, sophisticated, and substantial piece of work... It's absolutely enthralling, written with a masterly zip and zing -- an eye for the arresting visual detail and an ear for the striking quotation."
--The American Spectator

"I started lifting weights in 1956, when I was fourteen. When Stronger is in readers' hands, I'll be eighty-three--I'll still be lifting. From the Histories by Herodotus to Pumping Iron--from Ancient Greece to Arnold Schwarzenegger--this is the enlightening history of weight training. I'm a full-time writer. I spend every day sitting on my glutes. Do your glutes a favor--read Stronger."
--John Irving, National Book Award winning author of The World According to Garp, Oscar winning screenwriter of The Cider House Rules, and New York Times bestselling author of The Last Chairlift

"Stronger is at once a meditation on the relationship between soul and body and a practical guide to growing old. It is thoughtful, richly reported and totally compelling. The first thing I did after finishing it was buy a set of weights."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Sixth Extinction

"Through meticulous research and first-rate storytelling, Stronger will reshape how you think about health, longevity, and what matters as we age. Cardio, core, yoga exercises--sure they're good for you. But this book shows how developing and maintaining muscle might just be the most important thing a person can do to preserve and protect their health."
--Guy Raz, creator and host of the podcasts How I Built This and Wow in the World, and author of the New York Times bestselling books inspired by both podcasts

"Stronger is a pioneering narrative--a fascinating exploration, years in the making, of a hugely important part of human life and culture. It raises the question that great books do: Why has this not been written before?"
--William Langewiesche, nationally bestselling author of the National Book Critic's Circle Award finalist American Ground

"In these burning times, Stronger offers a reminder that we can still have influence on the most vital and intimate world we inhabit from cradle to grave: our bodies. Reading it, one has to wonder, who wouldn't want to be strong?"
--Rick Bass, author of With Every Great Breath: New and Selected Essays and the Story Prize winner For a Little While: New and Collected Stories

"A convincing argument for appreciating and maintaining your muscles and health."
--Booklist

"An engagingly learned look at the human body."
--Kirkus, Most Anticipated Nonfiction of Spring 2025

"A vigorous examination of the history and science of strength training... this delivers."
--Publishers Weekly

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.