Muscle Up: How Strength Training Beats Obesity, Cancer, and Heart Disease, and Why Everyone Should Do It

A bodhisatva in the buddhist vernacular stays in the cycle of birth and rebirth and postpones his own enlightenment until everyone else is able to do so. Mangan gives readers the tools to get and stay fit and healthy into old age while "walking the talk" himself. He has written multiple books, has email letters and tweets daily. To European readers it can all look like a lot of promotion of fads but that would be far too cynical and plain wrong. The majority of this book is a well referenced summation of his research into exercise and the conclusion that resistance training, weight lifting, HIT, will do a lot more good than conventional aerobics, jogging etc. At the end he sets out some sample programs. I changed my diet based on my own researches many years ago (whole foods, unprocessed and organic as much as possible, enemy is sugars not fats etc) but knew that my exercise still needed attention. My own and family experience has led me to be sceptical of conventional health advice so Mangan's views ring true. His tone is very measured, and he often says there is a debate on something but this is what works for him. This is not quite a "how to" book as there could be some diagrams or photos or video links but I still give it five stars as these are easily available on line and Mangan himself says to take advice on technique in the gym. This book is the theory to underpin healthy exercise practice and is particularly valuable for older readers. I forgot to add that readers of the Incerto will know that NN Taleb is into weights and I found Mangan's work via Taleb on Twitter. Recommended.

Good book

As a reader of P.D. Mangan’s website “Rogue Health and Fitness” I was looking forward to the publication of “Muscle Up”. For some time now Mangan has been exploring the frontiers of modern health and well-being and his website is a compendium of carefully researched advice on how to maintain good health, especially as we age.“Muscle Up” is a lucidly written guide to the benefits of Strength training or Weight training, as it is traditionally known. In plain English, P.D. Mangan distils the essence of a lot of ground-breaking research (and his own extensive experience), and explains why Weight training is one of the most beneficial ways of improving one’s health.The early chapters of “Muscle Up” show how Weight training’s beneficial effects in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other illnesses are derived. Even more importantly it explains why and how Weight training is a very effective way of losing body fat.Later chapters of “Muscle Up” include outline programmes for a beginner’s weight training programme, the value of HIT (High Intensity Training) and how to integrate the two types of exercise. Sections on weight training for older people and weight/strength training for women are superb, with a clear understanding of the needs of both groups.I would recommend “Muscle Up” as the start point for anyone who is looking to lose weight, gain strength or just improve their overall health. Mangan’s informed, compassionate writing style makes Weight training accessible for everyone. For me, “Muscle Up” has become a key reference as I continue on my Weight training journey. Invaluable.

Absolutely terrific book. Well written, informative and packed to the rafters with facts to back up the authors' assertions as well as much good sense. As someone who went at it hell for leather at the gym in my youth and also paid for it with a diagnosis of chronic fatigue I can attest to what's being said here.I could never fathom why I worked out so intensely and never lost a single pound of belly fat nor why I failed dismally in terms of muscle gains. I had an inkling before however now I know. When you think about it, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and Strength/Weight Training makes obvious sense. Build muscle, it fires up the metabolism and fatty deposits are lost. That combined with a high protein, low carb diet and it works wonders.This book will probably be viewed as controversial by some as we have been sold so many lies and half-truths about what we should be eating, how we should be exercising but when all is said and done, let the results speak for themselves. Short bursts of intense exercise is all that's needed not hours of exhausting and frankly soul destroying workouts.Great book, excellent insights. Muscling up is the way to go. Thanks Mr. Mangan.

P.D. Mangan's book is an excellent overview of the benefits of strength training, for young, old, beginners and gym veterans will get something out of this. I originally became familiar with his work after reading Best Supplements for Men's Health, Strength, and Virility. I like his evidence based approach combined with his own extensive anecdotal experience. He talks about his personal journey after developing chronic fatigue from regular running to 12% bodyfat at 60 years old!Those who train with weights on a regular basis know that its benefits go way beyond looking good in the mirror. The problem is this that many people are ignorant as to how good it really is. Like a thorough trial lawyer, Mangan builds a case, page by page, citing numerous studies along the way.He smashes common misconceptions about aerobic exercise, including why it is not as good as you think. He shows that older people can actually retain a high degree of mobility and independence if they strength train. Buy this book if you want to convince loved ones and friends alike to realise the benefits of strength training. After reading they cannot fail to be convinced. It may actually save their life.

I am a personal trainer and Prof. of Physical Education. I have exactly the same thoughts with the writer. Observed exactly the same things in the gyms. Resistance training, Bodywheight workouts, Free Weights and HIIT is what makes you Healthier, Stronger & Leaner.Order this book. It will blow your mind up.

STOP what you are doing right now and buy this book. It will literally save your life, if you read it and do what the author says.

I started the book with lots of doubts about the details of exactly how I should exercise and why, and happily just 3 days later this book has solved nearly all

I read this outstanding book in one sitting. It is succinct, well written and well referenced. This is basically a manual that gives a clear method to build muscle, improve health and achieve maximum longevity. I have now read 3 books by this author and find his content and style to be compelling. Well done P. D. Mangan!!!

It is increasingly clear that mainstream medical and health advice was dead wrong about saturated fat, dead wrong about cholesterol, dead wrong about vegetable oils, wrong about salt, and wrong about many other diet-related issues.Has the mainstream advice also been wrong about exercise, i.e. that cardio is the gold standard and that weightlifting should not be the primary focus of an exercise regimen if practiced at all? As Dennis Mangan shows in this book, the answer is a resounding “yes”.Whether due to the image of bodybuilding in the popular imagination as a vanity activity by low IQ “bros” who abuse steroids or other reasons, weightlifting has not primarily been viewed as something that promotes real health benefits. Mangan shows this is not the case at all.In fact, as Mangan documents here with extensive and compelling evidence, weightlifting – or strength training or resistance training, as it may also be called – brings a plethora of amazing health benefits including: reduced cancer risk, improved cardiovascular health and reduced CVD risk, vastly improved body composition (i.e. losing fat and gaining muscle), improved insulin sensitivity and other bio-markers, greater resiliance to disease in old age, and higher testosterone levels, among other things.This book also destroys a number of myths about cardio exercise. The truth is that both resistance training and HIT, or high intensity interval training, (basically, all out sprints of various kinds), are far more effective at promoting fat loss, improving blood pressure, enhancing various markers of good health and increasing resistance to disease, than cardio exercise. In fact, racking up the miles on the treadmill – particularly if done to excess – results in muscle loss (sarcopenia), does NOT lead to fat loss, can damage your heart and ultimately if overdone may lead to chronic fatigue and a weaker immune system generally.So, who will benefit from this book? I can think of several categories of people:-- Current exercise enthusiasts: Many people love to exercise but have been brainwashed by the common received wisdom, and are spinning their wheels -- literally and figuratively -- on the stationary bike, treadmill or other “chronic cardio” device. This book may convince them of the folly of chronic cardio and the benefits of resistance training.-- People looking to start getting healthy: Most people just starting to work out are likely to take the path of least resistance (pun intended), and simply jog or do a stairmaster. A resource like this book will point them in the right direction as soon as they get started.-- Elderly people: Many elderly people are resigned to living out their lives in a debilitated and reduced capacity, on the belief that such as state is inevitable and irreversible. Mangan cites some amazing studies that show phenomenal and rapid turn-around in the health of elderly people, such as those who suffered hip fractures, through the use of resistance training.-- Overweight people and those suffering from the “diseases of civilization”: Diet is a huge culprit in the state of obese, diabetic America. But resistance training, as Mangan documents here, is incredibly powerful in helping to shed fat, improve insulin sensitivity and even turn around some diseases at which mainstream medicine throws either pills or its hands up.-- Teenagers or parents with teenagers who want to inculcate good exercise habits early in life.Aside from the chapters on the specific health benefits of weightlifting, Mangan also offers a succinct and to-the-point chapter on the main compound lifts, HIT and sample programs. He also discusses a number of important considerations relating to exercise volume, form, tempo, free weights vs. machines, recovery time and other topics that are useful in crafting your own program.Another excellent book from Dennis Mangan.

Short and easy to read, this book gives all the good reasons and the science behind why it's important for our health to get and maintain a proper muscle mass. P.D. Mangan is a great author to follow.

Short, points well made and easy to understand. I don't like purchasing a book with 40 pages of fill material just so I can get to the main issue. This book is for those of us who are impatient to get to it or simply don't care about the author's other issues. I would recommend this book to others.