A hardgainer is a thin person who has trouble gaining muscle mass. He had followed Stuart McRobert’s hardgainer.com for a while before picking up a copy of Beyond Brawn. He is currently 6’8″ and normally weighs between 240-250. When I received my first driver’s license, he was 6’7″ and 150 pounds. Much of the progress I have been able to make was following the methods I had read about in hardgainer.
I have always been a fan of McRobert’s writing style and his obvious passion for strength training. He is a strong man who has acquired a wealth of knowledge about the Game of Iron. Have you ever met someone who was so passionate about something that you couldn’t help but get emotional when you heard them talk about it? That’s how I felt when (don’t laugh) the dean of my library school talked about cataloging. He raved about it as a fervent Baptist preacher, and it was impossible not to get excited about it. (This feeling vanished immediately after he left the room.)
Stuart McRobert’s writing turns you on from the first page and stays with you. Too often, books on training are tired rehashes of what’s been said a billion times before. Recycled bullet lists. Many harsh words but little humility. When someone who has achieved something I want is also willing to say, “Look, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my training over the years. I lost a lot of time and got hurt a lot,” that means something to me. At the end of any of the Die Hard movies, John Mclane has always been struck within an inch of life from him. He does heroic things, but we know he’s going to take a good beating when he’s dealt with them all.
McRoberts doesn’t pretend to know everything and admits his mistakes. He focuses so much on his mistakes, in fact, that, it sounds kind of silly, you get to know him at the end of the book. He doesn’t appear as a guru, but as a normal guy who figured out how to become strong. Larger-than-life figures are hard to pin down, unless he’s in the larger-than-life club. A man’s humanity is never shown more fully than when he admits that he is vulnerable to the same mistakes, hurts, and insecurities as anyone else.
There are two main selling points of this book.
1. McRoberts is a person to admire
He is humble but incredibly knowledgeable. His desire to help others comes through on every page.
And that gives me the opportunity to slip neatly into…
point number 2:
The content. Do you want whole? you got it
Anyone who puts “Encyclopedia” on the cover of any book is either a daring phony praying they’ll make some money before being exposed, or someone like Stuart McRobert. Encyclopedic knowledge is broad in scope and depth. You only get encyclopedic content in two ways: either a team of smart people work on tons of little articles together to prepare the next issue, or one person pays their fair share, pays attention, and takes time (years!) to synthesize your knowledge. for the boisterous masses.
Flip through Beyond Brawn and you’ll quickly realize that it’s an encyclopedia. Maybe you are not naturally curious and just like to throw heavy things. If picking up the latest copy of Brittanica doesn’t get your engine running, let me assure you, BB is an exciting book for strength seekers.
A summary of McRobert’s philosophy
- It’s a privilege to train hard
- Most people who exercise have no idea what a “hard” workout is.
- Short attention spans and information overload prevent most people from getting the results they want.
- It takes brutally hard work to get those results, but it’s not complicated.
- Squat, Deadlift and Bench if your body is healthy enough.
- Do not get hurt.
- When in doubt, train less often, not more.
- Practice proper nutrition
- get enough rest
Sounds like many other books, doesn’t it?
it isn’t. He is able to say the “same old things” in a way that will resonate with you. He is also adept at illustrating what methods don’t work without patronizing anyone who practices them. More than anything, he is saddened and frustrated by people engaged in a noble pursuit, but who are wasting the best training of their lives spinning their wheels.
Beyond Brawn has no images. Very little formatting. Simply block out paragraph after block of intelligent, applicable information that you can benefit from immediately. I have never read a book this thick so fast, and I read a lot of big fat books. There is not a false line or paragraph in the entire volume.
As I said before, the most important thing is the mindset and the passion that McRobert has… his respect for the pursuit of strength. If you have any interest in strength, positive thinking, or goal achievement, you should read this book. It’s equal parts self-help, roadmap to power, reference tool, and pep talk masterpiece for the days he needs the push to get back on track.
Read it, read it, read it, then read it again. “Empower” is not a word you can use very often without rolling your eyes. Talk too corporate. But Beyond Brawn will make you feel empowered. You will be anxious to get it on the second page.