And Stronger Than Ever in 12 Months

I bought Thinner, Leaner Stronger and LOVE it! I was writing my workouts down and finally decided to look at this journal he offers l...which lead to buying the journal. I am so, so glad I did. Now I just look at my previous weight lifted and read my comments and know what to do next time. It is so much easier to keep track of and faster to read my notes. SO glad I just got the journal. Loving the book and now the ease of writing notes and info of the workouts in this handy workout journal. It is also motivating to keep an eye on what I am doing and what the next day entails. Definitely a time saver as well as great motivation. Thank you once again to Mike Matthews! Results are peaking through :)

I actually bought this book twice, once in paperback and then in spiral. The spiral copy is more current and has additional workouts in it- so glad I got it. This is not a stand-alone book, you need the Thinner, Learner and Stronger book to go with it. This one year challenge was just what I was looking for- tell me what to do and when!

I have thyroid disease. I worked out using this and overdid it on the reps. Still, I think this is the most comprehensive guide out there that there is. I would like to see him do a modified version of this, but for those recovering from severe autoimmune and endocrine or post-op conditions, maybe even childbirth. I bought the equipment. I bought a pull-up bar. I have all the stuff to work out, but I have to take it easy and go slow, and I don't know how to implement this book without risking potential relapse into illness. The thought of that is scary. The thought of a point of no return with no weight control is scary, when your metabolism and your immune systems aren't your friends, and you're fighting unreal adrenal fatigue with thyroid disease. Can we have this in an easy does it format? He makes excellent sense. I have no idea how to modify this though.

So I pretty much never write reviews. But I feel I should on this book. I just completed my first week of the program, so it is too early to determine if it is effective. I have adjusted my diet (as much as I can, I'm usually under my goals by a little) and followed the 5 day workout plan. I feel super motivated by this book. I work three days a week, minimum of 12 hour shifts where I am on my feet all day. It can be hard but having those nice sore muscles the day after working out is oddly rewarding. And trust me, this beats running on a treadmill for hours on end (I wish someone had introduced me to weights sooner!). I used to only run, miles and miles every week (which got me skinny, but I want to be toned). At the very least this book puts to rest a lot of exercise myths (with studies to back the authors arguments which I love) and is an informative read on nutrition and exercise. I read it as fast as I could so I could start working out on the program. I know it's hard to get back into exercising (or even to start for the first time), but your results are what you are willing to put into your health, and your body reflects your work.

Anyway I will try to come back and give an honest update of my progress.. I'm following the program as perfectly as I can.

I LOVE this guide! I have been struggling to find a program that helps me become more lean and strong without adding a ton of muscle. I have been a runner for the past 10 years and have really struggled to find a balance between weight lifting and running. I found that using the 3 days per week workout schedule, I can do both very easily. You can also opt for 5 days per week but my work schedule really doesn't permit that kind of commitment right now. I haven't been following a meal plan or weighing/taking pictures of myself but I DO notice a difference when I look in the mirror, which was the whole reason why I got this in the first place.
Just to clarify, this is ONLY a workout book. It's a supplement to the Thinner, Leaner, Stronger book you are supposed to read before starting to lift.

People. This is a COMPANION Journal to the Thinner, Leaner, Stronger book. It is a book containing one year worth of workouts for your choice of a 3, 4, or 5 day split. No meal plans or other stuff. It's reasonably priced and worth the money. That being said, my only complaint is that it's large and not possible for me to carry around at the gym. But I'm keeping it for sure.

This is the first book of Michael Matthews I haven't given five stars! I did find the workbook awesome but took away a star for two reasons. The main was that on many days he list core or calf work outs that are NOT listed in this book, you need to have purchased a different book of his to find it in. I did own the other book but don't feel I should have to cross reference them to know what the work out is. I ended up writing in the front of this book so I wouldn't need both at the gym. The second reason is the fact it wasn't a ring binder for easier turning. Not a huge deal as I went to our local UPS store and for a couple dollars they cut off the binding and put on a spiral one for me. The work out plan itself seems solid and well organized, I'm enjoying it.

People. This is a COMPANION Journal to the Thinner, Leaner, Stronger book. It is a book containing one year worth of workouts for your choice of a 3, 4, or 5 day split. No meal plans or other stuff. It's reasonably priced and worth the money. That being said, my only complaint is that it's large and not possible for me to carry around at the gym. But I'm keeping it for sure.

This is the first book of Michael Matthews I haven't given five stars! I did find the workbook awesome but took away a star for two reasons. The main was that on many days he list core or calf work outs that are NOT listed in this book, you need to have purchased a different book of his to find it in. I did own the other book but don't feel I should have to cross reference them to know what the work out is. I ended up writing in the front of this book so I wouldn't need both at the gym. The second reason is the fact it wasn't a ring binder for easier turning. Not a huge deal as I went to our local UPS store and for a couple dollars they cut off the binding and put on a spiral one for me. The work out plan itself seems solid and well organized, I'm enjoying it.

Very basic workout tracker, there are 5 day/week, 4 day/week and 3 day/week options of the same boring exercises per phase. So, 2/3 of the book won't apply to your track... If I were to have kept it I would have torn out all the excess paper. Also, the "tracking tables" or whatever you want to call them, look like dude made them in excel -- which means you could make your own, in excel, with only the days/week that you intend to use, in all of 4 minutes.

I really like this program. The workouts are short enough that I'm not in the gym for more than an hour, but I'm still really challenged and sweating like crazy by the end of it. This is one year's worth of logs to track your lifting, but it also includes a section to track your weight, measurements, and photos after each phase so that you can see your progress. PLEASE REALIZE that this is a journal that accompanies the Michael Matthews book Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. It is not necessarily a standalone book and you will need the other one to get the exercises for some of the optional/additional daily workouts! Awesome program so far!

I love Mike Matthews. He puts out great information with no bulls***. This book is easy to follow and has workouts for the entire year! No thinking involved. Yes, it is big. Yes it should be ringed binding. Yes the extra ab and calf workouts are missing. I just took it to Kinko's like someone else mentioned and had them bind it for me. The extra workouts are online. Look them up. :)

I love the structure. Since I started with no experience lifting weights, it was nice to have a guide breaking down what to do and when. I took my book and got it spiral bound so I can set it down without losing my page, and it's a little large to be toting around but you get used to it after a couple weeks. It would be nice if they added a hints/tips section before the first phase just going over a couple points from the book. Like what weights to do for the warm ups. He had a very specific for % normal rep weight for each warm up set, but without the other book right at hand you don't know. Also, maybe lay out suggestions for the calf/ab workouts? Like exercises/reps? It's easy to follow the main workouts but I find myself skipping the calf/ab workouts simply because I don't know what to do. (Laziness might also be a factor.)

I have been using this fitness journal for 3 weeks now and I think it's money well spent!
It is a great addition to the "Thinner leaner stronger" book.
It does list workouts for the week but you will need to reference the "Thinner leaner stronger" book for a couple exercises, but still worth the money if you need a starting point for working out!
Keep in mind this is a big book! I would recommend having the book spiral band to keep it in good condition.

Bought this and thinner leaner stronger for my girlfriend for Christmas last year because she liked my bigger leaner stranger and mens one year challenge books. We started together and have continued on and are almost through phase one and she loves it. I started out waking her up to go to the gym and now most mornings she beats me to the door. Like all of Mike's books every simple and straight forward and easy to understand. All workouts usually only 3-5 movements and even with a partner all workouts have been done in 45 min to an hour. I recommend all of his works to every one.

Note: If you choose to get this and work out with someone who is using the men's one year challenge the workouts are slightly different but not completely. If they are different it will only be one exercise, We usually will just do all the exercises we can together and then finish the session with our solo exercises, simple fix.

What a great compliment to the "Thinner, Leaner, Stronger" book by Mike Matthews. This takes all of the guess work out of your workout routine. I have seen results in just 1 week! I highly recommend this to anyone who is trying to change their body composition. I am a full-time working mother of 3 young kids and I have time to fit this into my day (takes me about an hour with cardio). If I can do you so can you!!!

Great book!
Updated on 3/16/16
Today was the second to last day on the 4th week of this plan and I love it. Heck, I've been doing it for 4 weeks. This is the first exercise plan that I haven't struggled to stay consistent with. LOL! I follow the five day a week plan and even switched by gym time to mornings. The simple plan Mike lays out allows you to build a beneficial habit for your body. This book is helping to keep me focused and see strength gains. I keep track of the exercises in the memo app in my phone and transfer it to the book when time permits. My physical strength is improving and I can feel and see my body changing. Working smart at the gym has been a pleasure and I look forward to completing the year challenge. In the next week or so, I'm hoping to incorporate Mike's tips concerning my diet.

Great book!
Updated on 3/16/16
Today was the second to last day on the 4th week of this plan and I love it. Heck, I've been doing it for 4 weeks. This is the first exercise plan that I haven't struggled to stay consistent with. LOL! I follow the five day a week plan and even switched by gym time to mornings. The simple plan Mike lays out allows you to build a beneficial habit for your body. This book is helping to keep me focused and see strength gains. I keep track of the exercises in the memo app in my phone and transfer it to the book when time permits. My physical strength is improving and I can feel and see my body changing. Working smart at the gym has been a pleasure and I look forward to completing the year challenge. In the next week or so, I'm hoping to incorporate Mike's tips concerning my diet.

Overall- Meh

Pros: it gives you a weightlifting plan that (if followed precisely) should help the user avoid injury.

Cons: not nearly enough detail and no photos. I can't imagine a novice using this guide. Also, I am not seeing much improvement even though I have been following the book to T for workouts since February. I could cut back calories but I'm not looking to really lose weight, just tone up and this hasn't really happened the way I hoped it would

This is the perfect companion for Thinner Leaner Stronger to track your workouts. My only suggestion would be to add an area for planning your macros based on the book recommendations and also using measurements that most women track...bust waist hips thigh calf bicep. I felt like the upper chest neck and shoulder measurements weren't really applicable to me

This is going back.

I purchased Thinner Leaner Stronger (Female), which I liked but it has no photos and a handful of drawings of the exercises. I was hoping for the missing photos and explanations from the previous book. This is none of that; it is simply a journal with the same few pages with week 1 week 2 week 3 at the top. I guess you are supposed to the weight and reps for each exercise.

Honestly, this should have been included in Thinner Leaner Stronger. I'm so disappointed in this that it almost taints my opinion of Thinner Lean Stronger.

This is the workbook-type supplement that goes with the main title. It's fine, but totally not needed, and I don't like how it's laid out or organized with charts that seem like they could've been done so much more straight forward and easier to read.

Journal is okay. It would have been better with pictures showing how to complete each move versus having to look up the moves online. Also would have liked the book to be more of a journal size then the large size it is. This makes it harder to carry around the gym to track your reps and weights lifted.

I bought the book first and then bought this supplement second. I only put 4 stars vs 5 because thus far because I'm about a month into it. I was pretty fit before but I mainly took classes at the gym (everything from Barre, yoga, insanity type bootcamp classes, weight classes, etc) but I rarely did weights unless it was part of a class. I just didn't know what exercises to do and how often. After reading the book, I think I was actually overtraining and was somewhat fatigued.

The plan is very straightforward, but honestly, it should have been given to you when you buy the book. It has a specific weight workout that doesn't change much (Mike says you need consistency to build strength). The exercises are straight forward and it only takes me about 40 mins to complete the strength part of the plan with plenty of resting/recovery between sets (then I try to do another 15-20 min of HIIT cardio on the treadmill).

I only put 4 stars be/c 1. the book is WAY to big to carry around the gym. Instead I took pictures of the 5 day workouts and then I look at my phone to follow the plan. 2. This also means that I don't record the figures much. I know I am supposed to be keeping track of the weight and reps to see improvement, but it' kind of a pain. I guess I could keep track on the notes section of my phone if I really want. 3. It's kind of boring. I add a few extra exercises because I don't feel drained or fatigued enough by the end.

I will try to write a follow-up review when I'm further into the book/training plan.