The Year One Challenge for Women: Thinner, Leaner, and Stronger Than Ever in 12 Months (The Thinner Leaner Stronger Series) Paperback – January 15, 2015

First, PLEASE ignore the reviews that are complaining about the lack of detail in this book. This is a companion training guide to THINNER, LEANER AND STRONGER. This book lays out a complete year long training plan and functions as a notebook to log your progress if you like. You should definitely look at THINNER, LEANER AND STRONGER before starting this training plan.I bought this book for my wife who was looking to change up her workout this year. I had recently read Mike Matthew's book for men and have really been enjoying and finding success with his suggested training program. I loved how simple and straightforward the workouts are. This is all stuff that you should be able to do in an hour at the gym, and there isn't any silly, confusing nonsense. Strength training is really not that complicated. As Matthews explains, so many people are just confused by all of the misguided, contradictory information we're bombarded with.My wife has been going to the gym fairly regularly for the past few years, but her time there hasn't been very organized or focused. Occasionally she would ask me to write out "something to do" at the gym, and she would do that routine for a while. Its good that she has been going, but at some point you need practical advice and a program like Mike Matthews offers here to really get the most out of your time. i.e. Do these things on this day, this number of times, this many weeks, etc;I was really impressed by this book. She won't be asking me to write out "something to do at the gym" anytime soon. The day's training plan is written out clearly, page by page here for the entire year. She is set! More importantly, I was happy to see that she read through THINNER LEANER STRONGER and seems to have picked up a better understanding of both WHAT she is doing and WHY she is doing certain things.Fair warning: I kind of laughed during the first week when she was complaining how tired she was at the end of the day. She couldn't understand it. I had the exact same reaction when I first started Mike's program last year. For a week or so, I was incredibly wiped out at the end of the day. It was very disconcerting because we're both pretty active people and no strangers to the gym. Don't let it slow you down or worry you. My body adjusted and caught up to the new training, and I haven't felt that level of exhaustion since.I can't recommend this book highly enough. Every day I see people at the gym paying $50/hour to have a personal trainer do goofy, not especially effective exercises. For about $20, you can get the two THINNER, LEANER books, save yourself hundreds of dollars through the year and get way more out of your time at the gym. Be patient, follow the advice here and good luck!

I stumbled upon The Year One Challenge for Women while searching for a comprehensive fitness program that could help my mom achieve her fitness goals. As someone who had struggled with weight and body image issues, I was looking for a program that would not only help her lose weight but also help her build lean muscle and get stronger.I decided to give this book a try, and I must say, it was a game-changer for my mom's fitness journey. The program is well-structured, easy to follow, and comes with a detailed meal plan that makes it easier to stay on track.The workouts are challenging but doable, and she said she could feel herself getting stronger and leaner with each passing week. I also appreciate how the author emphasizes the importance of proper form and technique to prevent injury and maximize results, especially for women not familiar with many exercises.What I loved most about this program is that it doesn't involve any fad diets or extreme measures. It's a sustainable approach to fitness that focuses on building healthy habits and making long-term lifestyle changes.Overall, I would highly recommend The Year One Challenge for Women to anyone looking to transform their body and improve their health. It's not a quick fix or a magic pill, but if you're willing to put in the work, you'll see amazing results. My mom is proof of that!

This book is like a clipboard… free weight workouts to get results 3 day… 4 day or 5 day weight training … gets you in great shape without wasting time on just aerobic exercises! How to get in shape faster … no nonsense!

Pre-COVID I found Mike’s program and it got me into lifting. Honestly, he writes a lot of gimmicky sales-man type posts, which kind of made me weary, but the info seemed consistent with other sources that I’d trusted. I didn’t know how to program my own workouts so I just needed a plan. Ultimately, I ended up losing about 35 lbs (I had lost an additional 40 before getting into strength training).Post COVID, I’ve gained a lot back. The gyms shut down, I got out of routine, and I got lazy. A few months ago I picked this up again and have started to feel so much better again. I really recommend this for a basic plan.THE ONLY COMPLAINT that I will issue is a routine change. The routine I got pre-COVID is different from this one. I like the original better as the 4-day plan in this one doesn’t seem to have anything rear-felt in the first phase. I just added it in myself. That said, he does include lists of exercises for each body part so it is not hard to mix and match little things that might bother you if you have an injury or a desire to put additional load on a particular muscle.All in all, thank you, Mike. I’m better because of you.

I have enjoyed the lessons and explanation in the book Thinner, Leaner, Stronger and was looking forward to the “journal” to accompany it. I’m old-school and still like using pen and paper to log my exercises, food intake, etc. “The One Year” book is way to massive to carry around the gym-it literally could be a workout in itself. One nice feature, however, is the pictures and descriptions for each exercise. If you are looking for a journal, I’d recommend something else.