The Lean Muscle Diet by Lou Schuler and Alan Aragon (Rodale Books, Dec. 23), 320 pages, $27.99 hardback, $12.49 Kindle ebook.
Rodale cranks out a lot of Men'sHealth books, so why are we paying this one any mind?
This is not another anthology of already published featurettes from the charming magazine.
Lou Schuler's a famously (or notoriously) adroit writer whose cheeky, research-critiquing prose made The New Rules of Lifting an enjoyable experience even if the reader had only marginal interest in hoisting, pressing or whatever.
Any new book by such a clever writer deserves a look. Besides, this one has an Arkansas connection.
Schuler met nutrition expert Alan Aragon in 2008 in Little Rock while both were speakers at former gym owner Jean Paul Francoeur's final JP Fitness Summit.
So you're saying Arkie homerism is a reason to pick up this book?
That is exactly what I'm saying.
You know that's not a compelling reason, right? OK, so once we have picked up the book can we put it back down?
Read the first page before you do. Schuler's prose is speckled with unexpected turns of phrase and an honest-seeming clarity that make you want to go on reading. (Make it to the appendix and you'll learn that the annual Fitness Summit is still being held, in Missouri.)
You'll likely go on scanning and chuckling -- until you stumble into the thicket of arithmetic required to follow Aragon's eating program.
Is that nutrition advice responsible, scientific and sure to be effective?
Oh, who knows? He prescribes as much minimally processed real food as a body can tolerate but also smiles upon several powdered this-es and thats favored by gym rats and residents of nursing homes (powdered eggs, yummmmm). The principle that any food is OK in moderation guides him, which helps to explain the lard and bacon grease lined up next to almonds and olives as sources of monounsaturated fats.
But he acknowledges that there are vegetarian and vegan athletes in the world, and his plan appears to accommodate them as well.
"To Alan, a quality diet looks like this," Schuler writes:
• "80 percent whole or minimally processed foods you like
• "10 percent whole and minimally processed foods you don't necessarily like, but don't hate
• "10 percent whatever you want -- 'pure junky goodness,' as Alan likes to say."
After praising cooking as a form of food processing with health benefits, he notes that "the problems with processing begin when the food is substantially altered to the point where it's impossible to look at it and tell what it once was." He then proceeds to excuse the unrecognizability of whey protein powder.
So no food is out of bounds, and the eater is invited to weigh the relative nutritional impact of all kinds of items, arrayed on charts.
He proposes a six-month program in which lifters eat only enough calories to support the fat loss they hope to attain in that time. He offers three fat-loss goals: for obese people, 2 pounds per week; for overweight people, 1 pound per week; and for already lean people who want to be leaner, a half-pound per week.
Meanwhile, he says these same people should be eating enough to support muscle gains tied to their experience with strength training: 2 to 3 pounds of muscle per month for the novice; 1 to 2 pounds per month for intermediates; a half pound per month for advanced lifters.
There are equations. For the lazy, he provides meal plans.
And recipes?
No recipes. Schuler brings the "recipes" -- for exercises and a 14-week buildup to relatively heavy weightlifting.
Who are these authors?
Aragon is a continuing education provider for the Commission on Dietetic Registration, National Academy of Sports Medicine, and National Strength & Conditioning Association. He is nutrition adviser for Men's Health magazine. He designs programs for athletes, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He is creator of Research Review, a subscription-supported website that critiques nutrition reports. He lives in Los Angeles.
Schuler is a contributing editor of Men's Health magazine, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and author of the New Rules of Lifting series as well as other fitness books. He lives in Allentown, Pa.
ActiveStyle on 01/26/2015