This week I followed the advice in the book You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises for Men and Women by Mark Lauren and Joshua Clark. This book focuses on muscle building/strength and the idea that you have everything you need to get in shape right on your body.

I liked the idea of not buying any doo-hickies to get in shape. When you do a new diet every week that usually means buying new junk, so in terms of frugal fitness is this at the top of the list. Buy this book and you’re all set.

Lauren also does a great job talking about your motivation. Why do you or don’t you work out? And what stops you each day? He also asks you to push yourself.  Lackadaisically taking five extra steps to work isn’t a fitness program and you know it. That’s the military coming out  in this book. He also asks you to list your excuses. If you do that you will be annoyed with yourself. Exactly his point. I highly suggest you try that.

Lauren also has this philosophy when it comes to your exercise.

 ”Put your goals before your comfort.”

I liked that a lot.  Now on to the actual exercises. They’re hard. I’m not going to lie here. But the pictures and illustrations are good. You get what you’re supposed to do. But in some cases I could only do one or two of something. My criticism is the organization of the workouts. It lists what exercises each day but you have to search throughout the book to find where they are described. This could easily be fixed by just telling me the page number. Also there ARE things you need to add to this like broomsticks and steps that might fall down while you’re working out. So be cautious when you try this for the first time.

Metrics- I gained weight this week okay. I don’t blame the workout. I just blame me sucking. I was sore doing this workout which is a good thing. AND I have to say it gave me a new inspiration to spend more time muscle building. I believe it is so important and tend to neglect it favor of cardio. You really should read what Lauren has to say about the importance of strong and useful muscle tone!

Lifestyle or Lump It: I’m not sure I’ll do ALL this plan again but my take away for SURE  is the muscle building commitment. I am going en-corporate Lauren’s push ups, dips, and squats into my week. AND if you travel a lot this book could be the key to your fitness on the road since you can do it anywhere.

Disclosure:  I got the book for free from the publisher and if you buy it with that Amazon link I’ll make a million dollars.