Book review: The Leangains Method (M. Berkhan)
I had first heard about Martin Berkhan in 2013. His no-nonsense approach to nutrition and exercise was novel back then, almost out of this world. My first thought was, “a fitness guru who walks his talk, supports his claims with scientific papers, AND is aware and sincere about the studies with faulty methods? Surreal.” I turned immediately into an avid reader of his blog, and after losing 10 kg in 2014 when I put his ideas into practice, I spread his gospel among friends and family.
Well, there was little adherence to be honest. The new information was too recent, relatively speaking. I had spent decades hearing that “breakfast is important”, that “fasting is damaging your metabolism”, and so I gave in to peer pressure: I slowly re-introduced breakfast into my daily routine, and started fucking around with weights at the gym. Fast-forward a few years, and now I know what it means to be back to level one. In the meantime, Berkhan disappeared for a good couple of years. I hardly remembered his weblog existed, until I saw ads about his recently published book. Instantly bought it and boy, is it good ol’ Berkhan.
Berkhan’s writing style aged well, and his stance toward life seems to have acquired a mature, Stoic approach. I’m in my 30’s myself, and instantly identified with his lamenting and letting-go of the mistakes of his 20-something self.
Regarding its content, the book is straight to the point, and short. Frankly, maybe a tad too short. I found that a number of minor technical details behind the whole thing were, sadly, delegated to either Berkhan’s blog or his Patreon community. Switching back and forth between book and website is a pain, but the blog is free at least; Patreon is not.
All in all, this is an excellent book for people who want to lose fat with a science-backed method, yoyo dieters, people who want to learn new stuff about physiology, or people who seek a primer on intermittent fasting.