Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder Review
Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder
At age 26, scrawny, Oxford-educated Samuel Fussell entered a YMCA gym in New York to escape the terrors of big city life.Four years and 80 lbs. of firm, bulging muscle later, he was competing for bodybuilding titles in the “Iron Mecca” of Southern California-so weak from intense training and starvation he could barely walk. MUSCLE is the harrowing, often hilarious chronicle of Fussell’s divine obsession, his search for identity in a bizarre, eccentric world of “health fascists,” “gym bunnies” and “muscleheads”-and his devout, single-minded acceptance of illness, pain, nausea, and steroid-induced rage in his quest for the holy grail of physical perfection.
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Bodybuilding for the Emotionally Sound,
Sam Fussell comes from a family of intellectuals (his father is the author/professor Paul Fussell) and it is not surprising that he appeared to be following in their footsteps. He graduated from Oxford University and then proceeded to get a job in New York before entering graduate school. What is surprising is the detour that he took. Living in New York and being accosted by street people and witnessing acts of violence had the rather predictable and understandable effect of instilling him with some fear; however, his fear appeared to be more consuming than in most people. Sam Fussell sought some way in which to conquer the fear. He considered the martial arts but nixed that idea after reasoning that he would actually have to fight in order to employ them. After happening into a bookstore the answer presented itself. Bodybuilding could create a hulking Samuel Fussell that anyone would think twice about before assaulting. The current Sam Fussell was ectomorphic at 6’4″ and 170 or a 175 pounds and clearly not someone who intimidated steet toughs.
Being a bookish sort, he purchased bodybuilding books and magazines before eventually getting a YMCA membership. He then started out using only the machines while marvelling at “Sweet Pea” and the other muscleheads who grunted, groaned and cursed their way through set after set of freeweight exercises. Diligently doing his circuit training routine and increasing his caloric consumption allowed Sam to make respectable progress, even gaining the attention of the behemoths on the other side of the gym. The story of his becoming a freeweight practitioner, initiated into the clique of weight-lifters at the Y and being taught such things as how to walk like a builder makes for entertaining reading.
Even after achieving a body weight of 200 pounds, he finds that strangers are not properly cowed. This serves to fuel his desire to get massive. He brings large quantities of food to work and eats every few hours. His desk is filled with protein powder and his attitude to co-workers is less than cordial at times. No perceived slight goes unpunished with the new Sam Fussell. After one too many of such incidents, Sam is out of a job. He’s alienated his non-bodybuilding friends and flabbergasted his parents. Sam becomes increasingly enmeshed in the bodybuilding lifestyle and even goes so far as to use a small inheritance to support himself.
Sam eventually moves to the mecca of bodybuilding —- southern California. There he meets still more interesting characters and begins, inevitably, using anabolic steroids. The photographic record of his transformation is astounding. He competes in a bench pressing competition and a bodybuilding contest. The harrowing tale of his pre-contest diet (e.g. not using Crest toothpaste because it’s sodium content is too high) makes it easy to see why Sam came to his senses and stopped forthwith.
Being ectomorphic like Sam and desiring to gain weight, I could sympathize with some of his motivation. On the other hand, his fear is another matter entirely. Granted, I don’t live in NYC but I think it’s pretty obvious that he had other issues besides being lanky. I have worked out, gained weight and made decent progress. I think he was on a similar path but no amount of bulk would tamp his fears. I would have liked to see Sam come to his senses and eventually lift weights again but in a more healthful and reasonable manner but much like the alcoholic who knows he must never drink again, Sam abandons weight training completely. I suppose this is only to be expected from someone who chose to lift weights not so much to build his body as to ease his mind.
Samuel Fussell writes in an engaging manner and it’s easy to get lost in this book. You need not be knowledgeable about the world of muscle to find this book engrossing. “Muscle” is not a bodybuilding how-to book. He does discuss particular routines, exercises and nutrition but those who think that it’s primary aim is instructional in nature have missed the point. Lifting weights can be healthy and rewarding. Like anything, taken to an extreme it can be quite the opposite. Perhaps owing to my own bias, I don’t view it as an anti-weightlifting book. The book may however be viewed as anti-professional bodybuilding. Professional bodybuilders are genetically above average and steroid drug users and this has been the case since at least the 1960s. There are an increasing number of natural contests but at the elite, big-money earning level drugs are omnipresent.
For those who wish to lift weights, increase strength and add muscle, read this book as an entertaining and yet cautionary tale. Then go get a checkup, buy a good weight lifting book (e.g. author Stuart McRobert), eat correctly, get plenty of rest and be persistent. You will see progress physically. If, however, you are expecting healing for an unquiet mind, perhaps this book will…
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|Sam Fussell “Keeps it Real” throughout the whole book.,
Finally, someone who isn’t afraid of telling the truth about what it takes to make it in bodybuilding. Fussell remains honest throughout the whole book and keeps nothing back. This is a must read and an eye-opener for anyone who wants to know what bodybuilders go through to win. I really appreciate the honesty that Fussell brings to bodybuilding through this book. He takes a no-holds barred approach…he tells it like it is, I ought to know I am a former competitor myself. He is right on! If you are a bodybuilder and you read this book…it may scare you to see the truth, you know the truth but you are in denial…it’s true and I too, can indentify with 100% of Fussell’s feelings. Does anyone know where Fussell is now? This book is an easy read and you’ll finish it in no time. Order it!
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