No-BS Bodybuilding, the new book from John Doe of John Doe Bodybuilding, is the best book on advanced health and fitness I’ve ever read.
I was expecting it to be great. After all, I’ve followed John Doe for a long time now and all of his stuff is great. But I didn’t expect No-BS Bodybuilding to be this great.
I’ll get into why I loved No-BS Bodybuilding in this review, but first I wanna share with you the reason I bought the book in the first place.
The reason, pure and simple, is because John Doe’s free writing over at John Doe Bodybuilding, helped transform my entire body from a fat tub of lard to someone who actually looks like he hits the gym in just three months.
I’m not saying I look amazing right now, but to go from where I was to where I am right now in the space of just three months is freaking amazing.
Add on top of that these facts:
- This transformation didn’t take up my life (my focus was still on my work).
- I thought it would’ve taken at least a year before my abs poked through.
- It wasn’t difficult. I actually enjoyed the diet and workout.
- I’m not on any PEDs or TRT and never have been.
I can’t believe I let myself get so out of shape.
I was pretty big for a while, but I held it okay because I continued to lift heavily and frequently.
The problem came when I upped the eating, dropped the quality of the calories, and dropped the working out during a crappy six months.
When your body goes from blob to athlete in a very short period of time you REALLY feel it.
- I can fit into cooler clothes.
- I feel more comfortable in day-to-day life.
- My face looks and feels so much better now.
- Gym pumps are even more awesome because they’re pushing up against tight skin.
And all this while still enjoying my food!
Obviously I ate a lot of food that looked like this:
Egg whites, oatmeal, steak, grapefruit.
But I still got to enjoy a lot of food that looked like this:
And this….
John Doe helped me change my body (and my life) in a tiny amount of time while enjoying almost every second of it. And I can’t wait to see what will happen next when I keep implementing his advice.
So I wanted to throw thirty bucks John Doe’s way as a thank you.
I wasn’t too bothered about reading No-BS Bodybuilding because I figured it would be most of the same stuff I’ve already read over at his website.
But I was so wrong.
I dipped into No-BS Bodybuilding out of curiosity and ended up binge-reading it in a matter of hours. And then went back several times for notes and rereading the sections most relevant to me right now.
I’ve already read a bunch of books on fitness (some great, many good, most terrible), but No-BS Bodybuilding blows them all away with the level of expertise, practical advice, and depth of writing – not too mention John Doe’s friendly, familiar, caring, often humorous tone throughout.
No-BS Bodybuilding Review (John Doe Bodybuilding)
First things first…
The content in No-BS Bodybuilding is NOT the same as the stuff on JohnDoeBodybuilding.com
I wouldn’t have minded if it was the same because…
That’s usually the case with these sort of ebooks. Bloggers often rehash stuff already freely available and try to charge for it.
Plus I didn’t care about the content because my purchasing the book was a thank you.
But really the book goes so much deeper than the website.
If you’re already a fan of John Doe’s writings, you’ll really love No-BS Bodybuilding because you’re getting so much more of what you love.
I’ve paid way more than $30 for books that were only a few dozen pages long or mostly filler, but No-BS Bodybuilding is not like that at all.
No-BS Bodybuilding is 219 pages and every single one is gold.
No-BS Bodybuilding is a proper book.
If you’ve downloaded PDF books before, you’re probably used to one-sentence paragraphs and tons of stock photos bloating the page count.
But No-BS Bodybuilding is one of the few fitness books outside of traditional publishing that I’ve seen with long paragraphs and no photographs outside of the ones for each chapter heading.
In short, before you even read No-BS Bodybuilding, you know John Doe is going deep and throwing everything on the table to give as much value as possible.
No-BS Bodybuilding is split into 11 parts.
No-BS Bodybuilding kicks off with information about hormones, blood labs, and getting on testosterone replacement therapy.
I skipped this section because I have no plans to go on TRT any time soon. But, having read every other part of the book, I’m sure this information will be as deep, comprehensive, and valuable as the rest for anyone who does have interest in getting on TRT.
No-BS Bodybuilding then moves through the following topics:
- Hitting roadblocks and deciding where to go with bodybuilding
- Dieting strategies for success
- Training insight and dieting tactics explained
- Anabolism while maintaining conditioning and supplementation
- Fat burners
- The real deal with high intensity training routines
- Volume routines for the ageing male and seasoned trainer
- No-bullshit muscle building
- Living a healthy emotional lifestyle
This isn’t a book for beginners who’ve never trained before.
If that’s you, Becoming The Bull will be more beneficial for you.
No-BS Bodybuilding is for the trainer who has already paid their dues in the gym.
I’m not gonna lie…
I went straight to the training routines.
I know that’s very “teenage boy” of me, but I couldn’t help it.
I’ve already trained the John Doe way in the past, namely using his SCT training principles, and I know John Doe’s workouts change all the time so he’s not a huge fan of exact templates…
But that made me all the more curious to see what he included in the training sections.
Again, I was expecting a rehash of the stuff John Doe’s already covered on his website.
But, man, I was blown away….
In short…
John Doe has my training covered for life.
Not only has John Doe hit EVERY possible angle of training, but he’s also made me incredibly excited and motivated to get in the gym.
I do love a good gym session, but my training has felt stale for a while.
Now I’m a week into a brand new John Doe recommended training routine and I feel fantastic and incredibly excited to get in the gym.
Yes, there are exact workout templates, and they’re very, very cool.
But the reason John Doe has my training covered for life is because these templates serve to illustrate a training philosophy in which you can create YOUR OWN training to suit your own body and own unique needs in the present moment.
The workouts range from splits (including splits you’ve never heard of before) to high volume routines to growth shock routines to bodyweight and weight combo routines to designed specifically for rejuvenation and healing.
In each routine, John Doe goes to great lengths to tell you why he has chosen a specific movement (whilst also emphasising the fact that these movements are definitely NOT set in stone).
What I mean is instead of telling you to do three sets of twelve of DB shoulder presses like most fitness books would, John Doe goes to great lengths to tell you exactly how to perform this movement and why you need to do it this way (in this example the reason is because he’s trying to stop you from aggravating your AC joint and needing painful surgery).
The section on high intensity workouts is worth paying for alone.
I also found the dieting section really exciting because it’s so unique.
Again, in this section like in all sections, John Doe hits you with quantity and quality.
He covers every angle and no matter where you are in your body composition you’re gonna find something extremely useful here.
No-BS Bodybuilding is as close to a personal trainer as you can get without actually paying for one and being in front of them.
Naturally a book is not able to assess your specific situation, but the fact that it’s so comprehensive and basically teaches you how to assess your own body and become in tune with your needs makes it better than any personal trainer I’ve paid for before.
John Doe has diet plans that cover all the bases.
Whether you’re a skinny fat trainee looking to gain muscle or an overweight trainee looking to lose fat, you’ve got so much depth in these meal plans – weeks and weeks of eating recommendations that will serve you very well.
John Doe really cares about you.
Quantity and quality of information aside, the thing that REALLY sets No-BS Bodybuilding apart from other fitness books is the fact that you can tell John Doe wants the best for you.
Reading No-BS Bodybuilding is like sitting down with a wiser mentor whose been through it all and now wants you to be happy, strong, and healthy.
The fact that the book ends on a section specifically dedicated to mental health and well-being really hits this fact home.
While John Doe’s principles are designed to get you looking your best, the really cool thing about his philosophy is the fact that it’s all about being able to have a life outside the gym too.
I highly recommend No-BS Bodybuilding.
If you need to bust out of a stale routine, looking to get into the best shape of your life, or simply want to learn more about your body, food choices, and athletic movements, I really can’t recommend it enough.