Lift

From a professional bodybuilder and longtime Wall Street Journal reporter, a manifesto on how women can radically change their lives by tapping into their innate physical power

When Wall Street Journal reporter Anne Marie Chaker discovered bodybuilding as a hobby in midlife, she was recovering from a series of traumas, including postpartum depression, the end of her marriage, and the sudden death of her father. By throwing herself into strength training and stretching her body beyond what she imagined to be its limits, she began to regain confidence. Slowly, she challenged the deeply entrenched body insecurities she realized she’d long held, and her life changed in ways she never could have imagined.

In Lift, Chaker explores the forces that have led generations of women to internalize the message that they should make themselves smaller and explains why, instead, building muscle not only creates long lasting health, but also empowers us. Along the way, she highlights research that dismantles the conventional story of women’s bodies. As Chaker argues, strength training can help women find true power and confidence that goes far beyond how we look: it can dramatically shift how we move through the world, reshape how we respond to setbacks, and transform how we see our value. And science shows that increasing muscle mass can help protect women’s bodies from the effects of aging. Most important, it rewrites the message we send the next generation once and for all and will help girls step into their power from a young age.