Join us for a richly informative exploration of the central role of muscle in human life and health. Michael Joseph Gross, author of the new book Stronger, will share his urgent call for each of us to recognize muscle as “the vital, inextricable and effective partner of the soul.”

Gross draws on everything from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston, where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail 90-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as 30-year-olds if they lift weights.

These surprising tales play out against a background of clashing worldviews, an age-old competition between athletic trainers and medical doctors to define our understanding and experience of muscle. In this conflict, muscle got typecast: Simplistic binaries of brain-versus-brawn created a persistent prejudice against muscle, and against weight training, the type of exercise that best builds muscular strength and power.

Come hear how Gross looks at muscle and weight training in a whole new light. He’ll be in conversation with Guy Raz for a discussion about how all of us, from elite powerlifters to people who have never played sports at all, can learn to lift weights in ways that yield life's ultimate prize: the ability to act upon the world in the ways that we wish.

If you have symptoms of illness (coughing, fever, etc.), we ask that you either stay home or wear a mask. Our front desk has complimentary masks for members and guests who would like one.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.

In Association with Wonderfest.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs.

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