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4.4
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The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe & Alwyn Cosgrove Review: A Strength-First Guide That Challenges Convention
This fitness guide by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove makes a direct, research-backed case that strength training — not aerobics — is the foundation women need for fat loss and a fit, strong body, packaging that argument into a comprehensive program that covers lifting, conditioning, and nutrition.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Women who are ready to commit to strength training as their primary modality and want a single, research-backed resource covering programming, conditioning, and nutrition — with a direct, no-nonsense voice rather than aspirational lifestyle framing.
Worth it if
You want a structured, evidence-informed six-month lifting program that explains the reasoning behind its recommendations and treats you as capable of serious, progressive barbell work.
Skip if
You're looking for a flexible, pick-and-choose workout menu or are a complete beginner who needs significant hand-holding before committing to compound lifts as the core of your training.
What readers & critics say
Barnes & Noble's listing describes the book as presenting "a comprehensive strength, conditioning and nutrition plan destined to revolutionize the way women work out," grounding the program in studies showing strength training, not aerobics, is the key to fat loss and fitness. Better World Books surfaces a blurb praising the authors' "expert advice, no-nonsense plans, and sense of humor" as "reassuring, motivating, and entertaining."
Sources: Barnes & Noble, Better World Books4.4from 1,538 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
In This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Book Actually Is and Does
- The Argument and Its Credentials
- Strengths: Voice, Scope, and Structure
- Limitations and Readers Who May Find It Challenging
- Relevance and Audience
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- Integrates strength training, conditioning, and nutrition into one comprehensive program
- Backed by credentials from exercise science research (Forsythe) and professional coaching organizations (Cosgrove)
- Direct, no-nonsense voice described in source commentary as reassuring and motivating
- Addresses the reasoning and research behind its recommendations, not just the exercises
- Grew out of a proven predecessor, targeting a demonstrated gap for women seeking serious lifting programs
What Doesn't
- The six-month structured program design rewards commitment and may frustrate readers seeking a flexible, modular approach
- Framing presumes readers willing to center barbell and compound lifts, which may feel like a steep entry point for complete beginners
A fitness guide built on a single, pointed argument: that women have been steered wrong about exercise, and that the barbell is the correction.
What the Book Actually Is and Does
The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess is a comprehensive strength, conditioning, and nutrition guide authored by Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe (then an exercise science and nutrition doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut), and Alwyn Cosgrove, co-owner of Results Fitness in Newhall, California. Published by Avery in December 2009, it grew directly out of the earlier New Rules of Lifting, which Schuler wrote primarily for men but which had already attracted a significant female readership looking for structured lifting programs. This volume is the explicit answer to that demand — a program designed from the ground up for women, not a gender-swapped repackaging.
“expert advice, no-nonsense plans, and sense of humor”
The book's central claim, stated without equivocation by the authors, is that strength training, not aerobics, provides the key to losing fat and building a fit, strong body. That premise drives the entire structure: the program, the nutritional framework, and the explanatory prose all exist to support and execute that argument.
The Argument and Its Credentials
What distinguishes this guide from general-audience fitness titles is the academic and professional weight behind it. Forsythe brings exercise science and nutrition research directly into the text, grounding the programming decisions in contemporary studies rather than gym folklore. Cosgrove, a professional member of both the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine and a frequent contributor to publications including Men's Health and Men's Fitness, supplies the program design. Schuler, the team's writer, is responsible for the voice that ties it together.
The result is a fitness book that functions simultaneously as an argument, a manual, and a course correction. Rather than treating the conventional emphasis on cardio and light weights as a neutral baseline, the authors position it as a specific mistake — one with a research-based alternative. That posture gives the book an urgency that purely instructional titles often lack.
Strengths: Voice, Scope, and Structure
One of the book's most noted qualities is its tone. Blurb commentary retrieved from Better World Books describes the approach as offering "expert advice, no-nonsense plans, and sense of humor" that readers found "reassuring, motivating, and entertaining." That combination — rigor without severity — is built into the book's design. The title itself is a deliberate provocation, and the text follows through: it does not soften its case or hedge its recommendations in ways that would undercut the program's logic.
The scope is genuinely comprehensive. Beyond the lifting program itself, the book integrates a conditioning component and a nutrition plan, meaning readers receive a full-system approach rather than a workout-only guide. This is a meaningful structural choice: it acknowledges that training outcomes are inseparable from nutrition and recovery, and it keeps those threads inside a single volume rather than deferring them to a follow-up.
Limitations and Readers Who May Find It Challenging
The book's confident, prescriptive stance is also the source of its most common friction point. The program is built around Cosgrove's structured six-month progression, and the text makes clear — explicitly — that the protocol demands real commitment: the authors address the impossibility of putting on extreme amounts of muscle accidentally, but the flip side is that the program is not designed to be dipped in and out of casually. Readers looking for a modular or highly flexible plan they can customize on the fly will encounter a structure that resists that approach.
Additionally, because the book emerged from the New Rules of Lifting lineage aimed at a general (originally male) audience, some readers new to barbell training may find the assumed baseline of comfort in a gym setting slightly steeper than true beginner titles. The program is accessible by design, but the framing presumes a reader prepared to commit to compound lifts as the center of their training.
Relevance and Audience
More than a decade after its Avery publication, The New Rules of Lifting for Women remains a frequently referenced title in the strength-training-for-women conversation. The core argument — that women benefit from heavy, progressive lifting and that the fitness industry has historically underserved them with cardio-heavy, low-weight programming — has only grown more mainstream since the book appeared, which has given it continued currency as an entry point into that discourse.
The guide is best suited to women who are ready to make strength training their primary modality and want a single, structured resource that addresses training, nutrition, and the reasoning behind both. Readers who enjoy evidence-informed fitness writing with a direct voice, rather than aspirational lifestyle framing, will find the authors' approach well-matched to their preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
is The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess by Lou Schuler and Cassandra Forsythe and Alwyn Cosgrove worth reading
It's a strong pick if you're ready to commit to barbell-based strength training as your primary workout style and want one book that covers lifting, conditioning, and nutrition together. The review notes it functions simultaneously as an argument, a manual, and a course correction — but readers who want a casual, mix-and-match plan may find its structured six-month progression too rigid for their needs.
What is this book actually about
At its core, the book argues that women have been steered wrong by the fitness industry's emphasis on cardio and light weights, and that strength training — specifically heavy, progressive lifting — is the real foundation for fat loss and a fit body. Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove back that argument with exercise science research and a full six-month program that also integrates conditioning and a nutrition plan.
Is this book good for beginners
It's accessible by design, but the review flags that the framing assumes a reader who is already prepared to commit to compound lifts as the center of their training — so true beginners who aren't yet comfortable in a gym may find the baseline slightly steeper than dedicated beginner titles. Women who are new to lifting but serious about getting into it should be fine; those looking for a very gentle on-ramp might want to pair it with additional introductory resources.
Does this book actually work
The program is built around Alwyn Cosgrove's structured six-month progression and grounded in exercise science research contributed by Cassandra Forsythe, then a doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut — so the methodology has genuine academic and professional weight behind it. The review does caution, though, that results depend on real commitment; the protocol is explicitly not designed to be dipped in and out of casually.
Will lifting heavy make me bulky — does this book address that
Yes — the authors tackle this directly, addressing what the review describes as "the impossibility of putting on extreme amounts of muscle accidentally." Their central argument is that heavy, progressive lifting leads to fat loss and a strong, fit physique rather than unwanted bulk, and that fear of bulking is part of what has historically pushed women toward less effective, cardio-heavy programming.
Is this book similar to the original New Rules of Lifting
It grew directly out of the earlier New Rules of Lifting, which Schuler wrote primarily for men but which had already attracted a significant female readership — this volume is the explicit answer to that demand. The review is clear it's not a gender-swapped repackaging but a program designed from the ground up for women, with Cassandra Forsythe's nutrition and exercise science expertise giving it a distinct focus.
What's the tone like in this book — is it preachy or fun to read
The review describes it as offering "expert advice, no-nonsense plans, and sense of humor" that readers found "reassuring, motivating, and entertaining" — rigor without severity. Lou Schuler's writing voice ties the technical content together in a way that's direct and even provocative (the title itself is described as a deliberate provocation) without tipping into lifestyle-magazine fluff.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
- 2
- Further reading
- 3
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