I'm a longtime fan of Casey's so I was always going to be the ideal target audience for this one and predictably I loved it, but I think the greatest value of the book is that it provides an even more widely accessible way for her to get her knowledge and message across to a much bigger group of readers. The book format, combined with her already strong and relatable writing, gives her the opportunity to go into more depth and tell her own story at more length in a way that will not only appeal to people who were already aware of her work, but also allows for more overall reach than an online column or podcast, no matter how popular, ever can. For my part, I'm very excited to have a book to recommend to people interested in fitness, weight training and overall health, instead of having to link to her website and newsletter and tell them to read around. This title will also have a lot to offer readers, especially but not limited to women, who are approaching their own fitness journey in the context of diet culture (which it's impossible for anyone not to be, of course, regardless of our experiences with either).

Before she took up weightlifting, Johnston was a runner. Not because she loved running, not because she even liked running, but because she thought she had to be to fit the mold of Thin Delicate Woman that she'd spent most of her life striving to be. She was sick of running, and she was sick of dieting.

"For a long time, "weight loss" formed my entire conception of my body. Either I was small enough (and always getting smaller), or I was a disappointment. [...] But it's hard to recognize how narrow your worldview is until you become receptive to having it challenged." (loc. 110*)

This is one of those books that is so far up my alley it's knocking on my door. I'd read a couple of chapters and then go to work and talk to one of my coworkers about the books (plural!) I was reading about weightlifting and similar exercise, and then later in the week I'd meet the same coworker for a weightlifting class and spend half the class thinking about my form and half the class spacing out a little and half the class thinking about how much of those books did and didn't apply in the moment. (You do the math.)

I come at weightlifting from a different place than Johnston, and I doubt I'll ever end up in the same place as her, but there are definite intersections. I genuinely love running and spin classes and just cardio generally (give me spin classes or give me death). If I go to the gym on my own I will look at the weights and tell myself I *should*, but then I *don't*, because...I could lift something heavy, or I could get on the elliptical and read, and I'd rather read. But I go to weightlifting partly because it's good for my bones and partly because it's very social (you haven't lived until you've heard one of the middle-aged women in the class lecturing an overconfident barrel-chested man in too-tight shorts for lifting too much weight with bad form and not protecting his back) and partly because I'd like my arms to someday not be noodles (wishful thinking) and partly because, yes, strength training requires actually thinking about things like consuming enough protein and eating all the meals (two things that I have not, historically, been great at). I'm not committed enough to build up my weights much, or to abandon my cardio-happy routine.

But Johnston went all in. Not right away: She tested the waters first, did her research, and gave her body a chance to tell her if it was going to rebel from the change in routine (or regime). And gradually, as she gained strength and improved her form and got comfortable being the only woman lifting weights in the gym, she started to find that her relationship with her body changed—she didn't want to be thin. She wanted to be strong. And because she was a writer already, she knew how to dig into the research and science to figure out why things worked the way they did, and why they *didn't* work the way she'd always been told they were supposed to.

This leaves me with a lot to unpack. I already devote more thought that I probably should to ambivalence about what lifting weight does to the body, but I'm so terribly curious about the shift in mindset that Johnston describes. This doesn't inspire me to throw out my cardio classes (I made my knuckles bleed at boxing! Probably a sign that I'm doing something wrong, but also I'm proud of myself), but it does make me think that it's maybe time to actually check out the weight rack at the gym outside of class hours. Maybe. And chocolate protein powder in porridge sounds oddly edible...

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

I have had a few stalled or failed starts at Casey's Couch to Barbell program, but always appreciated the plain-spokenness of her fitness journey in the smaller pieces I've seen on She's A Beast or Instagram. She's not some all-knowing guru, but she knows more than I do. This book is, honestly, truly revelatory. Knowing where Casey came from, seeing parallels in my life, and seeing her succeed in her fitness goals gives me so much hope. Not to mention, it's really well-written. Funny, biting, insightful. All without veering too schmaltzy or too cynical. When it comes out, I definitely plan on buying a couple copies for friends.

This book is so timely because I've seen more and more articles advising women to strength train as they get older rather than focus on cardio. I learned so much and Johnston is truly an inspiration. Highly recommend for women of all ages who want to get inspired and get stronger!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the advanced copy.

As a non never will be weight lifter this was fascinating for me.CaseyJohnson shares with us her past in the diet culture her issues and how she has been empowered by her power lifting,I will be subscribing to her newsletter she is very inspiring whether you are a gym goer or not.#netgalley

Fans of Ask a Swole Woman know what Casey Johnston's all about: releasing ourselves from the pressure to be thin at all costs via punishing amounts of exercise and eating the smallest possible meals, for years at a time, ad infinitum. Even those of us who never "succeeded" at such a thing rarely stopped the pursuit. Casey stopped, and discovered an entirely different path in the world of weight lifting.

She talks about her story, her progress and setbacks, and what science, medicine and her mom have to say. It's all interesting, and a lot of it is instructional. It's certainly inspirational -- whether you can join a fancy gym or a shabby one or get some weights of your own or rustle up some things that you can lift that aren't technically weights, this life-changing adventure is there for the taking.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This was my introduction to Johnston’s writing. In this book, she discusses her experience with restrictive dieting vs eating well and lifting. Throughout, she brings in facts and history about lifting.

I really enjoyed this one. Personally, I grew up on bad diets of instant breakfast, special k cereal, and crash dieting so if you told me I could eat more and still be in shape I’d think it was a joke. I am a little scared to lift, but I know that strength training is so important, it really helps you as you age, and my doctor always suggests workouts for my ACL rather than jumping to surgery.

I think if you’re on the road to getting motivated to work out or are in your fitness journey, this is a good read for you.

“A Physical Education” by Casey Johnston will be published by Grand Central Publishing on May 6, 2025! Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a digital copy of this book to review.

Trigger warning for eating disorders.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve read a lot of books about weight and diet. I’ve read memoirs and fiction and short stories and articles and self-help books, and I have NEVER connected with one the way that I connected with “A Physical Education” by Casey Johnston.

The biggest reason is broken down into statistics within the book itself.

“In 2008, right around the time I submitted myself to the 1200-calorie diet, SELF magazine ran a survey of four thousand of its readers on their eating habits. It found that about 10 percent of them qualified as having a full-blown eating disorder of some kind, consistent with the rates found in the general population. But a whopping 65 percent of them exhibited disordered behaviors and thought patterns, some of which we think of as necessary in pursuit of health; trying to lose weight at an already healthy weight; skipping meals; harboring concerns about what they are or weighed that interfered with their happiness; becoming ‘extremely upset’ if they gained even five pounds.”

The book went on to explain that these habits are signs of “atypical” anorexia, but despite the language there, three times as many people have atypical anorexia vs. “typical.”

I am one of these people who calls into the category of atypical anorexia and have spent chunks of my life cutting calories below what my body needed to function and blacking out at the gym. I was so focused on tracking calories that I used to track calories from Tylenol and Ibuprofen that I took (because of a headache that I definitely got from undereating.)

And yet, I don’t see my brand of eating disorder discussed a lot. My guess is that because atypical anorexia is often undiagnosed, people are unsure as to whether they can say they even have an eating disorder. It took me years to admit that I’d had an eating disorder, though I would occasionally admit that I had “disordered eating,” which felt like the only thing I could say without a diagnosis.

Once we move past the eating disorder portion of Casey’s journey, we get into the weight-lifting portion of her story. I started lifting weights about a year and a half ago at a boot camp-based gym, and it’s changed my view 100% on how I view myself in connection to strength. I think the pipeline from eating disorder to strength training is probably more common than we realize, as both are ways to assert some control over your body, though one is certainly healthier than the other.

But onto the story:

Casey had always been active, but it hadn’t always come easily to her. She was stuck in a cycle of extreme cardio and calorie restriction that made her both want to eat nothing and binge on a massive bowl of noodles. She didn’t find intuitive eating very intuitive and despite doing her best to live a healthy lifestyle, she had a toxic relationship with her body.

And then she discovered weightlifting. In 2023, Casey stumbled upon a link on a Reddit post called “What Happened to This Woman’s Body When She Lifted Weights.” In the same subreddit, she saw a thread from a woman who had been lifting weights for six months. The woman recounted her progress and shared her seemingly simple program where she only worked out three days a week, doing three movements per day at five sets of five reps, adding five pounds at the next session if she was successful.

This went against everything Casey understood about exercise and weight loss. She’d thought you needed to work out more, for longer, and minimize breaks to get the biggest results. The woman’s diet was also different from what Casey expected. She said that she would have been proud if she made it to 2 p.m. and hadn’t eaten anything that day, but this woman was doing her best to never skip meals and was eating more than what Casey was allowing herself.

And yet, in this woman’s progress photos, she was leaner and more toned than she’d been when she started. It blew Casey’s mind.

She found herself repeatedly going back to this woman’s post, especially after her regular runs were derailed by an injured Achilles. She dove deeper into the subreddit, learning vocabulary words like “bulking,” cutting,” macros,” and “bodybuilding.” She looked into the science behind weightlifting to better understand how these people were transforming their bodies so effectively. She became enthralled by the idea of being able to recomposition your body - the process of losing fat while putting on muscle.

One of the things that appealed to Casey about weightlifting was that it didn’t seem to be focused on critiquing parts of your body. Instead, it was about setting personal goals an pushing yourself to your own limits. Failing, something demoralizing in diet culture, was actually encouraged in weightlifting. It meant that you’d done your best and were working toward what would be best in the future.

Casey’s weightlifting journey truly kicked off when she purchased the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe (I believe this is the author. The version of the book that I read only gave the name.) Unlike other, trendier exercise books that Casey had seen, Starting Strength lacked the fancy photoshoots with gorgeous, toned people, but it more than made up for it with a density of information. There were diagrams on how to achieve the perfect squat, including how to position all parts of your body, including the feet, butt, and back. While Casey understood a squat to be a simple movement, the book broke it down into extreme specifics; More than 100 pages focused on squats alone. This left little room for misunderstanding and helped Casey to understand the motion long before she set foot in a gym.

At the back of the book, there was a suggested program, starting with three movements a day, three sets, and five reps per set. The program pushed the idea of taking rests between sets, something that had previously seemed counterproductive to Casey. But with weightlifting, rest was part of the process.

Casey entered a gym with the intent to lift weights for the first time in May 2014. She described the gym, called Ritchie’s as a “grimy independent gym, with barely comprehensible signage and metal grates covering the windows.” But it had the free weights she needed and only cost $25/month.

She was incredibly nervous to work out in front of what seemed to be a bunch of “gym bros” and there didn’t seem to be any women around. She made a few mistakes right off the bat; She picked up a weight that was too heavy but was too embarrassed to put it back, so she attempted a lift with it and smashed the weight into her sternum. She was mortified, especially when a man with a thick accent approached her. But instead of critiquing her, he simply offered to spot her by keeping two fingers below the barbell to catch it in case of failure. She left the gym that day after doing plenty of things she hoped she wouldn’t have to do, like interacting with someone and looking like an idiot, but she’d done it.

As Casey progressed in her weightlifting, she also progressed with her diet. She was no longer hoping to eat as few calories as possible to become as small as possible, but rather fueling her body to help her accomplish building strength and helping her body with functional movement, like carrying her cat’s heavy litter, something that had been nearly impossible before. She learned to view food as fuel rather than something to be restricted.

“Through all this, the old compulsions I feared might be triggered by dieting, by tracking, by weighing - in hopes of weight loss - did not show up. Eating less did not make me feel compelled to eat even less still; knowing that it would hurt to try and hurry the process, and that the process was working exactly as quickly as it should - which was actually pretty slowly - kept me on the path.”

Today, Casey runs “She’s A Beast,” a free weekly newsletter on strength training with paid subscription options for those who want them. She also runs a discord channel that offers form checks, advice, and community and offers her own strength training program.

“A Physical Education” is a must-read for anyone interested in weightlifting, regardless of history, gender, strength level, etc. Casey isn’t only a strong human, but a strong writer, pulling in stories from her life and relating them to her weightlifting journey. It’s a great book for beginners because it shows a clear way to enter into the world of lifting and breaks down exercise and diet in a way that seems achievable.

While I may have been Casey’s ideal audience (I have signed up for her newsletter and shared the book with my gym’s Facebook group), I know that people whose stories don’t align as strongly with Casey’s will find value and entertainment in this book.

This memoir combines the author's own body image and strength training journeys with history and social commentary about weight lifting in the United States.

I loved reading about how Johnston transformed from an undereating waif of a runner, struggling with injury to a powerful weight lifter. Along with physical strength came a much healthier approach to eating and the ability to stand up for herself at work and in her personal life.

I didn't love the parts of the book that discussed the history of exercise and weight lifting in the United States. But overall, this was an interesting read and an inspiring story.

Casey Johnston’s A Physical Education is an inspiring glimpse into one woman’s quest to find herself. Johnston blends memoir-style writing with the latest science on weight lifting and fitness, with the end-game being strength and autonomy, and not chasing after some (likely unattainable) Instagram body goal. This is not a diet book, not a workout plan (although there is plenty of info) but a guide to using fitness as a way to care for oneself and build confidence

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for ARC.

not something i'd typically reach for, but something i really enjoyed! this gave such good insight to the empowerment of weightlifting, and i love how it did so in a way that did not encourage the toxicity that is diet culture and the weight loss industry

I've followed Casey since her Ask a Swole Woman column in Vice. In this memoir, she shares more about her personal weightlifting journey as well as lots of technical information about the sport. I deeply related to her early mindset about weight and exercise, and wish I could start some training again (I stopped when my son was born over 3 years ago). I especially recommend this book for women who have or aspire to any type of fitness routine.

Casey Johnston’s A Physical Education is a fascinating and empowering blend of memoir and practical advice that redefines fitness for the modern woman. Based on the themes of her popular newsletter She’s a Beast, this book isn’t just about how to lift weights—it’s about how to lift yourself out of the restrictive narratives imposed by society on women’s bodies and their worth. It’s part personal journey, part manifesto, and entirely inspiring.

The book explores Johnston’s own fitness journey, revealing how she found confidence and self-assurance through weightlifting. She shares moments of vulnerability, reflecting on the challenges she faced in confronting the pervasive influence of the male gaze and the internalized judgments so many women carry. These moments make the book deeply relatable, as Johnston doesn’t shy away from acknowledging how society pressures women to prioritize appearance over health. Her message is clear: fitness isn’t about achieving the “perfect body” but about reclaiming strength and autonomy in a world that often denies women both.

What sets A Physical Education apart is Johnston’s ability to seamlessly blend personal storytelling with science-backed insights and practical advice. Her humor and wit shine through as she breaks down the basics of strength training, making the book accessible and unintimidating for beginners while still offering valuable insights for seasoned lifters. Johnston demystifies weightlifting, dismantling the idea that it’s a male-dominated space or an unattainable goal. Instead, she positions it as an act of self-care and empowerment, showing readers how lifting can improve not just physical fitness but mental resilience, confidence, and overall well-being.

The title itself, A Physical Education, is a clever nod to how Johnston reimagines what it means to be "educated" about fitness. This is not a book about crash diets or punishing exercise routines. It’s a holistic approach that emphasizes sustainability, body positivity, and the importance of meeting yourself where you are. Johnston encourages readers to reject the toxic “no pain, no gain” mindset and embrace a kinder, more intuitive way of building strength.

One of the most striking aspects of the book is how Johnston frames fitness as more than just a physical act—it’s a way of reclaiming control over your narrative. The act of lifting weights becomes a metaphor for life itself: learning to carry what once felt impossible, breaking down barriers, and proving to yourself that you are capable of so much more than you imagined. This thematic depth gives the book an emotional resonance that will stick with readers long after they’ve turned the last page.

The book also challenges cultural norms around beauty, strength, and health, encouraging readers to see fitness not as a means to shrink themselves but as a way to expand their possibilities. Johnston’s reflections on how women are taught to judge themselves through the lens of societal expectations are both searing and thought-provoking. Her ability to address these heavy topics with humor and authenticity makes the book a joy to read.

Whether you’re someone who’s never set foot in a gym or a seasoned athlete, A Physical Education offers something for everyone. It’s equal parts informative, entertaining, and deeply motivational, reminding readers that strength—both physical and emotional—is something worth striving for, no matter where you’re starting from.

If you’ve ever wanted a fitness book that prioritizes health, empowerment, and joy over rigid rules or harmful ideals, A Physical Education is it. Casey Johnston’s voice is a powerful reminder that fitness is for everyone, and that the journey to strength begins with believing in yourself. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to transform their relationship with their body, fitness, and self-worth.
#grandcentralpublishing #caseyjohnston #shesabeast #aphysicaleducation

This book is so much more than I thought it would be. I was expecting practical lifting advice and a bit on the author's personal journey, but there's also fascinating histories on how lifting came to the United States and how it's been coopted by a certain segment of the population, cultural commentary, feminist criticism, AND excellent writing about the physical and mental side of lifting. There's also science writing throughout, which I truly appreciate. I'll be buying this in hard copy when it comes out for myself and a few friends—what a surprising, educational (it was in the title, lol) and delightful read! Bravo to Casey Johnston.

I really enjoyed this, it found me at exactly the right moment. I found the blending of light memoir and science really well done. The feminist lens (which I share!) could have been overbearing and hokey but it was perfectly applied. Johnston really means what she writes, it's not lip service. Having very very recently started courting strength I found this book helpful both in information and inspiration. It's not prescriptive but instead encouraging, communicating a hard won understanding of Johnston's own body and the way most women struggle with our bodies in relation to exercise and food, whether we admit it or not. The idea that so many of us are operating every day on a calorie deficit really got me thinking... and more excited about getting ripped. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I'm the last person who is qualified to review a book about strength building, but I enjoyed Casey Johnston's A Physical Education a lot. The author's uses of personal narrative and story to make the science more digestible, and I found myself really intrigued by the history of weight and strength training in the US, in terms of political action and community building. I found Johnston's experience inspiring and motivating, and I think it's probably even more so helpful if you're actually into fitness... but maybe the ultimate review is I actually try it....

Casey Johnston’s “She’s a Beast” is one of the only newsletters I open and read as soon as it hits my inbox. Her takes on weight lifting, movement, and eating have changed my feelings toward all of those for the better. Her first book, “Liftoff: Couch to Barbell” is a how to guide for weightlifting and helped me feel comfortable getting back into the gym and repeatedly picking up and putting down heavy(-ish) things.

Although this is a memoir, it’s so much more than that. Casey contextualizes her personal history with diets and exercise, which we do learn a lot about, within a much larger scope. Did you know that there was a socialist organization in the mid 1800s called the Turners that believed a strong, healthy population was an essential aspect of collective care and enabled the population to better stand against exploitation and that they built a huge network of public gyms to empower more people in their promotion of health as a public good? Me neither.

I also learned so much about how food restriction impacts not just our bodies but also our brains in ways that absolutely make sense but I hadn’t put together before.

Her discussion about the utility of failure is something I’m still thinking about, weeks after reading that last page.

Probably the only caveat I’d give before handing this book over to a friend is that there is a lot of talk about food. It’s largely in the context of how weight lifting requires you to eat more and what that looks like, but I could see it being a little much for some folks.

A big thank you to @netgalley for this ARC!

Dive into a powerful blend of memoir and science with A Physical Education. Written by Casey Johnston, the creator of the “She’s a Beast” newsletter, this inspiring book takes readers on an emotional and transformative journey of rejecting diet culture and embracing the empowering world of strength training.

📚 Why You Need to Read This:
• A Relatable Journey: Casey’s raw honesty about calorie restriction, cardio obsession, and self-image struggles hits home for anyone battling with body expectations.
• The Power of Lifting: Witness how picking up weights not only made Casey physically stronger but also helped her reclaim her spirit and redefine her self-worth.
• Thought-Provoking Insight: Explore how societal messages about women’s bodies seep into every facet of life—and how to challenge them.
• Wit & Wisdom: Casey combines sharp humor, personal anecdotes, and an investigative lens to create a book that’s both engaging and enlightening.

✨ Who Should Read It?
If you’ve ever felt at odds with your body, questioned diet culture, or wondered how to truly feel strong—inside and out—this book is for you. It’s a rallying cry to rethink what strength means and to find joy in moving your body for you.

🌟 Key Takeaways:
• Strength is about more than appearance; it’s about capability, resilience, and self-love.
• Challenging societal norms can lead to discovering your authentic self.
• Lifting weights isn’t just exercise—it’s a revolution.

📖 Final Thoughts:
This is a love letter to strength, resilience, and the journey back to yourself. Whether you’re a seasoned lifter or a beginner considering stepping into the weight room, Casey Johnston’s story will inspire you to take that first step toward owning your power.

💬 Let’s talk: Have you read A Physical Education yet? How has lifting changed your life?

🏋️‍♀️ #APhysicalEducation #CaseyJohnston #SheIsABeast #StrengthTraining #LiftHeavy #BodyPositivity #DietCultureDropout #MemoirLovers #InspirationReads #WellnessJourney #StrongWomen #BookstagramReads

An inspiring memoir, a testament to learning to love our bodies and a clarion call to heal our relationship to body image and fitness.

A very easy read, the information and stories are clear and enjoyable, though the momentum of the book seems to flag at the very end, with the final chapter feeling slightly tacked on, as the book searched for a finale.

Reading this book felt like seeing my own life, my own struggles, the struggles that so many of us live with the way that our culture pushes and pushes and pushes. It was informative, empowering, and emotive as it showed Casey's journey, but also another way for so many of us trapped in this endless cycle. It was about strength in more ways than one. I turned around and immediately recommended it to multiple people.