Lift: How Women Can Reclaim Their Physical Power and Transform Their Lives

By Anne Marie Chaker

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.

Bridging narrative storytelling with empowering and actionable takeaways, including advice on how to start a training program, Lift is a rallying cry and inspiring guide to help women to get stronger for life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593541111
• ISBN13: 9780593541111
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Avery Publishing Group
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Full of bad feminist rhetoric... and whining

"The patriarchy wants women to be skinny", "there's no justification for women athletes to make less money than male athletes" boo hoo. Actually there is justification and this topic has been covered extensively but it boils down to, Women's sports do not bring in the same amount of ticket sales, and at home viewer interest to justify paying them high salaries. This book reads like' "oh I woke up one day and realized that drinking my calories and laying around all day were bad for my health." Ya think? What a "deep" insight. I almost choked on my laughter when she said, "women can take up more space" who else said that recently, oh yes the all female "astronaut" crew Bezos sent into "space". If you want to read truely inspiring female fitness transformation stories, read Corey Iverson's book, or look up Rachel McLish. This book is suitable for lining hamster cages. I would not let my daughter read it. It spreads unjustified entitlement.