The Mind-Blowing History of Muscle & How to Become Stronger - With Michael Joseph Gross

The Model Health Show

Shawn Stevenson

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Fitness

4.8 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As humans, we have an innate ability to create change in all aspects of our lives. And one of the most vital things we can influence is the health and strength of our bodies. On today’s show, you’re going to learn about how building muscle can influence everything from your mood and mental health to your risk for diseases and longevity. Today’s guest is author and journalist, Michael Joseph Gross. His influential work has been featured across many national media outlets and mediums. His newest project, the book Stronger, brings light to the central role of muscle for human health, happiness, and longevity. On this episode of The Model Health Show, Michael is sharing the fascinating ancient history, science, and role of muscle. You’ll learn about Stronger’s three central figures and their inspirational stories of how muscle improves the human experience. We’re also going to discuss muscle’s incredible ability to reduce painful symptoms and increase your overall survivability. Michael’s insights will reframe the way you think about exercise and muscle—and why we need them to live our best, healthiest lives. So click play and enjoy the show! In this episode you’ll discover: The essential role of the gluteus maximus. (2:29) How learning a new sport changed everything for Michael. (7:53) The importance of making exercise as routine as brushing your teeth. (8:33) How the culture of strength is driven by example. (10:57) What percentage of the population strength trains. (12:09) Why we need to respect muscles and the mind as an integrated whole. (19:30) A story of the power of progressive overload. (20:50) Why rest as essential as building strength. (23:14) What supercompensation is. (27:41) The interesting history and etymology of gym. (33:16) How the Spartans trained. (37:11) Why strength training is transformative for overweight adolescents. (47:54) The role of muscle for young developing girls. (54:11) How strength training can improve the symptoms of depression. (1:03:37) Why strength training can reduce your risk of dying from cancer. (1:06:30) Items mentioned in this episode include: WildPastures.com/model - Get 20% off every box plus an additional $15 off! DrinkLMNT.com/model - Get a FREE sample pack of electrolytes with any order! Stronger by Michael Joseph Gross - Get your copy of the book here! Connect with Michael Joseph Gross Website / Instagram Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes:  Apple Podcasts Spotify Soundcloud Pandora YouTube This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by Wild Pastures and LMNT. Get 100% grassfed and finished beef, pasture raised chicken, and other nutrient dense, regenerative meats. Sign up with my link to get 20% of for life, plus an additional $15 off your first box at wildpastures.com/model. Head to DrinkLMNT.com/model to claim a FREE sample pack of electrolytes with any purchase.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Sean Stevenson. For more, visit themodelhealth
0:06.5	show.com. Welcome to the model health show. This is fitness and nutrition expert, Sean Stevenson,
0:13.8	and I'm so grateful for you tuning in with me today. What if I was to say that your muscle is a matter of a life and death?
0:24.0	Would you believe me?
0:25.3	That's such a strong and profound statement to say.
0:28.4	No pun intended with the strength.
0:31.2	But what you're going to discover today is not only historical references to muscle being a matter of life and death,
0:39.8	but the overwhelming amount of new science that we have today affirming how powerful muscle
0:47.7	and specifically being stronger is arguably the most powerful protective mechanism that we have, that we can
0:57.0	proactively grow, that we can protect. Whether this is from our beginning here on planet
1:05.5	earth, all the way up into our late, late senior years. You're going to hear today some signs affirming that
1:12.8	people in their 90s are building crazy amounts of muscle with the right inputs. And it's having
1:20.8	transformative impacts on their health. And so today again, this episode is so special for me because it helped to uplevel my thinking
1:31.5	regarding muscle because it tapped into something that I'm deeply passionate about, which is,
1:37.6	where did this stuff come from?
1:40.1	The ideas that we have as a culture, the things that we accept as normal, like where did this start?
1:46.1	Is there any historical reference to our fascination and focus on building muscle?
1:53.6	And the book that this information comes from is so masterfully written.
1:57.1	I actually want to share a quick portion for you here today because we covered so much ground in this amazing interview with the author that we didn't even get to talk about one of my favorite parts that relates to something that's incredibly powerful in our society today that's normalized in our society today.
2:16.0	But it has some very deep biological roots and historical
2:20.8	roots as well. And what am I talking about? I'm talking about our culture's obsession with the booty.
2:28.9	All right. Now, in the book it states that the biggest muscle in the butt, the gluteus maximus,
	...

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