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Written by the creator of the She's A Beast newsletter, this mash-up of memoir and science writing is the rare story of a woman finding joy in a body that, for so long, she considered her enemy. After an abusive relationship, the death of her father, and a running injury that left her limping, Casey Johnston was unmoored, alone, and burned out. Then she stumbled on a viral blog post about one woman’s experience lifting heavy weights—no dieting, no cardio, no weight loss, and no shame or guilt. With zero experience and nothing left to lose, Casey took a deep breath and stepped into Brooklyn’s grungiest gym. Then she began to question how she had treated her body, and what that treatment meant.
Combining wit, rage, and a reporter's eye for detail, Johnston embarks on a radical mission to understand the process of rupture, rest, and repair—not just within her cells and muscles, but also within her spirit. Her personal story frames a take-down of diet culture, and the ways we try to "get healthy" that actively make our bodies weaker, as she dives deep into the science of rebuilding mental, emotional, and physical strength. This is a sharp cultural critique for anyone who has ever longed to reclaim their body.
About the author
Casey Johnston is an American writer and editor. She has written the fitness advice column “Ask a Swole Woman” for multiple outlets since 2016 and a newsletter about weightlifting,
She’s a Beast, since 2021.
Summary
From the most visible woman writing about weightlifting today, a "profoundly engrossing" memoir and manifesto about how lifting helped dissolve her allegiance to diet culture; taught her to be at home in her body; and led her to grow every kind of strength (Elizabeth Greenwood).
In A Physical Education, Casey Johnston recounts how she ventured into the brave new world of weightlifting, leaving behind years of restrictive eating and endless cardio. Woven through the trajectory of how she rebuilt her strength and confidence is a staggering exposé of the damaging doctrine spread by diet and fitness culture.
Johnston's story dives deep into her own past relationships with calorie restriction, exercise, and codependency. As she progresses on her weightlifting journey, she begins to eat to fuel her growing strength—and her food cravings vanish. Her physical progress fuels a growing understanding of how mainstream messaging she received about women’s bodies was about preserving the status quo. Previously convinced that physical improvement was a matter of suffering, she now knows it requires self-regard and patience. A little pushing at a time adds up to the reawakening of parts of herself she didn’t even know were there.
A Physical Education asks why so many of us spend our lives trying to get "healthy” by actively making our bodies weaker. Casey Johnston is a voice for those of us who feel underdeveloped and unfulfilled in our bodies and are looking to come home to ourselves.
