On Muscle
On sale
7th April 2026
Price: £14.99
‘A truly moving ode to the tissues that move us’ Ed Yong, bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes
‘You’re about to learn more about yourself and your world than you could ever imagine’ Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run
Join athlete and bestselling author of Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui, as she jumps headfirst into the intriguing world of muscle. Through the five angles of strength, form, action, flexibility and endurance, Tsui blends cutting edge research with remarkable human stories to explore the importance of muscle in both our physical and mental health.
From weightlifting in the Scottish Highlands to a 50-mile run in the Nevada desert, Tsui’s globe-trotting journey of discovery reveals how muscle moves us through the world, promotes longevity and most importantly makes the impossible feel possible. On Muscle is your guide to unlocking the immense potential of your body.
‘You’re about to learn more about yourself and your world than you could ever imagine’ Christopher McDougall, bestselling author of Born to Run
Join athlete and bestselling author of Why We Swim, Bonnie Tsui, as she jumps headfirst into the intriguing world of muscle. Through the five angles of strength, form, action, flexibility and endurance, Tsui blends cutting edge research with remarkable human stories to explore the importance of muscle in both our physical and mental health.
From weightlifting in the Scottish Highlands to a 50-mile run in the Nevada desert, Tsui’s globe-trotting journey of discovery reveals how muscle moves us through the world, promotes longevity and most importantly makes the impossible feel possible. On Muscle is your guide to unlocking the immense potential of your body.
Reviews
Bonnie Tsui has done something remarkable. Fusing science writing, memoir, and essay, she has written a singular book about the true meanings of strength and flexibility, about our ability to define who we are and who we might be, and about what muscle means to the kind of people who rarely feature in stereotypical stories of strength and fitness. On Muscle is a truly moving ode to the tissues that move us
Bonnie Tsui writes with uncommon elegance and warmth-about muscle, yes, but more than that, about movement and joy and the gorgeous, often surprising ways they entwine. On Muscle is literary and deeply personal, but also rigorously researched and powerfully inspiring. It made me want to run, jump, grab my bike, any one of which I would have done had I not at the same time been unable to stop reading
Only a seriously skilled storyweaver like Bonnie Tsui can combine science, sociology, and personal experience into a joyfully careening tale about something we all take for granted but none of us really understands. The genius of On Muscle is showing not only how physical strength animates our bodies, but every other aspect of life as well. You're about to learn more about yourself and your world than you could ever imagine
Bonnie Tsui is a poet of physicality, and this book is an ode-one that explores our literal and metaphoric hearts. It is muscle as memory, muscle as meaning, muscle as magic. I am, in all ways, stronger for reading it
Beautifully written and so very smartly conceived, On Muscle takes you places that you expect it to and places that you don't. It's like Bonnie Tsui's splendid Why We Swim that way. Yes, there are bodybuilders and barbells in these pages, but Tsui is more concerned with the meaning of strength, the interplay of brain and brawn, and the importance and glory of motion in life. Her book is about being alive
Bonnie Tsui's beautiful and entertaining storytelling made me forget I was absorbing essential knowledge. On Muscle left me with a new appreciation for the mind-body connection and a better understanding of my place in the world
A deep dive into the muscles in our body [that] promises to change the way you think about how we move
and why it matters
Named a Most Anticipated Read of the Season/Year by TIME, Amazon, Alta, San Francisco Chronicle, Next Big Idea Club, Zibby Owens, and Literary Hub
A fitting follow-up to Why We Swim, On Muscle cements Tsui as an authority on science, culture, and curiosity.
Undeniably fascinating . . . An easily digestible, reliably entertaining appreciation of muscle, "the vivid engine of our lives".
Tsui's contemplation of muscle focuses attention on the many ways this tissue connects us to others, the world, and ourselves.