Secrets of Giants

A Journey to Uncover the True Meaning of Strength

By: Alyssa Ages

Narrated by: Alyssa Ages

Everyone wants to know if they could do the impossible. Few of us will ever try.


Alyssa Ages was the strongest she’d ever been, able to flip monster truck tires and walk with 300 pounds on her back. She felt invincible, until the day her body betrayed her, leaving her vulnerable and grasping for control. Rebuilding her strength slowly brought her back to life. She began to wonder: What if strength isn't about how much we can lift? What if it's about how we manage life’s struggles?

In Secrets of Giants, Ages, now a mom of two, embarks on an immersive journey to the fringe of the weight-lifting world, the sport of strongman. She hoists kegs and lifts boulders in suburban parking lots, attempts to pull a 50-ton truck using only a rope, and occasionally frightens her neighbors by dragging a sled full of weights down her quiet tree-lined street. She meets a powerlifter-turned-boxer who shares how lifting taught her to become a master of the mundane. A ten-time World’s Strongest Man competitor is brought to tears illustrating how the gym helped him survive an abusive childhood. A pro strongwoman muses on managing setbacks before stepping on stage to deadlift the weight of a baby grand piano. Psychologists, researchers, and coaches offer insights into the fascinating ways that the pursuit of strength can permeate every aspect of our lives, from building resilience and confidence, to finding joy in discomfort, to teaching us to handle adversity.

Part personal narrative, part research mission, part reckless midlife crisis odyssey, Secrets of Giants uncovers why physical strength matters, and how it teaches us that we’re capable of so much more than we know.

a fresh take on strongman from a woman's perspective

as a female strongman athlete I've been SEARCHING for a book exactly like this. Alyssa goes through what it's like being a woman ins strongman, not only through her own experiences, but through other influential strong women as well. so much of this book resonated with me and some of it is exactly what I'm facing right now. I have recommended this book to every woman strength athlete I know.

Thought provoking

As a person who is big into weight lifting and strength sports as a whole. I find this book very relatable and relevant in my life. It’s deeply motivating. It encouraged me to look back on my experiences with fitness, my feelings, responses to the different challenges and environments, and the great attained throughout my journey. Im very grateful for my experience and for this book. Definitely worth the read.

Good Not Amazing

Well-researched, well considered self reflection with many stories of others’ achievements and their insights into what made them happen. I was looking for more broad strokes especially by halfway into the book rather than specific strongman/ competition details which became repetitive, and I found myself skipping ahead to try to pull out the main points. Also, I applaud the effort to read one’s own work but most of us can’t, and it sounded a little robotic. Still, it was a good book, just a little too long on this particular subject for me.