Anabolic Cooking (Dave Ruel) review
High protein recipes for people whose bodybuilding meal plan gets boring and falls apart
Reviewed 2026-09-23
Pros
- Recipes aimed at real protein targets, not general healthy eating
- Practical for batch cooking and weekly prep
- Useful if cooking confidence is the thing holding you back
- Downloadable, so you can read it on a phone in the shop
Cons
- It is a cookbook, not a plan: it will not set your calories or protein for you
- The muscle gain and fat loss claims on the page are assertions, not tested results
- The page does not clearly state the price, what the recurring charge covers, or the refund terms
What you get
A digital cookbook and nutrition guide from Dave Ruel, delivered as files you download after paying. The core is a large recipe collection built around high protein meals, plus sections on meal planning, shopping and batch cooking. You use it by picking recipes that fit your calorie and protein targets, then cooking a few days' worth at a time.
Is it worth it?
If you train hard but your eating falls apart by Wednesday, this is aimed squarely at you. The pitch is simple: bodybuilding food does not have to be plain chicken and broccoli, and if the meals taste good you are more likely to stick to the plan. What you are buying is a recipe collection with meal planning advice wrapped around it, not a coaching programme and not a diet that decides your numbers for you. That distinction matters. It will give you appealing high protein meals to cook. It will not tell you how much to eat, and it will not build muscle on its own, whatever the sales page suggests about gaining fast and getting shredded. Those are the seller's claims, offered without evidence, and the brownies and muffins angle is a hook rather than a nutrition strategy. Used sensibly it earns its keep. If you already know roughly what you should be eating and the problem is boredom or repetition, a fresh stack of recipes is a genuinely practical fix. If you are new to all this and hoping for a step by step plan, you will still need to work out your own calorie and protein targets somewhere else. One thing to watch: this is sold on a recurring basis, so check what you are signed up for before you enter card details rather than after.
Before you buy
- Find the total price and what the ongoing charge renews at and how often, before paying
- Check the refund window and how to cancel the recurring part
- Know your own daily calorie and protein targets, or get those sorted first
Who it suits
Best for someone already training and eating with intent who has run out of meals they enjoy and wants variety they will actually cook
