Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

Why don’t I manipulate rep tempo in my programs like other strength and hypertrophy programs? I’ve written and recorded a lot of evidence-based content over the years on just about everything you can imagine related to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy. I’ve also worked with thousands of men and women of all ages and circumstances and helped them get into the best shape of their lives. That doesn’t mean you should blindly swallow everything I say, though, because let’s face it—nobody is always right about everything. And especially in fields like diet and exercise, which are constantly evolving thanks to the efforts of honest and hardworking researchers and thought leaders. This is why I’m always happy to hear from people who disagree with me, especially when they have good arguments and evidence to back up their assertions. Sometimes I can’t get on board with their positions, but sometimes I end up learning something, and either way, I always appreciate the discussion. That gave me the idea for this series of podcast episodes: publicly addressing things people disagree with me on and sharing my perspective. Think of it like a spicier version of a Q&A. So, here’s what I’m doing: Every couple of weeks, I’m asking my Instagram followers what they disagree with me on, and then picking the more common or interesting contentions to address here on the podcast. And in this episode, I’ll be tackling the following . . . “Why don’t you periodize rep tempo in your programs?” Timestamps: 0:00 - Want a free meal planning tool that figures out your calories, macros, and micros, and allows you to create custom meal plans for cutting, lean gaining, and maintaining in under 5 minutes? Go to https://buylegion.com/mealplan and download the tool for free! 3:09 - Why do your programs not include rep tempo manipulation? 9:17 - How relevant is explosive training to lifestyle bodybuilders? 13:22 - What do studies say about rep tempo? Mentioned on the Show: Want a free meal planning tool that figures out your calories, macros, and micros, and allows you to create custom meal plans for cutting, lean gaining, and maintaining in under 5 minutes? Go to https://buylegion.com/mealplan and download the tool for free!

In this podcast, I’m once again chatting with Alex Banayan, but this time, I fielded questions from my followers over on Instagram all about mindset, success, and achieving your dreams. In case you missed my first chat with Alex and you’re not familiar with him, his book The Third Door, which is all about his 7-year journey to interview some of the most successful people in the world, has made him the youngest bestselling business author in American history, and the book is a number one international bestseller. He’s been named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and Business Insider’s “Most Powerful People Under 30,” and been featured in Fortune, CNBC, Businessweek, The Washington Post, MSNBC, Fox News, and NBC News. In this discussion, Alex and I talk about . . . How to deal with friends and family who are dismissive and negative about your goals and dreams The best way to deal with imposter syndrome (and why you shouldn’t worry about it) Why honesty and integrity matter more than you think His 30-day clarity challenge, which is a tool to gain awareness so you can plan where you’re going. (A description of the challenge is also linked in the show notes.) When quitting and giving up on a goal might be appropriate And more . . . So if you want to hear some of our thoughts on chasing your dreams and how to develop the mindset necessary for success, don’t miss this interview! And if you enjoyed the discussion, don’t forget to check out my first interview with Alex. Timestamps: 0:00 - Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip 5:59 - How do you deal with friends and family that are not supportive of your goals? 17:03 - What about people that are always pessimistic? 40:00 - How do you deal with imposter syndrome? 55:46- Why does humanization matter? 1:00:02 - What are your thoughts on giving up on a goal? 1:11:00 - Where can people find you and your work? Mentioned on the Show: Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip The Third Door: https://www.amazon.com/Third-Door-Uncover-Successful-Launched/dp/0804136661/?tag=mflweb-20 Alex Banayan’s website: https://thirddoorbook.com/ Alex’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexbanayan/ 30-Day Clarity Challenge: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZxiUzxv_St/

“Taking BCAAs in addition to eating plenty of protein is like watering your lawn . . . after a storm.” This episode is filled with similar, fun fitness analogies from my next book project. I’ll talk more about that later, but I wanted to share some of the material from that book. It’s just for fun, and I hope you’ll laugh a bit. Press play and let me know what you think! Timestamps: 0:00 -  Please leave a review and subscribe to the podcast! 6:27 - Want 125 quick, easy, and delicious “fitness friendly” recipes? Get The Shredded Chef: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/the-shredded-chef/ Mentioned on the Show: Want 125 quick, easy, and delicious “fitness friendly” recipes? Check out The Shredded Chef: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/the-shredded-chef/

What are the benefits of massage? Is the pec deck effective at all? Is CLA a dud supplement? Best foods for bulking? This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram, I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing these questions and my short answers. So, instead of talking about one thing in an episode, I’m going to cover a variety of questions. And keep in mind some of these questions are just for fun. :) So if you want to ask me questions in my Instagram stories, follow me on Instagram (@muscleforlifefitness), and if I answer your question there, it might just make it onto an episode of the podcast! If you like this type of episode, let me know. Send me an email (mike@muscleforlife.com) or direct message me on Instagram. And if you don’t like it, let me know that too or how you think it could be better. Timestamps 0:00 - Try Triton risk-free today! Go to buylegion.com/triton and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points! 4:01 - What is your favorite cheat snack? 5:11 - How effective is the pec deck? 5:56 - What is a typical beginner training split? 9:08 - How are you? 9:45 - What are your thoughts on natural immunity? 10:06 - What do you think about collagen? 14:51 - What are your thoughts on massage? What are the benefits and how often should I get one? 15:51 - When talking about the number of reps, do you mean from technical failure or muscular failure? 19:05 - What do you think about CLA? 20:31 - How do I learn to hip hinge with no lower back pain? 21:35 - Are full-body workouts hard to recover from? 22:33 - What are your maintenance calories? 23:04 - What are the best foods for bulking? Mentioned on the Show: Try Triton risk-free today! Go to buylegion.com/triton and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points!

In this podcast, I chat with scientist and friend Dr. Bill Campbell all about flexible dieting. Specifically, we discuss a study out of his lab that compared a flexible, IIFYM diet with a more rigid, meal plan approach.In case you’re not familiar with Dr. Campbell, he’s a professor of Exercise Science and the Director of the Performance & Physique Enhancement Laboratory at the University of South Florida, who’s also published more than 150 scientific papers.In other words, Dr. Campbell has long been behind the scenes, conducting research on practical, fitness-related matters that can be applied to get us more jacked.The study we’re discussing on flexible versus rigid dieting is no exception. Surprisingly, it’s the first comparison of IIFYM to rigid dieting with resistance-trained athletes as the subjects, which makes it especially applicable to fitness folks.In this episode, Dr. Campbell describes the study, the results, and his practical approach of protein-anchored flexible dieting. We also get into incorporating processed versus unprocessed foods in a flexible diet, fiber supplementation, post-diet weight regain, animal versus plant proteins, circadian rhythms, and a lot more.So, if you want to learn what the science says about flexible dieting and how it compares to following a meal plan, how processed food affects our eating habits, and how to avoid body fat overshoot after your diet, don’t miss this episode!Timestamps0:00 - My pre-workout Pulse’s seasonal flavors Frosted Cranberry and Apple Cider are 20% off this week only! Go to buylegion.com/pulse to check them out and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% on any non-sale items or get double reward points!4:25 - Tell us about your findings on the study of flexible vs. rigid dieting.10:47 - Would you expect the same results if someone was new to dieting?19:02 - Will you experience more hunger if you lose more muscle while dieting?24:05 - How much fat can I gain in one day?25:10 - When is it appropriate to take a rigid approach vs taking a flexible approach?30:36 -  How do we choose the right foods to hit our macros?42:10 - What is your theory on eating around your circadian rhythm?49:45 - What are your thoughts on supplementing with fiber?52:20 - Is there anything else you would like to add?53:41 - What is the best source of protein?57:51 - Where can we find you and work?Mentioned on the Show:My pre-workout Pulse’s seasonal flavors Frosted Cranberry and Apple Cider are 20% off this week only! Go to buylegion.com/pulse to check them out and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% on any non-sale items or get double reward points!Bill Campbell’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/billcampbellphd/

What is the healthiest diet in the world? That’s something I’m often asked, and a question many researchers have tried to answer.Unfortunately, many of the most popular answers aren’t the best ones. They’re either not quite accurate or ridiculously wrong, which is mostly a function of marketing. A lot of fad diets get attention because they are marketed well.Too many fad diets focus on restricting certain foods or food groups, instead of encouraging you to eat others. Often the restrictions are based on bad science, faulty logic, or marketing puffery.Luckily, the healthiest diet on the planet is quite simple, and I’m going to explain the handful of guidelines in this podcast.Timestamps:0:00 - My pre-workout Pulse’s seasonal flavors Frosted Cranberry and Apple Cider are 20% off this week only! Go to buylegion.com/pulse to check them out and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% on any non-sale items or get double reward points!4:28 - What is a healthy diet?5:41 - Is a vegan diet a healthy diet?8:43 - Is a vegetarian diet healthy?10:16 - Can you survive on the carnivore diet?13:09 - What is the healthiest diet in the world?16:35 - 10 steps to a maximally healthy dietMentioned on the Show:My pre-workout Pulse’s seasonal flavors Frosted Cranberry and Apple Cider are 20% off this week only! Go to buylegion.com/pulse to check them out and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% on any non-sale items or get double reward points!

Some people—my favorite people—listen to most or even all of my podcasts, but my wizbang analytics tell me that while many listeners tune in on a regular basis, they don’t catch every installment of Muscle for Life and thus miss out on insights that could help them do at least a little better inside and outside the gym. That’s why I do “best of” episodes that contain a few of the most practical and compelling ideas, tips, and moments from the more popular episodes I’ve published over the years. This way, you can learn interesting insights that you might have otherwise missed and find new episodes of the show to listen to. So, in this installment of The Best of Muscle for Life, you’ll be hearing hand-picked morsels from three episodes: Ben Pakulski on Meditation, Consciousness, Focus, Spirituality, and More (Originally published 4/29/2019) The Easiest Cardio Workout You Can Do (That Actually Works) (Originally published 5/31/2018) Book Club: Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman  (Originally published 10/27/2017) And we’ll be starting with number one, Ben Pakulski on meditation, consciousness, focus, spirituality, and more. Timestamps: 0:00 - Try Triumph risk-free today! Go to buylegion.com/triumph and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points! 4:11 - Ben Pakulski on Meditation, Consciousness, Focus, Spirituality, and More 11:48 - The Easiest Cardio Workout You Can Do (That Actually Works) 15:15 - Book Club: Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman Mentioned on the Show: Try Triumph risk-free today! Go to buylegion.com/triumph and use coupon code MUSCLE to save 20% or get double reward points!

In this podcast, I interview Laurie, who did three months of Legion’s VIP one-on-one coaching program to get strong while improving her body composition. In fact, Laurie went from lifting just the bar on her squat and deadlift (and less than the bar on the bench press) to lifting more than double that on each lift with ease. And she did that all while losing 6 pounds and dropping nearly two pant sizes. Laurie had started to read Thinner Leaner Stronger, but was overwhelmed by nutrition and meal planning and didn’t really know what to do in the gym. She was following random workouts from influencers and didn’t have a set program to follow, which led to a lot of gym intimidation. Ultimately, she decided to get a coach to handle her training programming and macros and help overcome her fear. In this interview, Laurie and I chat about her story, and the obstacles she navigated along the way, including how she started meal planning and prepping and learned to eat without weighing everything, how she increased her protein intake, how she overcame gym intimidation, how much her body changed despite only losing 6 pounds, why it’s ok to work on your body and aim for self-improvement, what her long term plans are, and more. So if you’re looking for a jolt of inspiration and like motivational stories, definitely listen to this episode. Timestamps: 0:00 - Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip 5:37 - Where were you at before you found my training program? 10:48 - What did your numbers look like before and after my program? 16:32 - When you started training, were you concerned about getting bulky? 17:20 - How did you get used to the amount of protein? 21:05 - How do you make your shakes tasty? 22:29 - Were you practicing portion control while training or were you weighing and measuring your food? 25:38 - Are you still cutting? 29:59 - How did you feel about gym intimidation when you first started and how do you feel about it now? 34:41 - Once you got into the routine, was it different from what you expected? 37:42 - What are your long term goals and short term goals? 39:02 - What are your thoughts on people who think you have an unhealthy relationship with working out? 46:32 - After our coaching program, did you feel confident in moving forward on your own? Mentioned on the show: Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip Thinner Leaner Stronger: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/thinner-leaner-stronger/

The distinction between believed and checked facts is vital to good thinking. How many things do you know because of firsthand verification rather than secondhand instruction? The truth is many or even most of our assumptions about, well, just about everything are believed facts, not checked ones. While we only have time to check so many facts, serious problems arise when we can’t distinguish between believed and checked facts. When too many believed facts are misfiled as checked ones, and when we refuse to review and revise them no matter what we see or experience, or worse, when we carefully filter our observations and experiences to preserve our cognitive status quo, we can lose our ability to successfully navigate reality. There are various reasons we’re all prone to this thinking trap, but the desire to avoid uncertainty is likely a big one. “Yes” and “no” provide security and comfort whereas “maybe” and “probably” are slippery and treacherous. But they’re also a more accurate reflection of reality. And so if we want to interact with reality more effectively, we must strive to mentally interact with it more effectively, and that requires moving away from monochromatic thinking and toward polychromatic thinking. This cast of mind can be uncomfortable because it often entails accepting that we don’t know nearly as much as we’d like to think. But it also invites opportunity. Remember—there’s a word for the process of rethinking assumptions and reworking opinions: learning. Timestamps: 0:00 -  Please leave a review and subscribe to the podcast! 2:57 - My award-winning fitness books for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/ Mentioned on the Show: My award-winning fitness books for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/

Have only 30 minutes to train? How much caffeine do I consume per day? How did I meet my wife? Are hydration drinks overrated? What are the best marketing books? This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram, I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing these questions and my short answers. So, instead of talking about one thing in an episode, I’m going to cover a variety of questions. And keep in mind some of these questions are just for fun. :) So if you want to ask me questions in my Instagram stories, follow me on Instagram (@muscleforlifefitness), and if I answer your question there, it might just make it onto an episode of the podcast! If you like this type of episode, let me know. Send me an email (mike@muscleforlife.com) or direct message me on Instagram. And if you don’t like it, let me know that too or how you think it could be better. Timestamps 0:00 - Want a free meal planning tool that figures out your calories, macros, micros, and allows you to create custom meal plans for cutting, lean gaining, and maintaining in under 5 minutes? Go to https://buylegion.com/mealplan and download the tool for free! 3:30 - How do you train when you only have 30 minutes? 5:29 - How did you and your wife meet? 6:26 - What is the best book on marketing for beginners? 6:45 - How long do you recommend a calorie deficit for? 7:59 - How much caffeine do you have every day? 9:22 - What are your thoughts on adding sets to BBLS? 11:10 - When is the BLS booster shot coming? 13:18 - What kind of weight gain do you experience during Christmas? 13:59 - How do you think we will leave this phase of COVID madness? 16:30 - What do you think about high intensity, high frequency, low volume similar to Ted Naiman’s PE diet? 17:43 - Are hydration drinks overrated? 18:51 - What is your go to chocolate? Mentioned on the Show: Want a free meal planning tool that figures out your calories, macros, and micros, and allows you to create custom meal plans for cutting, lean gaining, and maintaining in under 5 minutes? Go to https://buylegion.com/mealplan and download the tool for free!