Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

In this podcast, I interview Dan John, and we chat all about his concept of “easy strength.” Easy strength is a style of training Dan writes about at length in his latest book, Attempts: Essays in Fitness, Health, Longevity and Easy Strength, which I highly recommend. We’ll get more into the nitty gritty details in the podcast, but “easy strength” is all about effective workouts done with key exercises that you can get done quickly. This gets you in and out of the gym quickly, giving you more time to recover and train for your sport. The best part is you’ll get stronger without beating up your muscles and joints, which means less soreness and joint pain. If you’re skeptical, I understand, but Dan isn’t exactly the new kid on the block. In fact, he has quite the resume—he has competed in the Highland Games, written more than 14 books, and coached athletes and weightlifters for over 40 years now. As you can imagine, he has seen and heard it all, and knows a thing or two about coaching athletes. In this episode, Dan and I discuss . . . The benefits of not “destroying” yourself in the gym Exercise as practice The importance of not missing reps How to program your workouts and progressively overload with “easy strength” And more . . . So, if you want to learn how to incorporate easy strength workouts to get stronger without beating yourself up or spending hours in the gym every day, listen to this episode and let me know your thoughts! Timestamps: 15:46 - What is easy strength? 28:57 - What does an easy strength program look like? 35:11 - How do you progressively overload? 39:44 - What is "easy" as a percentage of 1RM? 44:56 - How much weight do you add to the bar? Mentioned on the Show: Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/

In this podcast, I’m going to talk about greens supplements, which are more popular now than ever before. There’s no shortage of supplement companies out there promoting their greens powders with all sorts of marketing claims. It’s a winning formula, too. Your average greens supplement is just a bunch of dirt-cheap, fruit and vegetable powders, with pixie-dusted amounts of mushrooms or other extracts that sound nice. But how big of a difference do they really make? Greens supplements are often sold as a direct replacement for food, but can you really just take a greens supplement instead of eating fruit and vegetables every day? Should you consider taking a greens supplement if you already eat healthily? In this podcast, I’m going to answer those questions, as well as share my favorite greens supplements ingredients, and the worst ones. All of this should help you make better decisions when purchasing a greens supplement. Timestamps: 4:14 - What ingredients are commonly found in greens supplements? 5:16 - What are superfoods? 7:53 - How are greens supplements sold? 11:57 - How many servings of fruit and vegetables should you eat? 16:22 - Should you drink fruit and vegetable powders? 21:03 - The best greens supplements ingredients. 24:57 - What are the benefits of cruciferous vegetables? 27:28 - The worst greens supplements. Mentioned on the Show: Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/ Genesis Greens Supplement: https://legionathletics.com/products/supplements/genesis-superfood-supplement/

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 . . . A low-protein diet is better for living longer than a high-protein diet. Mentioned on the Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://buylegion.com/mike Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

Life is full of surprises and things don’t always go as planned. This episode of the podcast is the perfect example of that. ;) That’s because I’m once again chatting with repeat guest Pat Flynn, and what was supposed to be a discussion about liberalism, morphed into a twisting and turning maze of philosophical ponderings. While you may mostly listen to my podcast for the health and fitness content, our musings aren’t completely unrelated. Life is more than just physical fitness. Ideally, we want to live well beyond fitness, and “flourish” as Pat likes to say. Pat is a repeat guest not only because I enjoy our conversations, but I’ve gotten great feedback from listeners who like hearing about these deeper, philosophical topics we wade through. In case you’re not familiar with Pat, not only is he a fitness expert who is known for his kettlebell prowess, but he’s also a podcaster, philosopher, and author. In this episode, our conversation runs the gamut, with several topics, including . . . Masks and lockdown efficacy and social pressures in science Recognizing credible authorities Conspiracy theories Virtues like prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude Pornography and consent Whether people get what they “deserve” The subjective elements of evil And more . . . So, if you enjoy philosophical tangents and want to listen to something a bit different for a fitness podcast, listen to this episode and let me know your thoughts! Timestamps: 40:51 - What are your thoughts on meta-cognition? 50:41 - What are your thoughts on developing yourself and virtues? 1:30:00 - If life had no evil would it still be interesting? Mentioned on the Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://buylegion.com/mike

In this podcast, we’re going to talk about the “fat burning zone,” which is something you’ve probably heard about many times. When I first got into fitness, I read that if you’re doing cardio to lose fat, you better be doing it in the “fat burning zone.” If you don’t, proponents claim, your cardio is going to be a lot less effective, or maybe even completely ineffective. You’ll simply end up burning through the glycogen in your muscles or the carbs in your blood, leaving your body fat untouched and unscathed. This idea has stood the test of time, too. It’s been around for at least 50 years now, and many people think the fat burning zone is the ticket to losing weight. As you’re going to learn in this podcast, the fat burning zone is largely a myth. Lower-intensity cardio that burns a larger proportion of fat isn’t necessarily better than higher-intensity exercise when it comes to overall fat loss. That doesn’t mean you have to do a lot of high-intensity cardio either, though. Find out why by listening to this episode! Timestamps: 3:57 - What is the fat burning zone? 9:57 - What's wrong with the fat burning zone idea? 15:19 - What’s the best kind of cardio for burning fat? Mentioned on the Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://buylegion.com/mike

I’ve churned through over 150,000 emails, social media comments and messages, and blog comments in the last 6 years. And that means I’ve fielded a ton of questions. As you can imagine, some questions pop up more often than others, and I thought it might be helpful to take a little time every month to choose a few and record and share my answers. So, in this round, I answer the following question: What type of water should you drink? Tap? Bottled? Alkaline? If you have a question you’d like me to answer, leave a comment below or if you want a faster response, send an email to mike@muscleforlife.com. Mentioned on the Show: Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

In this podcast, you’re going to learn how to be bad. I don’t mean Mad Max lone-wanderer badass bad. I mean how to be a bad client bad--that is, how to be uncoachable bad. You see, hiring a coach isn’t just a one-and-done transaction that gets you to your goal. If you want results, you still have to do the work. You have to be willing to learn, put in the time, and reach your goals with the help of a guiding hand. A coach is there to make a plan and guide you, but it’s a team effort. And there are many ways to mess up that client-coach relationship. Someone who knows all about good clients and bad alike is Cody McBroom, and this subject of how to be uncoachable is the topic of this podcast. Cody is a repeat-guest on my show, but in case you’re not familiar with him, he’s the CEO and founder of the Tailored Coaching Method, a lifestyle training and nutrition coaching company (that also coaches coaches how to coach), and host of the Tailored Life podcast. In this episode, we chat about . . . The various ways people sabotage their results as a client, including having the wrong expectations and thinking they already know everything Why it’s important to not make unfair comparisons (why you have to compare the whole picture) Overthinking & paralysis by analysis (and the difference between wanting to know “why” and challenging a coach) Pricing and having "skin in the game" The necessity of being willing to take advice And more . . . So if you want to learn the wrong way to get coached, and how you can actually get better results as a client, this podcast is worth a listen! Timestamps: 7:35 - How to be utterly un-coachable 13:38 - If somebody signed up for coaching are they already in the mindset to be coached? 39:52 - Too much thinking and how it can hinder progress. 44:37 - What are your thoughts on ‘skin in the game’ and prices? Mentioned on the Show: Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

The “One Meal a Day” (OMAD) diet has been around for a while, but it’s more popular now than ever before. That’s likely because fasting, intermittent fasting, and diets that revolve around not eating for long periods of time are more popular in general. OMAD is the most extreme variation of intermittent fasting, and much tougher to follow than the Leangains protocol, for example. Why would you want to eat just one meal a day, though? If you’re not doing it currently, should you consider it? Many people say OMAD improves your metabolic health, reduces your risk of disease, helps you live longer, and is generally superior to traditional eating. Other people are less convinced and question the efficacy, safety, practicality, and necessity of OMAD. So that’s what this podcast is all about. What is the OMAD diet, what are its benefits,  what are the downsides, who should consider it (and who should not), and more. Timestamps: 4:54 - What is the OMAD diet? 10:19 - What are the benefits of the OMAD diet? 15:05 - What effects does the OMAD diet have on weight loss? 24:14 - What are the downside of the OMAD diet? Mentioned on the Show: Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://buylegion.com/vip Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

I’ve recorded hundreds of episodes of Muscle for Life on a huge variety of things related to health, fitness, and lifestyle, ranging from the basics of diet and exercise like energy and macronutrient balance and progressive overload and training frequency and volume to fads like the ketogenic and carnivore diet and collagen protein to more unfamiliar territories like body weight set point and fasted cardio. Some episodes resonate with my crowd more than others, but all of them contain at least a few key takeaways that just about anyone can benefit from (that’s what I tell myself at least). And as cool as that is, it poses a problem for you, my dear listener: Ain’t nobody got time for that. Well okay, some people do make the time to 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 get a little better inside and outside the gym. People have also been saying they’d like me to do more shorter, multi-topic episodes, like my Q&As. And so I got an idea: how about a “best of” series of podcasts that contains a few of the most practical and compelling ideas, tips, and moments from my most popular episodes? This way, people who are new to the show can quickly determine if it’s for them or not, and those who enjoy what I’m doing but don’t have the time or inclination to listen to all of my stuff can still benefit from the discussions and find new episodes to listen to. So, in this installment of The Best of Muscle for Life, you’ll be hearing hand-picked morsels from three episodes: James Clear on How to Build Effective Habits and Make Them Stick (Originally published 7/6/2018) How to Successfully Clean Bulk In 6 Simple Steps (Originally published 2/27/2018) 16 Destructive Things You Have to Stop Doing to Be Happy (Originally published 10/23/2017) And we’ll be starting with number one, James Clear on How to Build Effective Habits and Make Them Stick. Timestamps: 5:01 - James Clear on How to Build Effective Habits and Make Them Stick 11:36 - How to Successfully Clean Bulk In 6 Simple Steps 20:30 - 16 Destructive Things You Have to Stop Doing to Be Happy Mentioned on the Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://buylegion.com/mike Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/

In this episode, I interview Sara, who read Thinner Leaner Stronger and used what she learned to go from obese (with a BMI of 32) to ripped at 18% body fat, while getting significantly stronger in the process. Before finding TLS, Sara was 190 pounds and a size 16 after having 4 kids, and was at her heaviest. She wanted to get in shape, but didn’t know the best way to go about it. She started to learn about calories and tracking her food intake through Noom, and the weight started to come off. Once a friend introduced her to TLS, though, she deepend her understanding of nutrition and most importantly, started to learn how to train. She stopped doing heaps of cardio, learned about progressive overload, and actually started to gain muscle and improve her body composition. Now she’s 135 pounds at 18% body fat, and significantly stronger than before with visible abs for the first time in her life. In this interview, Sara and I chat about her story, and the obstacles she navigated along the way, including how she changed her training and learned proper form, dealing with gym intimidation, why she reduced her cardio, what she’s working toward now, and more. So if you’re looking for a jolt of inspiration and like motivational stories, definitely listen to this episode. Timestamps: 5:19 - Where were you before you found me and my work? 9:06 - What were some of those behavioral changes that you experienced with NuMe? 15:15 - How did it go at the beginning of the program? 19:09 - How was your first few months in the gym? 35:43 - Were there any unforeseen obstacles that I didn’t mention in the book? 41:14 - Where do you want to go from here? Mentioned on the Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://buylegion.com/mike Want free workout and meal plans? Download my science-based diet and training templates for men and women: https://legionathletics.com/text-sign-up/