Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

You’ve probably heard that stretching is one of the pillars of an effective fitness plan, right up there with strength training and cardio.This same message is shared by personal trainers, group fitness instructors, and coaches around the world:You need to stay flexible to avoid injury, properly perform various exercises, and stay healthy into old age, and stretching is the best way to do this.Others disagree.Some say that stretching isn’t all that important for improving your fitness, and that it can negatively affect your performance and might not be as helpful for protecting against injuries as was once believed.Others say that while stretching may have some merit in certain situations, it’s unnecessary for most people.Who’s right?Is stretching really an essential aspect of an effective fitness routine, or is it just an outdated ritual based on faulty past assumptions, like the idea we need to eat immediately after every workout or that doing more reps automatically leads to more muscle growth?You’ll learn the answer in this podcast.Specifically, you’re going to learn why people think stretching is important, whether or not stretching helps increase flexibility, prevent injuries, improve performance, and boost recovery and muscle growth, and the right (and wrong) ways to stretch, if you decide to do so.Let’s dive in.Timestamps:3:59 - Why do we stretch?6:48 - How does stretching impact our muscles?10:38 - How does stretching impact your fitness and health?14:16 - Does stretching help with injury prevention?16:59 - Does stretching enhance performance?21:33 - Can stretching help you gain muscle?24:18 - Can stretching help with recovery?27:35 - How do I correctly include stretching in my training?---Mentioned on the show:Books by Mike Matthews:https://legionathletics.com/products/books/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

“One of the most popular ways of telling if you're a healthy weight is bogus“BMI Is A Terrible Measure Of Health”“5 BMI Myths You Need To Stop Believing”These are the titles of several articles on BMI and BMI charts published in recent years.If you take their message at face value, then you’ll come to one conclusion:BMI is outdated, overrated, and inaccurate, and it’s time we retired it for good.In case you didn’t know, BMI stands for “body mass index,” and it measures the relationship between your height and weight.BMI has been used by doctors for decades to help determine whether someone should consider losing or gaining weight, but recently this idea has come under fire.Detractors say you can’t distill what it means to be healthy into a single number.Some go further and say being overweight isn’t unhealthy, so why bother measuring BMI or worrying about your weight?Others point out that BMI charts don’t work well for muscular people.Who’s right?The short story is twofold:1) BMI charts are good at estimating the body fat percentage of large populations of people, and they do this quite well.2) Although imperfect at estimating the body fat percentage of individuals, BMI charts are still decent barometers of whether or not you should lose weight.The long story?BMI charts are one of the best ways to get a quick bird’s-eye view of your body composition and overall health, but you should also rely on several other methods to get a more accurate estimate of your body fat percentage.Let’s start by looking at what BMI is.---Timestamps:2:08 - What is BMI? 3:26 - What are the problems with BMI measurements?7:04 - What does BMI measure well? 9:34 - What is a healthy weight and body composition? ---Mentioned on the show: How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage:https://legionathletics.com/how-to-calculate-body-fat/Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://legionathletics.com/coaching/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

Well friends, it seems Quarantimes™ may finally be coming to an end.Gyms here in Virginia are starting to re-open and other parts of the country are either already open or not far off from beginning the process.Unless there’s a seismic shift in new cases of the virus, we’re on an upward trajectory towards some form of normalcy. The real question now is how will the fitness industry adapt to our new reality?Coronavirus isn’t miraculously vanished, of course, and it’s going to leave a lasting impact. Some businesses that couldn’t stay afloat have closed their doors permanently, and even corporate giants like Starbucks just announced they’re closing 400 stores in the US as a result of decreased sales due to the pandemic.So how will gyms fare? And what effects will this have on the other areas of the fitness industry? If you’re a coach or personal trainer, is it time to pivot to a new career path? To help make some Nostradamus-esque predictions, I invited Adam Schafer on the podcast.If you’re not familiar with Adam, he’s a host of Mind Pump, one of the biggest health and fitness podcasts, which garners over 1 millions listens every month. He’s also a coach who’s worked with over 1,000 people, and taught other coaches how to be better leaders and sell their services. So, Adam knows a thing or two about business and recognizing trends in the industry.In fact, that’s one reason why I started advertising Legion supplements on the Mind Pump podcast.Anyhoo, in this episode, Adam and I talk about …- The joys of texting- “Microinfluencers” and podcast advertising- How coronavirus will affect the fitness space including commercial gyms, home workout equipment, and country clubs- Why the fitness industry isn’t likely to disappear and will continue to grow- And more …So, if you want to hear our thoughts on where the fitness industry is headed, get out your crystal ball and hit play!Timestamps:5:18 - Adam and Mike’s thoughts on texting7:31 - Mike’s thoughts on Mind Pump’s coaching program7:58 - Adam’s thoughts on effective advertising22:28- What is the future of fitness after COVID-19?1:10:07 - How do you think COVID-19 is going to affect the macro trend?---Mentioned on The Show:Mindpump Podcast:https://mindpumppodcast.com/Mindpump Website:https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/Adam's Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mindpumpadam/Mindpump YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq0hKkwnW5Cw1wQqu455WrALegion VIP One-on-One Coaching:https://legionathletics.com/coaching/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

So, here we are, hopefully closing in on the end of These Perilous Quarantimes. Restaurants are opening, stonks are rising, and . . . at long last . . . gyms are unlocking their doors. And that means a few things to us fitness folk: 1) If you’ve been slogging through bodyweight workouts, and the idea of doing another set of pushups instead of bench press makes you want to huff paint and chew someone’s face off, your salvation is nigh. 2) If you were lucky enough to snag some dumbbells or other exercise equipment before this thing went down (or were #dedicated enough to sell one of your kidneys in return for said exercise equipment), then you’ll be well-prepared to jump back into your old routine. 3) And either way, you can look forward to a heaping bowl of good ‘ol fashioned muscle soreness, something you may not have experienced since your newbie gains days. I’m talking stabbed in the thighs with a rusty butter knife . . . pecs bludgeoned by Sauron’s mace . . . spinal erectors so tender you could sell them at Outback Steakhouse . . . kind of sore. And that’s not so good. While muscle soreness can be a fun novelty, in a strange, masochistic sort of way, you actually want to avoid it as much as possible when getting back into a workout routine. Why? Because muscle soreness makes it difficult to train with heavy weights, or at all, which means it’ll take you even longer to regain any muscle and strength you lost during the lockdown. So, how should you ease back into weightlifting when your gym reopens? How should you adjust your workouts to minimize muscle soreness? How long will it take until you can return to your old routine? You’ll learn the answers to all of these questions in this podcast. Let’s find out! --- Timestamps: 6:58 - Should I go to the gym as soon as it opens back up? 9:59- What has happened to my physique if I didn’t do many workouts during quarantine? 20:44 - What are some guidelines for going back to the gym? 32:38 - How many sets and reps per workout should I do for retraining? 43:42 - What training program should I follow for retraining? --- Mentioned on The Show: Legion VIP One-on-One Coaching: https://legionathletics.com/coaching/ --- Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

As of right now, I’ve produced over 500 episodes of Muscle for Life, totaling over 700 hours of content. I’ve talked about 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 episode of The Best of Muscle for Life, you’ll be hearing hand-picked morsels from three episodes: Paul Revelia on How to Keep Making Progress After Your "Newbie Gains" Why Belly Fat Is So Stubborn (and How to Lose It) Motivation Monday: How to Motivate Yourself to Keep Working Out And we’ll be starting with number one, Paul Revelia on How to Keep Making Progress After Your "Newbie Gains" Timestamps: 7:06- Paul Revelia on How to Keep Making Progress After Your "Newbie Gains" 19:40 - Why Belly Fat Is So Stubborn (and How to Lose It) 31:43 - Motivation Monday: How to Motivate Yourself to Keep Working Out --- Mentioned on The Show: legionathletics.com/podcast-104-paul-revelia/ legionathletics.com/how-to-lose-belly-fat-podcast/ legionathletics.com/motivation-monday-working-out/ Shop Legion Supplements Here: legionathletics.com/shop/ --- Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: www.legionathletics.com/signup/

Over the past few weeks, you’ve been bombarded with contradictory, confusing, and complex facts and figures about COVID-19.At this point, the story most often repeated in the media goes like this:Aside from social distancing, washing your hands, and (maybe) wearing a face mask, there’s nothing you can do to avoid getting COVID-19.If you do get COVID-19, there’s nothing you can do to hasten your recovery or reduce the severity of your symptoms except wait for your body to get rid of the virus.If you’re one of the unlucky few who develops severe symptoms like respiratory failure, the best doctors can do for you is put you on a ventilator, give you some drugs to ease your discomfort, and hope for the best.While this story is more right than wrong based on the available evidence, it paints a grim, overly simplistic picture.Here’s how Dr. Zhen Yan, the director of the Center for Skeletal Muscle Research at the University of Virginia’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, puts it:“All you hear now is either social distancing or ventilator, as if all we can do is either avoiding exposure or relying on a ventilator to survive if we get infected.”Dr. Yan takes a more optimistic and, as you’ll see, evidence-based approach to the problem.In a review study published by Dr. Yan and his colleague Hannah Spaulding at the University of Virginia, they explain how regular exercise can prevent or at least reduce the severity of one of the deadliest symptoms of COVID-19, a condition known asacute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).Scientists have known for quite some time that exercise improves immune function and reduces your risk of getting sick, but it’s rarely mentioned in discussions about COVID-19.In this episode, you’ll learn how exercise may be particularly helpful for combating the symptoms of COVID-19, how much you should exercise to get the benefits, whether or not you can exercise too much, and more.Let’s go!Timestamps:12:42 - How does exercise protect you from COVID-19?13:53 - How does COVID-19 cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)?15:46 - How does exercise reduce the severity of ARDS?20:57 - How much cardio do I need to do to boost my body’s immune system?22:46 - Does doing too much cardio and exercise impair my immune system?---Mentioned on the show:Shop Legion Supplements Here:https://legionathletics.com/shop/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

This was a fun episode for me, because my guest is a fitness “godfather” of sorts who has greatly influenced my own work and career, as well as probably the most-requested guest from listeners.I’m talking about the inimitable Alan Aragon, who has been at the forefront of the evidence-based fitness movement for over a decade now and has helped countless fitness enthusiasts, professional athletes, and top coaches.So, it’s a treat to finally get him on the show!If you’re not familiar with Alan, he’s a nutrition researcher and educator and creator of the first-of-its-kind research review in 2008, called AARR (Alan Aragon’s Research Review). He also has a true talent for translating science into practical application, making it work for normal people with real lives and not just subjects in a lab.In this episode, I pepper Alan with a smattering of questions that I often receive from my readers, ranging from artificial sweeteners’ effects on weight loss and the gut microbiome, to the benefits of cyclical dieting and refeeds, to protein timing and “hyperfeeding.”So, if any of those topics interest you, or you just want to hear from one of the fitness industry’s finest educators, tune in!11:28 - Can artificial sweeteners affect weight loss?14:47 - What is scaccharine’s effect on the gut microbiota?22:38 - Will artificial sweeteners affect somebody that is already healthy and exercising?49:07 - What are your thoughts on cyclical dieting?49:07 - What are your thoughts on carbohydrate and fat intake?53:08 - What are your thoughts on protein timing?1:05:23- What is your general recommendation for servings of protein a day?1:09:42 - Where can people find you and your work?---Mentioned on The Show:Alan Aragon’s Research Review:alanaragon.comAlan Aragon’s Instagram:www.instagram.com/thealanaragonShop Legion Supplements Here:legionathletics.com/shop/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here:www.legionathletics.com/signup/

Golly gee willikers, 2020, you’re proving a rather harsh mistress, and nobody seems to know your safe word.⁣Tamagotchi?⁣Nickelback?⁣Antidisestablishmentarianism?⁣⁣*sigh*⁣Okay so I’m going to be indelicate here:⁣This fucking sucks.⁣The Current Situation is yet more evidence of the degradation and injustice of our times, where viciousness and villainy appear victorious at every turn and charity and civility are circling the drain.⁣And I’m going to be honest—I don't know what the solution is. ⁣It’s certainly not virtue signaling, though, so I’ll leave that to the hordes of hectoring hypocrites who gladly posture on social media about Important Issues™ but give precisely none of their time or money to the causes they publicly champion.⁣⁣(Spoiler alert: they don’t actually care.)⁣What I do know, however, is that Martin Luther King Jr. was correct when he said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”⁣And so I reject any and all forms of hate, bigotry, and inequity, and strive to understand and uplift my fellows despite all reasons and invitations to do otherwise.⁣Ultimately, we’re all in this cauldron together and subjected to its cruel pressures, and I believe the greatest lesson we can learn is to love.Anyhow, sermons aside, how about a quick hose down of some crass Legian commercialism? Let me load my potato gun with some Nickelodeons slime. All right, there we go. Fire in the hole.---Mentioned on The Show:New Legion Labels:https://legionathletics.com/blog/New Legion Gut Health Supplement (Balance):https://legionathletics.com/blog/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/

My podcasts with Pat Flynn often delve into philosophical tangents and fortunately, have become especially popular.The concepts we cover don’t just apply to fitness either. They can affect your whole mindset and offer life-changing benefits.So, why not embrace the asides and dive even deeper?In this episode, Pat and I talk about …- What relativism is and whether or not truth is objective- The purpose of freedom- The nature of morality- Modern politics and the trajectory of America’s 2-party system- Our obligations towards others and ourselves in regards to health- And more …If you enjoy philosophical discussions that can give you something to scratch your chin about, listen to this podcast!7:11 - What is your background?14:26 - What is the purpose and point of freedom?19:50 - What is relativism and should we take it seriously?34:10 - What is a syllogism?41:42 - What is the other option?57:33 - Why do we have freedom?62:53 - What are the cardinal virtues?======1:14:50 - What is morality and why is it important in our lives?1:19:01 - How would you describe yourself now politically?1:25:31 - Do we have moral obligations to others?1:33:17 - What are some of the consequences of not acting responsibly?---Mentioned on The Show:Pat’s Podcast (The Pat Flynn Show):podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-…ow/id1253261458Pat’s Website (Chronicles Of Strength):www.chroniclesofstrength.com/Pat’s Newest Book (How to Be Better at Almost Everything):www.amazon.com/gp/product/194688…667fa8215d7914530What We Can’t Not Know by J. Budziszewski:https://www.amazon.com/What-We-Cant-Not-Know/dp/1586174819Books by Mike Matthews:legionathletics.com/products/books/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here:www.legionathletics.com/signup/

Supplementation can be overwhelming.No matter what your goal is--build muscle, lose fat, improve health--there are hundreds of supplements to choose from.And good luck trying to sort the wheat from the chaff.If you're to believe the hype, many of these pills and powders have downright magical properties and are capable of performing downright miracles.Just one bottle of this, you're told, will give you instant muscle gain. That one? It melts fat off your body. Those over there? They double your brainpower. And on and on.I guess that's why so many people spend so much money on supplements.Well, if a part of you has suspected that the supplement industry is more smoke and mirrors than science and substance, you're right.It's an unregulated rough and tumble of a marketplace that's more or less a playground for rent-seeking bums and pirates.That said, it's not all bad.There are supplements that have good science behind them and that can help you optimize your health and physical and mental performance.Take something simple like vitamin D, for example.It was long thought to be important for just bone health but we now know that it plays a crucial role in a whole host of vital physiological processes, and unless you spend a lot of time in the sun, supplementation is the only way to give your body what it needs.Fish oil is another good example because it provides your body with two nutrients that are otherwise hard to get enough of through diet alone:- Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)- Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)What are these molecules and why are they so important, you ask? What do they do in the body and what kind of benefits do they confer?And what about fish oil supplements? Which ones are good and which aren't and why?Listen to this episode to find out!4:40 - What is a fish oil supplement?8:53 - What are the benefits of getting enough EPA and DHA in your diet?16:28 - How does an omega 3 fatty acid affect muscle gain?18:21 - How much fish oil should I take?20:02 - What are the different types of fish oil?---Mentioned on The Show:Books by Mike Matthews:https://legionathletics.com/products/books/Triton (Fish Oil):https://legionathletics.com/products/supplements/triton/---Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter!Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/