Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

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 myInstagram followers what they disagree with me on, and then picking a few of the more common or interesting contentions to address here on the podcast.And in this episode, I’ll be tackling the following . . .4:20 - Why I recommend 4-6 reps for most exercises in Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger 16:16 - Why I think watching porn is bad 32:38 - Whether or not I pay attention to my competitors more than I lead on--- 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/

Leadership may sound glamorous, but it’s far different from what most people imagine.It’s hard work. It takes brains, grit, and persistence. You have to earn the trust and respect of your team.You have to do more than just learn new skills to become a good leader, too—you have to work on yourself to overcome the mental hurdles holding you back, including deeply-ingrained negative behaviors and emotions.Luckily, no matter your previous experience, you can become a better leader. And who better to learn from than Mark Divine, who’s releasing a new book on leadership called Staring Down the Wolf: 7 Leadership Commitments That Forge Elite Teams.In case you’re not familiar with Mark, he’s a master in mental toughness and leadership. He’s not just a New York Times bestselling author and creator of several multi-million dollar businesses (including SEALFIT and Unbeatable Mind), he was also a Navy SEAL for 20 years and climbed the rank of commander before retiring.So it goes without saying that Mark isn’t just talking the talk.In this episode, we talk about . . .How leading a team in the civilian world is different from the SEALs The hard lessons he learned from his first major business failure Common leadership problems like internal biases and a lack of emotional awareness Stages of leadership development and the importance of “vertical growth” and mastering yourself And even a bit of book publishing, meditation, and spirituality . . .So, if you want to become a better leader or even just a more well-rounded person more capable of serving a greater cause than yourself, definitely give this episode a listen!13:25 - Why did you decide to write this book and why now? 20:29 - How was the transition from the navy seals to business? 30:13 - Why is vertical growth so important? 33:05 - What does that higher perspective look like? 50:05 - What does spirituality mean to you?---Mentioned on The Show:Mark’s New Book Staring Down the Wolf: 7 Leadership Commitments That Forge Elite Teams: staringdownthewolf.com/pre-order-page-3Mark Divine’s Website: markdivine.com/Mark Divine’s Podcast: unbeatablemind.com/podcast/Mark Divine’s Corporate Training: unbeatablemind.com/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/

The number one reason people struggle to lose weight is they don’t stick to their diet.Why?Well, that’s the million dollar question.Some people get bored with their food choices, lack of progress, and daily routine, and revert to their old eating habits.Some people get thrown off course by a holiday, vacation, or unplanned restaurant outing and never pull themselves back on track.Others try to lose weight too fast and end up running into a quicksand of low-energy, irritability, hunger, and obsessive thoughts about food that causes them to binge and gain back much of the weight they lost.While those first two obstacles are relatively easy to solve, it’s that last one that’s often the bane of even the most experienced dieters.Losing weight requires that you maintain a calorie deficit for weeks or months on end.That is, you need to be eating fewer calories than you burn for quite some time to see a noticeable change in your appearance.Most people have no trouble maintaining a calorie deficit for a few days or weeks, but it’s sticking it out day after day after day that wears people down and breaks their resolve.And one of the key gremlins that plagues their progress is hunger.There’s a lot you can do to counter hunger—eating more protein and fibrous fruits and vegetables, eating fewer processed foods, and (ironically) exercising, but if you diet for long enough it will become noticeable, especially between meals.One of the things you can do to avoid being harried by hunger is taking natural appetite suppressants.Now, appetite suppressants generally have a bad rap, and understandably so. Many harsh weight loss drugs like clenbuterol work partially because they also reduce appetite, and the most effective appetite suppressants often come with strong and potentially permanent side effects.For example, while “clen” is an outstanding appetite suppressant, it also increases the risk of heart failure, potassium deficiency, and insomnia.That said, it would be unfair to paint all appetite suppressants with the same brush as clenbuterol.There are healthy, effective, natural appetite suppressants that can help you curb hunger and cravings without compromising your health.While I’m an advocate of getting as much mileage out of your diet and training as possible before resorting to supplements, there are several kinds of natural appetite suppressants worth trying if you’re struggling to keep the hunger hobgoblins at bay.And by the end of this podcast, you’ll know everything you need to know about which natural appetite suppressants are worth trying and which aren’t.Let’s get started.---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/

Today's episode is the story of a professional golfer named Dru Love (son of the Hall of Fame golfer, Davis Love III), and how my team of coaches helped Dru lose close to 40 pounds and gain a bunch of strength and muscle.When Dru was first introduced to me and my work, he was struggling with his body composition and fitness. He’s 6’5” and at the time weighed about 250 pounds. He had no idea what to do with his diet because of all the myths he’d heard in the past.You’d be shocked what sort of fad diets make their way into professional sports, and most people don’t realize athletes don’t get good advice on how to eat, how to train, or how to do many things outside of how to play their sport.There are plenty of good coaches specific to their sport, but when it comes to diet and training, athletes have a lot of people giving them a lot of bad advice. And that was definitely the case with Dru.On the dietary side of things, he’d go from one extreme diet to the next, and fall off the wagon because it was too restrictive. His plans weren’t sustainable and he hated it.He couldn't wait to get back to eating what he wanted, when he wanted, and as much as he wanted.On the training side of things, Dru wasn’t much better off. Instead of strength training, he was working out with cables and BOSU balls—a bunch of “functional fitness” stuff—as it's often called in the golf space.Those are the workouts I see many professional golfers doing, and really, they’re kind of silly. It's a lot of very low weight, low resistance exercises, with tons of reps and a lot of isolation work.Of course, this is better than nothing. But I always wondered, why isn't strength training more popular in golf, especially considering most of the power in your swing comes from your lower body?Wouldn't it be helpful to have stronger legs, stronger hips, and stronger glutes that can produce more force and produce it faster? You know, more power.The faster you can swing the club, the more energy you can transfer to the ball, and the further you hit it. That's one of the things I talk to Dru about—why aren't more golfers doing strength training?We also talk more in-depth about how his training looked before and after working with my coaching team, and how that’s impacted his golf game.Dru has lost upward of about 40 pounds now, and while he saw his swing speed drop initially, he saw it come back up as he gained muscle and strength. Now, he’s 40 pounds lighter yet his swing speeds are higher than they were when he weighed 250 pounds.And Dru’s just getting started. He’s 6 months into coaching and probably has another 6 months of newbie gains to go. So it's going to be exciting to see where this journey takes him.Dru and I also chat about how his relationship with food has dramatically improved. Before, he struggled to “eat well”—eating a lot of fried foods and barbecue instead. (He lives in Georgia.)Then he’d go from some extreme diet to the next, yo-yo dieting his way to nowhere.Now, he's eating a lot of nutritious foods and fitting in indulgences to celebrate tournament wins on tour.Anyway, I found this podcast particularly enjoyable because I like golf and I admire people who are really good at it. And as you’ll hear, what Dru is doing now is setting himself up for future big wins, and has positive ramifications outside of his sport as well.Hit play and I hope you enjoy!---8:58 - Where were you before you found Legion and my work? 11:34 - What did your body composition and weight look like before and after Legion? 19:30 - What is the fitness scene like in professional golf? 26:42 - Is there a stigma in golf against losing weight? 31:03 - How have you managed your workouts so soreness doesn’t get in the way of your goal? What have you noticed in terms of flexibility? 42:50 - How was t

I don’t appear on many podcasts these days, but when I do, I like to share the conversation here on my podcast if it’s something I think all you beautiful people will enjoy listening to.And that’s what this episode is—a conversation I had with Cody McBroom on his The Boom Boom Performance Podcast where I pontificate about what should change as you transition from a beginner to an intermediate lifter, how I periodize the training in my new Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger 2.0 program (new book coming this summer!), the lean bulking study with Eric Helms that I’m funding, some supplement stuff like the value of intraworkout carb powders and CLA, and more.Hit play and let me know what you think!4:00 - How different does training need to be for each individual? 13:46 - How do you convince people to dial back 30-40 sets per muscle group per week? 23:39 - When do these techniques become relative? 30:59 - What are your thoughts on periodization for muscle growth? 42:06 - What are your thoughts on building muscle on maintenance calories? 50:18 - Can you describe carb powder for those lifting on an empty stomach? Have you ever thought about doing any of those? If you don’t, why not? 57:06 - Can mixing certain ingredients prevent the body from absorbing things? 01:01:51 - Can you review CLA and give your thoughts on it?---Mentioned on The Show: Books by Mike Matthews: legionathletics.com/products/books/Cody McBroom's Podcast (The Boom Boom Performance Podcast): mindvsmuscle.podbean.com/---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/

Optimal training frequency is a hotly debated subject.Some believe you should train your entire body two to three times per week, whereas others think this approach will lead to overtraining, injury, and burnout. Anecdotal evidence is all over the place as well.Skim through online forums and chat with fellow gym goers and you’ll hear stories of fantastic progress training major muscle groups just once per week as well as three, four, or even five times per week.Some weightlifters also mix it up, training different muscle groups with different frequencies.For example, some say smaller muscle groups like the shoulders, biceps, and calves should be trained three or four times per week but large muscle groups like the upper legs only need one intense workout per week.If you turn to the scientific literature for insight, you’ll get few reliable answers. Some studies seem to show higher frequencies work best and others show you can make equally good progress with fewer workouts per week.So, what should you do?---Time Stamps:4:28 - What is training frequency?5:53 - What is the best training frequency for building muscle?17:55 - How do you figure out how frequently you should be 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/

“Can you recommend a book for…?”“What are you reading right now?”“What are your favorite books?”I get asked those types of questions a lot and, as an avid reader and all-around bibliophile, I’m always happy to oblige.I also like to encourage people to read as much as possible because knowledge benefits you much like compound interest. The more you learn, the more you know; the more you know, the more you can do; the more you can do, the more opportunities you have to succeed.On the flip side, I also believe there’s little hope for people who aren’t perpetual learners. Life is overwhelmingly complex and chaotic, and it slowly suffocates and devours the lazy and ignorant.So, if you’re a bookworm on the lookout for good reads, or if you’d like to get into the habit of reading, this book club for you.The idea here is simple: Every month, I’ll share a book that I’ve particularly liked, why I liked it, and several of my key takeaways from it.I’ll also keep things short and sweet so you can quickly decide whether the book is likely to be up your alley or not.Alright, let’s get to the takeaways.---Mentioned on The Show: Books 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/

This episode is part of a monthly series that I have dubbed “Motivation Monday.”(Yes, I know, very creative of me. What can I say, I’m a genius…)Seriously though, the idea here is simple:One Monday every month, I’m going to post a short and punchy episode that I hope gets you fired up to tackle the workouts, work, and everything else that you have planned for the week ahead.As we all know, it’s one thing to know what you want to do, but it’s something else altogether to actually make yourself do it, and I hope that this series gives you a jolt of inspiration, energy, and encouragement to get at it.So, if you like what you hear, then make sure to check back for the latest and greatest installment.---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/

“I don’t have time to workout.”“Eating properly is too hard.”“I’ve tried it all before. Fitness just doesn’t work for me.”I get hundreds of emails every day and often hear stuff like that, and especially from folks in their mid-30s and 40s.Whether they’ve fallen off the wagon and want to get in shape again, or have never really tried to achieve any serious fitness goals, these people are frustrated. And I understand.Building muscle and losing fat isn’t easy. Creating a sustainable lifestyle that allows you to stay consistent over the long-haul is even harder. That’s especially true when you have a busy professional career and a spouse and family to attend to, and even more so if you also need to travel frequently.That’s why I invited Marc Perry back on the podcast. In case you’re not familiar with Marc, he's the creator of BuiltLean.com and specializes in helping men in their mid-30s and beyond create systems and habits that allow them to reach their fitness goals faster and enjoy themselves along the way.In this episode, we discuss . . .- The different stages of getting fit as you get older - Unique challenges of getting in shape especially with hectic work and home lives - Where to start if you’re out of shape - The benefits of crawling - The importance of accountability - And much more . . .So if you’re 35 or older and want some actionable fitness advice that goes beyond “tough love,” give this podcast a listen!13:10 - How would you start to form an individual program for a person? 16:39 - What do you with people who are in stage one and want to reach the next level? 18:27 - What are some common habits and beliefs you work on with people during stage one? What is the winning mindset? 25:56 - How can you change the mindset of “I can’t eat properly”? 27:38 - What are some common examples to eating properly and forming a habit? 51:07 - What type of workouts do you typically have your clients do? 52:33 - What are some of your favorite exercises to do and have your clients do? 55:01 - What are the benefits of crawling smoothly? 57:11 - What does the form look like to crawl correctly? Where can I find more information on crawling? 1:02:13 - Where can people find you and your work?Mentioned on The Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: legionathletics.com/shop/Marc Perry's Website:www.builtlean.com/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/

Weight loss can seem wildly complex.Some say that carbs are the culprit when it comes to weight gain, and going low-carb is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off for good.Others say that weight loss goes beyond carbs—it’s about the quality of your diet.If you avoid toxins, lectins, phytates, and other nutritional bogeymen that are menacing your metabolism, the pounds fall right off.And others say that you just need to eat clean. Eat more fresh, whole, minimally processed foods and less junk, and you’ll lose weight like clockwork.Most trends ebb and flow in cycles—liberals and conservatives in power, booms and busts in the economy, and complexity and simplicity when it comes to popular diets.It’s not surprising then, that after several decades of fake doctors, fitness gurus, and marketers shilling complex diets like The Plant Paradox diet, the ketogenic diet, the carnivore diet, the military diet, and the like, that many people are yearning for a simpler approach.It’s not surprising, then, that people are becoming tired of complicated diets, and are becoming more interested in simple ones, like the “calories in, calories out” diet, aka the CICO diet.Proponents promise that it’s the simplest, most reliable, and effective way to lose weight, and that once you try it you’ll never try another weight loss diet again.Critics say that while it can help you lose weight, it does so at the cost of your long-term health.Who’s right?The short answer is that the CICO diet isn’t really a diet at all. It simply describes the mechanism by which all diets work and have always worked—eating fewer calories than you burn.As the old saying goes, though, everything old is new again, and in this article, you’re going to learn why the CICO diet is being exhumed once more.By the end, you’ll know . . .- What the CICO diet is - Why people follow the CICO diet - What the benefits and downsides of the CICO diet are - A better way to eat than the CICO diet - And more!Let’s get started.---Mentioned on The Show: 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/