Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

In this episode I interview Corri, who recently completed my 90-day coaching service and dropped 12.5 pounds and 8% body fat, while getting stronger on all of her key lifts, and at 40 years old!AND after having a baby that she was nursing!Basically, Corri’s a perfect example of how there’s always a way to get into great shape if you want it enough, and that’s why I wanted to have her on the podcast.Now, as with everything, nothing ever goes exactly as planned, and learning to adjust and adapt to conditions is an important part of the fitness game, which is something Corri experienced firsthand.She ran into a number of obstacles along the path to success, including beating hunger, finding time to prepare meals, and working her way through challenging workouts often on too little sleep thanks to the baby, and Corri had a number of insights to share on how she overcame them.So, if you like hearing motivational stories about how people have changed their bodies and lives, and if you want to pick up a few tips that may help you in your personal journey, this episode is for you.5:26 - What have you accomplished with our coaching program? 13:45 - What was wrong with your thyroid? 19:41 - How did having a baby affect your training and diet? 26:21 - How did you deal with hunger while you were nursing? 37:29 - What was your workout plan on our coaching program and what were some obstacles you had to overcome? 41:35 - Have you injured your knees before? 42:32 - How was your sleep 49:56 - Anything interesting that you’re working on?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 to sign up now!

Biceps and abs are cool and all, but you know what really turns heads in the gym?Being strong. Really strong.You know, bench pressing a few plates, and squatting and deadlifting a few more.Getting really strong also inevitably builds you a great physique.In fact, as a natural weightlifter, your number one goal should be increasing whole-body strength, not getting big pumps or "feeling the burn."That's the big "secret" to gaining muscle quickly and effectively, because it's the best way to "progressively overload" your muscles.You see, by working to slowly and steadily add weight to your exercises over time, you progressively increase tension levels in your muscles. Mechanically speaking, this is the primary driver of muscle growth.That's why the biggest guys and gals in the gym are also generally the strongest.Another advantage to this approach to weightlifting is it's very simple and straightforward. There are just three steps:1. Choose the right strength program for you. 2. Get your calories and macros right. 3. Make sure you're fully recovering from your workouts.That's it.If you just consistently do those three things, and keep showing up and putting in the work, then your strength will skyrocket and your body will transform.Let's take a look at each.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 to sign up.

While there are many ways to thrive in many sectors of today’s modern economy, there’s no arguing that it’s getting harder and harder to identify and capitalize on these opportunities.Robots and AI are eliminating jobs, globalization and the democratization of high-quality education is expanding the talent pool, and customers are becoming more selective, sophisticated, and stipulating.To overcome these obstacles, we’re often told to specialize—to focus all of our energies, efforts, and resources on becoming really good at one thing to the exclusion of all else.This isn’t entirely wrongheaded, but for most people, it isn’t likely to lead to long-term success and fulfillment but disappointment, burnout, and failure, instead.This extends beyond merely moneymaking too, and applies to just about every endeavor you could want to undertake. The reign of the hyperspecialist is coming to an end and the rise of the skilled generalist is at hand.What does that mean, exactly?Well, as the author of the book How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything, Pat Flynn, shares in this episode, generalism refers to acquiring a variety of know-hows and abilities, and he argues this is a smarter and more practical approach to winning in today’s world.Generalism, Pat explains, is one of the keys to making more money, getting in better shape, and becoming more successful, effective, and happy in every aspect of your life, and his personal approach to generalism starts with developing skills that’ll serve you well no matter where the red thread of fate takes you—meta-skills as Pat refers to them.6:12 - What do you mean by generalism? 11:52 - How does generalism make us more money than specifism? 29:58 - What are some examples of metaskills and force multiplier skills? 32:33 - What are some of the myths and mistakes of logic and reason? 39:51 - What are more examples of metaskills and force multiplier skills? 46:36 - What are your tips to improve focus? 50:51 - What is the name of your book and where can people find you and your work?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.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Protein powders and drinks are more popular than ever for good reason:They’re convenient, tasty, affordable, and in most cases, well-digested, well-absorbed, and rich in essential amino acids vital to gaining and preserving muscle and strength.They also make eating a high-protein diet a cinch. A few meals per day with a protein shake or two thrown into the mix gets the job done, regardless of how much protein you need to eat.Now, while we know that protein powder isn’t harmful per se, is eating too much harmful? And if so, how much can you eat every day before it becomes a problem?Well, according to some people, if you drink too many protein shakes, you’re asking for all sorts of trouble, ranging from an upset stomach to severe digestive disorders, nutritional deficiencies, and even kidney damage.Others say such claims are nonsense because protein powder is just dried food, and therefore doesn’t fundamentally affect the body any differently than other forms of protein like chicken, eggs, or milk.Who’s right?Well, the short story is this:There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with drinking a couple protein shakes per day. Getting a large portion of your daily calories from protein, however, is probably a bad idea.And in this podcast, you’ll learn why.By the end, you’re going to understand why people think eating too much protein powder is bad for you, what science has to say about it, and the upper limit of how much protein powder you should eat every day.Let’s get started.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.muscleforlife.com/signup/

It’s one thing to talk about finding opportunities where others only see obstacles . . .. . . seeing the silver lining in difficult situations . . .. . . turning coal into diamonds . . .. . . but it’s something else entirely to actually behave this way when the chips are down and to then actually win against all odds.Bedros is someone who has done just that.Most people know him as the founder of the multimillion-dollar Fit Body Bootcamp franchise, which is an impressive achievement by itself, but his backstory makes his entrepreneurial wins even more remarkable.Bedros grew up in a country gripped by Soviet communism, came to America as a child and grew up in abject poverty, and eventually pulled himself up by his bootstraps and became a screaming success in business.And as you can imagine, Bedros learned quite a few lessons along the way about responsibility, leadership, and perseverance, which is what we talk about in this interview, as well as other aspects of entrepreneurship, including marketing, branding, sales, and business strategy.So, if you want to get some powerful and practical insights into how to deal with life’s many challenges head on and not only survive but thrive, you want to listen to this interview.5:36 - How did you get to where you’re at today? 28:43 - What were the struggles you had to face to get to where you’re at today? 35:16 - What is your best advice for upcoming entrepreneurs? 41:46 - What resources and books do you recommend for leadership? 43:11 - What do you think is the next big thing in the fitness industry? What do you have planned for your future? 54:29 - Where can people find you and your work?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.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Hafthor Bjornsson is the strongest man in the world, and in this podcast, he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be him, a 6’9, 420-pound man who can squat, deadlift, and bench press over 2,500 pounds.He’s also the 2018 champion of the World’s Strongest Man competition (and hopefully the 2019 champion by the time this episode goes live), which involves incredible feats like . . .- Lifting five large stones ranging from 220 to 350 pounds onto columns the height of a man.- Pulling gargantuan objects arm-over-arm using a rope, such as planes, boats, cars, and giant tires.- Carrying a 900-pound yoke made of two refrigerators across a 30-meter course in under 60 seconds.You probably already know this, but Hafthor also played Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane in Game of Thrones (RIP), and in this interview, we talk about how he’s currently training to defend his World’s Strongest Man title, how he manages his recovery, what his diet looks like, what supplements he takes (Hint: Legion), his favorite Game of Thrones experiences, how he’s dealt with injuries, what his long-term aspirations are, and more!As a genuine Hafthor fan, I had a hell of a good time talking to him, and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.5:33 - How do you train in preparation for events? 7:53 - Do you try to achieve your PR at the gym or at events? 13:21 - What weakness have you been trying to address in your training? 14:49 - What do you do for hot and cold therapy? 19:50 - What are some of the big lessons you’ve learned? 21:52 - What is your diet? 24:53 - What’s your sleep hygiene like? 29:10 - Do you have a routine at night to help you relax? 36:30 - What is your supplement routine? 42:36 - What drives you? 51:23 - What was your favorite experience with playing The Mountain in Game of Thrones? 55:16 - How do you prepare your diet and training when traveling? 58:41 - Have you had any serious injuries? 1:03:28 - What are your long term goals? 1:07:31 - What’s new and exciting for you?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.muscleforlife.com/signup/

I realize this is a curious recommendation based on what I normally suggest, but I’m including it in the series because I think it’s an important and timely read. To understand why, consider the following from a speech the author gave in 1961: “There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.” And then look at the world around you. Here in the West, people . . . -Watch an average of 38 hours of video content per week. -Spend an average of 1.5 hours on social media per day. -Play an average of 6.4 hours of video games per week. -Spend on average over 90% of their income. -Are abandoning marriage and religion. -Collectively watch billions of hours of porn per year. -Collectively eat over 84 million fast food meals per day. -Collectively spend over $230 billion on alcoholic beverages per year. -Collectively spend over $10 billion on marijuana per year. -Collectively smoke over 250 billion cigarettes per year. . . . while also spending just 17 minutes reading per day (and mostly fiction and novels), just under 2.5 hours productively working per day, and less than 30 minutes exercising per day. BUT HEY the optimists say . . . at least infant mortality and carbon monoxide emissions are down, renewable energy consumption is up (a little), the internet is getting faster, and more people are recycling! That’s neat. And completely unsatisfying, like a picture of oxygen to someone drowning. Anyhow, my point is Huxley was remarkably prescient in his predictions (or maybe it wasn’t so remarkable given the circles his brother Julian ran in), and in Brave New World, he paints the whole picture for you. And it’s unnervingly familiar. So much so that by my lights, the recipe for the world unfolding before us is something like three parts Brave New World, two parts Atlas Shrugged, and one part 1984, with a dash of, oh, I don’t know, Alice in Wonderland? In other words, technocratic totalitarianism and transparent topsy-turvydom disguised as enlightenment, enrichment, and empowerment. Don’t believe me? Read the books and see for yourself. Why bother if we’re doomed anyway? Says who? Humanity has seen much darker days than these and rebounded. We can do it again. First, however, we need enough people to see the world as it is and not as they wish it were, and that’s why I’m recommending Brave New World. It represents the logical conclusion of this late stage of our current civilization: the complete and scientific subjugation of the human spirit. Let’s get to the takeaways. Want to be notified when my next book recommendation goes live? Hop on my email list and you’ll get each new installment delivered directly to your inbox. Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

“When’s your next book coming out?” “What kind of supplements are you going to release next?” “What would you name your boat if you had one?” I’m asked questions like these all the time and so I thought I’d start doing monthly updates about what’s new and exciting here at Legion and MFL HQ. So here’s a quick hosedown of what me and my jolly band of pirates and bums have been up to lately. Enjoy! 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.muscleforlife.com/signup/

If you work out or do just about anything physically challenging often enough, chances are you’re going to have to deal with an injury or two along the way, even if they’re just minor issues like muscle strains, tendonitis, joint aggravations, and the like.In most cases, a little extra R&R is all it takes to heal up, but if an injury is more severe, there’s a lot more you can do to accelerate your recovery. And that’s what Lyle McDonald is going to talk about in this interview.In case you’re not familiar with Lyle, he has been one of the foremost evidence-based fitness researchers and writers for a couple decades now and someone whose work I’ve always liked.He’s also uniquely qualified to talk about injury recovery because he has not only scoured the literature on the topic but used what he learned to help recover from a rather gruesome rollerblading accident that literally shattered his leg.After the strategies he discusses in this episode worked so well that his doctor was genuinely impressed by how rapidly his leg healed up, Lyle documented everything in book called Optimal Nutrition for Injury Recovery.Obviously the book focuses on how to use nutrition to recover faster and better from injuries, and that’s also the focus of this episode, but Lyle also shares some other tips that can markedly increase healing.5:23 - Why did you write this book on injury recovery? 11:17 - What are some of the healing myths of injury recovery? 21:12- Why is inflammation good? 29:57 - How does nutrition play into injury recovery? 31:50 - How pronounced are those effects? 33:31 - How do you figure out if your maintenance level has changed? 43:14 - Why are micronutrients important? 50:14 - Does collagen benefit tendon health for people who aren’t injured? 53:52 - Was your doctor impressed with your recovery? 1:15:13 - What’s next for you? 1:25:34 - Where can people find you and your work?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.muscleforlife.com/signup/

In this podcast, I want to share what I've learned on calculating body fat percentage, including ...What “body fat percentage” means.The pros and cons of popular ways of calculating body fat percentage.How to determine your body fat percentage with a fair amount of accuracy.Why obsessing over body fat percentage is counterproductive (and what to do instead).And more.Let's get started.5:37 - What is body fat percentage? 6:56 - What’s the difference between body fat percentage and body mass index? 8:56 - Can you determine your body fat percentage based on your body mass index? 11:09 - What is a healthy body fat percentage for men and women? 23:09 - What are the different ways to measure body fat percentage and how accurate are they? 37:07 - How do you calculate body fat percentage? 44:01 - What is the best way to reduce body fat percentage?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.muscleforlife.com/signup/