Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

My books for men and women—Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger—include an entire section on the “mental game” of getting fit. I’ve also recently published an entire book on the topic called The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation.The reason I’ve put a lot of time into discussing the “softer” side of fitness is just knowing what to isn’t enough. You also need a strong enough why—strong enough to help you persevere through the struggles and setbacks, pick yourself up when you fall, and ultimately see your goals through to completion.Fortunately, you don’t need a psychology degree to accomplish this, either. It mostly boils down to understanding and applying a few powerful mental strategies that effectively combat many of the mental hobgoblins that can sabotage you.If you can overcome these obstacles, you’ll probably get the body you really want, and if you can’t, you probably won’t. It’s really that simple.All that is why I invited my friend and fellow fitness professional, Sal Di Stefano of Mind Pump Media, on the show. Sal’s a bit of a specialist on the inner game of getting fit because he spent the better part of a couple decades in the trenches helping normal, everyday people get into great shape and he knows what the real issues are and what really solves them and what doesn’t.In this show, we talk about . . .- The psychology of “food addiction” - How you can prevent and fix intense cravings and binging - How to resolve body image insecurities - The benefits and drawbacks of prolonged fasts - And more.So . . . if you’re curious how you can conquer the mental demons that so often demoralize dieters, this episode is for you.19:01 - What is the psychology behind food and why is it hard to break bad eating habits? 21:17 - What are some of your strategies to help break people’s attachment to food? 54:17 - How have you dealt with the high expectations of body standards? 58:58 - Do you still have body insecurities? 1:14:246 - 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/

“Sugar is the new crack cocaine!”Yeah, people are actually saying that these days.They're telling us that sugar is as addictive as cocaine, and the more we eat, the more likely we are to get fat, sick, and, ultimately, dead.It sounds bad. Really bad.How true is it, though?Does every dessert we eat push us a little further down the slippery slope of disease and dysfunction, and make it ever harder to claw our way back to optimal health and vitality? Can we develop a “sugar dependence” in the same way we can become physically dependent on alcohol, cocaine, or heroin?Can it get so bad that we can experience legitimate withdrawal symptoms if we stop eating sugar?Well, the short answer is this:The “addictive properties” of sugar are being grossly exaggerated by many mainstream diet and health "gurus."Yes, it’s tasty and pleasurable, and yes, many people might think they're addicted to it, but as you’ll soon see, that doesn’t make for a valid medical condition.Likewise, most discussions of “sugar withdrawal” are equally bogus.In fact, the absence of genuine withdrawal symptoms, like those seen with hard drugs, is one of the dead giveaways that sugar doesn't warp our brains in the same ways.So, if you’re ready to learn the truth about sugar withdrawal, and what constitutes a real addiction and what doesn't, then you want to listen to this podcast.4:36 - What is sugar withdrawal? 8:07 - Is sugar withdrawal real?Mentioned on the Show:10 Proven Ways to Relax Your Muscles and Mind: https://www.muscleforlife.com/ways-to-relax/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/

Meditation has become wildly popular in the past decade or so.So popular, in fact, that’s it’s easy to write it off as another “woo woo” fad, like water fasting, cupping therapy, or lectin-free diets.It’s not, though.While the health benefits of meditation are often overblown, it’s hard to argue with the subjective benefits it provides.I don’t have much personal experience with meditation, so I wanted to pick the brain of someone who does: Ben Pakulski.Ben has been through intense highs and extreme lows in his life as a professional bodybuilder, and he’s used meditation to help him grow from these experiences for over a decade.So . . . if you’re curious if carving out some time every day to meditate can actually improve your ability to cope with and benefit from life’s many stressors, this episode is for you.5:50 - Why are you getting into meditation and what does it do for you? 13:21 - How did it look before and after you had overhauled your ability to focus? 19:57 - Do you find it hard to switch hats from a business man to a family man every day? 21:44 - Have you written down the traits of each of your avatars? 48:00 - What does spirituality mean to you? 52:36 - What’s an example of an altered state of consciousness? 54:08 - What do you think experiencing an altered state of consciousness means? 1:23:17 Where can people find you and your work?Mentioned on The Show:Bigger Leaner Stronger: http://geni.us/BLSBookReincarnation Research from UVA: https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/who-we-are/dops-media/video-reincarnation-research/The Anglo-American Establishment by Carroll Quigley: https://www.amazon.com/Anglo-American-Establishment-Carroll-Quigley/dp/0945001010/?tag=mflweb-20Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time by Carroll Quigley: https://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Hope-History-World-Time/dp/094500110X/?tag=mflweb-20The Muscle Intelligence Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/muscle-intelligence/id1448211060Ben’s Website: https://www.mi40nation.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: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

If you want to lose fat or gain muscle, then you need to know how many calories you burn every day.If you don’t, it’s going to be a lot harder than it should be, if not impossible.But if you’re here, that’s probably not news to you. (And if you don’t, read this article first and come back.)You just aren’t sure how to actually do it – how to easily and accurately calculate how many calories you’re burning.You’ve probably also poked around for an answer already and discovered that you have quite a few options.Mathematical formulas, fitness and activity trackers, workout machine readouts, and so on. Which can you rely on, though? Which will be best for you?Well, that’s what you’re going to learn in this podcast.By the end, you’ll understand which methods of calculating calories burned work, which don’t, and which are the simplest and most practical.3:30 - How do scientists measure energy expenditure? 11:23 - How accurate are the calorie readouts on workout machines? 16:45 - How can you figure out how many calories you’re burning through exercise? 22:03 - How can you figure out how many calories you burn every day?Mentioned on the Show:Bigger Leaner Stronger: http://geni.us/BLSBookA Simple and Accurate BMR Calculator (and How to Use It): https://www.muscleforlife.com/bmr-calculator/How to Use Calorie Cycling to Build Muscle and Lose Fat: https://www.muscleforlife.com/calorie-cycling/This Is the Best TDEE Calculator on the Web (2019): https://www.muscleforlife.com/tdee-calculator/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/

Chiropractic is a controversial subject in the fitness community.On the one hand, some people claim it can fix all kinds of aches, pains, and ailments ranging from low-back pain to indigestion, headaches, brain fog, and more.On the other hand, some say that chiropractic is a pseudoscientific discipline run by greedy charlatans who provide absolutely no value beyond the placebo effect.And if you poke around on the Internet and there’s plenty evidence of the latter, what with the myriad Internet “gurus” who use their “Doctor of Chiropractic” credentials to mislead people into thinking they’re medical doctors and thus experts on anything and everything related to health and wellness.What’s the real story though? Is chiropractic a science or a sham?Well, that’s what prompted me to invite Jordan Shallow on the show. Jordan’s a licensed chiropractor but also a high-level strength coach and competitive powerlifter, and in this interview, he helps shed light on the pros and cons of chiropractic, how it works, why people use it, and how it can and can’t benefit you, and more.7:41 - What is a chiropractic? 10:21 - Point of adjustments 13:43 - Golgi tendon reflex 22:02 - How do you find a good chiropractor? 25:30 - What are Common Issues ? 35:08 - Mobility / yoga at home 39:37 - Stretching Properly 42:32 - Exercises to improve stability 49:00 - Whole body exercises 54:50 - Stabilizing positions 1:04: 41 - Find your workMentioned on the Show:Legion Athletics Triton: https://legionathletics.com/products/supplements/triton/Clinical Athlete Website: http://www.clinicalathlete.com/Jordan’s Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rxd-radio/id1197955534Jordan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_muscle_doc/?hl=enJordan’s Website: https://themuscledoc.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: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

You probably know drinking water is good for you.You probably also know dehydration is bad for you, and you’ve probably heard you should drink water frequently throughout the day and err on the side of drinking a little more than you feel necessary rather than less.And you’re probably here because you heard that instead of drinking boring peasant water, you should avail yourself of the miraculous health benefits of alkaline water, including . . .- Less inflammation and oxidative stress in the body - Better hydration - Anti-aging effects - Weight loss - Less joint pain and fewer headaches - Lower risk of cancer, fatigue, leaky gut, osteoporosis, and basically every other ailment - More energy, drive, and vitality - And moreIn fact, according to some of the self-professed H20 experts shilling alkaline water, you should never drink anything but high-pH water.To do that, all you have to do is fork over a few grand for a contraption that uses a process called ionization (magic, basically) to transmute toxic tap water into a super-hydrating, inflammation-fighting, life-giving elixir “they” don’t want you to know about.If you’re uncomfortable with that price tag, you’re looking at this the wrong way. Just think about how much money your pristine health is going to save you in the long run.When your friends and family start dropping like flies due to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and the like, you’re going to be bouncing gleefully from one day to the next, like you’ve swallowed the star from Super Mario.So the real question is how can you not afford to buy a water sorcery machine from me for which I’ll be paid a 50% sales commission?What’s that? You want to know if there’s any scientific evidence of these claims?Of course there’s scientific evidence. Don’t look into it, but 97% of water scientists agree with everything I’ve just said. Now will that be cash or credit?And this is where my comedy shtick ends and real joke begins, which is alkaline water itself. Because the short story is it’s nonsense. All of it.Let’s find out why.5:06 - What is alkaline water? 6:59 - What is ionized water? 10:22 - Why do people drink alkaline and ionized water? 19:20 - Who popularized alkaline dieting and drinking? 21:04 - Is ionized water better for you? 22:05 - What does ionized water do 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/

Ten years ago, pre-workout supplements were for the unhinged looking dudes in the gym who nobody made eye contact with.You know the type: steroids, stringers, water jugs, strutting and peacocking, and the like.Back then, the pre-workout space mostly consisted of products like Craze, Jack3d, and Detonate (all of which have been banned, by the way) that contained mega-doses of amphetamine-like stimulants and little else.Fortunately, times have changed, and now we have pre-workout supplements that contain lower levels of much safer stimulants plus clinically effective doses of safe, natural ingredients scientifically proven to enhance performance and muscle and strength gain.That’s why people who take their training seriously aren’t asking whether they should take a pre-workout supplement anymore but instead which they should choose and why.And that’s what Kurtis Frank and I talk about in today’s interview.In case you’re not familiar with Kurtis, he’s the director of Research and Development for my supplement company Legion Athletics as well as the co-founder and former lead researcher and writer for Examine.com, which is the premiere online resource for science-based information on supplementation.Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll learn in this episode:- What a pre-workout is - Ingredients that do and don’t significantly improve performance - How much you need to take of these ingredients to see benefits - The pros and cons of including creatine in a pre-workout supplement - And more.5:43 - Interview 7:00 - Definition of Pre Workout 11:40 - Power output 18:18 - Alpha - GPC 20:12 - Alpha GPC dose 23:01 - How long before the workout should you consume? 31:39 - Best time to take creatine 34:32 - anaerobic 38:31 - Effective dose and timing of Citrulline 46:47 - Beta - alanine dose and timing. 49:09- What is betaine 59:05 - Aerobic 1:01:57 -Bad pre workout supplementsWant 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/

As you’ve probably guessed, these are shorter-than-usual cuts and bulks, normally in the range of three to four weeks, and in this podcast, Layne and I talk about how well they work.Are they worth the trouble or should you just stick to the traditional bodybuilding approach of “lean bulking” until you’re uncomfortably fat, cutting until you can see your abs again, and then repeating?That’s the question we answer in today’s interview, where we share what we’ve learned from our experiences with our own physiques as well as the thousands of people that we’ve worked with over the years.So, if you want to know the pros and cons of continuous versus intermittent lean bulking and cutting and what’s probably going to be best for you, keep listening.8:25 - Is it better to do longer or shorter periods of bulking/cutting?13:30 - Should women do mini-cuts?18:00 - What are the benefits of implementing diet breaks while cutting?24:10 - What’s the body’s evolutionary response to caloric restriction?28:00 - Is exercise a good means for fat loss or not?32:46 - Do you think eating nutritionally bankrupt food increases the desire for more food?42:20 - Should someone follow the carnivore diet?54:45 - Should someone cut or bulk if they’re brand new to weightlifting and at a high body fat percentage?57:35 - Where can people find you and your work?Mentioned on The Show:Triumph Multivitamin: https://legionathletics.com/products/supplements/triumph/Layne’s Website: https://www.biolayne.com/Fat Loss Forever: https://www.biolayne.com/fat-loss-forever/The Complete Contest Prep Guide: https://www.biolayne.com/the-complete-contest-prep-guide/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'm running a giveaway on my Instagram! Five (5) will receive a bottle of the newest flavor of Legion Athletics Whey+ - Salted Caramel!⁣⠀⁣⠀ ⁣⠀⁣⠀ The flavor maestros at my manufacturer spent months working on this, and they really outdid themselves here.⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ Imagine . . . a caramel-flavored protein powder that tastes like caramel and not burned wallet. That you don’t slam down but sip slowly. That makes sweet, dulce de leche love to your tongue.⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ That’s what awaits you in every serving of salted caramel Whey+.⁣⠀ ⁣⠀⁣⠀ Listen to this episode to learn how you can enter to win or click here for more details:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvwq4luDJfr/

Every time I go to the gym, I see the same crowd of overweight people grinding away in their spin classes and treadmill, StairMaster, and elliptical sessions.Every day they're there, sweating on the same machines--probably reserved and named by now--and they're just as fat as they ever were. Some are even fatter than when they started.After all this time do they really think anything is going to change or am I witnessing some twisted kind of Stockholm Syndrome between fleshy slaves and mechanical lords?Jokes aside, the truth is these people are just following decades of bad exercise advice centered around long hours of cardio, which has produced millions of overtrained, overweight, underfit people addicted to burning calories instead of getting fit.Now, you might be thinking I'm staunchly anti-cardio. I'm not. I do cardio regularly and as you'll see, it has its benefits and uses.When done properly, cardio can improve your health, help you lose fat faster, and even help you build muscle. But when done improperly, it can do the opposite: impair health, fail to help you lose weight, and negatively impact body composition.So, in this podcast we're going to break down how much cardio you should do, how to get the most bang for your (sweaty) buck, and how much cardio is too much and why.Let's start with how to determine if you should be doing cardio at all and if so, how much you should be doing.4:53 - How much cardio should you do? 7:19 - Does cardio help you lose weight? 15:24 - How can you lose weight with cardio? 22:22- How does cardio affect muscle building? 25:34 - Should you do cardio or weights first?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/