Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

You want to build muscle.You want to get strong.And you want to do these things as quickly and effectively as possible.What exercises should you do and why?Ask different people and you’ll get different answers.Some will say that compound exercises are all you need. They train every muscle in your body and are “highly functional” to boot.Others will say compound exercises are overrated or even dangerous, and that the right isolation exercises can give you everything your little heart desires.Who’s right?Well, in this podcast, we’re going to find out. By the end, you’ll understand the pros and cons of both compound and isolation exercises and how you should use them in your workouts based on your goals.Let’s start with a simple question: what exactly are compound and isolation exercises?4:11 - What is a compound exercise? 10:01 - What is an isolation exercise? 17:05 - What are the advantages of compound exercises? 23:45- What are the advantages of isolation exercises?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/

This episode is part of a weekly 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:Every Monday morning, 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 every Monday morning for the latest and greatest installment.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’ve spent any amount of time pushing or pulling heavy things, you’ve probably experienced elbow pain.Maybe it only flares up when you’re doing heavy compound exercises, like the bench press, military press, or barbell row. Or, maybe it only happens when you’re doing isolation exercises like curls, triceps extensions, or skullcrushers. Or maybe it comes and goes with no rhyme or reason.Regardless of what triggers it, elbow pain can be maddening, and finding good answers for how to resolve it can be even more frustrating.Luckily, one guy who has good answers is Mark Rippetoe, so I invited him on the show to shed some light on this common nuisance.Mark has worked with thousands of lifters, and thus helped people work through many, many injuries, and he has quite a bit to say about how to deal with elbow pain.In this episode, you’ll learn:- The three most common types of elbow pain - The difference between “golfer’s elbow” and “tennis elbow” - How to diagnose what’s causing your elbow pain - What exercises usually contribute the most to elbow pain - How to resolve elbow pain - And more9:29 - What are the three types of elbow pain? 14:58 - What is the most common type of elbow pain? 18:58 - What is golfer’s elbow? 31:17 - What type of elbow pain did you have? 35:59 - What type of exercises cause golfer’s elbow? 37:54 - What’s the difference in form between chin ups and pull ups? 48:54 - Is the bench press commonly associated with elbow issues?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/

“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/

In this episode I interview Rachel, who recently completed my 90-day coaching service and dropped 15 pounds and 6% body fat, while getting stronger on all of her key lifts.Before finding me and my work, Rachel didn’t look unhealthy, overweight, or feeble, but that’s how she felt.Like many women, she was an avid runner who avoided weightlifting because she thought it would make her look “bulky” and “manly,” and especially because she’s tall and has relatively broad shoulders for a woman.Also like many women, Rachel had subjected herself to all kinds of starvation and fad diets over the years, which had taken their toll both physically and emotionally. She was confused, she was frustrated, and she was starting to feel hopeless.Then she stumbled across this podcast, liked what she heard, started applying my teachings, and was thrilled with the results.Once she starting eating and training properly, the improvements came quickly, and she realized that gaining muscle in the right places in her body and reducing her body fat percentage is the key to getting the body she really wants—a lean, athletic, toned body, not a blocky, masculine one.Rachel's next step was signing up for my one-on-one coaching service, and now, about a year into her transformation journey, she’s looks and feels better than ever before and is really just getting started.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, then this episode is for you.4:58 - What was your diet and fitness like before and after our coaching program? 6:57 - How many push ups can you do now? 7:21 - Where are you at with your dumbbell bench press? 7:47 - Were you concerned about getting bulky while gaining strength? 12:49 - What was your diet and fitness like before our coaching program? 15:14 - How did you find our coaching program? 15:42 - How was your transition into our diet plan? 19:12 - What was your meal plan like during our coaching program and how did it compare to you previous diets? 27:20 - What was your exercise routine before you started our coaching program? 27:29 - Why was the gym intimidating to you? 30:21 - How much cardio and resistance training did you do on our coaching program? 35:04 - What are your current goals?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/

My years in the fitness racket have taught me many things about people, and one of them is that binge eating is far more common than I previously realized.In many cases, it’s prompted by extreme forms calorie restriction like water fasting, detox diets, and the like, and in others, it’s the result of bad eating habits developed on the way to becoming overweight.Binge eating isn’t just a problem for overweight people, though. There are many fit people out there, usually ones trying to maintain very low levels of body fat for one reason or another (social media, usually), who binge and purge rather regularly.Regardless of how fit or fat someone is, however, bingeing is a problem, and even when it’s done more “strategically” by drastically undereating for a period before or after a binge to keep body fat levels generally in an acceptable range.That approach can work for maintaining a nice looking body composition, of course, but it’s unsustainable and unhealthy, both physically and psychologically. It takes its toll, which often includes eating and body disorders.That’s why I invited Carter Good to come on the show. Carter lost 140 pounds—partly with the help of my Bigger Leaner Stronger program—and now has a large following built mostly through sharing simple, effective, science-based weight loss strategies and runs a successful fat loss coaching service.One of the biggest obstacles Carter ran into in his journey from 305 to 165 pounds was binge eating, and as you’d expect, many of his clients come to him struggling with it as well. In this interview, he’s going to share his most helpful observations, recommendations, and insights on how to beat binge eating once and for all.In this episode, you’ll learn . . .- What binge eating actually is (how it differs from simply overeating) - How much binge eating actually slows fat loss - The most common factors that lead to binge eating - Effective mental strategies for preventing binge eating - What to do after a binge (because we all fall off the wagon now and then) - And more8:07 - How do you define binge eating? 12:48 - What are common factors that cause binge eating? 14:07 - How do you help people work through binge eating? 24:45 - How do you prevent binge eating? 36:13 - How do you help people work through the guilt of binge eating? 40:58 - Are there any outlets to prevent emotional eating? 56:24 - 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/

For years, milk has been touted as one of the healthiest foods you can eat. It’s packed full of protein, calcium, and other nutrients, and it’s delicious to boot. It’s also hugely popular among bodybuilders and people just generally interested in improving their body composition.If you go asking around the gym for the best way to gain muscle and strength as quickly as possible, it won’t take long until you’re told to just lift heavy weights and drink a gallon of milk per day.(The heavy weightlifting is a great idea, but the “GOMAD”? Not so much…)Recently, though, milk has come under heavy fire from the health “gurus” of the world who not only question its nutritional value, but go as far as labeling it a poison responsible for all kinds of disease and dysfunction.Drink milk, they say, and thanks to the lactose, pus, blood, hormones, and other “unhealthy” substances it contains, you’ll be more likely to gain weight, weaken your bones, and even get cancer and die.Many of the people making these arguments seem to have logic and science on their sides, too.Maybe they’re right? Maybe milk isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? Maybe we’d all be better off without it?Well, as you’ll soon see, although the case against milk can be made to sound convincing, it’s based on trumped up charges.When you analyze the bulk of the research, which we’re going to do in this podcast, the takeaway is clear:Milk is not a magic bullet for bone health, muscle gain, or general wellbeing, but it doesn’t deserve condemnation, either, and you probably don’t need to stop drinking it.Let’s find out why, starting with square one:Whatis milk, exactly? 5:30 - What is milk? 5:30 - What is milk? 6:51 - Does milk cause weight gain? 8:26 - Does milk spike insulin levels? 10:43 - Does milk contain estrogen-like hormones that cause weight and feminizing effects in men? 11:28 - Does milk weaken your bones?15:18  - Does milk contain dangerous hormones? 18:46 - Is milk too processed to be healthy? 19:48 - What is pasteurization, homogenization, fortification? 22:45 - Is milk filled with pus, blood, and somatic cells? 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/

Like it or not, the Bench Press is one of the primary lifts on which your strength is judged.Nothing turns heads faster in the gym than an impressive Bench Press, and it’s the first (and often only) lift people want to know your numbers on.There’s a good reason for this beyond ego, though.The Bench Press is one of the best upper body exercises you can do because, when performed properly, it trains not just the pectorals but the lats, shoulders, triceps, and even the legs (through a proper leg drive, as discussed later in this podcast).Every chest workout or push workout should include at least a few sets of the Bench Press.That said, like the other big compound lifts (Deadlift, Squat, and Military Press), the Bench Press is actually quite technical. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll quickly hit a plateau, which is not only frustrating, but can set you up for injury as you try to break through it by compromising form.So, in this podcast, we’re going to look at 11 safe, scientifically proven ways to increase your bench press and, in some cases, also reduce the risk of injury.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/

The ketogenic diet is all the rage right now.According to many, it’s the single best diet for losing fat, staying lean, and improving health and longevity.It’s not, of course, because there’s no single diet that’s best for accomplishing all of that in everyone all of the time, but the ketogenic diet can work well as a weight loss diet for some people some of the time.That’s how it has mostly been promoted, as well—as an effective way to lose weight rapidly—but recently, more and more people have been talking about the ketogenic diet’s superiority for building muscle as well.They’re calling this approach “ketogaining” and the story is that it’s a healthier, more effective way to gain muscle and not fat than the traditional high-carb diet popular amongst most bodybuilders and weightlifters.Poke around online and you’ll find some freaky big and lean people promoting ketogaining as well as a few studies that seem to validate their claims, and so understandably, it’s starting to catch on.How legitimate is ketogaining, though?Can you really have great workouts and gain just as much muscle but less fat by eating less than 50 grams of carbs and over 100 grams of fat per day?To help answer these questions, I invited Eric Helms back on the show.In case you’re not familiar with him, Eric’s one of the premier natural bodybuilding coaches in the game and is himself a professional natural bodybuilder and strength athlete, as well as an author and credentialed scientist with several peer-reviewed publications under his belt.In this interview, Eric breaks down the research currently available on ketogaining and explains . . .- The basic theory of ketogaining (why it’s a thing) - What studies have shown and what questions still remain - How the ketogenic diet is likely to impact your training performance - How much fat you can expect to gain following a ketogenic diet vs a high-carb diet - Eric’s personal recommendation for carbohydrate intake for maximizing muscle gain - And more13:49 - Does the ketogenic diet work for someone who wants to gain muscle and strength? 16:39 Why does the ketogenic diet make you feel satiated? 28:41 - Why do you think that the performance was maintained? 34:57 - Does you body get more efficient with the glycogen it uses once you switch to a high fat, low carb diet? 39:09 - Does upping carbs improve performance? 49:18 - 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/

The featured book this time around is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.And I know, this recommendation is pretty “basic” of me as stoicism is all the rage these days, but I’m going to make it anyway because I really do believe everyone can benefit from this book and stoic philosophy.I feel that’s especially true in today’s zeitgeist, which is moving further and further away from individualism, resilience, and responsibility and toward fear, fragility, and egoism. In fact, many young people in particular are upping the stakes by downright scorning many traditionally admired attitudes and behaviors and blindly celebrating their opposites.And I fear the consequences of this cultural experiment, which are already unfolding in a number of aways, are going to be severe. In short, I’d bet a lot of shekels that here in the West at least, the scene is going to get a lot worse before it starts getting better.But hey, hopefully I’m wrong.Anyway, back to the book—in case you’re not familiar with him, Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor who earned the reputation of “philosopher king” during his lifetime and has since been recognized as one of history’s greatest rulers in both character and deed.Meditations, originally titled To Myself, contains Aurelius’ reflections on virtue, desire, rationality, emotions, the nature of the gods, and more.While many of his insights resonated with me, the messages that hit home the most were his views on how to dispassionately and effectively deal with the difficulties of life, the importance of avoiding hate and the intention to harm, and the value of living honestly and with purpose.A bit of humble self-reflection is good for the soul, and Meditations will take you on a brief, but meaningful (and maybe even cathartic), introspection.Let’s get to the takeaways.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.muscleforlife.com/signup/