Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

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/

Today’s guest is Strauss Zelnick, who’s known in the Fortune 500 circles as the “world’s fittest CEO.”At 61 years old, Strauss maintains a two-a-day workout schedule while running the media juggernaut Take-Two Interactive, which has given us blockbuster video game franchises likeGrand Theft Auto,Red Dead Redemption, andNBA 2K, as well as his private equity firm, Zelnick Media Capital, which has about $12 billion in assets.Oh and Strauss also has managed to do all of that while also being a husband to his wife of nearly 30 years and father to his three children, which is no small feat, either.As you can tell, I’m kind of a fan of Strauss’. You just don’t get to meet people like him very often.So, in this interview, Strauss talks about his upcoming book calledBecoming Ageless, which is his personal blueprint for looking and feeling young and vibrant at any age, as well as his thoughts on a number of topics, including work-life balance, goal setting and achievement, key life lessons learned, and more.I hope you enjoy it.5:15 - Why did you decide to write "Becoming Ageless"?8:14 - What are the biggest lessons you've learned? 11:37 - Have you found that recovery isn't as good as you get older?13:26 - Do genetics play a role?15:21 - What about work life balance? How do you keep it all together and be successful?17:40 - Start by knowing what you want.20:47 - How important is it to look towards the future? How do you prioritize?23:26 - What hard choices have you had to make? Any mistakes?26:22 - Do you drink alcohol?29:24 - What does your doctor say you should cut out of your diet?30:24 - Have you developed any rules or principles that you live by?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 most everything related to health and fitness, there are quite a few opinions on warming up for your workouts.Some people say it’s vital. That skipping it not only impairs your workout performance but greatly increases the risk of injury.Others say it looks like a waste of time because it is. I mean, have you ever seen a lion “warm up” before it takes down a gazelle?Who’s right?Well, both are, to a degree.What many people do to warm up is rather pointless. You know, twenty minutes on the treadmill, followed by stretching, rubber banded twisting, hopping, and bending, and so forth.There are much more productive ways to use that time, and that’s what we’re going to talk about in this podcast.As you’ll soon see, a proper warm-up routine is an essential part of gaining muscle and strength safely and effectively.You can take heart, too, because it’s easier and faster than you probably think. A good warm-up is short and simple, and helps you have noticeably better workouts.So, let’s get to it.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/

One of the most important aspects of weightlifting is progression.This is the difference between exercise (moving your body to burn calories and improve health) and training (exercising according to a plan designed to produce specific long-term outcomes).This is the key to avoiding stagnation in muscle and strength gain, and to breaking through the many plateaus that will occur throughout your fitness journey.There are a number of ways to progress in your weightlifting workouts, but many of the most practical and effective ones share this in common:They involve prescribed levels of difficulty in individual sets.In other words, some sets are supposed to be moderately challenging, while others are supposed to involve near-maximum effort.For example, one of my favorite progression models is known as double progression, and it works like this:You work with a given weight in a given rep range, and once you hit the top of that rep range for one, two, or three sets (depending on the programming), you move up in weight, and work with it until you hit the top of your rep range again for the required number of sets, move up, and so on.In this way, you first progress in your reps with a given weight, and then progress with the amount of weight you’re lifting. Hence, “double progression.”Here’s a key question though:How difficult are these sets supposed to be?Well, if you want to get the most out of double progression, you want to end your working (heavy) sets one or two reps shy of failure.In other words, you want your working sets to be pretty damn difficult.This way of looking at the difficulty of exercise (in this case, weightlifting), brings us to the topic at hand: the RPE scale.As you’ll soon see, the RPE scale is a simple but powerful tool for workout programming, and especially for strength training, because it can help you gain muscle and strength faster while simultaneously reducing the risk of injury or overtraining.Let’s start by defining exactly what RPE is.5:28 - What is RPE?9:43 - Why do people use RPE scale?13:47 - How do you use RPE to make progress and avoid overtraining?14:49 - What is anchoring?15:42 - What are Reps In Reserve (RIR)?17:17 - How can you know how many reps you still have in reserve?21:13 - How can you use RPE to get bigger and stronger faster?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/

In this podcast I interview bestselling author and competitive triathlete Ben Greenfield, and we talk about how strength training, muscle building, exercise, and diet affect aging, longevity, and health.If you follow Ben and his work, you know that this is his primary hobbyhorse. He’s obsessed with figuring out innovative and cutting-edge ways to improve his body and mind, and in this show, he shares some of his most recent thoughts and strategies for optimizing his life.Here are some of the things we talk about in this episode…The role of muscle mass and strength in aging and longevity.The effect of protein intake and intermittent fasting on health.The ketogenic diet for performance and health.And more...11:12 -  What are your thoughts on muscle mass and longevity?16:56 - What about the research showing an association between longevity and total lean mass?23:53 - If you have sleep, diet, training, and stress under control, how much does it matter if you don't fast, or eat protein daily?24:41 - Is moderate drinking helpful or hurtful?27:27 - What is hormesis?30:23 - How important is exercise?32:56 - What are your thoughts on the ketogenic diet?41:37 - Does everyone wake up in ketosis? How long does it take to become fat-adapted?45:18 - What about the saturated fat and the paleo craze?49:13 - Do you have any projects 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: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Years ago, I was stuck in a rut in the gym, I was making minimum payments on tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt, and I had no idea where I should go in my life, let alone how to get there.Today, I’m a “super-fit” bestselling author with over one million books sold, and the owner and founder of several 7- and 8-figure businesses, including Muscle for Life, Legion Athletics, and Oculus Publishers(And more importantly, I also found a unicorn for a wife who has given me two kids who are kinda the coolest.)How the hell did all that happen?Did I sell my soul to the Dread Lord Cthulhu? Discover the one weird trick to melting belly fat, debt, and existential angst. . . in just 5 minutes per day? Develop an expensive but highly productive cocaine habit?Not quite. What really happened is, well, kind of boring:I read scores of books, worked thousands of hours, and overcame more setbacks than I can count. In other words, I did the hard stuff that most people don’t want to do, and I’m ready to share the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way.And now, while I don’t know everything about personal growth, I do know what it takes to develop the skills, habits, and spirit required to transform your body and life.I also know that anyone can use these powerful strategies to overcome the biggest mental and emotional blocks holding them back from realizing their potential in the same way that I have.No matter who you are or what difficulties you’re facing, you can empower yourself to have the body you want to have, become the person you want to be, and live the life you want to live.That’s why I wrote this new book, called The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation.It’s my personal—and 100% practical and hands-on—blueprint for transformation, inside and outside of the gym, and it will provide you with new and valuable knowledge and skills that you will use for the rest of your life.In short, I wrote this book to help you fix the important things that are holding you back from doing and achieving the things you care most about.Go towww.workoutmotivationbook.com now, get the book, and by the end of it, you will never again wonder what it takes to get and stay motivated to build your best body and life.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/

Once you understand the mechanics proper dieting, getting lean isn’t all that difficult.Sure, it’s nevereasy in the way that gaining weight is easy, but most of us can plod through a couple months of cutting to get some abs for the summer.The real challenge is staying lean. For the long haul. That’s what separates the fitness champions from the rest of the contenders.That’s why I invited my friend Marc Perry on the podcast. He’s the founder of BuiltLean.com, and when it comes to staying absolutely shredded month after month, year after year, he walks the walk. He also manages to do it without losing his mind, which makes it all the more impressive.In this show, you’ll learn about the habits, systems, and skills Marc has developed to stay ripped. Here’s a little sneak peek of what you’ll learn in today’s interview:The things you do and don’t have to sacrifice to stay really leanWhat kind exercise schedule it takesHow much you can get away with “cheating” before it becomes a problemWhat you can expect to eat in terms of calories and macrosThe best ways to keep hunger under control throughout the dayHow to manage eating out at restaurantsAnd more ...5:05 - What it takes to stay lean for long periods of time. Specifically from psychological and lifestyle perspective.8:05 -  Where are you at right now? What are your calories and macros? What's your exercise routine?10:31 - If you want to stay lean year-round, you need to stay active11:05 - What do you do every morning?19:14 - What does your diet and nutrition like?24:56 - What about snacking?25:43 - What about dinner?28:40 - What about water?31:02 - What are your calories at and how do your macros break down?32:45 - Do you have any sugar or treats?43:10 - What about eating out?51:41 - What about alcohol? What effects does it have?52:43 - How do you navigate social life if you want to stay lean?55:13 - How are the cold showers going?   58:02 - 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/

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/

In this episode, I interview the co-founder and former lead researcher and writer of Examine.com Kurtis Frank on the truth about branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). For years now, BCAAs have been a staple supplement in the bodybuilding scene. If you’ve ever seen a muscleboy or girl in the gym lugging around a gallon jug of fluorescent liquid, chances are it’s water and BCAAs.BCAAs are extremely popular because they supposedly help us build muscle faster when we’re bulking and retain muscle better when we’re cutting. A number of studies are often cited to support such claims too, and if you take the research at face value, it all seems to add up.The problem is when you roll up your sleeves and take a closer look at the research and weight of the evidence on the whole, a very different picture emerges. As you’ll discover in this podcast, BCAAs really don’t have much to offer beyond making your water more tasty, unless you’re an athlete—in that case, there is one legitimate use for BCAAs that might be relevant to you.5:50 - What are BCAAs? Why are people using them? 9:32 - Why are they so popular? 14:26 - What does "branched" mean? How do BCAAs reduce fatigue? 18:10 - When do BCAAs work? 23:17 - Why do some people feel less hunger when they supplement with BCAAs? 25:49- Can BCAAs stunt muscle gain? 29:00 - Anything else we should touch 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: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/