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: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

If you’ve spent any time in the fitness space, you’ve heard more weight loss pitches than a TV-loving insomniac.You know, stuff like…“This powder is the ‘secret’ to losing 10, 20, even 30 pounds in just a month!”“This pill blocks the absorption of carbs and suppresses your appetite!”“A few of these per day and you can eat anything and still lose weight!”And if you’re like most people, you’ve probably gone in for a few.“Who knows?” you’ve thought. “Maybe it actually works?”Well, it’s okay. We’ve all been there. And now we’re skeptical of anything that claims to help us lose weight faster.That’s good. We should be.(We should be equally skeptical of any supplement that claims to help with muscle building, too.)That brings us to this episode and to the supplement synephrine.It’s commonly found in pre-workout supplements because it’s a light stimulant and in fat burner supplements because it purportedly accelerates weight loss.How beneficial is it really, though, and what kind of results can you really expect? And what about dosages and side effects?Let’s tackle all those questions and more and find out if synephrine is worth your money and attention.4:00 - What is synephrine? 5:36 - What are the benefits of synephrine? 10:51 - What is the clinically effective dosage of synephrine? 11: 43 - What results can I expect with synephrine supplementation? 14:00 - What are the side effects of synephrine? 15:00- What are the best synephrine supplements?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’re looking to lose weight, chances are you’ve heard a lot about counting calories.Some people say it’s crucial for weight loss, others say it doesn’t work, and others still say it depends on your body and circumstances.Well, I want to start this episode with the following:Counting calories in and of itself accomplishes nothing, and is not vital to losing weight.Count all the calories you want, but if you don’t know why you’re counting them, and if you’re not planning your food intake properly, you’ll never lose any weight. And ironically, you also need to fully understand these same things to effectively lose weight without counting calories.So, then, let’s start with these fundamentals of weight loss, and how they relate to calories, and then we’ll look at 6 strategies for losing weight without counting calories.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/

Why can some people do things so much better than others?What makes one person good at something, another bad, and yet another so great that we can’t wrap our heads around it?Is it mostly just hard work? Talent? A bit of both? Some other X factor or factors?Today’s guest, Dr. Anders Ericsson, has spent most of his professional life researching these questions. In fact, it was his seminal research on talent that gave us the now famous--and generally misunderstood--“10,000 hour rule,” that was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers.In case you haven’t heard of it, the 10,000 hour rule states that if you want to be great at something, you need to put in at least 10,000 hours of focused, structured, productive practice. To put that in perspective, that’s about 5 hours of “deliberate practice,” as Dr. Ericsson calls it, per day for about 4 years.That’s the idea at least.As you’ll learn in this podcast, the 10,000 hour rule is more fiction than fact. The reality is far more nuanced, and encouraging because it’s actually accessible to all of us. We can use Dr. Ericsson’s research and advice to learn and improve new things faster and easier, and ultimately, it’s up to us how far we want to take it.Here’s a bit of what you’ll learn in this episode...The most effective way to practice any skill or activity so you actually get better. How to stay motivated to keep going for as long as it takes to develop real skills and abilities. The importance of enjoyment, relaxation, and recovery in self-development. And more...Click the player below to listen in...5:51 - How do you implement deliberate practice? 18:21 - How do people stay motivated to become an expert in their field? 32:46 - What’s your experience with high level performers who push themselves to the point where they don’t want to perform anymore? 34:07 - How important is fun when applying deliberate practice? 37:09 - What are some tips to help people rejuvenate so they can continue to operate at a high level? 40:50 - How do you practice relaxing? 44:50 - How can personal experiences and journeys be communicated more effectively? 47:12 - What are some of your favorite biographies? 52:43 - How 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 #1 weight loss problem that I help people with is, by far, sticking to their diet.This is especially the case with people that are new to a healthy weight loss regimen, which requires that you remain in a caloric deficit for many weeks, as opposed to a crash diet that you suffer through for a short period of time.The overall experience of being in a caloric deficit varies dramatically. For some (lucky bastards), it causes little-to-no uncomfortable symptoms–no hunger issues, no cravings, no energy lows. For others (the rest of us mere mortals), it can get quite tough due to hunger pangs, intense cravings (usually brought on by simple hunger), and a lingering lethargy (which can be particularly bad when you go low-carb).What gives? And what can we do to stave off hunger and stick to our diets?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: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

When it comes to protein powders, whey and casein rule the roost, racking up close to $5 billion in annual sales.They deserve the limelight, too.Research has shown time and again that they’re two of the best sources of high-quality protein that you can eat.What if you don’t want to supplement with either, though? What other options do you have?You can simply eat more whole foods, but that can be easier said than done depending on your circumstances.Many people turn to soy protein powder, but that probably isn’t optimal, and especially for men. Many others choose other popular alternatives like hemp or rice protein, and many still go in for more obscure supplements like beef or collagen protein.Pea, however, is often overlooked because of concerns about its amino acid profile, digestibility, and taste.Many people simply think that peas can’t provide them with protein that’s suitable for gaining muscle or losing fat, and that it probably tastes godawful.Well, they’re wrong.As you’ll see, pea protein is actually one of the best plant-based forms of protein that you can eat–on par with the best of animal-derived powders–and, when flavored and sweetened well, has a uniquely pleasant taste.So, if you want to learn how pea protein is made, what its main benefits and drawbacks are, how it compares to whey and casein, and how to choose the best pea protein powder for you, then you want to listen to this episode.5:01 - What is pea protein? 5:53 - Is pea protein a complete protein? 9:10 - What are the benefits of pea protein? 11:33 - What are the downsides of pea protein? 14:05- How do I choose a good pea protein?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 podcast explores intermittent fasting, discussing its popularity and benefits. It provides a five-step guide to getting started with intermittent fasting, including calculating calories and macronutrients. The chapter also discusses the benefits of fasted training and the hosts' personal eating preferences for muscle gain. Additionally, the speaker promotes their pre-workout supplement, Pulse, and offers a special coupon code for listeners.

If you’re into weightlifting, you’ve become very acquainted with sore muscles. You’ve done many reps of the “half-squat-toilet-fall.” You’ve had the “is this just muscle soreness or am I actually dying?” thoughts. And maybe you’ve even gone full Stockholm syndrome and now crave the daily debilitation. Well, I’ve been there, I’ve learned some things, and now I’m going to pass on those lessons. You see, like many people, I used to think muscle soreness was pretty black and white. I assumed that sore muscles were a sign that I was doing something right, and the more sore I was, the more effective my workouts were. (And as a corollary, I worried that workouts that produced little soreness also produced little results.) Well, it turns out it’s not that simple. Years ago, I used to do workouts that produced a tremendous amount of muscle soreness…and I made mediocre (at best) gains. After dramatically changing the way I trained, however, I experienced far less muscle soreness but made far better progress. In this episode, I’m going to explain why that is and what you need to know about sore muscles and training to optimize your results. Let’s get started. 4:30 - Why do muscles get sore? 6:36 - What is delayed onset muscle soreness? 8:00 - Does muscle soreness mean muscle growth? 9:07 - What is muscle damage? 13:41 - How do you get rid of sore muscles? 17:35 - Which supplements should I take for building muscle and recovering 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/

The Holy Grail of Fat Burning.A supplement that you can take once a day and will prevent you from getting fat despite allowing you to eat anything you want. That magic bullet to shoot away all your problems and, hopefully, not kill you at the same time.It doesn’t exist right now unfortunately, but that hasn’t stopped researchers from trying to discover it.And even if the researchers haven’t discovered it, it definitely doesn’t stop marketers from trying to sell it to you.There are many ideas that have popped up when it comes to how such an amazing theoretical fat burner could work and one of them, the topic of this episode, has quite a simple premise . . .  What if you just didn’t absorb the calories you ate? In one end and out the other?Carb and fat blockers are a sub-genre of fat burners dedicated to preventing calorie uptake and have been studied, well, not extensively, but they do have evidence behind them.Only one problem, they don’t always block calories alone. They sometimes block nutrients as well.Are they worth your consideration? Do the benefits of absorbing fewer calories outweigh the hazards of absorbing fewer nutrients? Are some better than others?Listen to this episode to find out.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/