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/

In this episode, I interview Mark Murphy, who is the founder and CEO of Leadership IQ, a leadership training services provider and the author of Hard Goals.Mark and his team have worked with companies like Microsoft, IBM, Mastercard, and other industry giants, and in this interview, we dive deep into what he has discovered about effective goal setting, including...Why setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (“S.M.A.R.T.”) isn’t enough, and what you should do instead. What people who have a hard time “finding their passion” should do to get motivated. How to increase your sense of urgency to do the things you know you should be doing. And more...Click the player below to listen in ...6:00 - What are hard goals versus smart goals? 32:29 - What is your advice for people who have a hard time finding passion driven goals? 40:20- How do we get better at avoiding procrastination? 47:45 - Why do people misjudge their future needs? 56:00 - How important is a sense of urgency for achieving goals? 1:03:29 - What are some ways people can increase their sense of urgency? 1:10:13 - How does minimizing costs increase sense of urgency? 1:15:10 - How do schools fail to educate their students on independent thinking? 1:18:47 - Where can people follow you and find 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 episode I interview Amy, who is 42 years old and recently completed my 90-day coaching service.She shares how she found her way to me and my work, including what she had tried previously, how things changed after she started implementing the advice in my books and articles, and how my 90-day coaching service helped her take her body to a whole new level.More specifically, she lost 8 pounds, 4% body fat, and an inch and a half off of her waist, while adding 145 pounds to all of her big lifts.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 Amy experienced firsthand.She ran into a number of roadblocks along the way that most of us can relate to, including issues with workout and meal scheduling, hunger and cravings, dietary temptations, and more, and in our chat, Amy shares what has helped her navigate these barriers skillfully and prevent them from getting in her way.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 along in your personal journey, then this episode is for you. 6:54 - What caused your weight gain? 9:26 - How did you find our coaching program? 10:19 - What was the transition like from a low carb diet to a balanced diet? 12:33 - What was your weight and body composition when you started our coaching program? 13:30 - What was your experience with our coaching program? 20:15 - What were some obstacles you had to overcome during our coaching program? 23:37 - What were some of the differences you felt between a ketogenic diet and a balanced diet? 29:10 - Did being on a ketogenic diet affect your mood and energy levels? 30:05 - What were your results after our coaching program? 35:02 - What were people’s reaction to your transformation?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 speak with Greg Nuckols who’s a world-record holding powerlifter, researcher, and coach, and one of foremost authorities on the science of strength training.Greg also produces a fantastic monthly research review along with Dr. Eric Helms and Dr. Mike Zourdos, called MASS (www.strongerbyscience.com/mass), and in this interview, Greg is going to break down one of the studies analyzed in their review.The study he’s going to discuss looked at how doing high-rep squats and deadlifts compared to cycling sprints for improving cardiovascular fitness. In this discussion, Greg explains the different effects strength training and cardio have on cardiovascular fitness, whether or not doing high-rep compound weightlifting with short rest periods can give you the same benefits as sprints, what this means for your own training, body composition, and more.4:10 - Can lifting replace cardio? 5:37 - What are the benefits of HIIT versus high intensity cardio? 10:13 - Which is more difficult - 30 seconds of 60% one rep max deadlifting or 30 seconds of sprinting? 15:14 - Physiologically, why don’t we need a lot of cardio when trying to lose fat?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/

You’ve probably heard that meditation can do many wonderful things for your body, like reduce stress and inflammation, help you live longer, think more clearly, and more.How true are these claims, though?Can something as simple as controlling your attention and focus for a few minutes every day have such profound benefits?And, if so, what are the best and most effective ways of doing this?Should you do “body focused” meditation, “open monitoring,” transcendental meditation, or something else?  Well, this is what we’re going to explore in today’s episode with Kurtis Frank, who is the co-founder of and former lead researcher and writer at Examine.com, as well as the Director of Research for my supplement company, Legion Athletics.Unfortunately, there isn’t a tremendous amount of research available on meditation, but Kurtis read everything relevant that he could get his hands on, and in this interview, he breaks down his findings.So...if you’ve wondered if carving out some time for daily meditation can actually make a difference in your life, then this episode is for you.6:36 - What is meditation? 8:38 - What are the types of meditation? 12:00 - What is the difference of passive focus and active focus and what are some examples? 12:39 - Is reading a book more beneficial than listening to an audiobook? 15:02 - What are the benefits of focused based meditation? 15:25 - How can you tell if you have a problem with focusing? 17:53 - What are the benefits of open monitoring meditation? 20:09 - Which type of meditation is right for me? 21:30 - What are the downsides to meditation? 22:27 - Do brain training apps help your ability to focus? 25:10 - What are bullet hell games and are they beneficial? 28:16 - Is exercise a type of meditation? 28:48 - Is reading a type of meditation? 33:01 - What is the link between meditation and hallucinogens?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/

“Muscles don’t grow in the gym.”I’m sure you’ve heard that old bodybuilding adage before.Well, there’s truth in it.Weightlifting alone doesn’t make your muscles bigger and stronger. That’s what happens after the workouts.That’s why the work that your body does to repair the stress and damage caused by training is just as important as the work you do in the gym to stress and damage your muscles.The bottom line is if you’re not fully recovering from your workouts, you’re going to gain muscle and strength slower than you should.This goes beyond muscle soreness, too. The presence or absence of soreness is a factor to consider, but it’s not the acid test of post-workout recovery. Just because you’re not sore doesn’t mean your body is ready for another hard workout (and, on the flip side, just because a muscle group is sore doesn’t mean it can’t be trained again).You see, heavy weightlifting places a lot of stress on the body that goes beyond muscle damage. It impacts your joints, glycogen stores, and nervous and endocrine systems, and it leaves a residue of systemic fatigue and inflammation that accumulates over time.Your body does an excellent job of setting all this right, though, if you give it what it needs, which boils down these five steps:1. Eat enough calories2. Eat enough protein3. Eat enough carbohydrate4. Get ~8 hours of quality sleep every night5. Take the right supplementsLet’s dive in and learn how to do each correctly.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/

What if I told you that you could maintain and even gain muscle and strength in as little as 45 to 60 minutes per week?And what if I wasn’t trying to pitch you on a PDF, pill, or powder?Well, give me ten minutes and I’ll give you the “secret,” right here in this episode.(Alright, it’s less of a secret and more a couple of simple, science-based strategies, but it’s helpful nonetheless.)And even if you’re not looking for a “lazy” way to stay ripped, this information can benefit you, too.Because while you might be going great guns right now…-Those early morning workouts 3 to 5 times per week, every week. -Those sacrifices you’re making to stick to your meal plans. -Those bruising late-night cardio sessions.Let’s not forget that life has a way of throwing us curve balls.You know…that new job might mean no more bright-and-early workouts. That family obligation might impose and replace the time you’d normally spend meal prepping.Travel happens. Holidays happen. And sometimes we just lose motivation and skid for no good reason (oh, to be human).Well, that’s why you need to listen to this episode.It’s going to give you a simple plan to maintain those pretty biceps and razor-sharp abs even when your routine goes to hell.4:06 - How hard is it to maintain muscle and strength? 8:02- Is training frequency the key to muscle gain? 10:53 - What does a twice per week muscle maintenance training program look like? 16:37 - What does a once per week muscle maintenance training program look like?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/

“Remember to breath” someone says as they walk past you while you’re sporting your tomato face during a hard set of squats.You nod, smile, and ignore them, but you also wonder . . .  could they be right?You’ve heard more and more noise about how holding your breath while lifting could be dangerous.This technique is officially known as the Valsalva maneuver, and it’s become quite a controversial subject among us fitness folk.Some say it increases your risk of fainting, aneurysm, stroke, and blood vessel damage. They also claim there’s no evidence that it improves your performance or makes lifting any safer, so it’s all risk and no reward.This is why many trainers tell their clients to breathe continuously while lifting, why doctors often tell their patients not to use the Valsalva maneuver, and why the American Heart Association warns against it, too.A few minutes of digging on the Internet brings up videos of people collapsing, dropping barbells on themselves, and passing out and crashing face first into the ground. (I’ll spare you the gory details, but if you want to see for yourself, Google “original deadlift passout video.” It’s not pretty).Others say the Valsalva maneuver is not only safe, but an essential technique for safely lifting heavy weight.Who’s right?Well, the short story is this:The Valsalva maneuver could increase the risk of stroke, blood vessel damage, and fainting, but only for a handful of people with a high risk of cardiovascular problems. For otherwise healthy people, the Valsalva maneuver is a safe way to you lift more weight and will probably lower your risk of injury, too. By the end of this episode, you’ll know what the Valsalva maneuver is, why people use it, whether or not it’s as dangerous as many people say it is, who should and shouldn’t use it, how to do it correctly, and more.Let’s start at square one. 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/