Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

Almost everyone knows someone who is unfit and lives an unhealthy lifestyle. In fact, chances are good that someone you care about or even a family member fits this description, whether they’re overweight, obese, a heavy drinker, smoker, or completely sedentary. So, it’s not too surprising that I’m often asked by people who have started their fitness journeys and seen the benefits of getting healt...

In this podcast, I’m going to give an in-depth answer to a question I’ve been getting asked more and more frequently over the last 6 months: what’s my take on testosterone replacement therapy? When should you use TRT? Why would you start TRT? Is it safe? What are the benefits and what are the risks? One of the reasons I’ve been getting asked about TRT more often is that it’s getting more popular....

This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram , I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing...

This podcast is all about sperm. That’s because I’m talking with Khaled Kteily about male fertility. The reason I thought this would make a good topic is it’s an aspect of health I haven’t really touched on before and male fertility isn’t something many people talk about. And what better person to speak about male fertility than the CEO of Legacy, a Harvard-backed company that offers at-home sperm...

I’ve churned through over 150,000 emails, social media comments and messages, and blog comments in the last 6 years. And that means I’ve fielded a ton of questions. As you can imagine, some questions pop up more often than others, and I thought it might be helpful to take a little time every month to choose a few and record and share my answers. So, in this round, I answer the following question:...

I’ve written and recorded a lot of evidence-based content over the years on just about everything you can imagine related to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy. I’ve also worked with thousands of men and women of all ages and circumstances and helped them get into the best shape of their lives. That doesn’t mean you should blindly swallow everything I say, though, because let’s face...

In this podcast, I chat with scientist and friend Dr. Bill Campbell about a new study on rapid fat loss that came out of his lab. In case you’re not familiar with Dr. Campbell, he’s a professor of Exercise Science and the Director of the Performance & Physique Enhancement Laboratory at the University of South Florida, who’s also published more than 150 scientific papers. In other words, Dr. Ca...

This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram , I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing...

This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram , I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing...

In this podcast, Kyle Hunt and I discuss powerlifting. While I’ve written a bit about powerlifting in the past and done some powerlifting-style training myself, I wanted to get a true expert in the field onto the podcast to chat about it in a bit more detail. In case you’re not familiar with Kyle, he’s a competitive powerlifter, coach, author, and owner of Hunt Fitness, who’s worked with hundreds...

This podcast is all about skipping workouts. When does it make more sense to skip a workout than to do a workout (or to swap the workout you were planning with another)? Sometimes you just don’t feel up to a workout due to lack of sleep, stress, soreness, or something else. If you’re warming up and your joints feel achy or your mind is wandering, and you feel like it’s not going to be a great work...

Some people do make the time to listen to most or even all of my podcasts, but my wizbang analytics tell me that while many listeners tune in on a regular basis, they don’t catch every installment of Muscle for Life and thus miss out on insights that could help them get a little better inside and outside the gym. And so I got an idea: how about a “best of” series of podcasts that contains a few of...

In this podcast, I interview Chanel Collette all about her experience transitioning from a long-time physique competitor to embracing other forms of motivation in her training, and all of the mindset shifts and body image hurdles that come with that. Most people get into strength training and bodybuilding to achieve a certain look, whether it’s losing fat, building muscle, or both. I don’t think t...

This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram , I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing...

I’ve written and recorded a lot of evidence-based content over the years on just about everything you can imagine related to building muscle, losing fat, and getting healthy. I’ve also worked with thousands of men and women of all ages and circumstances and helped them get into the best shape of their lives. That doesn’t mean you should blindly swallow everything I say, though, because let’s face...

In this podcast, I interview Dr. Aaron Horschig all about lifting injuries, including injury prevention, treatment, and pain management. I thought Aaron would be the perfect guest for this topic because he has a book called Rebuilding Milo, which is all about fixing common lifting injuries, whether it’s knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, you name it. Of course, when it comes to injur...

This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram , I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing...

In this podcast, I chat with my friend, Michael Chernow, about his new oatmeal and apparel business called Kreatures of Habit. In case you’re not familiar with Michael, he’s a trained chef and “serial entrepreneur” with repeat success in the restaurant industry, including The Meatball Shop (with 8 locations) and Seamore’s (a sustainable seafood restaurant). It’s clear Michael hasn’t just “gotten l...

I’ve churned through over 150,000 emails, social media comments and messages, and blog comments in the last 6 years. And that means I’ve fielded a ton of questions. As you can imagine, some questions pop up more often than others, and I thought it might be helpful to take a little time every month to choose a few and record and share my answers. So, in this round, I answer the following question:...

This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram , I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing...

In this podcast, I chat with Stan Efferding all about speed training. If you’re not familiar with speed training, it’s based on the concept of lifting lighter weights with maximum velocity in order to increase your speed when using heavier weights. Basically, it boils do to doing lighter work as fast as possible (while still using proper form, of course). Speed training is particularly useful for...

“Can you recommend a book for…?” “What are you reading right now?” “What are your favorite books?” I get asked those types of questions a lot and, as an avid reader and all-around bibliophile, I’m always happy to oblige. I also like to encourage people to read as much as possible because knowledge benefits you much like compound interest. The more you learn, the more you know; the more you know, t...

Some people do make the time to listen to most or even all of my podcasts, but my wizbang analytics tell me that while many listeners tune in on a regular basis, they don’t catch every installment of Muscle for Life and thus miss out on insights that could help them get a little better inside and outside the gym. And so I got an idea: how about a “best of” series of podcasts that contains a few of...

In this podcast, Jordan Syatt and I chat about building a healthy relationship with food. Have you ever felt anxious about going off your diet by going out to eat? Or nervous about going on vacation because you’re afraid you’ll lose all of your hard-earned progress and gain gobs of fat? If so, you might need to improve your relationship with food. In this interview, Jordan explains what a healthy...

I’ve churned through over 150,000 emails, social media comments and messages, and blog comments in the last 6 years. And that means I’ve fielded a ton of questions. As you can imagine, some questions pop up more often than others, and I thought it might be helpful to take a little time every month to choose a few and record and share my answers. So, in this round, I answer the following question:...