Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

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:...

In this podcast, I chat with Menno Henselmans all about the science of self-control and willpower. Menno just released a book called The Science of Self-Control , which is an evidence-based look at willpower and how to be more productive. This isn’t your typical self-help book either, filled with anecdote and fluff. It’s more like a textbook in the sense that it references over 500 scientific pape...

This podcast is going to cover a technical aspect of muscle building. I’m discussing which is more important for getting bigger and stronger: hypertrophy or hyperplasia? What do those words even mean? Well, hypertrophy is when your muscle cells get bigger, and hyperplasia is when the number of muscle cells increases. Scientists aren’t sure whether hyperplasia even happens in humans, but “believers...

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 Tara, who read Thinner Leaner Stronger and used what she learned to lose a total of 80 pounds, going from “morbidly obese” to super fit. She didn’t just lose a ton of fat, either. Tara gained quite a bit of muscle and got super strong in the process. Before finding TLS, Tara was 204 pounds at 5’5”, and her doctor told her she needed to lose some weight. Like many peopl...

If you’re “searching for things on the Internet” or “watching YouTube videos” or “reading articles,” some say you aren’t “doing your own research” but merely “consuming content.” This plays well with the peanut gallery because, as Aldous Huxley noted, the opportunity to maltreat others with good conscience, to misbehave as a form of “righteous indignation,” is the height of psychological luxury, t...

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:...

Most of us lead busy, hectic lives and we have to face the fact that we’re going to die with a long to-do list. “Ain’t nobody got time for that,” after all. So it’s no surprise that when life throws you a curveball and your time is suddenly strapped, your training might have to take a backseat. Other times it’s not obligations that get in the way, but perhaps you just want to spend less time in th...

This podcast is going to be about workout splits. I’m often asked “what’s the best workout split to follow?” Is there really a “best” workout split for maximizing muscle growth? Many people swear by the body part split, while others say it’s a waste of time. Still others say you should organize your split around movement patterns instead. Unfortunately, many of these opinions miss the forest for t...

I’ve recorded hundreds of episodes of Muscle for Life on a huge variety of things related to health, fitness, and lifestyle, ranging from the basics of diet and exercise like energy and macronutrient balance and progressive overload and training frequency and volume to fads like the ketogenic and carnivore diet and collagen protein to more unfamiliar territories like body weight set point and fast...

In this podcast, I interview Dr. William Li all about food. Specifically, we’re talking about the science of how your body defends itself and heals, and the role that food plays in that process. I’ve talked before about “superfoods” in my book Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger and here on the podcast, but in this episode, Dr. Li dives deeper into how certain foods can affect our body’s ability to heal...

I’m going to break down 7 nutrition myths that are especially prevalent among endurance athletes. These myths also exist in the strength training world, but they’re particularly pernicious for people who run, jog, swim, cycle, or do any sort of endurance training. These people know that nutrition is key to performance. Unfortunately, while some advice out there is good, a lot of nutrition advice i...

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:...

In this podcast, I chat with physical therapist, Dr. Laura Kummerle, about a variety of subjects, including Ninja Warrior Training, the benefits of bodyweight training, how to train around repetitive stress injuries (and when to see a physical therapist), and more. In case you’re not familiar with Laura, she’s a former collegiate gymnast turned full-time orthopedic physical therapist who received...

I’m often asked what I’m doing in the gym and what my latest one-rep maxes on my lifts are, so I wanted to give a little training update in this podcast. I’ve been following the program in Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger for over 2 years now, and I just wrapped up one of my most productive macrocycles yet. How much strength did I gain on my lifts? What caused this sudden flourish of progress? I’ll g...

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 Austin Current all about the science of strength training. Austin recently released a book called the Science of Strength Training , which is a visual encyclopedia and comprehensive resource that dives into the nitty gritty details of resistance training. Specifically, it covers physiology, anatomy, how muscles work, exercise selection, and much more. Austin’s book wil...

Is intensity or volume more important for building muscle? That’s this podcast’s topic and it’s been a matter of ongoing controversy and debate. If you asked a panel of fitness experts about intensity versus volume, you’d hear a lot of squabbling. Some would say you should mostly train heavy and focus on using weights as heavy as possible. Others would say the weight you’re using doesn’t matter as...

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:...

In this podcast, I talk with Todd, who read Bigger Leaner Stronger and used what he learned to go from over 230 pounds to 175 pounds (and 10% body fat) in a year, all while gaining gobs of muscle in the process. Before finding BLS, Todd was very overweight and unhealthy. He wanted to get in shape, so he started intermittent fasting, but he didn’t know anything about energy balance, meal planning,...

Why a podcast on vaccination? Because I know quite a few unvaccinated people who won't be getting jabbed under any circumstances, and who also haven't done anything to mitigate their chances of getting sick or worse from Covid. The message in this episode has resonated with them, and thus, I think is productive to share widely. Whatever the reason for your reluctance to get vaccinated, at this poi...

I’ve recorded hundreds of episodes of Muscle for Life on a huge variety of things related to health, fitness, and lifestyle, ranging from the basics of diet and exercise like energy and macronutrient balance and progressive overload and training frequency and volume to fads like the ketogenic and carnivore diet and collagen protein to more unfamiliar territories like body weight set point and fast...

In this interview with Eric Helms, we chat all about the concept of staying too lean. That is, we discuss body fat percentage from the standpoint of health and performance. Many people set their crosshairs on getting a six-pack when they first get into fitness. “I’ll be happy once I have abs!” they fantasize. And that’s all well and good from an aesthetics point of view. Most of us like how we loo...

This episode of Muscle For Life is part of a monthly 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: One Monday every month, 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....

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:...