Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

In this podcast, I interview Dan John, and we chat all about his concept of “easy strength.” Easy strength is a style of training Dan writes about at length in his latest book, Attempts: Essays in Fitness, Health, Longevity and Easy Strength , which I highly recommend. We’ll get more into the nitty gritty details in the podcast, but “easy strength” is all about effective workouts done with key exe...

In this podcast, I’m going to talk about greens supplements , which are more popular now than ever before. There’s no shortage of supplement companies out there promoting their greens powders with all sorts of marketing claims. It’s a winning formula, too. Your average greens supplement is just a bunch of dirt-cheap, fruit and vegetable powders, with pixie-dusted amounts of mushrooms or other extr...

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...

Life is full of surprises and things don’t always go as planned. This episode of the podcast is the perfect example of that. ;) That’s because I’m once again chatting with repeat guest Pat Flynn, and what was supposed to be a discussion about liberalism, morphed into a twisting and turning maze of philosophical ponderings. While you may mostly listen to my podcast for the health and fitness conten...

In this podcast, we’re going to talk about the “fat burning zone,” which is something you’ve probably heard about many times. When I first got into fitness, I read that if you’re doing cardio to lose fat, you better be doing it in the “fat burning zone.” If you don’t, proponents claim, your cardio is going to be a lot less effective, or maybe even completely ineffective. You’ll simply end up burni...

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, you’re going to learn how to be bad. I don’t mean Mad Max lone-wanderer badass bad. I mean how to be a bad client bad--that is, how to be uncoachable bad. You see, hiring a coach isn’t just a one-and-done transaction that gets you to your goal. If you want results, you still have to do the work. You have to be willing to learn, put in the time, and reach your goals with the help o...

The “One Meal a Day” (OMAD) diet has been around for a while, but it’s more popular now than ever before. That’s likely because fasting , intermittent fasting , and diets that revolve around not eating for long periods of time are more popular in general. OMAD is the most extreme variation of intermittent fasting, and much tougher to follow than the Leangains protocol, for example. Why would you w...

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 episode, I interview Sara, who read Thinner Leaner Stronger and used what she learned to go from obese (with a BMI of 32) to ripped at 18% body fat, while getting significantly stronger in the process. Before finding TLS, Sara was 190 pounds and a size 16 after having 4 kids, and was at her heaviest. She wanted to get in shape, but didn’t know the best way to go about it. She started to le...

This podcast is all about alpha-GPC, which is one of my favorite supplements. That’s why you can kind it in my pre-workout Pulse and my nootropic Ascend . Alpha-GPC has promise as both a performance enhancer and a cognitive booster and preserver. It’s also well-tolerated with very few side effects, which is not something that can be said about a lot of other nootropic supplements. So, should you t...

I got a lot of great feedback on my previous podcast about weightlifting cues. In that episode, I covered my favorite cues for the squat, deadlift, and bench press. So, I thought I would do another episode covering the best cues for the front squat, overhead press, pull-up, chin-up, and the barbell row, which are some of my favorite exercises besides the “big three.” So, if you want to learn what...

In this podcast, I interview Brooke Ence, an entrepreneur, actress, and CrossFit icon, which she became after winning 1st place in the California Regional at the 2015 CrossFit Games (her first year competing, by the way). She looks the part too, which is how she’s garnered over 1.5 million followers on Instagram, and landed roles as an Amazon warrior in Wonder Woman , Justice League , and Black Li...

Today we’re talking about DHEA supplements. This is a popular supplement because DHEA can influence your hormones. Many people believe if you can enhance your hormones, you can look better, perform better, feel better, and more. That’s true because healthy living can help optimize your hormones, which has beneficial downstream effects. You can also affect your hormonal profile through medications,...

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:...

If you (k)need help with your knees (har har), this podcast is for you. That’s because I’m having a chat with Ben Patrick, also known as the Knees Over Toes Guy, and we’re talking all about improving knee function and pain. In case you’re not familiar with Ben, he’s taken the fitness world by storm with a seemingly controversial and contrarian stance on the old adage of never pushing your knees pa...

This podcast is all about reps in reserve (RIR). Specifically, I’ll discuss what that is and why you should be tracking it in your workouts. If you’re familiar with my work, you’re probably already tracking a lot of things: your body weight, how much weight you’re putting on the bar, your sets and reps, and more. One thing you’re probably not tracking, however, is reps in reserve. After your first...

In this podcast, I interview Joe Chura, who used what he learned in Bigger Leaner Stronger to get healthy and fit, and improve his well-being. Before finding my work, Joe was climbing the ranks in the automotive industry and building his own dealership company, Dealer Inspire. Unfortunately, while he was successfully growing his business, he neglected his health, and things started to deteriorate....

In this episode, I interview Mark Bell, also known as the "Meathead Millionaire” who invented the Sling Shot. In case you’re not familiar with Mark, he’s not only a successful entrepreneur, and inventor, but he’s a world ranked powerlifter (top 10 all-time with a total of 2,628 pounds), and the owner of Super Training Products Inc. He’s also the host of his own podcast (Mark Bell’s Power Project,...

This podcast is all about building your arms. Whether you’re a guy who wants to put on mass or a gal who wants more defined and toned arms, this episode is going to help. While most guys want arms as big as possible, and most women I’ve talked to care more about toning their arms than adding size, the solution is the same. You want to build muscle and strength in your arms, and reduce your levels...

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 episode, I interview Ann and Lo (also known as the Minny Hustlers on Instagram), who read Thinner Leaner Stronger and used what they learned to dramatically change their physiques and lives. Before finding TLS, Ann and Lo focused on what many women do--lots of cardio and lifting light weights. While they managed to prevent weight gain (the dreaded “freshman 15”...or 20...or 30), they didn’...

In this podcast, you’re going to learn about double progression, which is one of the best progression systems you can use. In fact, double progression has been part of my programs since 2012, and it’s still what I recommend today. So, in this episode you’re going to learn what double progression is, how to implement it in your training, how it differs from other types of progression, and how to ge...

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 Jason McCarthy, the CEO and founder of GORUCK , a company that creates rucking gear and hosts events to build communities and empower people. This interview isn’t about how to get started with rucking (I already have one about that). Instead it’s about Jason’s story, including why he started GORUCK and how it developed and grew over time. While GORUCK sells loads of hi...