Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

There’s no doubt that March 2020 upended hundreds of millions of lives. Here in the US (and a slew of other places around the world), lockdowns began with the aim to flatten the curve. In turn, this self-imposed (and government ordained) isolation has led to innumerable changes in our lives. Changes to what we do and how we work, changes to our relationships and how we interact with people (who ha...

This episode is a bit of an anomaly. It’s about applying scientific thinking to our lives and being willing to revise our ideas, beliefs, and actions, and learning one of the most important meta-skills: the ability to change our minds and be willing to admit we were wrong. I think that our ability to accomplish our goals and intentions in any area of our life depends in a very large part on this a...

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 three ques...

If you’ve heard any of my Book Club episodes of the podcast, you know I’m an avid reader and all-around bibliophile. I 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, the more you can do; the more you can do, the more opportunities you have to succeed. Life is overwhelmingly c...

When’s the last time you rocked, rolled, or did a set of head nods? These sound like things you might do at a heavy metal concert (RIP shows and in-person events), but I’m referring to simple exercises and movements you may want to incorporate into your routine. According to my guest on this podcast, Tim Anderson, these movements act as a sort of “reset” that you can use to improve movement qualit...

Concurrent training is the technical term for including both cardio and strength training in your workout routine. Generally, the goal is to get better at both types of training simultaneously. That is, you’re trying to gain muscle and strength by lifting weights and improve your endurance by going faster and/or further in your cardio workouts. If you’ve spent any time in the fitness space, though...

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 three ques...

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...

At first blush, the phrase “body positivity” sounds like a wonderful thing. A movement that pushes health and being respectful of your body and proud of your physique can help people eat healthier, exercise, and avoid disease, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and more. Unfortunately, in many ways, extremists have co-opted the publicity, and turned “body positivity” into something that’s no longe...

Many people think building muscle as a vegan is an uphill battle, if not an unwinnable one. Once you understand how much protein you need to build muscle, and how much is in animal foods and how little in plant foods, it’s natural to wonder if you can build any muscle to speak of following a vegan diet. Well, you can, though it’s more difficult than it is for omnivores. The truth is you absolutely...

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...

I’ve always said if you can change your body, you can change your life . Working out and getting in shape makes us better at everything. So it’s no surprise that many people who start paying attention to their diet and training also start to evaluate other areas of their life. One of those areas is a place where we spend a lot of our waking hours: work. Countless people these days live as zombies-...

If you’ve spent any time in a gym in the past decade, you’re probably familiar with the benefits of a good pre-workout supplement. You know, things like increased strength, endurance, and power, and heightened energy, mood, and focus. You’re probably also familiar with their downsides—energy crashes, disrupted sleep, jitters, nausea, indigestion, and more. Even if you haven’t encountered these pro...

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 three ques...

In this episode, I interview Nicole, who read Thinner Leaner Stronger and used what she learned to lose over 100 pounds while gaining significant amounts of muscle. After having her third child, Nicole was over 260 pounds and embarrassed by letting herself get to that point. She got fed up and decided to make a change, but she wasn’t sure what to do to get fit. Like many women, she was intimidated...

There’s no question that Navy SEALs are veritable ripsnorters. They’ve had a reputation as free-wheeling bruisers since the 1960s, but their recent missions in the Middle East and increased media coverage have propelled them to near mythical status. (There’s even a genre of romance novels about SEALs now). As they’ve gained popularity, journalists, screenwriters, bloggers, YouTubers, and even gove...

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 three ques...

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...

It’s time for your regularly scheduled departure from the usual diet and training escapades. That’s right, my fellow chin-scratchers, it’s time to don your thinking caps because this episode is part of my non-fitnessy series with Pat Flynn in which we discuss philosophical topics. What makes this episode particularly special, though, is we’re joined by Dr. Jim Madden in my first roundtable format...

Put some weight in a backpack. Put on the backpack. Walk. That’s rucking in a nutshell. While rucking is simple, it’s also one of the most underrated kinds of cardio you can do: It burns a boatload of calories It boosts your cardiovascular fitness It’s easy to recover from It’s versatile (you can do it anywhere) And, it’s social—you can easily do it with a group What’s more, it’s also very easy to...

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 three ques...

“Hey bro, we’ve been stretching for an hour, can we start lifting now?” “Yeah right! We’ve only stretched our quads so far. It’s time for the hammies!” Conversations like this happen between gym buddies everyday across the iron kingdom, but luckily I’ve never been part of one. In fact, many people in the gym have noticed I don’t stretch much, and asked what my mobility routine is. I’ve touted the...

Progress comes easy when you first start lifting weights. You show up and get stronger almost without even trying. As you get stronger, though, smooth sailing turns into choppy waters. Progress stops being linear. Some weeks you’re a little weaker, other weeks you’re a little stronger, and it becomes harder to tell if you’re really getting stronger or not over time. At this point, the best way to...

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 three ques...

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...