Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

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...

Leadership may sound glamorous, but it’s far different from what most people imagine. It’s hard work. It takes brains, grit, and persistence. You have to earn the trust and respect of your team. You have to do more than just learn new skills to become a good leader, too—you have to work on yourself to overcome the mental hurdles holding you back, including deeply-ingrained negative behaviors and e...

The number one reason people struggle to lose weight is they don’t stick to their diet. Why? Well, that’s the million dollar question. Some people get bored with their food choices, lack of progress, and daily routine, and revert to their old eating habits. Some people get thrown off course by a holiday, vacation, or unplanned restaurant outing and never pull themselves back on track. Others try t...

Today's episode is the story of a professional golfer named Dru Love (son of the Hall of Fame golfer, Davis Love III), and how my team of coaches helped Dru lose close to 40 pounds and gain a bunch of strength and muscle. When Dru was first introduced to me and my work, he was struggling with his body composition and fitness. He’s 6’5” and at the time weighed about 250 pounds. He had no idea what...

I don’t appear on many podcasts these days, but when I do, I like to share the conversation here on my podcast if it’s something I think all you beautiful people will enjoy listening to. And that’s what this episode is—a conversation I had with Cody McBroom on his The Boom Boom Performance Podcast where I pontificate about what should change as you transition from a beginner to an intermediate lif...

Optimal training frequency is a hotly debated subject. Some believe you should train your entire body two to three times per week, whereas others think this approach will lead to overtraining, injury, and burnout. Anecdotal evidence is all over the place as well. Skim through online forums and chat with fellow gym goers and you’ll hear stories of fantastic progress training major muscle groups jus...

“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...

This episode 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. As we all know, it’...

“I don’t have time to workout.” “Eating properly is too hard.” “I’ve tried it all before. Fitness just doesn’t work for me.” I get hundreds of emails every day and often hear stuff like that, and especially from folks in their mid-30s and 40s. Whether they’ve fallen off the wagon and want to get in shape again, or have never really tried to achieve any serious fitness goals, these people are frust...

Weight loss can seem wildly complex. Some say that carbs are the culprit when it comes to weight gain, and going low-carb is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off for good. Others say that weight loss goes beyond carbs—it’s about the quality of your diet. If you avoid toxins, lectins, phytates, and other nutritional bogeymen that are menacing your metabolism, the pounds fall right...

“When’s your next book coming out?” “What kind of supplements are you going to release next?” “What would you name your boat if you had one?” I’m asked questions like these all the time and so I thought I’d start doing monthly updates about what’s new and exciting here at Legion HQ. So here’s a quick hosedown of what me and my jolly band of pirates and bums have been up to lately. Enjoy! --- Menti...

As you can imagine, I’ve heard many January resolutions over the years. “This is my year. I’m finally going to lose 20 pounds.” “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I’m going to get fit again!” “I’m going to set an example for my friends, family, spouse, kids, etc.” And I’ve seen many people, when armed with the right know-how and an extra helping of piss and vinegar, do exactly as they in...

One of the main reasons many guys get into working out is to be more attractive to women. And for good reason—it works. Men have known for thousands of years that women generally prefer men who are muscular, lean, and strong to those who are soft, fat, and weak, and modern research has vindicated this fact. This isn’t surprising, of course. Having a fit, healthy, athletic body is a good indicator...

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 questions:...

There are many different ways to program your training, many different exercises to choose from, and many ways to do them. Some methods and choices are better than others. Periodization, for example, helps keep the gears of gains greased as you move into the intermediate phase of your weightlifting journey and beyond. Supersets, on the other hand, are like supplements—a sometimes helpful but nones...

Fasting is becoming more and more popular. You have intermittent fasting, alternate day fasting, 24-hour fasting, the 5:2 diet, and endless other variations. And most of these methods don’t seem all that difficult or complex. Instead of evenly spacing your meals throughout the day, you eat all of your calories in a shorter period of time (usually 4 to 10 hours) and you don’t eat the rest of the ti...

You may not recognize Ethan Suplee’s name, but you’ve almost certainly seen his face. He’s appeared in quite a few blockbuster movies and hit T.V. shows such as Mallrats, Without a Paddle, American History X, Cold Mountain, Remember the Titans, My Name Is Earl, Chasing Amy, and many more. During much of this time, Ethan was big, tipping the scales at nearly 530 pounds at his heaviest. As he jokes...

Want to know what protein sparing modified fasting is, why people do it, and whether or not you should try it? Keep listening. You probably know trying to lose weight too fast is a mistake. You’re going to run into the hurdles of extreme hunger, lethargy, irritability, and the metabolic hobgoblins attendant to all crash diets. Plus, you’re walking a tightrope where one misstep could lead to a bing...

There’s a lot of confusion and debate about how muscle fiber types relate to muscle growth. Some people say only fast-twitch muscle tissue can get big and strong and some of us naturally have more or less of it and can’t change that regardless of what we do in the gym. Others say both fast- and slow-twitch muscle can grow bigger and stronger and the makeup of our muscles is malleable, but we shoul...

Every year, a couple health and wellness books go great guns, saturating the airwaves and selling millions of copies. You know, books like How Not to Die, Grain Brain, and Why We Get Fat. The talk of the town is currently Dr. Steven Gundry’s The Plant Paradox, which claims the conventional advice of eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is flawed and in many cases even harmful. In oth...

Confucius once said that life is simple but we insist on making it complicated. Come again? What’s simple about the myriad demands, dilemmas, and dealings of everyday life that push and pull on our body, mind, and soul? What’s simple about love, success, health, wisdom, satisfaction, spirituality, and the rest of the brass rings we all strive for? Many times, life appears overwhelmingly complex, l...

The pendulum of workout programming is always a swingin’. Some people say frequency is the ticket. You know, you have to squat every day if you want big legs, and if you’re squatting once a week, you’ll always have pinions. Others claim absurd amounts of volume is the key. If you’re not doing 20 to 40 sets per muscle group per week, you’re basically an unlifting slug. And others still beat the dru...

Plant-based diets are more popular than ever, and for good reason. Research shows that people who eat an abundance of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains tend to live longer and stay healthier than those who eat little. You probably know this and, understandably, are considering a major overhaul to your diet, but aren’t wholly sold on the idea of cutting out animal products entirel...

When I first heard about heart rate variability (HRV), I was expecting it to be yet another lame “biohacking” gimmick. The pitch is by analyzing the rhythm of your heart beat with special software, you can gauge how stressed your body is and adjust accordingly. For instance, if you wake up and your HRV indicates your body is overstressed, you may want to save the heavy squat or deadlift workout fo...

If you’re serious about weightlifting, one of the worst things that can happen is getting stuck. Your workouts become robotic chores, you stop giving each exercise your all, and you begin to wonder if you’re simply at the end of your genetic rope for muscle and strength gain. This is particularly true of isolation exercises like the dumbbell side raise, barbell curl, calf raise, and the like. For...