Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

This episode is one of the 37 chapters of the new third edition of my bestselling fitness books Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger, which is now live everywhere you can buy books online. I’m thrilled to release this new edition of the books because it has been in the making for about four years now, and has been reorganized and rewritten from scratch to make it as clear, practical,...

This episode is one of the 37 chapters of the new third edition of my bestselling fitness books Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger, which is now live everywhere you can buy books online. I’m thrilled to release this new edition of the books because it has been in the making for about four years now, and has been reorganized and rewritten from scratch to make it as clear, practical,...

This episode is one of the 37 chapters of the new third edition of my bestselling fitness book Thinner Leaner Stronger, which is now live everywhere you can buy books online. I’m thrilled to release this new edition of the book because it has been in the making for about four years now, and has been reorganized and rewritten from scratch to make it as clear, practical, and effective as possible. E...

This episode is one of the 37 chapters of the new third edition of my bestselling fitness book Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is now live everywhere you can buy books online. I’m thrilled to release this new edition of the book because it has been in the making for about four years now, and has been reorganized and rewritten from scratch to make it as clear, practical, and effective as possible. Ev...

Today is the day.  Today is the official launch day for my new fitness books, the third editions of Bigger Leaner Stronger (men) and Thinner Leaner Stronger (women).  Books that have helped thousands of men and women gain and lose tens of thousands of pounds of muscle and fat.  And even better, to celebrate this momentous occasion, the books (eBooks) are on sale for just 99 cents.  And no, there a...

When you first got into fitness, everything you read and everyone you spoke to said consistency is king. The more you put into your workout routine, the more you get out of it. There are no shortcuts or free lunches. You learn, you hustle, and hustle, and hustle, until…finally…you get the body you want. Don’t have time? You just don’t want it enough. Don’t feel like going to the gym? Same thing--s...

Do you ever feel like you’re just spinning your wheels in the gym? Are you having trouble remembering the last time you added any real weight to the bar on any of your key lifts? Has your body weight and body fat percentage been hovering in the same range for what seems like forever? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, I get it. I’ve been there myself and understand the frustration fi...

If you've been lifting weights for any amount of time, you've undoubtedly heard about "advanced" training techniques like drop sets, supersets, forced reps, negatives, and the like. Years ago, I thought such methods were great ways to boost muscle and strength gain and so used to do quite a bit of them. These days, I do very little because I now know that straight hard sets are the bread and butte...

If you’re an experienced weightlifter, chances are good you experience the occasional aches, pains, and tightness that sometimes get in the way of your training. Maybe a shoulder is tight, which limits your benching, or your hips are stiff, which restricts your deadlifting, or your ankles aren’t flexible enough, which prevents you from achieving proper depth in your squatting. What can you do to o...

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 four quest...

In this episode I interview Corri, who recently completed my 90-day coaching service and dropped 12.5 pounds and 8% body fat, while getting stronger on all of her key lifts, and at 40 years old! AND after having a baby that she was nursing! Basically, Corri’s a perfect example of how there’s always a way to get into great shape if you want it enough, and that’s why I wanted to have her on the podc...

Biceps and abs are cool and all, but you know what really turns heads in the gym? Being strong. Really strong. You know, bench pressing a few plates, and squatting and deadlifting a few more. Getting really strong also inevitably builds you a great physique. In fact, as a natural weightlifter, your number one goal should be increasing whole-body strength, not getting big pumps or "feeling the burn...

While there are many ways to thrive in many sectors of today’s modern economy, there’s no arguing that it’s getting harder and harder to identify and capitalize on these opportunities. Robots and AI are eliminating jobs, globalization and the democratization of high-quality education is expanding the talent pool, and customers are becoming more selective, sophisticated, and stipulating. To overcom...

Protein powders and drinks are more popular than ever for good reason: They’re convenient, tasty, affordable, and in most cases, well-digested, well-absorbed, and rich in essential amino acids vital to gaining and preserving muscle and strength. They also make eating a high-protein diet a cinch. A few meals per day with a protein shake or two thrown into the mix gets the job done, regardless of ho...

It’s one thing to talk about finding opportunities where others only see obstacles . . . . . . seeing the silver lining in difficult situations . . . . . . turning coal into diamonds . . . . . . but it’s something else entirely to actually behave this way when the chips are down and to then actually win against all odds. Bedros is someone who has done just that. Most people know him as the founder...

Hafthor Bjornsson is the strongest man in the world, and in this podcast, he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be him, a 6’9, 420-pound man who can squat, deadlift, and bench press over 2,500 pounds. He’s also the 2018 champion of the World’s Strongest Man competition (and hopefully the 2019 champion by the time this episode goes live), which involves incredible feats like . ....

I realize this is a curious recommendation based on what I normally suggest, but I’m including it in the series because I think it’s an important and timely read. To understand why, consider the following from a speech the author gave in 1961: “There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so t...

“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 and MFL HQ. So here’s a quick hosedown of what me and my jolly band of pirates and bums have been up to lately. Enjoy! W...

If you work out or do just about anything physically challenging often enough, chances are you’re going to have to deal with an injury or two along the way, even if they’re just minor issues like muscle strains, tendonitis, joint aggravations, and the like. In most cases, a little extra R&R is all it takes to heal up, but if an injury is more severe, there’s a lot more you can do to accelerate...

In this podcast, I want to share what I've learned on calculating body fat percentage, including ... What “body fat percentage” means. The pros and cons of popular ways of calculating body fat percentage. How to determine your body fat percentage with a fair amount of accuracy. Why obsessing over body fat percentage is counterproductive (and what to do instead). And more. Let's get started. 5:37 -...

In this podcast, I talk with my friend and fellow podcaster, Adam Schafer, who’s the co-host of the popular podcast Mind Pump. Unlike most of my interviews, this isn’t a focused discussion so much as a fireside chat about things on our minds, and in particular, on the current trend of business mastermind groups that have been popping up left and right over the last few years like mushrooms and roa...

I'm going to make a couple assumptions as to why you're here. Sure, I know you want to learn about meal planning, but I'd wager a cheat meal that you're looking to achieve something very specific. Namely, weight loss or muscle growth or, God willing, a little bit of both If I'm right, this might be the most important meal planning piece you ever hear. I know I know...but seriously. That's not hype...

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 four quest...

In this episode I interview Laura, who recently completed my 90-day coaching service and dropped 8.5 pounds and 6.5% body fat, while getting stronger on all of her key lifts, and at 49 years old! She’s a perfect example of how it’s never too late to get into great shape. Regardless of your current age, condition, and history, you can lose fat, gain muscle, and get healthy, you can enjoy the proces...

This episode is part of a weekly 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: Every Monday morning, 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’s o...