Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

In this podcast, I interview Jeff Nippard, who’s a professional bodybuilder and online coach that produces a lot of great content on YouTube. I came across Jeff thanks, once again, to Cory, who works with me in my supplement company Legion. She turned me on to his YouTube channel and I really liked a video he made on glute training and figured it would make a good podcast because while I’ve writte...

In this podcast I interview Paul Revelia from prophysique.com. I got introduced to Paul’s work from Cory, who works within Legion, and immediately liked him. He’s a lifelong athlete and natural bodybuilder, he has a lot of hands-on experience coaching men and women of all ages and circumstances, and he not only really knows his stuff, but he also touches on quite a few aspects of diet and exercise...

In this podcast I interview James Krieger from Weightology.net. James is a published scientist, author, and speaker, and someone whose work has really helped me better understand the fundamentals of losing fat, building muscle, and staying healthy. He has a knack for breaking down complex ideas and systems into easily digested morsels, which is what I strive to do in my work as well. So, in this i...

In this podcast I interview Menno Hennselmans, from BayesianBodybuilding.com, and we talk about how genetics affects your muscle and strength gains and aesthetics. I thought Menno would be the perfect person to talk to about this because he’s one of the leaders of the evidence-based fitness movement, and one of a handful of people in this space whose work I regularly follow and recommend. So, if y...

This is an interview with professional bodybuilder and coach Alberto Nunez from Team 3DMJ on how to spot and fix muscle imbalances. I thought Alberto would be the perfect guy to talk to about this because he not only talks the talk, but he walks the walk. He’s an accomplished bodybuilder with an absolutely insane physique, and he and his team have also helped hundreds of other bodybuilders build t...

In this podcast I interview Jeff Alberts, who’s an accomplished natural bodybuilder with nearly three decades of experience competing, and 2 pro card wins, 16 class titles, 26 top 3 finishes, and first place in the 2014 IFPA Pro International. As you’d expect from someone with so much bodybuilding experience, Jeff’s also an accomplished coach. He’s worked with hundreds of athletes over the last 5...

In this episode, I have Sohee Lee back on the podcast to talk about some of the key habits and mindsets of people that succeed in achieving their fitness and goals versus those that don’t. In case you’re not familiar with Sohee, she’s a writer, coach, and bikini competitor, and, like me, she works hard to spread the good word about the actual science of proper diet, nutrition, and exercise. In thi...

Andrea is a figure competitor, powerlifter, and natural bodybuilding coach working with the 3D Muscle Journey team, who I’ve been interviewing one after another because, well, they’re great. When I reached out to Andrea, she proposed that we talk about something I myself have been wanting to comment on: the state of the online coaching space. With Instagram, Snapchat, and fitness getting more and...

In this podcast I interview the one and only...the inimitable Lyle McDonald. Lyle is a health and fitness researcher and writer, and I have to say, one of my favorite authors in the space. He’s the first person that I found in my journey whose work really resonated with me, so it’s pretty cool to sit down and chat fitness with him. What I like most about his work is not just that he really knows h...

In this episode I interview Eric Helms, who’s one of the premier natural bodybuilding coaches in the game. He’s a member of the 3DMJ coaching team and is himself a professional natural bodybuilder and strength athlete, as well as an author and credentialed scientist with several peer-reviewed publications under his belt. I reference his work quite frequently in my writing, actually, so it was a re...

In this podcast, I interview Lisa J., who followed my Thinner Leaner Stronger program for 9 months and lost just 3 pounds but completely upgraded her physique. Before finding TLS, Lisa had felt "skinny fat" for as long as she could remember, and now she has guys coming up to compliment her on her strength and ask for weightlifting advice. Hah! In the interview, we talk about Lisa's journey and wha...

This episode of the podcast is a recording of my last live Q&A, and in it I answer questions on things like the limits of newbie gains, how to improve posture, teenage weightlifting and stunting growth, training for strength, hypertrophy, and endurance, and more. If you want to get in on the next live QA, go here: https://www.legionathletics.com/qa. 03:05 - Is there an age when newbie gains wo...

In this podcast I interview Dr. Matt Fontaine, who’s a fantastic sports doctor in the Washington DC area that I’ve been seeing for a lingering bit of biceps tendonitis that has been getting in the way of my pressing. Matt has been practicing sports medicine for nearly 15 years and has worked with everyone ranging from professional baseball players and triathletes to weekend runners and Crossfit wa...

This is the second part of a two-part interview with the always enlightening and entertaining Mark Rippetoe, who you’ve probably heard of if you take fitness seriously. In case you don’t know who Mark is, though, he was a competitive powerlifter for a decade and is the author of several books, including two classics that everyone that’s into weightlifting should read–Starting Strength and Practica...

This is the first part of a two-part interview with the always enlightening and entertaining Mark Rippetoe, who you’ve probably heard of if you take fitness seriously. In case you don’t know who Mark is, though, he was a competitor powerlifter for a decade and is the author of several books, including two classics that everyone that’s into weightlifting should read--Starting Strength and Practical...

In this episode I interview John Romaniello, author of the NYT bestseller Engineering the Alpha and founder of the multi-million dollar, multifaceted fitness business Roman Fitness Systems. We’re not going to talk fitness or business, though. Instead, we linked up to discuss something else altogether, and that’s how you and I can use the brilliant and groundbreaking work of a rather obscure compar...

This book will show you how to build muscle, lose fat, and get strong: http://goo.gl/lKNKWK In this podcast, I interview fellow writer, trainer, and, well, Mike, Mike Vacanti and we talk about how to get fit when you travel and are just insanely busy, how things change when you're very overweight, and why you shouldn't sweat the "little things" and use the bigger picture to stay on track. 5:27 - H...

In this podcast I take any and all questions and talk about third party testing for Legion, why some studies associate taking a multivitamin with increased risk of disease, how to eat more protein, taking fat burners while bulking, and much more. If you want to get in on the next one and ask me questions, sign up here: https://legionathletics.com/qa/ 03:26 - Are 5 day split workouts more effective...

In this podcast I answer the most common questions I get asked about body fat percentage, including how it's calculated, how to measure it, what's a healthy body fat percentage and what's not, and more... 04:08 - What is bodyfat percentage? 09:08 - What are healthy and unhealthy body fat percentages? 20:09 - How do you measure body fat percentage (DEXA, bio impedance, skin fold, etc.)? ARTICLES RE...

In this episode, I talk about several supplements that are supposed to help you build muscle faster and explain which work and which don't. 03:48 - The truth about supplement companies and "muscle building supplements." Which supplements don't help you build muscle? 13:53 - Natural testosterone boosters 20:41 - ZMA 25:03 - D-aspartic acid 29:20 - BCAAs 36:21 - HMB Which supplements help you build...

In this episode of the podcast I interview Jordan, who used my Bigger Leaner Stronger program to build the body he always wanted. We talk about switching from brodieting to flexible dieting, cutting while traveling, intermittent fasting, and more. Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.muscleforlife...

In this podcast, I interview author, coach, and fellow podcaster Ru Anderson on how we can gain control of our habits and then our fitness and ultimately our lives. 4:56 - The power of good (and bad) habits. 10:50 - Triggers, habits, and positive vs negative feedback. 15:32 - The 4 keys to forming new habits. 21:30 - The road to successful habits. 27:55 - Avoiding temptation vs. using willpower. 3...

In this podcast, I answer a handful of questions I'm often asked about teenage weightlifting and bodybuilding, like does it stunt growth or make girls bulky, is it dangerous, what is appropriate for different ages, supplementation, and much more. 3:26 - Will weightlifting stunt your growth? 4:27 - Will weightlifting make girls bulky? 11:44 - Is weightlifting dangerous for teenagers? 14:47 - What a...

The multivitamin supplement is a staple in many people’s lives, but is it really necessary? Can it even harmful? I break it all down in this episode of the podcast. 04:15 - A multivitamin sounds great...in theory. 08:19 - What's wrong with most multivitamins. 16:56 - Supplements vs. real food. 19:33 - Which multivitamin ingredients you are wasting money on? 26:22 - The multivitamin I take and why....

This podcast is a recording of the latest live Q&A I did over at Legion, and this time we're talking artificial sweeteners, ephedrine, weight gainers, doing research, myofascial release, and much more. If you want to get in on the next one and ask me questions, sign up here: https://legionathletics.com/qa/ 03:31 – Is this good HIIT cardio: Incline at 7.5 with 10 mph on a treadmill for 10 minut...