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If you want to know how to build muscle, lose fat, and be healthier, happier, and wiser…faster than you ever thought possible…then this podcast is for you. Hosted by the bestselling author and entrepreneur, Mike Matthews, each episode gives you simple, science-based know-how and inspiration that will help you build your best body and life ever.
Find out more at www.legionathletics.com
Copyright: © Mike Matthews
If you want to gain muscle and strength as quickly as possible, you have to maintain a slight calorie surplus. Unless you’re new to weightlifting, there’s just no way around it. In the end, energy balance impacts muscle gain just as much as fat loss.
The unfortunate “side effect” is unwanted fat gain, of course, because even mild overeating will raise body fat levels over time.
Can you get around this by including a “fat burner” or two in your supplement regimen while bulking, though?
Well, the short answer is no, and in this episode, you’ll find out why.
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When I started working out, I was just over six feet tall and weighed about 155 lbs.
I was your average skinny dude.
After about 1.5 years of traditional “bodybuilder workouts,” I was … shall we say … a little less skinny.
I had gained about 20 pounds since starting in the gym (~175 pounds), which isn’t very impressive considering most of it was gained in the first 10 months — the “newbie gains” phase.
After 7 years, I weighed around 190 lbs, and was about 16% body fat.
A big change from where I had started, of course, but that means that in 5 to 6 years, I had gained just 10 to 15 pounds of muscle.
Again, not very impressive considering how much time and work I had put into my training.
Well, this is where I decided to get serious about educating myself on the science of muscle building and fat loss, and I quickly discovered that I was making a lot of mistakes.
For example, I was working exclusively in the 10 to 12 rep range and doing a lot of isolation exercises instead of compound exercises, and I thought you just had to “eat big to get big” and “eat clean to get lean.”
This was a turning point.
I dramatically changed the way that I was eating and training.
I’m currently 193 pounds and 9% body fat, which means that while things have slowed down (as they should), I’ve continued to gain a bit of muscle year after year.
How much will I ultimately be able to gain, though? How big will I be able to get without having to turn to steroids?
Well, that’s what this episode is about.
By the end, you’re going to know what determines how much muscle you can gain, approximately how much muscle you can gain, and why some people can gain more and some less.
13:41 - What determines how much muscle you can build naturally?
16:15 - How does our muscle structure relate to our muscularity?
18:19 - What bodily factor most influences how quickly you can gain muscle?
21:29 - How much muscle am I going to be able to gain?
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Few things turn heads quite like a killer butt.
We just can’t help but oogle and think carnal things when we see a pair of round, perky glutes.
That’s why so many of us — guys and gals alike — want to know how to get our best butts ever.
And if you’re one of them, you’ve come to the right place because by the end of this episode, you’re going to know exactly what you need to do for more butt gains in the next 30 days than you’ve seen in the last 3 months.
(Hint: it’s more or less what you would think – train your backside a lot – but isn’t that simplistic.)
I have to warn you, though — it’s not going to be easy.
You can’t get a set of god(dess)-like glutes by “eating clean” and doing bodyweight squats and donkey kicks.
So if you’re looking for “weird tricks” or “workout hacks,” then this isn’t for you.
If, however, you’re ready to learn the simple science of building a badass butt, and if you’re ready to put in some work, you need to listen to this episode.
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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 one thing to know what you want to do, but it’s something else altogether to actually make yourself do it, and I hope that this series gives you a jolt of inspiration, energy, and encouragement to get at it.
So, if you like what you hear, then make sure to check back every Monday morning for the latest and greatest installment.
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: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/
Contrary to the title, it’s not just for artists. It’s for anyone that wants to make a good life for themselves and their families.
It’s a tribute to persistence and industry, and some of its core messages are…
Don’t just wander through life from pillar to post. Find something that matters to you and pursue it passionately.
Don’t whine about how much hard work it takes to succeed. Learn to love the work and despise failure and quitting, instead.
Don’t let your feelings dictate your actions. What you want is rarely what you need, and you can create the right feelings by taking the right actions.
Don’t wait for inspiration. That’s how amateurs stay amateurs. Do the work, grind it out, and eventually you’ll get inspired.
These bits of advice are all well and good, but what really makes it stand out among the many other books that say many of the same things is it doesn’t just tell us what we “should” be doing to succeed, which is pretty commonsensical, really, but it goes deeper, and tries to get at WHY we find it so hard.
The biggest obstacle in our way, Pressfield says, is something he calls “Resistance,” which is the central theme of the book.
He defines Resistance as a mysterious force within us that works to sabotage our dreams and abilities and prevent us from creating the life that we really want.
Pressfield points out that most of us have two lives, the life we live, and the unlived life within us, and Resistance’s sole mission is to ensure that we never realize that unlived life. That we remain small, weak, and unhappy.
That’s why Resistance resists any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. It will tell us anything to keep us from doing any of those things. It will feed us all kinds of enticing excuses, justifications, and bargains. You know...we’re too tired right now...we can just do it later...we’ve been working hard enough or maybe even too hard...why not start next week...does it really matter?...is it really that important?
We’ve all been there, and I think Pressfield is right that this alone is one of the biggest barriers that we face in creating the type of life that we want.
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No matter how big your arms, chest, or back are…an upper body just isn’t complete without well-developed shoulders.
Now, if you’re listening to this podcast, I don’t think I have to do much to convince you to build bigger, stronger shoulders. You’re sold. You just need to know how.
I bet you’ve tried too. You’ve poured who knows how many hours of time and gallons of sweat into your delts only to be disappointed. I know how that goes.
The reality is anyone who says building impressive shoulders is easy is lying. It takes a lot of work–the right work–and patience. It can be done though. And this episode is going to show you how.
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.com/signup/
In this episode, interview author and researcher Dr. Anthony Jay about a topic that isn’t discussed much in the fitness space at least, and that’s how estrogen-like chemicals that we’re exposed to every day can lower testosterone and raise estrogen levels in our bodies.
Most “testosterone talk” revolves around using diet, training, supplements, and even drugs to boost testosterone production, and while that’s one way to do it, there’s also the other side of that coin: removing impediments to testosterone production, which include these estrogen-mimicking chemicals.
Here’s a little sneak peek of what you’ll learn in this episode:
- How phytoestrogens and mycoestrogens present in certain plant foods can interfere with your hormones.
- Why an imbalance in sex hormones can promote weight gain.
- A nasty little trick companies use to make you think their plastics are free of estrogen-mimicking chemicals when they're not.
- Five things you can do right now to dramatically reduce your exposure to artificial estrogens and see marked improvements in your hormone profile.
- And more...
Listen to this episode and let me know what you think!
Also, if you like the discussion and want to learn more about how these chemicals affect your body and what you can do to minimize their impact, definitely check out Dr. Jay’s book Estrogeneration.
6:05 - What are artificial estrogens, how are we exposed to them, and why?
7:42 - What are the chemicals that act like estrogen in our body?
11:15 - How are we exposed to artificial estrogens?
13:43 - What are BPA and phthalates?
19:46 - How does high estrogen levels affect our body?
23:38 - What can we do to lower the artificial estrogens levels in our body?
32:59 - How can I measure the artificial estrogens in my body?
36:44 - Why is there a political discrepancy between Europe and America over artificial estrogen?
46:13 - What is epigenetics?
50:09 Where can people find your books?
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When it comes to getting fit, or getting good at anything, really, there are two distinct phases:
1. Learning and applying the fundamentals.
2. Learning and applying ways to optimize your results.
And if you want to build muscle and strength faster, eating protein before bed can help…
…but it’s not nearly as important as some people would have you believe.
You see, eating protein before bed falls squarely in bucket #2 above. If you don’t have the fundamentals in place, such as…
- properly calculating and counting your calories and macros…
- emphasizing heavy, compound weightlifting in your training…
- following a sensibly designed workout program…
…when you eat protein simply won’t matter.
And nor will many other things, like what types of supplements you take, how many carbs you eat, how “clean” your diet is, how often you change up your workouts, and much more.
Once you have #1 squarely in place (fundamentals), though, and you’re looking for ways to get more out of your training, then it makes sense to start dipping into #2 (optimization).
And this episode will help.
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.com/signup/
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 one thing to know what you want to do, but it’s something else altogether to actually make yourself do it, and I hope that this series gives you a jolt of inspiration, energy, and encouragement to get at it.
So, if you like what you hear, then make sure to check back every Monday morning for the latest and greatest installment.
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: www.muscleforlife.com/signup/
It seems like every time you turn around, there’s a new weight loss supplement clamoring for your attention.
You know, one that promises to shrink your belly fat, curb your appetite, or maybe even allow you to eat anything you damn well please and still lose weight.
It all sounds great at first, but by now, most of us realize the idea of a “weight loss pill” is, at bottom, bunk.
No amount of pills or powders alone can give us the lean bodies we want.
Does that mean we should write off weight loss supplements entirely, though?
Not so fast.
When you look at the scientific research, evidence suggests some weight loss supplements can actually move the needle and thus are worth considering.
You just have to know what to look for and how they affect your body, so you can use them properly.
And that brings us to yohimbine.
It’s often found in pre-workout supplements (because it’s a light stimulant) and fat burner supplements (because it purportedly accelerates weight loss), but what is it exactly?
Does it actually help with weight loss? What about dosing and side effects? Is it dangerous?
Well, this episode is going to answer all those questions and more.
By the end, you’re going to know exactly what yohimbine can and can’t do and you can then decide if it’s worth your money.
3:57 - What is yohimbine?
5:59 - Why do people supplement with yohimbine?
7:04 - How well does yohimbine work?
11:16 - What's the clinically effective dosage of yohimbine?
12:54 - What types of results should I expect from yohimbine?
14:25 - What are the side effects of yohimbine?
15:51 - Which product of yohimbine do you recommend?
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.com/signup/
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