Muscle for Life

Deciding which muscle groups to train together can be confusing. Most people say chest and triceps should be trained together, since they’re both involved in bench and overhead pressing. Others say you should train biceps with chest because your arms will still be fresh after benching, so you might as well train them together. Arnold was known for training his chest and back together, and if that was good enough for The Oak, then it should probably work for you, no? Other people still say that you shouldn’t program your workouts around individual muscle groups at all, but should simply focus on doing a lot of heavy squatting, deadlifting, and bench pressing or full-body training. So, how are you supposed to put all of this into an effective training plan that you enjoy? Well, I have good news for you: There is no “best” way to combine muscle groups together in your training. So long as you understand a few basic principles, there are many ways to combine them into workouts that not only work, but that you enj

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 questions: Is it a good idea to get a pump before hitting the weights? Are pronated grips or neutral grips better for engaging lats? How much does a mask help fight the transmission of viruses? If you have a question you’d like me to answer, leave a comment below or if you want a faster response, send an email to mike@muscleforlife.com. 4:09 - Is it a good idea to get a pump before hitting the weights? 17:41 - Are pronated grips or neutral grips better for engaging lats? 22:07 - How much does a mask help fight the transmission of viruses? --- Mentioned on The Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://legionath

Now that Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger 2.0 is successfully launched, it’s time to get back to your normal podcast programming . . . Well, not quite. This episode is not about health and fitness. It’s another conversation with Sal Di Stefano (of Mind Pump Media fame) and this time we’re discussing the topic of voting. We cover all sorts of tangential subjects to voting like taxes and free markets, but then we get to the crux: a discussion about democracy and what makes it work. Is America a pure democracy? How would mob rule actually play out? Is it always responsible to vote? We chat about these important questions, as well as many other topics, including . . . Why it’s ok to not vote (and why many people shouldn’t vote) What determines whether you should vote or not Why democracy is difficult to administer Why voting should probably be more restricted than it currently is What’s more powerful than voting And a lot more . . . Sound interesting? Listen in to our conversation and let me know wha

This episode is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my bestselling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is live now at www.bblsbook.com. In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@

This episode is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my bestselling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is live now at www.bblsbook.com. In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@

In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@legionsupplements.com . . . and voila, you’re entered in the giveaway. You have to act fast, though, because the launch bonanza ends and the winners will be chosen on October 16th. You

This episode is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my bestselling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is live now at www.bblsbook.com. In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@

This episode is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my bestselling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is live now at www.bblsbook.com. In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@

In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@legionsupplements.com . . . and voila, you’re entered in the giveaway. You have to act fast, though, because the launch bonanza ends and the winners will be chosen on October 16th. You

This episode is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my bestselling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is live now at www.bblsbook.com. In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@

This episode is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my bestselling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger, which is live now at www.bblsbook.com. In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@

In this book, you’ll learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that’ll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you’ll do it without following restrictive or exotic diets, putting in long hours at the gym, or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. Also, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including . . . 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly Vitamix blender WHOOP fitness tracker $200 Lululemon gift card One month of Legion VIP coaching Inzer weightlifting belt And much more . . . All you have to do for a chance to win is… Head over to bblsbook.com, and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0 (any format) Forward the receipt email to launch@legionsupplements.com . . . and voila, you’re entered in the giveaway. You have to act fast, though, because the launch bonanza ends and the winners will be chosen on October 16th. You

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 fasted cardio. Some episodes resonate with my crowd more than others, but all of them contain at least a few key takeaways that just about anyone can benefit from (that’s what I tell myself at least). And as cool as that is, it poses a problem for you, my dear listener: Ain’t nobody got time for that. Well okay, some people do make the time to listen to most or even all of my podcasts, but my wizbang analytics tell me that while many listeners tune in on a regular basis, they don’t catch every installment of Muscle for Life and thus miss out on insights that could help them get a little better inside and outside the gym.

In this episode, I interview Brannen, who used Bigger Leaner Stronger to cut from 186 pounds down to 171 all while building his inner strength to beat depression, anxiety, and even an alcohol habit. Before finding Bigger Leaner Stronger, Brannen was experiencing marital problems. A move cross-country as part of his enlistment in the Air Force and a toxic relationship left him emotionally exhausted and without a support network of family or friends. He started relying on alcohol to help him cope, which left him out of shape and depressed. Eventually he got divorced, but this took a lot of mental bandwidth and ultimately, he felt like he didn’t have much going for him. The good news is Brannen found Bigger Leaner Stronger, which gave him a step-by-step workout routine to follow, and he started eating healthier. He also started reading books and filled his time with leading his men while deployed. And when coronavirus hit and he couldn’t come home, he stayed the course and kept “doing the work.” Over time, his m

Building muscle when you’re new to weightlifting is mostly a game of patience and persistence. As long as you show up, finish your workouts, and follow a sensible diet plan, you’ll gain muscle and strength like clockwork. After your “newbie gains” dry up, though, progress comes in fits and starts. And it’s at this stage that many people cast their gaze about for more “advanced” training techniques, hacks, and shortcuts. Things like supersets, rest-pause sets, German Volume Training, and so forth. Another technique you may have heard of is known as doing cluster sets, which boils down to taking short breaks during your sets, but resting less between each set. Some people say this method triggers muscle growth above and beyond what you could achieve with traditional weightlifting, while others say it’s a pointless gimmick. Who’s right? Can cluster sets help you gain muscle and strength? And if so, are they better than more traditional training styles? You’re going to learn the answers to these questions and mor

What’s the best way to get big and strong? Some people say that the only way to get big is to get strong, and the best way to get strong is to stick to the big lifts. Do a lot of heavy compound weightlifting, and you’ll naturally get bigger as you gain strength. In other words, anything that’s not the squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift is a more or less a waste of time and effort. On the flip side of the coin, some claim that if you want to get big, you need to blast your muscles with tons of reps on isolation exercises to really concretize the “mind-muscle connection” and gain size. In fact, they claim, you don’t have to do any compound lifts to get bigger and doing big lifts like deadlifts and squats cause more fatigue than necessary, limiting how much work you can do on accessory exercises. Who’s right? As is usually the case, the truth is somewhere in the middle, and in this episode, I speak with Mark Rippetoe on the best ways to incorporate assistance exercises in a strength training routin

This episode is a bit of a curveball. While not a health or fitness topic per se, the subject of this episode is tangentially related. Specifically, the topic is privilege and the idea that it’s wrong for some people to enjoy advantages that others don’t get to enjoy, and that equal outcome should be our goal. In other words, inequality should be corrected through government policies and societal norms. According to some people, equality of opportunity isn’t enough. The only way to have a fair society is to have equality of outcomes. That’s the real sign that you have a system that works for everyone. Privilege is at odds with this idea. And while many people have heard of “white privilege” in recent times, that’s just one head of the hydra that needs to be lopped off to slay the beast of entitlement. Is that the right frame of reference, though? Is privilege really at the core of our socioeconomic and racial dysfunctions here in the West? Is it something we should systematically mitigate or eliminate altoget

Have you ever thought to yourself . . . “Do I really have to do this now?” “I can just do this tomorrow.” Or like me “Let me clean the entire kitchen first, before I record this podcast.” Procrastination is extremely common, and it’s likely impossible to find someone who never procrastinates. Even when it involves things we truly enjoy doing we still find ourselves procrastinating.  (I love writing, but it still took me way too long to sit down and record this podcast.) In fact, research done on college students tells us that 50% procrastinate on academic tasks at least half the time. And in the overall population, 20% are chronic procrastinators. This isn’t a new phenomenon. Even prior to Instagram’s pulling us into unconscious scrolling, procrastination existed. In 800 B.C., the Greek poet Hesiod, cautioned against the dangers that come with “putting your work off till tomorrow and the day after.” Not only does procrastination present issues for getting work done in a timely manner, but research done i

Google “how fast should I lose weight,” and you’ll get the same answer pretty much everywhere: One pound per week. And that’s not bad advice. You’ve probably heard that a pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. To lose a pound of fat per week, then, you just need to eat 500 fewer calories per day than you burn (500 x 7 = 3,500). Simple, easy to remember, and doable for most people. There’s just one problem with this little weight loss heuristic: If you have 25, 50, or 100+ pounds to lose, losing one pound per week means you’ll be dieting for months if not years. That’s a long row to hoe, especially if you’ve tried and failed to lose weight many times in the past. Now for the good news: If you’re very overweight (25+% body fat as a man or 35+% as a woman), you can probably lose a lot more than one pound of fat per week. In fact, if you know what you’re doing with your diet and training, you may be able to safely lose two, three, or even four pounds of fat per week. Of course, this strategy isn’t without downside

Meat has become more and more controversial of late. Some say its damaging effects are on par with smoking, and others even claim we should apply a special “health tax” on meat eaters. The contrarians say meat has a number of positive health benefits, very few downsides, and most of the research showing otherwise is on low-quality processed meats. And others take a middle-of-the-road outlook and say meat might cause some health problems in large amounts, but it’s healthy in moderation. Looking at the scientific evidence only further muddies the waters. If you look online, you’ll find some studies that seem to show meat is bad for you, some studies that show it’s benign, and others that seem to show it’s good for you. In the past few years, though, the pendulum of public opinion has swung hard in the “meat is bad for you” direction, largely thanks to several position statements from major health authorities. Who’s right? Well, the short answer is meat probably isn’t as bad for you as many news outlets claim, a