Muscle for Life

There’s no doubt heavy drinking is a ticket to an early death. The CDC estimates 88,000 Americans die annually from alcohol-related causes, which includes car accidents, a cornucopia of cancers, and liver disease. Fifteen million Americans are believed to have an alcohol dependency disorder, and until recently alcohol killed more people than opioids. That’s not to mention the disastrous effects of alcoholism on quality of life, mental health, productivity, and relationships. Of course, you’ve heard all this before, and don’t need me to tell you heavy drinking can ruin and shorten your life. That said, you’ve also probably heard that moderate drinking is good for you. That’s the claim doctors, scientists, and beverage companies have promoted for years—heavy drinking is bad for you and moderate drinking is beneficial. Now, though, the pendulum is swinging in the other direction after a series of studies emerged that seemed to show alcohol is dangerous in any amount. For example, CNN published an article titled

Chase Chewning hasn’t had an easy time of it. When he was still a teenager, he lost his father to Lou Gehrig’s disease. A few years later while he was in the army, he got seriously injured, requiring multiple surgeries, and got medically discharged. Chase’s life was in shambles. His body was broken, his mind was muddled, and his spirit was shattered. He had no money, no job, and no purpose. What he did have, though, was a lesson his father taught him—one he shares in our interview—that he used to emerge from this dark period and regain his physical and emotional strength, build a popular podcast and following online, and launch successful coaching and media consulting businesses that allow him to make a living doing work he loves and believes deeply in. In this episode, Chase shares his story, including . . . The transformative “gift” that his late father gave him How he ended up getting discharged from the army The experience of going “all in” on entrepreneurship and quitting a stable career How to stand out

Look at most popular pre-workout supplements and you’ll find they have several ingredients common. L-citrulline is one of them. Its name comes from citrullus, the Latin word for watermelon, which is a natural source of it. Other food sources include peanuts, soybeans, and kidney beans. Most supplements aren’t all that special and can’t live up to the hype, but, as you’ll see, L-citrulline is one of the proven winners. And in this podcast, we’re going to answer all your questions: - What is L-citrulline? - What are its benefits and side effects? - How much do you have to take to see results? - What’s the best way to supplement with it? - And more… Let’s start at the top. 9:57 - How did citrulline get its name? 10:27 - What is l-citrulline? 11:40 - Why do people supplement with l-citrulline? 14:09 - What are the benefits of supplementing with l-citrulline? 19:24 - How much l-citrulline do I need to take to get the benefits? 23:24 - How do I get l-citrulline? --- Mentioned on The Show: Shop Legion Supplements He

You’ve probably heard that masturbation can drain your testosterone levels, dampen your drive to work out, and decrease muscle growth. This idea that masturbation (or more specifically, ejaculation) hinders muscle building and athletic performance goes all the way back to ancient Greek and Roman times, when athletes would refrain from sex before athletic contests. It turns out this idea still persists among many modern athletes. As former heavyweight boxing champion David Haye said, “I don’t ejaculate for six weeks before the fight. No sex, no masturbation, no nothing. It releases too much tension. It releases a lot of minerals and nutrients that your body needs, and it releases them cheaply.” Hmm . . . sounds an awful lot like an international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. Perhaps he’s right. But what does the scientific literature say? Does masturbating interfere with your gains or your athletic performance? The short answer is no, it doesn’t, unless you masturb

Chances are good you found this podcast because you think you may have “man boobs.” And, chances are also good you’re willing to do just about anything to get rid of them. And I’d also wager you haven’t had much luck so far. Even when you manage to lose a few pounds your “moobs” don’t seem to shrink, and maybe you’re even wondering if you’ll need surgery to get rid of them. After all, many other guys are taking that route. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, male breast reduction surgeries increased 32% from 2000 to 2017, and in 2015 men accounted for 40% of all breast reduction surgeries. Is that really your only option, though? Is surgery the only way to get rid of man boobs? And even if you manage to get rid of them, are they just going to come back thanks to your genetics? The short answer is no, no, and no. The long answer is that most cases of “man boobs” are simply caused by having too high of a body fat percentage, and once you reduce your body fat percentage your man boobs will dis

What’s the best way to eat for optimal health—and brain health in particular—and longevity? That’s a question Max Lugavere is working to answer. When Max’s mother’s mental health began to decline, he became obsessed with how it could have been prevented. And that culminated in his first book, Genius Foods, which was a New York Times best-seller all about using diet and nutrition to help prevent dementia. Unfortunately, Max’s mother developed pancreatic cancer, which she died from shortly after. Max’s determination didn’t wane, though, and he’s since gone on to write his newest book, Genius Life, which expands on the premise of his first book to go beyond food and build a healthy lifestyle. In this episode, Max and I talk about . . . - Why many people don’t need to eat so many carbs - Misconceptions about olive oil for cooking - The effect of late-night eating on hunger hormones - Blue light blocking and magnesium for better sleep - And more . . . So, if you want to live a longer, healthier life while avoiding

As of right now, I’ve produced over 500 episodes of Muscle for Life, totaling over 700 hours of content. I’ve talked about 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 th

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 questions: 1. Should I do touch and go deadlifts or should I pause between reps? 2. How quickly should I expect results with muscle gain and fat loss? 3. How much sugar can I eat and still be healthy? 4. I’ve used online calculators to determine my ideal calorie intake, how come I’m not losing or gaining weight? 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. Recommended reading for this episode: legionathletics.com/paused-reps/ legionathletics.com/sugar-facts/ legionathletics.com/how-many-calori…s-should-i-eat/ Timestamps: 1:

I’m pretty sure that’s how the “Gallon of Milk a Day,” or GOMAD Diet was conceived. It’s equally simple to follow because the name alone tells you everything you need to know: You drink an entire gallon of milk every day. (You eat other food too, of course, but you’re not following the diet unless you’re getting down that gallon.) Most people would say that’s silly, but when you’re struggling to gain weight and have tried just about everything but steroids, well, why not? I mean, there are plenty of jacked dudes on the Internet that swear by GOMAD for gaining muscle fast and hitting PRs, so who knows…maybe there’s really something to it? Unfortunately, it’s not that black and white. Yes, GOMAD can help you gain weight faster…but a lot of it isn’t going to be the type of weight that you want to gain (fat). You see, putting down a couple thousand calories of milk per day will certainly move the needle to the right, but it isn’t going to do much good for your body composition. It’s not going to do your gut any f

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 it—nobody is always right about everything. And especially in fields like diet and exercise, which are constantly evolving thanks to the efforts of honest and hardworking researchers and thought leaders. This is why I’m always happy to hear from people who disagree with me, especially when they have good arguments and evidence to back up their assertions. Sometimes I can’t get on board with their positions, but sometimes I end up learning something, and either way, I always appreciate the discussion. That gave me the idea for this series of podcast episodes: publicly addressing things people disagree with me on and s

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 emotions. Luckily, no matter your previous experience, you can become a better leader. And who better to learn from than Mark Divine, who’s releasing a new book on leadership called Staring Down the Wolf: 7 Leadership Commitments That Forge Elite Teams. In case you’re not familiar with Mark, he’s a master in mental toughness and leadership. He’s not just a New York Times bestselling author and creator of several multi-million dollar businesses (including SEALFIT and Unbeatable Mind), he was also a Navy SEAL for 20 years and climbed the rank of commander before retiring. So it goes without saying that Mark isn’t just t

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 to lose weight too fast and end up running into a quicksand of low-energy, irritability, hunger, and obsessive thoughts about food that causes them to binge and gain back much of the weight they lost. While those first two obstacles are relatively easy to solve, it’s that last one that’s often the bane of even the most experienced dieters. Losing weight requires that you maintain a calorie deficit for weeks or months on end. That is, you need to be eating fewer calories than you burn for quite some time to see a noticeable change in your appearance. Most people have no trouble maintaining a calorie deficit for a few d

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 to do with his diet because of all the myths he’d heard in the past. You’d be shocked what sort of fad diets make their way into professional sports, and most people don’t realize athletes don’t get good advice on how to eat, how to train, or how to do many things outside of how to play their sport. There are plenty of good coaches specific to their sport, but when it comes to diet and training, athletes have a lot of people giving them a lot of bad advice. And that was definitely the case with Dru. On the dietary side of things, he’d go from one extreme diet to the next, and fall off the wagon because it was too res

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 lifter, how I periodize the training in my new Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger 2.0 program (new book coming this summer!), the lean bulking study with Eric Helms that I’m funding, some supplement stuff like the value of intraworkout carb powders and CLA, and more. Hit play and let me know what you think! 4:00 - How different does training need to be for each individual? 13:46 - How do you convince people to dial back 30-40 sets per muscle group per week? 23:39 - When do these techniques become relative? 30:59 - What are your thoughts on periodization for muscle growth? 42:06 - What are your thoughts on building muscle on

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 just once per week as well as three, four, or even five times per week. Some weightlifters also mix it up, training different muscle groups with different frequencies. For example, some say smaller muscle groups like the shoulders, biceps, and calves should be trained three or four times per week but large muscle groups like the upper legs only need one intense workout per week. If you turn to the scientific literature for insight, you’ll get few reliable answers. Some studies seem to show higher frequencies work best and others show you can make equally good progress with fewer workouts per week. So, what should you d

“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, the more you can do; the more you can do, the more opportunities you have to succeed. On the flip side, I also believe there’s little hope for people who aren’t perpetual learners. Life is overwhelmingly complex and chaotic, and it slowly suffocates and devours the lazy and ignorant. So, if you’re a bookworm on the lookout for good reads, or if you’d like to get into the habit of reading, this book club for you. The idea here is simple: Every month, I’ll share a book that I’ve particularly liked, why I liked it, and several of my key takeaways from it. I’ll also keep things short and sweet so you can quickly decide wh

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’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 for the latest and greatest installment. --- Mentioned on The Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://legionathletics.com/shop/ --- 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.legionathletics.com/signup/

“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 frustrated. And I understand. Building muscle and losing fat isn’t easy. Creating a sustainable lifestyle that allows you to stay consistent over the long-haul is even harder. That’s especially true when you have a busy professional career and a spouse and family to attend to, and even more so if you also need to travel frequently. That’s why I invited Marc Perry back on the podcast. In case you’re not familiar with Marc, he's the creator of BuiltLean.com and specializes in helping men in their mid-30s and beyond create systems and habits that allow them to reach their fitness goals faster and enjoy themselves along the w

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 off. And others say that you just need to eat clean. Eat more fresh, whole, minimally processed foods and less junk, and you’ll lose weight like clockwork. Most trends ebb and flow in cycles—liberals and conservatives in power, booms and busts in the economy, and complexity and simplicity when it comes to popular diets. It’s not surprising then, that after several decades of fake doctors, fitness gurus, and marketers shilling complex diets like The Plant Paradox diet, the ketogenic diet, the carnivore diet, the military diet, and the like, that many people are yearning for a simpler approach. It’s not surprising, the

“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! --- Mentioned on The show: Books by Mike Matthews: legionathletics.com/products/books/ My Free Workout App Stacked: getstackedapp.com/ --- 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.legionathletics.com/signup/