Muscle for Life

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/

In this episode, I interview Mark Murphy, who is the founder and CEO of Leadership IQ, a leadership training services provider and the author of Hard Goals. Mark and his team have worked with companies like Microsoft, IBM, Mastercard, and other industry giants, and in this interview, we dive deep into what he has discovered about effective goal setting, including... Why setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (“S.M.A.R.T.”) isn’t enough, and what you should do instead. What people who have a hard time “finding their passion” should do to get motivated. How to increase your sense of urgency to do the things you know you should be doing. And more... Click the player below to listen in ... 6:00 - What are hard goals versus smart goals? 32:29 - What is your advice for people who have a hard time finding passion driven goals? 40:20- How do we get better at avoiding procrastination? 47:45 - Why do people misjudge their future needs? 56:00 - How important is a sense of urgency f

In this episode I interview Amy, who is 42 years old and recently completed my 90-day coaching service. She shares how she found her way to me and my work, including what she had tried previously, how things changed after she started implementing the advice in my books and articles, and how my 90-day coaching service helped her take her body to a whole new level. More specifically, she lost 8 pounds, 4% body fat, and an inch and a half off of her waist, while adding 145 pounds to all of her big lifts. As with everything, nothing ever goes exactly as planned, and learning to adjust and adapt to conditions is an important part of the fitness game, which is something Amy experienced firsthand. She ran into a number of roadblocks along the way that most of us can relate to, including issues with workout and meal scheduling, hunger and cravings, dietary temptations, and more, and in our chat, Amy shares what has helped her navigate these barriers skillfully and prevent them from getting in her way. So, if you like

In this episode, I speak with Greg Nuckols who’s a world-record holding powerlifter, researcher, and coach, and one of foremost authorities on the science of strength training. Greg also produces a fantastic monthly research review along with Dr. Eric Helms and Dr. Mike Zourdos, called MASS (www.strongerbyscience.com/mass), and in this interview, Greg is going to break down one of the studies analyzed in their review. The study he’s going to discuss looked at how doing high-rep squats and deadlifts compared to cycling sprints for improving cardiovascular fitness. In this discussion, Greg explains the different effects strength training and cardio have on cardiovascular fitness, whether or not doing high-rep compound weightlifting with short rest periods can give you the same benefits as sprints, what this means for your own training, body composition, and more. 4:10 - Can lifting replace cardio? 5:37 - What are the benefits of HIIT versus high intensity cardio? 10:13 - Which is more difficult - 30 seconds of

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/

You’ve probably heard that meditation can do many wonderful things for your body, like reduce stress and inflammation, help you live longer, think more clearly, and more. How true are these claims, though? Can something as simple as controlling your attention and focus for a few minutes every day have such profound benefits? And, if so, what are the best and most effective ways of doing this? Should you do “body focused” meditation, “open monitoring,” transcendental meditation, or something else?   Well, this is what we’re going to explore in today’s episode with Kurtis Frank, who is the co-founder of and former lead researcher and writer at Examine.com, as well as the Director of Research for my supplement company, Legion Athletics. Unfortunately, there isn’t a tremendous amount of research available on meditation, but Kurtis read everything relevant that he could get his hands on, and in this interview, he breaks down his findings. So...if you’ve wondered if carving out some time for daily meditation can ac

“Muscles don’t grow in the gym.”I’m sure you’ve heard that old bodybuilding adage before.Well, there’s truth in it.Weightlifting alone doesn’t make your muscles bigger and stronger. That’s what happens after the workouts.That’s why the work that your body does to repair the stress and damage caused by training is just as important as the work you do in the gym to stress and damage your muscles.The bottom line is if you’re not fully recovering from your workouts, you’re going to gain muscle and strength slower than you should.This goes beyond muscle soreness, too. The presence or absence of soreness is a factor to consider, but it’s not the acid test of post-workout recovery. Just because you’re not sore doesn’t mean your body is ready for another hard workout (and, on the flip side, just because a muscle group is sore doesn’t mean it can’t be trained again).You see, heavy weightlifting places a lot of stress on the body that goes beyond muscle damage. It impacts your joints, glycogen stores, and nervous and

What if I told you that you could maintain and even gain muscle and strength in as little as 45 to 60 minutes per week? And what if I wasn’t trying to pitch you on a PDF, pill, or powder? Well, give me ten minutes and I’ll give you the “secret,” right here in this episode. (Alright, it’s less of a secret and more a couple of simple, science-based strategies, but it’s helpful nonetheless.) And even if you’re not looking for a “lazy” way to stay ripped, this information can benefit you, too. Because while you might be going great guns right now… -Those early morning workouts 3 to 5 times per week, every week. -Those sacrifices you’re making to stick to your meal plans. -Those bruising late-night cardio sessions. Let’s not forget that life has a way of throwing us curve balls. You know…that new job might mean no more bright-and-early workouts. That family obligation might impose and replace the time you’d normally spend meal prepping. Travel happens. Holidays happen. And sometimes we just lose motivation and ski

“Remember to breath” someone says as they walk past you while you’re sporting your tomato face during a hard set of squats.You nod, smile, and ignore them, but you also wonder . . .  could they be right?You’ve heard more and more noise about how holding your breath while lifting could be dangerous.This technique is officially known as the Valsalva maneuver, and it’s become quite a controversial subject among us fitness folk.Some say it increases your risk of fainting, aneurysm, stroke, and blood vessel damage. They also claim there’s no evidence that it improves your performance or makes lifting any safer, so it’s all risk and no reward.This is why many trainers tell their clients to breathe continuously while lifting, why doctors often tell their patients not to use the Valsalva maneuver, and why the American Heart Association warns against it, too.A few minutes of digging on the Internet brings up videos of people collapsing, dropping barbells on themselves, and passing out and crashing face first into the

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/

Bodybuilder Ben Pakulski interviews me on his podcast to talk about how to structure a diet to get extremely lean, fasting, planning your diet over several months, supplements for fat loss, book publishing, and more. This interview is different from my normal routine of drilling deep down into one topic, because Ben wanted to cover a lot of different topics including the finer points of getting lean, the ins and outs of self-publishing, and the hard lessons we’ve learned growing both as individuals and businesspeople. For example, we discuss the value of suffering when it comes to achieving our goals, how to decide what projects are worth pursuing and which aren’t, what it takes to be the best at something, and really anything else that popped into our heads. :) 6:56 - What should people expect if they’re trying to get shredded? 8:28 - How does our unique physiological conditions affect fat loss? 11:00 - What are some of the challenges with tracking macros? 13:12 - What are your thoughts on muscle loss during

When it comes to building muscle and losing fat, most people “in the know” agree on at least a few things:-A high-protein diet is best.-An energy surplus is necessary for maximizing muscle growth.-An energy deficit is necessary for losing fat. In fact, those fundamentals are so well established both scientifically and anecdotally that they form a litmus test of sorts for diet “gurus” and methodologiesIf someone claims otherwise–that a low-protein diet is optimal or that you don’t have to worry about calories if you “eat clean,” for example–you should ignore everything they say.That may sound harsh but, as you probably know by now, one of the biggest barriers to getting fit is just figuring out who to listen to.Just because someone sounds smart doesn’t mean they know what he’s talking about. A degree doesn’t mean she can get results. A great body doesn’t mean he also has a reliable, universally workable system for getting there.Determining who is and isn’t full of shit can be tricky, but know this:One of the e

Today I talk with Stephen Guise, author of the book Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results. Now, habits and routines is a trendy topic these days that has been basically beaten to death, and that’s why I wanted to get Stephen on the show to talk about a little subcult of the habit space that I thought you might find interesting and helpful. Specifically, the “mini-habit” movement that he has created with his bestselling book, and how you can use these mini-habits to make behavior change as easy and painless as possible. If you don’t struggle with breaking or making habits, you probably won’t find this episode very helpful, but if you do, it may just change your life. Here’s a little sneak peek of what we talk about: - How do mini habits contribute to larger, long-term goals? - How do cues and rewards help us make or break habits? - How do mini habits affect our ability to handle discouragement? - What are some good mini habits for diet? - And more… 7:14 - What is a mini habit? 8:04 - What are the benefit

According to weightlifting purists, if you’re not squatting, you’re not doing it right.Sure, you can get a decent set of wheels without squatting (there are plenty of other exercises you can do to train your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves), but the reason the squat reigns supreme is it’s freaking hard.The squat requires just about every major muscle group in your body to work in concert to generate a tremendous amount of force, as well as near picture-perfect form if you’re going to ever put up impressive numbers.You can cheat your way through the bench press and even the deadlift and eventually move heavy loads, but not the squat.If you don’t have the whole-body strength and technique, there’s no way to wiggle or jigger the weight up. You just get stuck.A good squat is worth a lot more than bragging rights, though.It’s also one of the single best exercises for developing every major muscle group in your body, from nosehole to butthole, snout to tail.If you do it correctly, that is. Let’s get to it. Wa

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/

In this episode, I speak with the grandfather of barbell training, Mark Rippetoe, who has given us many a great things, like Starting Strength and Practical Programming. I’m a fan of Mark and his work, of course, because nobody has done more to promote, teach, and defend barbell training than Rip, and because he’s extremely disagreeable, which always makes for a fun conversation. In this interview, we talk the squat, an exercise Mark kinda likes. In fact, he says that there are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you're a pussy. And whether you agree or not, I think you’re going to find today’s talk helpful. You can find the basics of good squatting in Mark’s book Starting Strength, but once you get some experience under your belt, you begin to wonder how to optimize the movement. For instance, you’ve probably wondering... - Should you high- or low-bar squat? - Should you squat with a narrow or wide stance? - Should you use paused reps? - Should you use weightlifting shoes? - What are

If there’s one thing that would-be diet “gurus” everywhere agree on, it’s that a low-sugar diet is one of the most reliable ways to lose weight.Cut the heinous sugar molecule out of your life, they say, and watch the pounds melt away.Keep eating it regularly, though, they claim, and you’ll always look in the mirror with shame. (Yeah, you know, I like to flex my lyrical muscles too…)…Please clap?Er, anyway, sugar’s relationship to weight loss is all so neat and tidy…until someone like me comes along and points up the glitches in the matrix.You know, the professor that lost 27 pounds in 10 weeks on a “convenience store diet” consisting of protein shakes, Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, sugary cereals, and Oreos.How in the hell?Or the well-designed and well-executed studies that have found no difference in weight loss whatsoever between low- and high-sugar diets.Uh, that’s just funding biases, right?Well, we’re going to clear all the fog in this episode. By the end, you’re going to know what sugar is, how you

In this episode I interview Wade, who recently completed my 90-day coaching service, to hear his story. He shares how he found his way to me and my work, including what he had tried previously, how things changed after he started implementing the advice in my books and articles, and how my 90-day coaching service helped him take his body to a whole new level. As with everything, nothing ever goes exactly as planned, and learning to adjust and adapt to conditions is an important part of the fitness game, which is something Wade has experienced firsthand. He has run into a number of stumbling blocks along the way that most of us can relate to, including exercise and meal scheduling troubles and hunger, cravings, and dietary temptations to stray, and in our chat, Wade shares what has helped him navigate these barriers skillfully and prevent them from getting in his way. So, if you like hearing motivational stories about how people have changed their bodies and lives, and if you want to pick up a few tips that ma

You’ve probably heard that creatine is one of the few supplements that don’t suck…and you’ve heard right.It’s the most well-researched molecule in all of sports nutrition–the subject of hundreds of scientific studies–and its benefits are clear: It helps you build muscle faster. It helps you get stronger faster. It improves anaerobic endurance. It improves muscle recovery. What isn’t so clear, though, is which form you should take and why.Is something fancy sounding like creatine nitrate worth it?What about ethyl ester or hydrochloride?Liquid or powder?Buffered or micronized?Or can the old faithful creatine monohydrate give you everything you need?Well, this episode is going to answer all these questions and more, and by the end, you’ll know how to get the most bang for your creatine buck. 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/