Muscle for Life

If you’ve spent any amount of time lifting weights, taken a break for a bit, and then started back up again, you probably noticed that you seemed to regain strength and size much quicker than the first time around. Well, this isn’t your mind playing tricks on you–the acceleration in progress is a scientifically verified phenomenon often referred to as “muscle memory,” but what is actually going on? Neurological mechanisms can explain the rapid regain of strength, but not muscle size. Do muscle fibers have some sort of “memory” of their previous, more conditioned states? Or is something else responsible for these effects? Let’s find out. 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, I speak with Dr. Mike Zourdos who’s an assistant professor of Exercise Science at Florida Atlantic University, published researcher, and competitive powerlifter, as well as the head Powerlifting coach at Florida State University. Mike also produces a fantastic monthly research review along with Dr. Eric Helms and Greg Nuckols, called MASS (www.strongerbyscience.com/mass), and in this interview, Mike is going to break down one of the studies analyzed in their review. The study he’s going to discuss is on training to failure, and in this discussion, Mike explains what training to failure is, how it relates to muscle growth, how necessary it is, how to best incorporate it into your training, and more. 6:36 - What is the study of training to failure and is it necessary13:02 - When should you incorporate training to failure?20:24 - How does training to failure effect strength and muscle growth? 27:10 - Does cardio with HIIT harm or improve muscle hypertrophy? 31:26 - Where can people follow you

Let’s face it. A big reason we work out is to look good. Yes, there are many other benefits beyond the physical, but what we see in the mirror every day matters. A lot. That’s why a big part of staying motivated to stick to our meal plans and training programs is seeing progress. And this is where the mirror can mislead. You see, it takes longer than most of us realize to see marked changes in our appearance, and when the squishy parts don’t transform as quickly as we’d hoped, it’s easy to lose heart. It can feel like all that work in the kitchen and gym is more or less for naught. Well, if you learn to track your body composition properly, you can avoid these problems because you’ll know exactly what is or isn’t happening with your physique, and you’ll be able to then adjust your diet and exercise accordingly. It’s pretty easy, too. There are just three steps: 1. Weigh yourself daily and calculate weekly averages. 2. Take weekly body measurements. 3. Take weekly progress pictures. That’s all you have to do t

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/

I have a rather long list of things in the fitness space that annoy the shit out of me.To name a few… Starvation dieting Low-carb mania Most fitness magazines The cult of “clean eating“ “Weight loss foods“ Supplement shenanigans Celebrity workouts Most weightlifting advice given to women If you feel the same way, you’ve come to the right place. We were tarred with the same brush.And in this episode, we’re going to talk all about exercise and weight loss and how to best go about it.I have good news, too.You can reach your goals without sacrificing your life to the treadmill.In fact, you can get as lean as you want without ever doing more than a couple hours of cardio per week.(You can eat foods you actually like, too.)If that sounds too good to be true, I understand.Suspend your disbelief, though, and in ten minutes, you’ll know things most people will never know about not just losing weight but building a body they can be proud of.Let’s get to it. Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and stre

In this episode I interview Jason Phillips from iN3 Nutrition, who runs a thriving coaching business that is particularly popular among Crossfitters. Accordingly, Jason has worked with many Crossfit athletes, and many high-level Crossfit athletes, and has seen firsthand what a lot of extreme exercise and dieting can do to the body, and to the metabolism in particular. In short, if you push the envelope too hard for too long, you can find yourself in a situation where your energy levels and mood are chronically depressed, it’s very hard to lose weight despite eating in what SHOULD be a calorie deficit, every workout is way more of a slog than it should be, your libido is gone, your sleep is disrupted, and your life is generally a lot less enjoyable than it used to be. In this interview, Jason shares with us a bit of the Crossfit insanity that leads to severe symptoms of overtraining, as well as how he has helped people out of that rut, and we also discuss how to avoid falling into it in the first place. 8:16 -

Some people say that anterior pelvic tilt  is caused by weak and tight muscles, and that it’s likely to lead to back pain, injuries, and other dysfunctions.Others say that anterior pelvic tilt is totally normal and can’t be changed, so it’s not worth worrying about.Well, the short story is that anterior pelvic tilt is normal and probably isn’t a major cause for concern. If it is a problem, it’s probably just poor posture, which can be corrected.So, by the end of this episode, you’re going to know know what anterior pelvic tilt is, how it affects your body and physical performance, and what you can and can’t do about it.Let’s get started. 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/

Nitric oxide supplements hit the bodybuilding scene about a decade ago, and they hit the ground running.The first one to make waves was called “NO2.” It became an overnight bestseller, and was quickly followed by a pile of “me too” products, which only served to further ratchet up the nitric oxide hype.People were saying it’s the next creatine. A natural and safe alternative to steroids, even.It could help you gain muscle and strength faster, we were told, as well as significantly improve blood flow, which would give you bulging biceps and, uh, other bulgy things.

“You have to change up your workouts more.”“You have to eat more protein.”“You have to increase your time under tension.”“You have to use more/less weight in your training.”If you’re looking for advice on building muscle, you’ve probably heard plenty of one-liners like those.If you keep looking, you’ll hear a lot more. And, after it all, you’ll probably wind up like most people–confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed by a sea of contradictory tips, “hacks,” strategies, and shortcuts, with no idea who to believe and what to do next.Well, I have good new for you: Out of all the possible things you could know about diet and training, 20% are going to give you 80%+ of your results.In fact, I’d go as far as saying that the average person looking to build a lean, muscular, strong physique can learn everything they need to know in 7 to 8 hours of reading. (And that’s what I try to provide in my books.)Don’t get me wrong–I’m all for continuing to learn and improve, but if you don’t manage your “information flow” prope

I don’t know about you, but I like simple.And here’s a simple fact for you: You don’t need to do anything particularly special or fancy to build the body of your dreams. At least 80% of the game is just understanding and applying a relatively small number of physiological principles related to diet and exercise.And I’d go as far as saying that the majority of what’s left is just patience and persistence.You don’t need convoluted training programs or diets. You need fundamentals.That said, once you have the fundamentals firmly in place, you can look to gain slight edges.This is where things like supplementation, fasted training, periodization, and carb cycling come into play.In this episode, we’re going to dive deep into carb cycling and learn what it is, how it (supposedly) works, and how to do it.We’re also going to review many of the fundamentals that supercede it, and ultimately, we’re going to get an answer to the most important question:Is carb cycling better than traditional dieting?That is, can it rea

Don’t buy into the bullshit. You can look and feel great at any age.You don’t have to be in your 20s to be muscular, lean, and strong. In fact, play your cards right and you can show the “kids” how the fitness game really works. Your muscle doesn’t have to wither away as you age. You don’t have to remove “six-pack” from your bucket list. Your metabolism doesn’t have to implode Your hormones don’t have to slump. If you’re willing to put in the work, you can become a shining paragon of health and vitality that time just can’t extinguish.It’s not hard or complicated either. One part know-how, one part persistence, and one part patience, and voila, you’re there.You see, less changes with age than you probably think.The fundamentals of good dieting and effective training remain. Your body’s machinery still operates on the same instructions and still responds to the same stimuli. Take good care of it and it’ll serve you faithfully until your wheels finally stand still.In this episode, I want to share with you a

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/

If you want a short but fantastic primer on the basics of good marketing, including the primary goal of marketing, the fundamentals of good branding, product creation, advertising, and more, then you want to read this book. One of the reasons I like it so much is it’s concerned more with high-level thinking than tactical application, and strives to give you principles that you can extrapolate into many types of actionables. In this way, much of its advice is universal and timeless. I’m also recommending it because it has informed many of the better marketing decisions I’ve made in building my businesses, and is a book that that’s worth reviewing regularly as your business expands and evolves, and as mistakes and missteps become more expensive and painful. Want to be notified when my next book recommendation goes live? Hop on my email list and you’ll get each new installment delivered directly to your inbox. Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

You’ve been eating right. Exercising regularly. Drinking water and even taking your vitamins. Why the hell, then, is your stomach so bloated all the time? Why do you look three months pregnant if you don’t suck your stomach in? Why does eating make it look like you’re carrying twins? Why does your skin feel like a waterlogged sponge? If any of these questions have been echoing around in your head, I understand. Bloating is incredibly frustrating because it seems to come and go without rhyme or reason. It follows you like a curse. Fortunately, though, it’s not hard to banish…for good. And this episode is going to break it all down for you. So, if you’re sick of “flat belly tips” and other nonsensical non-solutions for stomach bloating, and all forms of bloating, really, listen to this episode. 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, I interview Wendy, who’s a recent graduate of my 90-day transformation coaching service, which helped her cut fat, gain muscle and strength, and significantly transform the shape of her body in just a few months. Before finding her way to me and my work, she had been working out for years and had tried many different things, and most recently had spent 9 months working with an in-person trainer only to see no real change in her body. At that point, she was frustrated and disappointed and feared that she simply couldn’t get the type of body that she really wanted--that her genetics wouldn’t allow it. Then, she found my book for women, Thinner Leaner Stronger, gave it a read, liked what it had to say, learned about my coaching service, and signed up, figuring that she might as well go all-in if she’s going to try at all. She had her doubts going in, of course, and was actually pretty sure it wouldn’t work, just as everything else she had done hadn’t worked, but she decided to hang in there and

If your goal is to get or stay lean and maintain your cardiovascular health, you don’t have to grind out a single long session of grueling cardio. Ever. That’s right… - No boring jogs. - No droning away on one of the hamster wheels in the gym. - No sacrificing hours and hours every week. In fact, if you know what you’re doing (and you will by the end of this episode), you can get a lot more out of doing a lot less cardio than you think. If you know what you’re doing with your diet, you don’t need to exercise more than 4 to 6 hours per week to get as lean as you’d like. Yup, just 3 to 5 hours of weightlifting and 1 to 2 hours of cardio per week is more than enough. So, in this episode, I’m going to explain 5 reasons why high-interval intensity training is my cardio of choice and almost a bit of a “secret weapon” for getting and staying lean. 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/

In this episode I interview Kurtis Frank about one of his favorite topics, nootropics, or “brain boosters.” Chances are you don’t know of Kurtis, but you probably know of his work. He’s the co-founder of Examine.com, which is the premier resource on the Internet for learning about the science of supplementation. Today, it boasts guides on over 500 supplements containing over 41,000 scientific citations, and Kurtis was responsible for researching, compiling, and writing the vast majority of that body of work. Kurtis also just recently became the Director of Research for my supplement company Legion Athletics, and I’m really excited to have him on board because he’s simply one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met on the subject of supplementation, and in this interview, he’s going to share with us his insights on nootropics generally, as well as his favorite and least-favorite options and why. So whether you’re a die-hard noot fan, on the fence about them, or completely ignorant, I think you’re going

“How the hell can I be this skinny with a stomach this big and fat?” That’s the first line from an email I received earlier this week. And it inspired this episode. You see, I’ve worked with thousands of men and women and if there’s one thing that frustrates people most, it’s having too much belly fat. I’ve written quite a bit about how to lose belly fat, but visceral fat deserves its own treatment because it’s a different beast than the run-of-the-mill ab fat. So, in this episode we’re going to cover what visceral fat is, why it’s dangerous, why some people have more than others, and how to lose it. 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/