Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - 5 Ways to Know if a Fitness Guru is Full of Sh…

Episode Date: March 7, 2018

The fitness industry is extremely tough to navigate as a beginner because of the sheer amount of “gurus” proclaiming they have the “secrets” to getting ripped. If you hit the popular fitness sites, you’ll find contradictory advice at every turn. -Some people say you have to eat bland “clean” foods to get ripped, while others will say you can do it eating junk food. -Some say you should focus on higher rep “pump” training, while others say you have to focus on heavy lifting. -Some say you have to eat meals every few hours, while others say meal frequency is irrelevant. -Some say high-protein diets are key, while others say it’s not that important. -Some say genetics play a huge role, while others say they’re barely a factor. How can you know who’s right and who’s wrong? How can you know who to listen to? Well, I used to wrestle with all these issues and have not only escaped the maze but, ironically, have become something of a fitness guru myself. In this episode, I want to share with you 5 criteria you can use to judge if someone is worth listening to or not. 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/

If a fitness guru doesn't demonstrate a good understanding of the science of whatever it is that he's talking about, he or she is probably going to lead you astray. The fitness industry is very tough to navigate as a beginner, mostly because of the sheer amount of gurus out there proclaiming that they have the secrets to getting ripped. Pretty much everywhere you turn, you get contradictory advice because some people say that you have to eat very bland, quote unquote, clean or quote unquote, healthy foods to get into great shape. While other people say that you can do it eating nothing but junk food. Some people say that you should really focus on high rep pump training. While other people say that you should focus more on heavy strength training. Some people say that, you know, you have to eat meals every few hours to stoke your metabolism. And other people say that that's not true, that meal frequency is basically irrelevant.

Some people say that high protein dieting is very important and they also will share specific numbers. Like maybe they'll say, oh, one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. And other people will say, ah, protein is not that important. Or they'll say that one gram per pound per day is much too high. And it really should be some other number that they might throw out there. Some people say that genetics play a huge role in what you're able to achieve. Other people say that they're really just not a major factor unless you're trying to become a competitive bodybuilder or fitness competitor. And so, of course, then it's confusing. I know because I used to be one of those people who was wondering, okay, who's right, who's wrong? How can I determine who is worth listening to? And fortunately, I have escaped the labyrinth and I've become something of a, I guess, a fitness guru myself, ironically.

And in this podcast, I want to share with you five criteria that you can use to judge if someone is worth listening to or not. This is where I would normally plug a sponsor to pay the bills, but I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm just going to quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my 100% natural greens supplement, Genesis. Now, Genesis is a very unique combination of greens, superfoods, adaptogens, herbs, and other phytonutrients that have been proven to increase immunity, heart and circulatory health, energy levels, libido, mood, and more. Genesis is also naturally sweetened in flavors and contains no artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And all that is why it has over 200 reviews on Amazon with a four-star average and another 150 plus on my website, also with a four-star average.

So if you want to be healthier, feel better, train harder, and increase your immunity and longevity, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Genesis today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout, and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans.

So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.LegionAthletics.com now, place your order, and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. All righty. That is enough shameless plugging for now, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. Alrighty, that is enough shameless plugging for now at least. Let's get to the show. Okay, so the first thing you should know that if a fitness guru or expert claims to have a revolutionary diet or exercise routine, something that changes the game, they are probably full of shit because anyone that

claims to have found special shortcuts or biohacks to gaining muscle or losing fat or getting strong is almost always lying. Sometimes legitimate people use claims along those lines to just hook people's interests and get them to read or watch a video or listen to what they have to say. And then what they actually have to say is good. But most of the time, these people who say that they have the secret sauce, that they have the special methods, they know things that nobody else knows, most of the time, these people are just lying. most of the time these people are just lying. If they say that their discovery is going to revolutionize muscle building or fat burning or whatever, they're lying. And they are lying because it works. Contrarian marketing like that works really well. When somebody speaks out and

speaks against things that everybody knows, it of course grabs people's attention. It makes them perk up. It makes them listen. It makes them more suggestible to being influenced as well. It's just how we humans are wired. And the more contrarian a pitch is, the more that it goes against the fundamentals, the things that are non-negotiable as far as getting fit goes, like energy balance, macronutrient balance, progressive overload, and so forth, the more likely it is complete bullshit. Now, fortunately, these type of fraudsters are usually pretty easy to spot. So these people often tell you that traditional methods of building muscle and getting lean don't work

or don't work as well as they should. You know, they'll say things like bulking and cutting doesn't work or calorie counting doesn't work or traditional strength and hypertrophy training doesn't work and so forth. These people will also often share weird tips and tricks or hacks that are supposed to help you get bigger, get stronger, get leaner, or get healthier. They also often promise fast and easy results. They'll promise things that you would think would take six months or longer, and they'll say that you can do them in three months or less, for example. They also often share their transformation stories, their personal stories, and their physiques to sell their methods.

And these stories, by the way, almost always follow the same formula. This is an old copywriting formula, which goes like this. You have your starting situation, you have your tried and failed phase, you have your personal breakthrough, your discovery, you have now your consistent results, and then you have the others did it too. So other people were able to achieve the same types of results and have the same breakthroughs using your discoveries or, you know, in this case, their discoveries. And the final phase is you can learn too. And it's not that that story formula is inherently unethical or wrong. It actually is a great formula. I've used it myself,

but you should recognize it when you see it and you should be skeptical. And that also means you should be skeptical of me and you should be skeptical of my story and you should be skeptical of what I'm teaching as well. I don't want anybody to just accept what I say as dogma. I want people to analyze me and my work critically and come to their own conclusions about it. So these types of people also often refer to scientific research without citing sources for your review. And they often coin and even trademark weird pseudoscientific names for their little pet training and dietary theories. So for example, when somebody tries to sell you on the revolutionary nature of their maximum overload turbulence training, you should be skeptical. Just remember

that you can never get around the basics. You can never get around energy balance or macronutrient balance, food choices, nutrient timing. Those are the big pillars of diet and that's never going to change. And as far as training goes, you have intensity, you have frequency, you have exercise selection, you have load, you have progressive overload. Those are the main principles. Those are the big levers that you can pull. And the further you move away from those things and start going into more obscure stuff, the further afield you go, the more likely you are going to be disappointed. Okay, so the next point here is if a fitness guru doesn't demonstrate a good

understanding of the science of whatever it is that he's talking about, he or she is probably going to lead you astray. And this point is particularly important because the fitness space is so riddled with gym lore and bro science and all kinds of myths and fallacies are kept alive simply by word of mouth. For example, do any of these things sound familiar? Bad carbs make you fat. You got to eat clean to lose weight. You have to eat a ton of protein to build muscle. You're going to lose muscle or not gain muscle as quickly as possible if you don't eat protein every couple hours. Eating too few meals per day slows your metabolism down and may even cause your body to go into starvation mode. Eating at night,

and particularly eating carbs or even worse, sugar at night causes fat storage. Now, chances are that you've heard those things repeated ad nauseum by magazines, bloggers, gym buddies, trainers, and just about anybody else that talks about fitness. And if you're familiar with my work, then you know my position on all of that, which is it's all false. And how do I know that? Is it because I have some inside scoop on revolutionary fat burning and muscle building secrets? No. I know that those things are false first and foremost because I have reviewed a lot of scientific research that has categorically disproven them. Research that I cite for others to review in my books and articles and my YouTube videos and so forth. And of course, I've also found that my own experiences, both with my body

and with the thousands of people that I've worked with, is in line with the research. And I used to believe those things, or at least I used to think that they're probably true because I had read about them in magazines and read about them on the internet and heard people speak about them. But I have since learned my lesson. Now, when I want to know more about any aspect of health or fitness, I always turn to the scientific literature first. And in particular, I look for reviews and meta-analyses first because those are the best forms of evidence that we have in science. And in my opinion, you should do the same and you should really only listen to people that do this. And yeah, it's time consuming and it's sometimes frustrating to wade through a lot

of jargon and a lot of complex, hard to understand things to just find an answer to sometimes a simple question. But I think it's really the only way to be truly objective about this game and understand what we do and don't understand and what we can and can't be certain about. So if a fitness guru makes no reference whatsoever to scientific research, watch out. Chances are they are going to be wrong about quite a few things. And if a fitness guru makes casual references to research without specific citations, this is better, but I myself am still wary of what this person says because I want to see studies for myself and I want to see not just study abstracts

for myself. I want to see these studies themselves for myself. I want to see how they were designed, how they were executed. I want to look at the data. I want to look at the conclusions based on the data because many times research is misunderstood or misinterpreted or misattributed by people. And often, you know, by mistake, sometimes deliberately, usually that's to sell things, but more often than not, the mistakes are honest, but they are mistakes nonetheless. Now, if a fitness guru regularly references specific studies and regularly references research and even discusses the details of specific studies, that is a good sign. Again, I myself want to see the studies. Unless I know that the person that I'm listening to knows the science, then I'm happy to take their interpretation.

If it's not something that I myself want to really dive into, but if it's something I really want to make sure that I understand, I still want to see the studies for myself and see if my conclusions line up with the conclusions of the person whose article I'm reading or podcast I'm listening to or so forth. And in case you're wondering, you can find millions of studies from all around the world on the website PubMed. And those that aren't freely available on PubMed, which is many, unfortunately, can be accessed using a service like Deep Dive. And that's D-Y-V-E. So deepdyve.com is a great resource for accessing full papers. is a great resource for accessing full papers. Hey, quickly, before we carry on,

if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness.

Twitter at Muscle for Life and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. shape themselves doesn't necessarily mean that they can help you get into good shape as well. I don't know how many times people have come to me ready to just give up after some online fitness coach, some Instagram coach prescribed them a ridiculous regimen of a starvation, very low calorie diet consisting of a handful of very bland, approved foods, bodybuilder type of diet, and then long grueling weightlifting sessions and hours and hours of cardio every week and handfuls of pills and powders every day. And some people are like, you know, if that's what it takes to just look good and feel good, then I guess this fitness thing is not for me. And I understand. I would feel the exact same way. And fortunately, it does not have to be like that. If you have had that experience, you should know that a good coach should be able to get you into great shape eating the foods that you like. And

you really should never feel starved. You shouldn't really be battling with hunger or cravings. And you shouldn't have to do any more than, let's's say four to six hours of exercise per week. And that's both weightlifting and cardio. And there are plenty of good coaches out there, including Instagram coaches. There are a lot of good people that know what they're doing and can get good results. And those people will always have good client success stories and not just before and after pictures because anyone can just find before and after pictures on the internet and make fake successes, but they'll have video success stories. They will tag their clients on social media. You can see there are real people who went through real transformations and these clients are going to have made clear progress and they're going to

talk about their experience and they're going to share their story. That's what you want to see, not just before and after images. If you reverse image search before and after images that are posted around on some of these profiles and some of these websites, you'll see that there are many people and many websites using the exact same images. Okay, so the next point here is if a fitness guru doesn't walk the walk themselves, doesn't really look the part, then you probably shouldn't listen to them. Now, there are exceptions to this, of course. There are some people out there who aren't in tremendously good shape themselves, but who are tremendously knowledgeable. However, this rule of thumb is pretty workable. If the guy or gal that

you are considering working with or following isn't in great shape themselves, you're probably better off ignoring them. So if they aren't strong, if they're not lean, if they're not muscular, chances are they're not going to be able to help you do the same. Now it's possible that they do know what they should be doing and therefore they could tell you what to do. And maybe they're just too lazy to do it themselves or don't care enough, but there aren't very many people that fit that description. In most cases, the skinny fat guys and gals who are billing themselves as fitness experts really have no place advising you or anybody else on how to get fit because they simply don't know how to get fit. And this includes the more scientifically oriented people as well,

who can talk about studies for days, but couldn't deadlift their own body rate to save their lives. You know, people that will argue that 30 rep sets are just as good for building muscle as five rep sets. And the only way to build muscle is to train every major muscle group in your body three times per week. And you never need more than 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, and so forth, yet who look like they don't even lift. Just know that there are people out there who get off debating obscure, in many cases, irrelevant or impractical aspects of getting fit as opposed to actually doing the work and getting fit, as Martin Burkhan calls it, fuck around-itis, right? Okay, the next point here is if a fitness guru looks too good, they are probably on steroids,

and you just need to know that that changes everything. Now, everybody knows that the freakish-looking bodybuilders featured in magazines and so forth are on ridiculous amounts of drugs, but many people don't know just how prevalent steroids are in the fitness scene in general. And I know this might sound cynical, but you should know that a large percentage of people who are making a living or at least making part of their living off of their physiques are on steroids. And yes, this includes fitness models and fitness competitors, but it also includes YouTube stars, social media influencers, and even bloggers and authors as well. Now, all of these people claim that they're natural, of course. And if you don't know how to spot the

telltale signs of steroid use, you might believe them. And that's actually kind of strange to me too. I don't know why so many of these people think that they have to claim natural when to anyone that knows anything about steroids, they are so obviously not natural. And if you want to know more about that, head over to muscleforlife.com and search for steroids. You can check out an article I wrote on just steroids in general, side effects, and how to spot steroid use. Because, again, in many cases, and I'm thinking of specific people on YouTube, on Instagram, who will say lifetime natural, swear up and down, never touched a steroid, never will, are on a lot of drugs. never touched a steroid, never will, are on a lot of drugs. I don't know why so many people think that they have to insist on being natural. If I were on steroids, I could see being open about it actually being a positive thing because it doesn't necessarily ruin your credibility,

especially if I were to say, look, I'm on steroids and here's why. Let's say I had a good reason for being on steroids. Let's say that I wanted to compete. You're not going to go anywhere in the world of bodybuilding or physique competition without a lot of drugs, period. So if I were to say, look, I really want to compete. The only way I can do that is to take steroids. Unfortunately, that's why I'm on steroids. However, I want you to know that here are the potential downsides. Here are the risks. I do not recommend that everybody jump on steroids. And furthermore, you should know that things are very different. I get to now do things with my body that you natural weightlifters should not be doing because of these drugs. Again, that's the

way I would go. And I think that people would actually appreciate that and they would find it interesting. And you could sell people on like, okay, so this guy's on steroids and that's fine. I mean, most people probably don't have much of a moral view of it one way or another. Most people probably agree like, hey, it's your body, do what you want. But one, he's open about it. So we appreciate that. And two, he distinguishes between natural weightlifting and enhanced weightlifting. And he offers advice maybe for people who are on drugs, you can push the envelope a bit more. You can push the intensity. You can push the frequency. You can push the volume more than when you're not on drugs. He's not telling everybody to do what

he does because he knows that people, most people out there are not going to be able to do what he does. Anyways, that's what I would do personally if I were ever to be on steroids. And I think that's a much smarter play in terms of branding and positioning than take a bunch of drugs, be jacked as fuck, be lean as fuck, be strong as fuck, and just swear up and down that you're natural, natural, natural, natural, when every sign says otherwise. So anyways, just know that when you see these guys and these girls who have big grainy, almost stone like muscles, very full, very three-dimensional, and you have deep cuts everywhere you look, especially in the smaller muscles like the serratus and the intercostals, as well as extremely low levels of body fat. Let's say

anywhere between, if you're looking, talking about guys, six to, well, let's say more like five to 7% year round, in addition to being big, full, hard looking. And in women, you probably would see more like 12 to 15% on top of the big muscles, the dry look, the full look. That is drugs every time. I really do wish that we could look like that without drugs. So a simple little checklist here for spotting drug use. First, if someone is freakishly huge, they're on drugs, period. I know it's obvious. I know, but it should be on the list. Two, if somebody has an outstanding physique and is constantly talking about how they're natural, even if they're joking about it, they are probably on drugs. I don't know why this is. This is some weird pathological thing. It's like the politician,

right? That is constantly saying how honest he is and how much he loves God and loves his country and loves his family. And then we find out that he's like a serial molester, rapist, pedophile, right? I don't know. It's just something about it. Some weird psychological that when you are constantly doing something that I guess you know you shouldn't be doing, you feel like you have to virtue signal and you have to constantly proclaim how you are the exact opposite. So again, great physique and always talking about how natural they are, always joking about how natural they are, or maybe even joking about steroid use one way or the other, probably on drugs. Okay. The next point here is if somebody has an outstanding physique and their workouts are

two, three hour long sessions of a ton of volume, a bunch of high rep work and high frequency. And then the gym, five, six, seven days a week, just blowing themselves up. They're on drugs. This type of training doesn't work for naturals because we can't recover. You might be able to get away with it if you're in a surplus and if you are young and your body is particularly good at recovering, you might be able to get away with it if you're in a surplus and if you are young and your body is particularly good at recovering, you might be able to get away with it for a little bit. But by a little bit, I mean like two or three months until you just really start feeling like shit. I know that personally because I've done it myself and my body is very good at recovering actually. And I mean, I'm 33 now, so it's not exactly what it was when I was 23, 24. But when I was 25, 26, I really pushed

the envelope in my training. And I just know there's a point where you just can't keep going without it really taking a toll on your body. Okay. So the next point here is if somebody has an outstanding physique and never seems to go above 10% body fat if you're a guy, even when bulking, or let's say it's a 20% or so if it's a girl. And if they also are eating a lot of food, they're on drugs, period. And this is also usually accompanied by humble brags of like, oh, I've been bulking for three months, getting a little bit fluffy now, and they're still like basically shredded. Or in some cases, I've seen guys, fake natties, just lie about their body fat percentage to throw people off. I've seen guys who have spent months and months and months, quote unquote, clean bulking, spending a lot of time in

the gym every week, putting up big numbers, high intensity workouts, high volume workouts, high frequency workouts. And after many months of this, still looking pretty good, full abs, vascularity, you know, maybe nine or 10% body fat. And they'll say, oh, you know, 13 to 15% simply to make people think that they've gained more fat than they have. And this is because with the right cocktail of drugs, you can eat a lot of food and you can get really strong and gain a lot of muscle without gaining very much fat. And lastly, if somebody has an incredible physique and they compete professionally, so if they have a pro card, even in a natural league, they are on drugs. Let's stop pretending that the drug testing in most natural leagues even isn't an

absolute joke and isn't extremely easy to get around. Again, there are some exceptions to all these points. Even, for example, the last point, take someone like Eric Helms, who does compete professionally in a natural bodybuilding league, and I believe is truly natural. I do not think that Eric Helms is on drugs. And I don't just say that because I like him and like his work and think he's a good guy. I say that because, you know, if you look at him objectively, there are no signs of drug use. There's no clear signs of drug use. His FFMI is within the range of natural. It's the high end, but you know, he's put in many years of hard work. He does not stay super shredded year round. He is not

incredibly strong. He's very strong, but he's not next level drug strong. And when he diets down for bodybuilding shows, yes, he looks good and he gets very lean, but look at his pictures versus the IFBB physique guys. If you want to see the difference between a true, what I believe is a true natural bodybuilder in contest shape versus an enhanced bodybuilder, even though the physique guys are not like in the bodybuilding class per se, but it's comparable. A natural bodybuilder is actually probably smaller than the physique guys that are enhanced. Now, in case you're wondering why all this matters, why should we even care who's on drugs and who's not? Why should we care what people do with their bodies? I agree. I mean, I'm with you on that. I actually don't

personally care at all who uses steroids and who doesn't. But you do need to keep in mind though, that when you're taking advice from people, it does matter. Because if somebody's on drugs and they don't know what it's like to not be on drugs, they don't know the difference between natural weightlifting and enhanced weightlifting. And many of these guys don't because they got on drugs very early. In many cases, they got on drugs right in the beginning of their weightlifting career. So they have never even experienced what it's like to be a natural weightlifter. If you're going to take advice from that person and you're a natural weightlifter, it may or may not work out. They may or may not know what they're talking about. On the other hand, they may know exactly what they're talking about and they might

give you great advice. So you got to be careful. That's all I'm saying. You got to be careful. Lastly, certifications. How much do certifications matter? And the long story short here is being certified as a personal trainer means essentially nothing. You can get certified doing online courses and all you have to do is memorize some basic facts to pass a test. And in some cases, they're basically open book tests. So you don't even have to memorize anything. And if you're doing it online, you don't even have to go looking. It's really just like, can you search for keywords and copy and paste stuff? And there you go. You got your trainer's license. And this helps explain, of course, why we see so many trainers doing so many foolish things with their clients. Now, as far as a formal education goes, this is definitely a good sign,

but don't let a degree take precedence over everything else that we've discussed in this podcast. Because unfortunately, there are plenty of health and fitness gurus out there who have rather impressive academic resumes actually, and who aren't in very good shape themselves, who don't have good client successes, and who are more interested in hawking their quote unquote revolutionary diet and exercise methodologies than educating people on the simple science of getting into shape. enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search

visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback. So please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode. And I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously,

though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in, so instead I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine. Specifically, my 100% natural greens supplement, Genesis. Now, Genesis is a very unique combination of greens, superfoods, adaptogens, herbs, and other phytonutrients that have been proven to increase immunity, heart and circulatory health, energy levels, libido, mood, and other phytonutrients that have been proven to increase immunity, heart and circulatory health, energy levels, libido, mood, and more. Genesis is also naturally sweetened in flavors and contains no artificial food dyes, fillers, or other unnecessary junk. And all that is why it has over 200 reviews on Amazon with a four-star average

and another 150 plus on my website, also with a four star average. So if you want to be healthier, feel better, train harder, and increase your immunity and longevity, then you want to head over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Genesis today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout, and you will save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any

other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.lesionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot.