Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - In Which I Give a "Physique Update"

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

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: Books by Mike Matthews: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/ 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/

Hey, Mike here. And if you like what I'm doing on the podcast and elsewhere, and if you want to help me help more people get into the best shape of their lives, please do consider picking up one of my bestselling health and fitness books, including Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for Men, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for Women, my flexible dieting cookbook, The Shredded Chef, and my 100% practical and hands-on blueprint for personal transformation inside and outside of the gym, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Now, these books have sold well over 1 million copies and have helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever. And you can find them on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as in select Barnes & Noble stores. Again, that's Bigger Leaner Stronger for Men, Thinner Leaner Stronger for Women, The Shredded Chef, and The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Oh, and I should also mention that you can get any of the audiobooks 100% free when you sign up for an Audible account, which is the perfect way to make those pockets of downtime,

like commuting, meal prepping, and cleaning, more interesting, entertaining, and productive. meal prepping, and cleaning more interesting, entertaining, and productive. So if you want to take Audible up on that offer, and if you want to get one of my audio books for free, go to www.legionathletics.com slash Audible. That's L-E-G-I-O-N athletics slash A-U-D-I-B-L-E, and sign up for your account. Hello, friendly person. I'm Mike Matthews. This is Muscle Life and welcome to another episode. Now, I recently posted a physique update to Instagram and I don't do that very often

because there really isn't that much to update. It's basically 6'2", 195 to 200 pounds, 8 to 12% body fat to infinity. Now, why? Well, it's pretty simple. It's that I'm at the end of my genetic rope for muscle gain. And I don't want to pretend otherwise to mislead people into thinking that you can always get bigger and stronger because you can't. The truth is guys can naturally gain about 45 pounds of muscle or so from their starting point if they have good genetics. And if they don't, their ceiling is going to be in the 30s. And women can basically cut those numbers in half. And as muscle is the primary driver of strength,

that also stalls out eventually. Another point of note is guys and gals are going to gain more or less all the muscle and strength that's available to them in their first five years of high quality training. After that, nothing much is going to change regardless of what they do inside or outside of the gym, short of getting on the hashtag dedication. So the gurus who love to prattle on about how their physiques are 15 plus years in the making and always improving are either ignorant, lying, or on steroids. In other words, what we're seeing is either five-ish years of productive work and a bunch of maintenance or drugs that have enabled these people to gain far more muscle and strength

than they ever could have naturally. And some of these people are tricksy little hobbitses because they use just enough anabolics to keep the needle moving without making it blatantly obvious. So remember that when you see someone with a ton of good training behind them bragging about some new diet or exercise trick that is supposedly adding yet another pound or three of muscle to their already jacked physiques or another plate or three to their already impressive totals. But none of that means that training has to inevitably become a dreary, pointless grind. It just means that your goals and your expectations need to evolve with your body. And that means learning to appreciate what you've got and finding a deeper motivation than bigger biceps. And this can take many forms.

It can be feeling more confident and competent inside and outside of the gym. It can be being more productive at work or setting a good example for your kids, tackling new physical challenges like sports or hiking, biking, running, whatever. It can be avoiding disease and dysfunction or slowing down the processes of aging and retaining a youthful vitality. For me personally, it is a number of things. It is doing workouts I enjoy that will allow me to stay in peak shape and health without pain or injury for the rest of my life. It's also a way to keep the spark alive in my marriage and help my kids develop a positive relationship with food and exercise and

with any luck, their kids as well. It's also a matter of personal pride and responsibility for me, a matter of physically expressing my values and my worldview and of producing and presenting my best self to the world. And I view all of that as a privilege and a prize, not a compromise or a comedown. It's something that should be celebrated, not merely tolerated. So here's to the next decade of maintenance and to the decades to come. Hey, Mike here. And if you like what I'm doing on the podcast and elsewhere, and if you want to help me help more people get into the best shape of their lives, please do consider picking up one of my bestselling health and fitness books, including Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for Men, Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for Women, my flexible dieting cookbook, The Shredded Chef, and my 100% practical and hands-on

blueprint for personal transformation inside and outside of the gym, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation. Now, these books have sold well over 1 million copies, and have helped thousands of people build their best bodies ever. And you can find them on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play, as well as in select Barnes & Noble stores. Again, that's Bigger Leaner Stronger for Men, Thinner Leaner Stronger for Women, The Shredded Chef stronger for women, the shredded chef and the little black book of workout motivation. Oh, and I should also mention that you can get any of the audio books 100% free when you sign up for an audible account, which is the perfect way to make those pockets of downtime, like commuting, meal prepping and cleaning more interesting entertaining and productive so if you want to

take audible up on that offer and if you want to get one of my audiobooks for free go to www.legionathletics.com audible that's l-e-g-i-o-n athletics slash a-u-d-i-b-l-e and sign up for your account