Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Q&A: Barefoot Shoes, Meal Planning Tips, Stretching, and More

Episode Date: April 8, 2022

Are barefoot shoes worth it? My best tips for meal planning and prepping. What would I do as ruler of the world? What’s the one book to rule them all? All that and more in this podcast. This podcast is a Q&A, but it’s a bit different from the kind you’ll typically find here on Muscle For Life. In my usual Q&A episodes, I take a question from email or Instagram and then fully answer it in an episode of the podcast every week. However, over on Instagram, I’ve started doing weekly Q&As in the stories, and it occurred to me that many podcast listeners might enjoy hearing these questions and my short answers. So, instead of talking about one thing in an episode, I’m going to cover a variety of questions. And keep in mind some of these questions are just for fun. :) So if you want to ask me questions in my Instagram stories, follow me on Instagram (@muscleforlifefitness), and if I answer your question there, it might just make it onto an episode of the podcast! If you like this type of episode, let me know. Send me an email ([e-mail]) or direct message me on Instagram. And if you don’t like it, let me know that too or how you think it could be better. Timestamps 0:00 - My free quiz to answer all your diet questions: www.muscleforlife.show/dietquiz 2:01 - Why do I see women eating as much or more than me? 4:31 - Why don’t you mention anything about your thoughts on stretching in your books? 5:39 - If you were the absolute ruler of Earth, what changes would you make? 6:10 - What do you think about a 90% carnivore diet? 6:46 - Do you know of a place where one could live free from covid tyranny? 7:22 - Why are people still getting tested for Covid-19? 7:35 - Do barefoot shoes make a difference? 8:55 - What is your favorite book besides your own books? What would be your obsession if it wasn’t working out? 10:35 - Do you have any tips on being consistent with your meal plan and meal prepping? 14:27 - How should I respond to my boyfriend that keeps telling me to tone with lighter weights? 14:45 -  How is Legion Protein powder so good? Mentioned on the Show: Take this free quiz to get science-based answers to all of your diet questions: www.muscleforlife.show/dietquiz

Hello, hello, and welcome to Muscle for Life. I am your host, Mike Matthews. Thank you for joining me today for another Q&A episode where I answer questions that people throw at I pick ones that I find interesting or that are questions I'm getting asked a lot these days. And I answer them there on Instagram and then I come over here on the podcast and answer them. So that's what we're doing today. Answering questions like, what do I think about the carnivore diet and specifically a 90% carnivore diet? What I would do if I were the absolute ruler of earth? What changes would I make? What do I think about barefoot slash minimalist running shoes? What tips can I share for being better with meal planning and meal prepping and my favorite book and more. Before we begin, how many calories should you eat to reach your fitness goals faster? What about your macros? What types of food should you eat and how many meals should you eat every

day? Well, I created a free 60-second diet quiz that'll answer those questions for you and others, including how much alcohol you should drink, whether you should eat more fatty fish to get enough omega-3 fatty acids, what supplements are worth taking and why, and more. To take the quiz and get your free personalized diet plan, go to muscleforlife.show slash diet quiz, muscleforlife.show slash diet quiz now. Answer the questions and learn what you need to do in the kitchen to lose fat, build muscle and get healthy.

All right, Ackle Pocus asks, why do I see women eating as much or more than me ripped AF? Well, it could be higher activity levels, whether intentional like exercise or unintentional, like non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Maybe you've heard of that or the acronym NEAT. Basically all of the movement outside of formal exercise, including stuff that we don't think about, like maybe pacing around and fidgeting and maybe deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator, where to park in the parking lot. Do we park close to the entrance? Do we park a little bit further away? All of that activity burns calories, and those calories can

add up to a lot. Research shows that in some people, it can be 600, 800, even 1,000 calories per day. And again, that's outside of any formal exercise. And in other people, it can be quite low. It can be just a couple hundred calories per day. Some people seem to just move around more than others. Now, if this person is referring to people they see on social media, something else to keep in mind is many people on social media lie about how much they exercise and how much they just move in general and how much they eat. And so they are able to stay very lean because what they are doing is extreme and unhealthy. And sometimes cutting drugs are involved too.

And I say that specifically because the drugs that men often use, yes, it can include cutting drugs, but those drugs are usually different than the drugs that women use. And in the case of men, you also often have strong anabolics involved. If they are also taking cutting drugs or taking drugs to speed up their metabolism, maybe thyroid medication, for example, not because they need to take thyroid meds, but because they are trying to turbocharge their thyroid. meds, but because they are trying to turbocharge their thyroid. Well, men who take those types of drugs also often take anabolics, which can increase metabolism further, mostly through large increases in lean mass and other physiological mechanisms. The bottom line is when someone is on a lot of steroids, they are going to find it a lot easier to stay lean than if they were not on those drugs. in your books? Well, most people don't need to do anything really beyond the stretching that naturally occurs with proper training. If you are squatting, if you are pressing, if you are deadlifting or doing some sort of hip hinge, and you are using a proper range of motion with those

exercises, you are going to maintain good flexibility. You're going to be a lot more flexible than the average person. That's for sure. That said, if inflexibility is causing issues, then yes, stretching can help. And if you want to learn about a little stretching routine that I do, I've been doing for years now, it's only like 10 minutes a day, but it addresses a couple of areas that I just need to stay on top of. I need to do a little bit for outside of my lifting, my hips, my shoulders. Head over to legionathletics.com, search for yoga, and you'll find an article I wrote that shares the few yoga poses basically that I do every day. They're stretches, but they're yoga poses. All right, let's move on to CAA 1997. They ask, if you were the absolute ruler of Earth, what changes would you make? Well, I think I would follow Caesar Augustus's playbook. So first is find me in Agrippa. Second is execute and exile thousands of traitors, malfactors, schemers, and the like. And third is create and maintain conditions that allow the

people in society who give more than they take to thrive. Can't see the name asks, what do you think about a 90% carnivore diet? Well, plant avoidance of any kind is just dumb. Our primal ancestors ate plenty of plants and you simply cannot get sufficient amounts of essential and non-essential nutrients for optimal health without eating plants regularly. And even eating nose to tail, that is not enough. So please, stop looking for excuses to not eat vegetables. Just eat your damn vegetables. Throw in some fruit. Throw in some whole grains. Just eat your damn vegetables, throw in some fruit, throw in some whole grains. My four-year-old daughter does it, okay?

Dawn Hidgemans asks, know of any place one could live free from the COVID tyranny? Well, I live in Ocala, Florida, in the middle of the state. There are a lot of horse farms around here, and it is essentially pre-COVID living. I mean, I'm sure there are still a Covidian or 3D running around, you know, still quarantining their mail and bleaching their food. But for the most part, nobody cares. Nobody cares about Omicold or whichever scarient we are on to. Nobody cares how many injections you've gotten. Nobody cares how many masks you wear, whether it's zero or 10. It's nice. High3421 asks, why are people still getting tested for the Rona? Well, because many Cavitians are indeed sick, but just not in the way that they think. Jay Nelson asks, do you think those barefoot shoes make much of a difference? Well, based on the

research I've reviewed, there is a good case against cushioned running shoes because studies do show they can change the way that we run for the worse and can weaken our feet in a way that can increase the risk of injury. shoes can lead to fewer injuries and less pain. So there clearly is a bit more to it than just marketing hype, which is what I expected when I first started to look into it, honestly, but I was surprised to see otherwise. One tip is if you do want to give barefoot or minimalist exercise, and weightlifting wouldn't count because it's not going to pound your feet. This would be running. If you want to do that, then start with walking before you try running, because if you are coming from a cushioned running shoe, chances are it's going to beat up your feet a little bit in the beginning. Now, your feet will get stronger. They will adapt.

It's not bad, but you are probably not going to be able to go from a high volume of running on a cushioned shoe to the same volume on a minimalist shoe or barefoot right away. You're probably going to have to work up to it. All right. Kev Sandoval asks, favorite book beside your own? Like how he added that. Also, if you weren't into working out, what would be your obsession? You know, I get asked this fairly often. One favorite book, one book I think everyone should read, one book that most changed my life. And it's hard for me to answer that. It feels impossible

to pick one because I regularly read in different genres and I have favorites in each genre. So for example, starting strength, one of my favorites for fitness, ready, fire, aim, one of my favorites for business, particularly business growth and marketing, on writing well for writing, the magic of thinking big for self-development and the five love languages for relationships. Now, as for what else I could see myself doing a lot of, writing fiction is something I plan to do in my next life when I decide to make the time for it, I suppose. Maybe in the next couple of years, that's what I'm thinking. And possibly poetry as well. I like to read poetry and I think I probably could enjoy writing it and enjoy the

challenge. It certainly would be difficult. And I also probably could enjoy writing it and enjoy the challenge. It certainly would be difficult. And I also probably could have fun creating and publishing board games. I think that could be a hoot because I like board games and I like the creativity that goes into them. I like the marketing. Anyway, we'll see. I'll have to make more money. I think that's going to be step one.

So then I can justify taking a bunch of my time to create board games and write poetry. So if you want to support my dreams, please go to legionathletics.com and buy a lot of stuff. consistent with your meal plan and meal prepping? Well, one is to make sure that you are eating stuff you actually like. And if that means that you have to take some time to work in some variety in your meal plan, if you are somebody who likes a lot of variety, take the time to do that. It does make a big difference. Another tip is to prep as much as you can in one or two sessions per week and choose foods and choose recipes that are conducive to this. Stay away from stuff that needs to be prepared more often that you can't just do on a Sunday afternoon, for example, portion out and heat up every day. Some people also they'll do Sundays and Wednesdays, for example, because some stuff won't keep well for the entire week. Another tip is to eat out as little as possible because the more you eat out, the easier it is to overeat.

And if you're eating out frequently, you are probably going to overeat a lot more frequently and a lot more egregiously than if you are not eating out. And the final tip is to not allow yourself to get too hungry at any point throughout the day. Make sure that your meal times and your meal choices keep you full. Don't force yourself to eat a big breakfast, for example, when you tend to be not hungry in the morning

and you get hungrier later in the day. In that case, maybe you have a small breakfast or no breakfast if you want to skip it, and maybe even a smaller lunch, and then maybe you are saving more calories for an afternoon snack and a dinner. I myself, I like to eat light more or less throughout the entire day. I have a small breakfast. It's just a protein shake, and I mix in Legion's Genesis. So I mix Legion Genesis, acai berry flavor with, I like to mix it with plant plus, our plant protein, and I mix it with the vanilla flavor. I think the combination of those two actually tastes pretty good and the mouthfeel is nice.

And so that's my breakfast. And then I'll have some fruit in the middle of the morning, you know, maybe like a handful of blueberries. I eat some hummus too randomly just because I like it. And I will have another protein shake before I go to the gym. So I'll have a scoop of Legion's Whey and Plant Plus. I like to mix them together with, oh, probably about six to eight ounces of water and then mix it up into almost like a pudding and I eat it with a spoon. And I like to mix the salted caramel or the cinnamon cereal way with the vanilla plant plus, at least that's what I'm doing right now.

And then around 3 PM, I make myself a salad and I put some protein of some kind into it. Normally it is chicken or beef. And then I'm eating a little bit more fruit either before or after. Sometimes I'll have a little bit of soup as well, some tomato soup or split pea soup. That's what I'm eating these days. And then I have a bigger dinner. I'll have a bunch of vegetables, my vegetable slop, as I call it. And there's going to be some sort of meat in there. And after that, I like to have more food. I like to eat more food, both volume and calories at night than earlier in the day. So 8 or 9 p.m., I'll make myself some oatmeal, a cup of dry oatmeal, cook it, put some nuts in there, cut up a banana in there,

and then finish it with another scoop of Legion's Whey and some almond milk. Now, for the last four weeks or so, I have not been eating the oatmeal because I've been cutting. And that was my meal plan is just keep eating the same stuff, leave the oatmeal out because that's several hundred calories. And I'll let that be my calorie deficit. And I think I'll do that probably for another, I don't know, two to four weeks. We'll see. And then I will add the oatmeal back in. Okay. So Ra Ra Rachel asks how to respond to a boyfriend who keeps telling me to tone with light weights. Oh, I don't know. Maybe blow a vuvuzela in his face. Maybe duct tape his flapping mouth shut? Maybe shank him with a letter opener? SimpleNotEasyNew asks,

how is Legion protein powder so damn good? Well, I could tell you SimpleNotEasyNew, but then I'd have to crack your skull, steal your face, and boil your bones for broth. steal your face, and boil your bones for broth. And by the way, if anyone listening to this has not tried Legion's Whey Plus yet, you really should fix your shit immediately. Salted caramel and cinnamon cereal, I mentioned those earlier in this podcast, they are king. Don't at me. No, seriously though, Legion's Whey Protein is one of our most popular products. It probably gets the most word of mouth and the most five-star reviews. It'd be a toss-up between whey and, or whey plus is what it's called, and Pulse, our pre-workout. But people are consistently impressed with whey plus, especially when they've tried other 100% natural whey protein powders because whey plus is in another league. I mean, it tastes good compared to any whey protein

powder, even the artificial stuff. And there are two reasons for that. One is the material itself. When I was starting Legion and creating Whey Plus, I requested the best whey isolate powders in the world. And there were a handful that were considered top tier. One came from the United States. Another one came from Holland, I believe. Another came from New Zealand, if I am remembering correctly, and another came from Ireland. And the Irish way was so much better than the others. I stopped sourcing at that point. I was like, I want this. This is delicious. This is incredibly creamy, but it has no fat and it has a very mild flavor. I really liked it. And then I took that and I worked with some really good flavor labs who have a lot of experience working with natural flavoring and natural sweeteners. Many labs don't have much experience with that and are not very

good at it, but I worked with some labs that are very good at it. And the result, whey plus. And I've sold tens of millions of dollars of whey plus over the years, and it continues to be a top seller. And it continues to get Legion a lot of customers and a lot of loyal customers because it is hands down the best 100% natural whey protein isolate powder on the market. And if you want to fact check me on that, if you want to see for yourself, just go over to buylegion.com, B-U-Y legion.com slash whey, give it a go. And if you are not impressed, just tell us and we will give you your money back. Well, I hope you liked this episode. I hope you found it helpful. And if you did subscribe to the show, because it makes sure that you don't miss new episodes. And it also

helps me because it increases the rankings of the show a little bit, which of course then makes it a little bit more easily found by other people who may like it just as much as you. And if you didn't like something about this episode or about the show in general, or if you have ideas or suggestions or just feedback to share, shoot me an email, mike at muscleforlife.com, muscleforlife.com, and let me know what I could do better

or just what your thoughts are about maybe what you'd like to see me do in the future. I read everything myself. I'm always looking for new ideas and constructive feedback. your thoughts are about maybe what you'd like to see me do in the future. I read everything myself. I'm always looking for new ideas and constructive feedback. So thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon.