Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Q&A: BBLS 1.0 vs. 2.0, Women and BBLS, BLS or BBLS, and More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, and welcome to another episode of Muscle for Life. I'm Mike Matthews. Thank you for joining me today. And I have great news that you've probably already heard, but maybe not. So I'm going to say it again. And that is that I just released the new second edition of my best selling book for experienced weightlifters, Beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, which is live right now over at bblsbook.com. And I am getting a lot of questions about it. And here are the top three so far. One is how does BBLS 2.0 compare to 1.0? What's new and how new is new exactly? Second question, is BBLS 2.0 only for men or can women benefit from the book and from the workout program as well? And three, which book and program is right for me, BLS, so bigger than or stronger, or BBLS 2.0? And bonus question, when should I switch from BLS to

Starting point is 00:01:02 BBLS 2.0? And in this podcast, I'm going to answer those questions. Also to celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including a 30 minute zoom call with yours unruly. That's priceless. Of course, a Vitamix blender, a Whoop fitness tracker, a $200 Lululemon gift card, one month of Legion VIP coaching, and more. Now, all you have to do for a chance to win all those cool things is head over to www.bblsbook.com and buy a copy of BBLS 2.0, any format, ebook, paperback, audiobook, whichever one you want. And then forward the receipt email to launch at legionsupplements.com, L-E-G-I-O-N supplements.com.

Starting point is 00:01:56 And voila, you are entered in the giveaway. You have to act fast though, because the book launch bonanza ends and the winners will be chosen on october 16th now you can also increase your chances of winning by buying extra copies of the book again any formats and specifically if you buy three copies of the book instead of one you will get five giveaway entries so that is a plus 400 chance to to win. If you buy five copies, you'll get eight giveaway entries. That is a plus 700% chance to win. And if you buy 10 copies, you are going to get 15 giveaway entries, which is a plus 1400% chance to win. And if you buy 10 copies, you are

Starting point is 00:02:41 going to get an autographed copy of the book as well. That you don't have to win. You're just going to get it. So for instance, if you buy the paperback, ebook, and audiobook, that's three copies, you'll get five entries to win. And then if you buy three paperbacks, as well as the ebook and audiobook, that is five copies and you'll get eight entries and so forth. And what are you going to do with extra books, you're wondering? Well, you could give them to your workout buddies. You could donate them to your local library. You could hurl them at unpleasant children.

Starting point is 00:03:15 I don't know. There are many options when you think about it. Anyway, to learn more about the giveaway and to get your copy or copies of Beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger 2.0, head over to www.bblsbook.com. Okay, so here is the first question. How does BBLS 2.0 compare to 1.0? What's new and how new is new? Very good questions. And the simple answer is this, 2.0 is different than 1.0 in just about every meaningful way. You can really just think of it as a brand new book because I released the first edition about six years ago. And since then, I have been keeping a list of reader suggestions and questions, as well as my own ideas of things to add, change, and remove

Starting point is 00:04:05 based on my ongoing research and experience in my own training, as well as my experience working with others and particularly other experienced weightlifters. And these points range from stuff like typos and awkward phrasings, you know, little things to major things like new dietary protocols, word phrasings, you know, little things to major things like new dietary protocols, new methods of training programming, new inner game tips, and more, a lot more. So much, in fact, that this second edition, BBLS 2.0, is really reorganized and rewritten from scratch. And I am tickled with the result. I think it came together very nicely. Here are some of the highlights, for example. 2.0 has an inner game section that better addresses the unique challenges of the intermediates and the advanced weightlifter, including establishing the right habits, enhancing consistency, and managing expectations. And the diet section of 2.0 contains a bonanza

Starting point is 00:05:02 of new material, including updated methods for mini cuts, intermittent fasting, and calorie cycling. It also includes my favorite functional foods, not superfoods, and I talk about the difference between those terms, for boosting health and wellness, as well as the four types of supplements that experienced weightlifters should consider taking in addition to the basics. Of course, no supplements are necessary, but the right ones can help. The training program in 2.0 has also been overhauled stem to stern, and it provides powerful and easy to implement, which is a very important point, workout routines based on the latest research on how to gain muscle

Starting point is 00:05:43 and strength as effectively as possible. I'm also a better writer now than I was six years ago. And so I think everything in 2.0 is even easier to follow and understand and apply. So the bottom line is, if you have read BBLS 1.0 and you are on the fence about 2.0, you will not be disappointed. Scout's honor. And if you have not read 1.0, but have read, let's say, Bigger, Leaner, Stronger or Thinner, Leaner, Stronger and liked either of those books, you will love BBLS 2.0. I promise. All right, next question, which I just alluded to by mentioning Thinner, Leaner, Stronger, and that is, is BBLS 2.0 only for men or can women benefit from this book as well?

Starting point is 00:06:26 And the answer here is while the book is skewed toward men, let's start with the title. There aren't very many women out there who come to me saying, Hey Mike, I really want to get bigger. But this book does have a lot to offer women. If you're a woman and you're into training and you are an intermediate or an advanced trainee, you are going to learn a lot of very immediately practical stuff in this book. You are going to immediately make changes to your diet and training for the better. Also relevant is, yes, I do plan on doing a female version of the book, a Beyond Thinner Leaner Stronger, but I will not be able to do it for some time. Kind of a long story, not worth even sharing, but it just boils

Starting point is 00:07:10 down to publishing agreements that I have made with Simon & Schuster in particular because I'm doing a book with them for the 40 plus crowd that's going to be releasing next summer. And they want me to not self-publish anything for a year before their book comes out. So if I want the book I'm doing with them to come out next summer, and I do, I have to refrain from self-publishing anything for the next year, basically. That said, if you are a woman, then read BBLS 2.0 and just shoot me an email, mikeatmuscleforlife.com. And if you need help modifying the training program to better fit your needs, that'll be the primary question you're going to have is how do I make this training more in line with what I want to accomplish with my

Starting point is 00:07:58 physique? Because as it is a program for men, there is quite a bit of upper body volume. There is quite a bit of lower body volume. There is quite a bit of lower body volume as well, but most women will not want to do as much volume for their upper body as you will find in BBLS 2.0. They will want to shift some of that to increase their lower body volume. And I can help you do that. Just email me, mikeatmuscleforlife.com. And if you have any other questions about making the information in the book work for you, I will be happy to help. Also, keep in mind, if you do this, if you're a woman and you read the book and you reach out to me and share, just share feedback. Even if you have no questions, you know exactly what you want to do.

Starting point is 00:08:34 Your feedback can help me make Beyond Thinner, Leaner, Stronger that much better, which would be awesome as well. be awesome as well. If you are liking this episode, you should know that it is one of the chapters of the new second edition of my best-selling book for experienced weightlifters Beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, which is live right now at bblsbook.com. Also, you should know that to celebrate this momentous occasion, I am giving away over $6,000 of glorious goodies, including a 30-minute Zoom call with yours unruly, a Vitamix blender, a Whoop fitness tracker, a $200 Lululemon gift card, one month of Legion VIP coaching, an Inzer weightlifting belt, and much more. And all you have to do for a chance to win is head over to bblsbook.com, buy a copy of the book, any format, and forward the receipt email

Starting point is 00:09:32 to launch at legionsupplements.com. And voila, you are entered in the giveaway. You have to act fast though, because the book launch bonanza ends and the winners will be chosen on October 16th. All right, question number three, which book is right for me? BLS, Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, or BBLS 2.0? And let's do a bonus question. When should I switch from BLS to BBLS 2.0? Well, if you're a guy who has yet to gain his first, let's say 20 to 25 pounds of muscle, regardless of how long you've been training for, Bigger, Leaner,, stronger is for you. It's really all you need to get to that

Starting point is 00:10:09 point. And why make things more complicated or more difficult than they need to be, right? Because BBLS 2.0 is a little bit more complicated and the workouts certainly are more difficult. But if you've already done that, if your newbie gains are well behind you, then beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, BBLS 2.0 is probably going to help you more than BLS. And as for when to change from BLS to BBLS, you should make the switch when you are no longer gaining strength and muscle on the Bigger, Leaner, Stronger program. It's really that simple. If it's still working for you, you don't have to change. Unless maybe it's barely working, you are making very slow progress, then BBLS 2.0 will probably be better for you.

Starting point is 00:10:52 And to put some simple numbers to that, based on my experience working with a lot of guys over the years, I would say after maybe a year on the short end and two, maybe three years on the long end of bigger, leaner, stronger, it's time to upgrade. And the reason for that mostly is just because the amount of volume in bigger, leaner, stronger, if we view it in terms of hard sets per major muscle group per week, is no longer enough to continue gaining strength. It becomes maintenance. It actually becomes more than is necessary for maintenance. If all you wanted to do is maintain your body composition, you could do probably half

Starting point is 00:11:30 of the volume in Bigger, Leaner, Stronger and do just fine. So it is more volume than is needed to just maintain muscle and strength, but not quite enough to gain it. That said, some people do find that they can follow Bigger, Leaner, Stronger's principles for three plus years, four, five years with consistent muscle and strength gain. It's rare, but I've seen it. Oftentimes, though, they are adding some volume to the program. They're not changing anything else, just doing a bit more in their workouts. And if you're one of those people, if you are moving along at a normal rate, and if you're curious as to what is a normal rate of muscle gain, I actually talk about it in BBLS 2.0. There's a whole chapter on how much muscle can you gain naturally and how quickly will you gain it. But if you're moving along nicely, you don't have to switch after one, two, or even three years of BLS. Hey, if it's working, then why change it, right? That said, if it's barely working, then you might get better results with Beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger. Or even if BLS is working well for you, you might get better results with BBLS

Starting point is 00:12:37 2.0. And you also might find it fun to change it up and experience a new style of training that is mostly just more difficult. A lot of it's going to feel familiar. If you are a veteran of Bigger, Leaner, Stronger, it's just going to be a bit harder. One other way that you could determine when you're ready to transition from bigger to beyond to Bigger, Leaner, Stronger is looking at your strength levels. And so I have some simple targets that you can think with. And if you haven't hit at least two of them, I would say chances are pretty good that you can still profit from bigger leaner stronger and you don't need to switch just yet. So here they are. It is a squat one rep max of

Starting point is 00:13:16 about one and a half times your body weight. It is a bench press one rep max of about 1.2 times your body weight, a deadlift one rep max about two times your body weight, an overhead press one rep max of about 0.8 times your body weight, and a chin-up or pull-up target of eight reps with your body weight, or at least one rep with your body weight plus 20%. So basically what I'm saying is bigger, leaner, stronger can get most guys to those targets, or at least a couple of those targets. And going further usually requires upgrading. Now, if you're wondering why I said two out of those targets for moving from bigger to beyond bigger, it's just because it's normal for people to be above

Starting point is 00:13:59 average in a couple of key lifts and below average in the others. So for example, I have long legs and I have long arms. So I've always struggled with the bench press, overhead press and squat, but less so on the deadlift because the advantage provided by my long arms negates the disadvantage of my long legs. All right. Well, that's it for this short and sweet Q&A episode regarding BBLS 2.0. And you've probably gathered this from the stuff I've been talking about, not just in this episode, but in the other episodes that have been promoting the release of this book. If your newbie gains are behind you and you are itching to gain real muscle and strength again, and to look forward to your workouts again and really just feel like your fitness is finally under your control again, then my new book, Beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger 2.0

Starting point is 00:14:51 needs to be at the top of your TBR pile because in the book, you are going to learn science-based and time-proven formulas for eating and training that'll help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records, and build your best body ever. And better yet, you're going to do that without following restrictive or exotic diets, without putting in long hours at the gym or doing crushing workouts that leave you aching from tip to tail. All right, well, that is it for that answer. And that wraps up the three questions I wanted to address in this episode. And to close, let me just quickly tell you about Beyond Bigger, Leaner, Stronger 2.0. It's really this simple. If your newbie gains are behind you and you are itching to gain some real muscle and some real strength again, and to actually look forward to your

Starting point is 00:15:45 workouts again, and really to just feel like your fitness is finally under your control again, then this book needs to be at the top of your TBR pile. You can get your copy right now at bblsbook.com. And in it, you will learn science-based and time proven formulas for eating and training that are going to help you shatter muscle and strength plateaus, set new personal records and build your best body ever.

Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Q&A: BBLS 1.0 vs. 2.0, Women and BBLS, BLS or BBLS, and More

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