Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Q&A: Gains After 35, Counting Steps, Favorite Cheat Meal, 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 for the second installment of my rapid fire Instagram Q&A series of episodes. I posted the first one a week or so ago. It did well. So here is another one. The idea is pretty simple over on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness if you want to follow me. Once a week or so, I do a Q&A in my stories. I post a picture with the little ask me a question sticker, and then I pick various questions to answer in the stories. And I got the idea a couple of weeks ago to turn those into podcasts because I currently don't do anything like that. Most episodes are just about one topic.

Starting point is 00:00:53 Sometimes the interviews can wander, but most of the monologues are one topic, and I'm talking about just it for 10, 15, 20 minutes. about just it for 10, 15, 20 minutes. And so in this episode, I'm going to answer a bunch of different questions about a bunch of different things with shorter answers. Also, if you like what I am doing here on the podcast and you want to help me do it better, please do check out my sports nutrition company, Legion, which right now is holding its annual Halloween sale. And that means you can save up to 25% on all of our best-selling stuff, including our protein powders, our pre-workout and post-workout supplements, fat burners, multivitamins, and more. And of course, you don't need supplements to build muscle, to lose fat, to get healthy, but the right ones can help. And that's why over 300,000 discerning fitness folk, probably like you, have chosen Legion for their sports nutrition

Starting point is 00:01:54 needs. So if you want to check out my stuff and save up to 25%, head over to buylegion.com, 25%, head over to buylegion.com, B-U-Y legion.com and save big and hurry up though, because this sale is ending in a couple of days and then prices go back to their normal cruising altitude. So again, that is buylegion.com, B-U-Y legion.com. Okay. So let's start with the first question, which is, does it become increasingly more difficult to build muscle after age 35? Yes, it does, but by small degrees that are mostly irrelevant to most of us. They would be relevant to a person who wants to become a competitive strength athlete, a competitive powerlifter, a competitive

Starting point is 00:02:45 Olympic weightlifter, for example, but for those of us who just want to gain muscle, lose fat, get healthy, look good, stay looking good, the physiological and mechanical disadvantages of middle age for muscle building versus let's say college age just aren't very significant, especially when you consider that the average guy, regardless of age, is looking to gain maybe 25 to 35 pounds of muscle and get his body fat down to maybe 10 to 15%. And the average gal is looking to gain maybe about half of that in terms of muscle and the right places on her body and looking to get her body fat percentage down to maybe 20 to 25%. And just about anyone can do those things. Just about any man, any woman can accomplish those goals regardless of where they

Starting point is 00:03:38 have been, regardless of where they are starting in terms of age and ability and fitness. Now, yes, there are exceptions. An 80-year-old guy who can barely walk down the stairs is not going to be able to gain 25 to 35 pounds of muscle in his lifetime. That's not going to happen. But a 60 year old dude certainly can. I have worked firsthand with 60 year old dudes who started lifting weights for the first time. And they, in the first couple of years gained 20 to 30 pounds of muscle. Okay. The next question is the earth flat. A Buffalo passes by the window, his head horns andlegs all go past. But why can't the tail pass too? Think about that. Next question. Can you train for strength and hypertrophy while training to improve cycling performance? Yes, you can, but you are going to have to be okay with mediocre performance in each of those

Starting point is 00:04:46 domains. So if you want to learn more about that, head over to legionathletics.com, search for concurrent training, and you'll find an article that breaks it all down, explains why that is, and explains how to do the best you can if you want to get stronger, gain muscle, and improve your endurance. Okay, the next question. Thoughts on the vaccine lockdowns, masks, etc.? Well, on pain of summary execution, I think everyone should have to take all of the shots, now that we know we can mix and match them, so you have to take them all, and you should have to wear all of the shots now that we know we can mix and match them. So you have to take them all. And you should have to wear three masks even when you're at home.

Starting point is 00:05:30 And you should stay inside. And you should have to socially distance indefinitely. And you should eat the bugs. And ignore grubby conspiracy theories. And watch sports ball and punch Nazis and ignore all unapproved data and research and just stop asking questions. Next question. What do you think was your number one lesson you've learned in the fitness industry? Well, it is very democratized. It's very decentralized. It's very accessible. There aren't any major barriers to entry if you know how to help people and you know how to communicate

Starting point is 00:06:14 well. Next question is, you have the chance to make someone shit their pants at any moment in history, who and why? Oh, that's a good writing prompt. Okay, so there are two wolves in me, and one of them wants to say Caesar as he is strolling to the Senate House, and the other one wants to say Marilyn Monroe over the vent. How great would that be, right? All right, next question. What's your favorite cheat meal? These days, it is good Italian food, so some really good pasta, some really good pizza. Well, I guess those aren't the only Italian foods, but those are the ones that I like for my cheat meals or as I would call them my treat meals. And I also really like Jenny's ice cream. I like their gooey butter cake flavor. So good. But I only do that occasionally because I can't really enjoy just a couple hundred calories of ice cream. I have to go all the way. If I'm going to eat ice cream, I'm going to eat a pint of ice cream. And a pint of Jenny's ice cream is a thousand calories, unfortunately. calories, unfortunately. Next question. Should I work out if I'm really sore? Well, you can train when you're sore, so long as your performance isn't impaired, because if it is, you probably

Starting point is 00:07:33 have not fully recovered yet. So for example, if you can normally bench press 185 pounds for five reps, and you're a little bit sore, and you get under the the bar and you do 185 for five or six, you know, you get at least five, then you're good to go. But if you can only get two or three reps, you probably haven't recovered yet. And I wouldn't recommend training the bench press again until you are more recovered. Next question. After a bulking phase, should you go to maintenance before cutting? No, you don't have to. You can if you want to, or you can just go straight to cutting. Best part about moving back to Florida? Well, I haven't worn a science burka in months, and people in my town in Ocala, Florida, where I'm at, they care so little about COVID,

Starting point is 00:08:27 Ocala, Florida, where I'm at. They care so little about COVID, they don't even talk about it. It is basically pre-COVID living. Next question is, is counting steps a viable source of determining activity level? Yeah, yeah, it is. I would say that the general advice of aiming for at least 10,000 steps per day if you're not particularly active otherwise is good. I, for example, don't track my steps and I wouldn't get anywhere near probably 10,000 steps per day, but I am doing cardio every day. I am moving my body outside of just my weightlifting. I choose to do it on an upright bike though. So next question, what made you decide to pick up golf? Ah, well, it was mostly just white privilege actually. How to handle fitness in sickness? Unfortunately, you just have to rest. Don't train and take a nap instead. Whatever time you would normally give to the gym,

Starting point is 00:09:20 just get in bed. How do you prefer getting fucked by your government, lockdowns, or taxes? Hmm, you know, I really can't choose. I can't get enough of either. I just want to be governed harder, daddy. Do you have a favorite study that you have ever read? Well, I do have a sentimental attachment to a study that was published in 2014 called evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation, nutrition, and supplementation. And the reason is that was the first overview of evidence-based dieting for body comp that I found that just cleanly summarized all of the key factors. And if you haven't read it, I'd recommend reading it. Best advice for creating a scalable business? Well, you have to have good

Starting point is 00:10:14 marketing and you have to be able to create good systems and teams. I have a couple of book recommendations if you are interested, dear listener. The first is Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson, which I promise is not me writing under a very uncreative pseudonym. The other is The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, and the other is The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, or it might be The E-Myth Revisited. I think he updated the book, but the E-Myth Michael Gerber. What was the biggest thing or event that shaped your political views? 9-11, because before that, I didn't have any political views. I didn't pay attention to politics at all, really. But after 9-11, I did start to pay attention. I did start to do research, to use a phrase that triggers mid new episodes. And it also helps me because it

Starting point is 00:11:26 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.

Starting point is 00:11:58 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.

Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Q&A: Gains After 35, Counting Steps, Favorite Cheat Meal, and More

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