Michael Matthews > Quotes

“For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. — ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“Muscles Grow Only if They’re Forced to”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“Carl Jung once said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
― Michael Matthews, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation

“Maturity is the ability to reject good alternatives in order to pursue even better ones.”
― Michael Matthews, The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation

“studies show that being kind to oneself in times of stress and failure is associated with better willpower and self-control.49”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Many people believe that if something comes from nature, it must be better than something synthetically made. Hence, the all-too-common (and meaningless) marketing claims of “all natural” that we find on all kinds of food products.”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“I believe that if you can create the body of your dreams, you have what it takes to create the life of your dreams as well.”
― Michael Matthews, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Advanced Guide to Building Muscle, Staying Lean, and Getting Strong

“A protein powder  A multi–vitamin  Fish oil Creatine  Glutamine  A pre–workout drink  Fat burner, CLA, and GTE (if cutting)  An NO booster”
― Michael Matthews, The No-BS Guide to Workout Supplements

“Many people don’t realize that the benefits of exercise go far beyond physiological and psychological improvements,”
― Michael Matthews, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Advanced Guide to Building Muscle, Staying Lean, and Getting Strong

“Reprogramming” yourself to favor the harder choices is going to be uncomfortable.”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. — BENJAMIN FRANKLIN”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Despite what fake gurus and pill and powder pushers say, there are no shortcuts in this lifestyle. You either do the work, or you don’t. And you either transform your body, or you don’t.”
― Michael Matthews, Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Advanced Guide to Building Muscle, Staying Lean, and Getting Strong

“IS CARDIO BEST BEFORE OR AFTER LIFTING? NEITHER! Doing cardio right before or after lifting can seriously hinder muscle and strength gains. Why? Researchers from RMIT University worked with well–trained athletes in 2009 and found that “combining resistance exercise and cardio in the same session may disrupt genes for anabolism.” In laymen’s terms, they found that combining endurance and resistance training sends “mixed signals” to the muscles37. Cardio before the resistance training suppressed anabolic hormones such as IGF–1 and MGF, and cardio after resistance training increased muscle tissue breakdown. Several other studies, such as those conducted by Children’s National Medical Center38, the Waikato Institute of Technology39, and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland)40 , came to same conclusions: training for both endurance and strength simultaneously impairs your gains on both fronts. Training purely for strength or purely for endurance in a workout is far superior. Cardio before weightlifting also saps your energy and makes it much harder to train heavy, which in turn inhibits your muscle growth. So, how do you do it right?”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“If you’re a guy, the mystical secret to a sexy stomach is to get your body fat percentage under 12%. Yup, that’s it. When your body fat percentage approaches 10%, your abs become clearly visible whether you directly train them or not. If you’re a woman, getting your body fat percentage under 20% will get you a flat, lean, toned stomach. That’s all there is to it”
― Inc. Waterbury Publishers, 12 Health and Fitness Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making

“Catabolism Catabolism is the metabolic process by which more complex substances (such as proteins) are broken down into simpler ones (such as amino acids), together with the release of energy. This is also known as destructive metabolism. •••”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“If a mini-habit isn’t working, it’s probably just too big. Make it smaller and let it grow organically. Committing to one workout per day might not sound like much, but it can easily get lost in the whirlpool of daily living. Trim it down to something stupidly easy, quick, and unskippable: a couple of sets of body-weight exercises to failure or a 15-minute walk, for example. The mini-habit tool is incredibly versatile. You can apply it to just about any endeavor and immediately reap the benefits. For example… • Read five pages of the book you want to finish. • Write 50 words on your project. • Do 10 minutes of that exercise DVD. • Lift weights one day per week. • Practice your yoga poses for 5 minutes. • Follow your meal plan for one day. • Cook one new recipe per week. • Give one compliment per day. • Replace one cup of soda with water. You get the idea. So, what major, scary change do you want to make in your life? And what’s the stupidest, simplest action you can take every day to nudge the needle in that direction? There’s your breadcrumb of a mini-habit. Pick it up and see where the trail takes you.”
― Michael Matthews, Cardio Sucks: The Simple Science of Losing Fat Fast...Not Muscle

“The moral of this section is that we simply can’t trust our feelings to guide our actions. If we wander through life chasing “good feelings,” we’ll figure out plenty of ways to not feel bad about every “little” bout of procrastination, overeating, overspending, and what have you, and one day we’ll wonder why the hell we’re so fat, broke, lazy, and ignorant”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“There is no reason to be alive if you can’t do the deadlift! — JON PALL SIGMARSSON Now”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Quite frankly, most guys like to train like wussies. They don’t want to push themselves. They don’t want to exert too much effort. And of course, their bodies don’t change much. They come in each day an exact duplicate of the last. Eventually, they quit out of despair and frustration.”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“Most champions are built by punch-the-clock workouts rather than extraordinary efforts. — DAN JOHN”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“you’re as tough as you think you are, and you can exert as much self-control as you think you can.”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Overweight, sedentary bodies don’t deal with simple sugars nearly as well as lean, physically active ones do. •”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Humans interpret. Like fish swim and birds fly, we interpret. We have always done so. We were created as interpreters. We interpret God, gardens, snakes, light, darkness, Mom’s voice, Dad’s voice, colours, babysitters, nurseries, spinach, commandments, events, sacrifices, poems, songs, books, newspapers, the sports newscaster, soccer games, speeches, scenery, sunrises, sunsets, food, sermons, allegories, street lights, people, cursing, a kiss, the wink of an eye, cancer, and death (to name just a few). We are homo interpretum as much as we are homo sapiens.”
― Michael Matthews, A Novel Approach: The Significance of Story in Interpreting and Communicating Reality

“Insulin tells the body to stop burning its fat stores and instead absorb some of the fatty acids and glucose in the blood and turn them into more body fat…but that’s not what causes you to get fatter over time—overeating does. •”
― Michael Matthews, Thinner Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Female Body

“Exercising regularly (especially intense exercise, including strength training) Maintaining healthy body fat levels Getting enough sleep Not smoking”
― Michael Matthews, Muscle for Life: Get Lean, Strong, and Healthy at Any Age!

“Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos.” —Thich Nhat Hanh”
― Michael Matthews, Stronger Than Yesterday: 169 Insights for Transforming Your Body, Mind, and Motivation

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. — ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER I’m”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“Working out with a bad partner sucks. It drains your energy and motivation and can even cause you to lose enthusiasm for working out altogether. On the other hand, working out with a good partner can go far in keeping you on track and making progress. He helps keep you accountable and wanting to show up every day, and having a spot on certain exercises helps push you for another rep and encourages you to move up in weight as you should. These things can make a big difference as time goes on. Those workouts, additional reps, and progressions in weight that wouldn’t have happened if you were solo add up to real gains. So, I recommend that you find someone to work out with before you start, and the two of you should agree to the following code. 1. I will show up on time for every workout, and if I can’t avoid missing one, I’ll let my partner know as soon as I know. 2. I won’t let my partner get out of a workout easily. I will reject any excuses that are short of an actual emergency or commitment that can’t be rescheduled, and I will insist that he comes and trains.
In the case where there’s a valid excuse, if at all possible, I’ll offer to train at a different time so we can get our workout in. 3. I will come to the gym to train—not to chat. When we’re in the gym, we focus on our workouts, we’re always ready to spot each other, and we get our work done efficiently. 4. I will train hard to set a good example for my partner. 5. I will push my partner to do more than he thinks he can. It’s my job to motivate him to do more weight and more reps than he believes possible. 6. I will be supportive of my partner and will compliment him on his gains.”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

“stop constantly comparing yourself to others and start focusing on getting just a little bit better every day.”
― Michael Matthews, Stronger Than Yesterday: 169 Insights for Transforming Your Body, Mind, and Motivation

“The road to nowhere is paved with excuses. —MARK BELL For”
― Michael Matthews, Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body