The More Than Fitness Podcast With Matt McLeod

I hesitate to make episodes like this because "mental advice" from people is usually vague and hard to implement. I also don't want to sound preachy, like I don't struggle with these exact things I'm "teaching." But I wanted to make it because I've found these tips helpful. Close friends have found them helpful. And the clients I work with have found them helpful. So, I figured there's a decent chance you'll find them helpful, too. And like it says in the title, this is mostly geared towards fitness, but the tips can apply almost universally. Hope you find it useful, and enjoy!

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Deciding what to track is largely up to the individual and their expectations around progress. In my experience working with hundreds of people, and through years of tracking myself, you get much better results if you track a few key things. In this podcast, I talk about who needs to track, why it's necessary to track, what most people get wrong when they try to lose weight, and at the end of the podcast I give some practical recommendations. There's a middle ground between too relaxed and too strict, so I make sure to explain what I've found works best. Hope it helps!

Too many people get caught up in the minutia when it comes to losing weight: brown rice vs white? Intermittent fasting or keto? One protein shake or two protein shakes per day? These questions are all missing the forest for the trees. What these questions are missing is problem solving from a "first principles" approach.

A first principle is a foundational proposition or assumption that stands alone. We cannot deduce first principles from any other proposition or assumption. Basically, we can't break it down any further. Which is a good thing, because this means we get to the root of the problem! When we know what the foundational problem is, we know where to point our efforts when solving it. And in this solo episode, I try to break down fat loss and muscle building to it's key components, so it's as simple as possible for you to understand. Once you understand it, it will guide your future decisions. Hope it helps!

After a little bit of a hiatus, the pod is back ladies and gents! Apologies for the wait, but I just needed to recharge a bit before jumping back into things. In this episode, I cover the new approach I'm taking with the podcast, my new fat loss course, the importance of surrounding yourself with like-hearted people, and more! Enjoy.

No new episode for this week, so we're throwing it back to last year's retrospective. A retrospective is when you look back on the past year to identify what worked... and what didn't work. A retrospective helps you celebrate your wins and identify your weaknesses. It helps you learn from the past and correct for the future.

In this solo episode, I answer three questions:

QUESTION 1: What's working? ("What did I do right? What am I proud of?")

QUESTION 2: What's not working? ("What could be improved? What are my biggest opportunities for growth?")

QUESTION 3: How can I fix what’s not working for a better result? ("What specific things can I focus on next time?")

Hopefully this episode inspires you to take the time to think, reflect, and write your own retrospective. It should take you roughly an hour, but you owe it to yourself to take this seriously. Hope you enjoy!

No matter your age, the basics should be the foundation of your workout program. But as you get older and busier, there are external variables that you need to consider more and more. Working out when you're 20 will be different than 30, 30 will be different than 40, and so forth. In this solo episode, I cover strategies that are helpful at any age, but especially as "life" starts to happen to you more as time goes on.

I mention my best tips for...

-stress management (workout recovery, dieting, sleep deprivation, anxiety, etc.)

-warming up properly to avoid aching joints later in life

-increasing your daily calorie burn through NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

-scheduling your workouts to fit your lifestyle

-the best exercises and cardio regimen for general health, fat loss, & longevity

-and much more!

Hope it helps!

If you don't know who he is, Tim Ferriss is a best-selling author and host of one of the top podcasts out right now. One of his most popular books is called "Tribe of Mentors," where he asked world-class performers 11 questions (listed below) and recorded their answers. In this solo episode, I went through and answered each one myself. Enjoy!

Questions:

(4:35) 1. What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

(9:57) 2. What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? My readers love specifics like brand and model, where you found it, etc.

(12:51) 3. How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a 'favorite failure' of yours?

(23:51) 4. If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it—metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions—what would it say and why? It could be a few words or a paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else's quote: Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?)

(29:17) 5. What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)

(35:06) 6. What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

(37:19) 7. In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

(43:19) 8. What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the 'real world?' What advice should they ignore?

(48:03) 9. What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

(50:26) 10. In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?

(55:55) 11. When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)

One of the biggest things I help my coaching clients with is gaining clarity. After I help them come up with concrete goals and a plan to reach it, their results (and motivation) skyrockets. But, along the way, sometimes that clarity can fizzle out and we need to re-visit our plan going forward. In this Minisode, I break down how I've helped my clients—and myself—get "unstuck" when things just aren't feeling right. Hope it helps!

The focus of any type of workout or nutrition plan should be to increase consistency. Assuming the plan is effective, the only thing holding you back from getting results is actually doing the work. AKA, following through on your commitments. In this solo episode, I talk about the three ways that I use and help my clients use to increase their consistency and get drastically better results. Getting fit and staying fit in the middle of "real life shit" is a skill. It can be learned. And I'll teach you how by the end of this episode. Hope it helps!

Holidays are around the corner and it can be tricky to navigate your fitness goals during this time. Do you let loose and eat whatever you want? Do you keep it tight and stay on track? What about when random relatives comment on what you eat or how you look? How do you prevent yourself from saying "screw it" and gaining tons of weight by the new year? Like I said: it gets tricky. And in this Minisode, I try to help you clear these things up and show you how to approach the holidays with confidence. I hope it helps!

Often times the biggest culprits behind slowing our progress are the ones we don't even know we're doing. Sure, we often know we need to work out more and make better food choices, but what about our blind spots? In this Minisode, I talk about the most common ones I've seen over my years of coaching hundreds of people myself, along with what I've personally fallen victim to. Some will be around your workouts, some with nutrition, and some with mindset. I cover each one, then give you a practical solution you can apply right away. Hope it helps!

I've never been someone who plans out their whole week on Sunday. I know I probably should, but I don't. That said, I've realized there are a few rules and strategies I use to do the minimum effective dose of planning. You can do most of it in your head, but it'd likely work better to write it down at first. In this solo episode, I cover five nutrition tips and five workout tips on how to set up your weekly routine with minimal effort. Hope it helps!

After being in the fitness game for a decade, you start noticing patterns. When you also coach hundreds of people, you see more patterns. In this Minisode, I break down five ways to overcome common mental obstacles that I've seen hold so many back. It's easy to get overwhelmed, but these five tips will help guide you onto the right path so you can continue making progress. Hope it helps!

At only 24 years old, Des is killing the game on all fronts: business, fitness, life, love, and more. We had a great conversation, starting with her athletic background as a collegiate volleyball player, then transitioning into her blow-up on social media, and finally diving into how she handles being a legit business owner.

She has an entire team of people on her payroll, including her own sister, so I had to ask questions about how she coped with the pressure of these responsibilities at such a young age. And even with her success, she still compares herself to others and falls victim to not feeling like enough, which I had to explore more as well. Lastly, she revealed her dream job outside of fitness—let's just say Ellen DeGeneres needs to watch out. This episode was a little shorter than normal, but it was a great one nonetheless. Enjoy!

I can't believe it's taken me this long to talk more in-depth on this subject, but I had a friend ask me about it. The Keto Diet has gained more popularity over the 5 years or so and many people have seen great success. But most, by far, have failed with it being a long-term strategy. That said, there are some pros and cons with it, and that's what I cover in this Minisode. I give my own advice, plus what the latest science says. Hope it helps!

I met James a few months back in Austin, TX for the first time through some mutual friends and we instantly hit it off. James is positive, high-energy, and always brings the best vibes. That same personality shined today in our chat together and I can't wait to share it with you. James has a career in corporate wellness and, on the side, he is an online fitness coach who helps athletes manage their health through mindset, accountability, and execution. He's a former Ohio State track and field athlete, so he knows how to relate deeply when solving problems for his clients. Make sure to check him out.

In this episode, we cover:

-What James does and who he best helps

-What it was like to be a D1 athlete at Ohio State

-Becoming a leader through nature vs nurture

-The transition of going from athlete to "normal person"

-The challenges of being a single father of twin boys

-How his fitness goals have changed since being an athlete

-Things James does to feel good on a regular basis

-His genius morning routine "toolbox"

-His inner-city upbringing and how he was taught not to express feelings

-Balancing high energy and calm energy

-Why he loves skydiving

-How he designs his apartment for ultimate positive vibes

-The lessons of being a single father and raising his boys

-What is exciting James about the future

-What his alternate career would be

-And much more!

You better bookmark this Minisode because I'm sharing all the secrets. This is the exact "formula" I use at the beginning of a fat loss phase with any client that signs up to work with me 1:1. If you follow it, you will be much better off than using any type of random math equation or calorie calculator. To make it easy on you, I've also included my article on the entire subject so you don't have to take any notes while you listen. But listen first because I drop a few tidbits not included in the article below. Hope it helps!

These are my favorite types of Minisodes to do because I get to let you guys in on my weird tips that make my life better. I'm constantly tinkering with how to improve my well-being or health, so it's fun to share them here. There's a mix of both lifestyle tips and fitness tips, and I think they'll really make a difference if you take them seriously. Hope it helps!

There are typically two camps of lifters when it comes to warm-ups: 1) those who skip them entirely and 2) those who take way too damn long with their foam rolling, mobility drills, core activation, yoga, sun worshiping, etc. As usual, the answer lies in the middle. And in this Minisode, I cover the basics of what you need in a warm-up and cool-down in less than 10 minutes of total gym time. By nailing these, you can guarantee healthier joints, fewer injuries, less stress, and more muscle gain. Hope it helps!

I was happy to share some big news in this solo episode! I'm stoked to announce that I've become a Legion Athletics "athlete." Legion is the #1 best-selling brand of all-natural sports nutrition supplements. That's right—I've sold my soul to the supplement industry! ...but not really. I actually just really love everything Legion represents. I've had their founder, Mike Matthews, on the podcast in the past and we really hit it off. So I trust the man who runs it, plus their supplements are known for their science-backed ingredients and dosages. This is one of the only supplement companies I know of that actually has a "science board" that qualifies every supplement they create. Long story short, their combination of integrity, transparency, and effective ingredients is everything I would need to even consider being "sponsored" by somebody. And since I know you guys are already likely taking some supplements each day, it made sense to recommend my top choices for you. Plus, you save 20% using my code ("MattM"). It's a win-win for everyone. I say this with 100% honesty: I would recommend Legion whether or not I was sponsored. Their stuff is the best I've seen on the market in terms of price, quality, and taste. So, give this episode a listen and consider supporting me through using my code when you buy your next tub of protein or pre-workout :)

This one was a banger. I went on quite a few rants and I might hurt some feelings. But, as I state in the Minisode, sometimes feelings need to be hurt because it can be a catalyst to change. I hope that's exactly what happens with this one. Well, I don't *want* to hurt your feelings, but if it's for your own good — you're welcome. We all need that kick in the ass sometimes. Embrace it. (And I hope it helps.)

I was SO excited to have my first ever threesome today... on the podcast. I've never had two guests on the show at the same time, but I couldn't think of a better combo than Jared and Rico. Jared is an online fitness coach, speaker, podcaster, and business owner of Hamilton Trained. Rico has worked with some of the best fitness coaches in the industry as a videographer and published photographer. As much as I want to make a joke about both of them right now, I hope you check them out because they're great dudes (and are damn good at what they do).

I can't remotely name everything we touched on in this episode, here's (mostly) what we covered:

-Jared's recent therapy session & why Rico stopped going to therapy (for now)

-I ask them what they do to take care of their well-being each day

-Jared's insanely graphic dreams

-What brings us joy

-How we balance work and play

-The pros and cons of always wanting "more"

-How I'm managing my expectations around my goals

-How we deal with comparing ourselves

-Using the 2 voices in our heads

-The dichotomy of behavior change

-The Trifecta

-Us starting a podcast together

-Another fitness coach asked "how to handle clients who aren't motivated"

-Lots of random nonsense

Fall is here, which means tailgating season is upon us. And here's the thing: we don't want to be the person who has to say 'no' to all the delicious tailgating food, but we also want to eat according to our goals at the same time. I say why not both? As usual, there's a middle ground. In this Minisode, I give my best advice and tactics on how to eat before, during, and after the tailgate. Even if you don't tailgate often, there are plenty of tips in here that you can use for any type of public event where you don't have full control of the menu. Hope it helps!

This was such a fun in-person podcast with my good friend, and fellow fitness coach, Austin Current. He's been on the podcast several times before and we always touch on unique topics, with a hint of ball-busting.

In this episode, we covered:

-Understanding the literal reality of time passing

-Our experience of life up to this point

-Comparing movies/TV shows vs real life

-Gaining perspective on what matters

-Sacrificing the now for the later

-Mark Manson's quote on embracing the mundane

-Why Austin is rude to Uber drivers

-Making friends through sh*t talking

-Small things that bring us joy

-Professor Laurie Santos advice on happiness

-Perspective shifts from hearing 9/11 clips

-I ask Austin if he's ever wanted to try stand-up comedy

-Why my memory is terrible (and why I'm SO present)

-Should you video experiences or be in the moment?

-How to be a normal person

-Our experiences when "followers" see us in person

-And much more!

First things first, I need to make it clear that you should be following some type of plan in the gym. If you're just winging it, you don't know if you're making progress or not because you have too much variety. So, get a plan. Next, you need to figure out how to make that plan adaptable to your ever-changing lifestyle. If your plan calls for 4 days per week, but you get busy with work and can only make it 3 days per week, how do you change it? In this Minisode, I break down some of my best programming tips for adjusting your workout plan effectively. Hope it helps!

In this solo episode, I decided to touch on a topic that is gaining popularity every year. We're all looking for the fountain of youth. Luckily, modern science, medicine, and technology are all getting better by the minute. Some things we can control, some things we can't. But in this episode, I touched on what the latest science says that you *can* control to help you live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Hope you enjoy.

No new Minisode for this week, so we're throwing it back to one of my most popular editions. I had an online coaching client ask me, "at what point in a diet do you risk eating too few calories and start losing muscle mass?" It's a great question and one I don't think people consider enough. Most just worry about the number on the scale going down as fast as possible, but there's a crucial difference between WEIGHT loss and FAT loss. We want to aim for purely fat loss and retain, or build, as much muscle as possible. In this Minisode, I explain the 4 pillars I use with all my clients to do exactly that.

A quick definition of "leverage": a force multiplier of your effort, skills, and judgment. It's how to increase your input-to-output ratio. How can we change 10% in one area of our life that can generate a 100% improvement to our life? In this solo episode, I give eight different high leverage activities in fitness, nutrition, life, and more. Hope you enjoy!

This topic came from a listener, but it's one that I've spent a lot of time thinking about. I still don't have a fool-proof answer. I think I'm getting close, though, and that's what I wanted to share in this Minisode. Often times our self-worth being tied up in our physique is a disguise for something deeper. Finding that can be hard, and painful. It can also be liberating. I try to give my best advice from what I've learned over the years of helping clients and thinking through this one myself, so I hope it helps.

No new episode for this week, so we're throwing it back to one of my favorite episodes with one of my favorite people, Carter Good. This was an absolute banger of an episode. He returns to the podcast after a hiatus away and reminded me why I chose him as my very first guest on The More Than Fitness Podcast. If you scroll back, you'll see Carter on episode 3. Many episodes later and we're chatting again, both in different locations than the first time—he was in Columbus, OH and is now in Austin, TX and I was in Lexington, KY, now in New York City—but we're still connecting in the same way we did in that very first conversation.

In this episode, we cover his recent move to Austin with his girlfriend Kaylin, what it's taught him and why he's not running away from his problems like he has in the past, why surrounding yourself with different types of people is good for you, how to learn from role models that are living the life you want to live, the science of happiness, the evolution of hard work as you get older and priorities change, why hustle is so important when you first start a career, the importance of stopping and reflecting before moving forward, craftsman-driven mindset and purpose-driven mindset, comparing yourself to others, and much, much more!

A lot of the 1:1 fat loss clients I work with travel for their careers, so they frequent airports and I help navigate their fitness plans while away. I also travel a decent amount myself, so I've spent my fair share around airports and in planes. In this Minisode, I cover everything I've learned about making your airport trip as stress-free as possible—when to eat, types of foods to pack, variations of meals you can get at the airport, and a list of foods to avoid. Hope it helps!

I was so happy to have the opportunity to talk to my man, Jake. We met through Instagram and actually got the chance to meet up in person when I was living in NYC. We had coffee, walked around the city, and really hit it off. Just like that chat, this one was effortless. And as the title suggests, things got pretty vulnerable, which only made it that much better. Jake has his CSCS and a M.S. in Sports Science, he's the creator of a variety of products and courses, and is super jacked (and he's a pretty cool guy).

We covered:

-His Ten Thousand Gear business retreat

-The impact of investing in a community

-Having a chip on your shoulder and being independent

-Asking for help

-Experiencing things without feeling the need to film it

-Travel routine pros and cons

-The tradeoffs of not being present

-Transactional relationships

-Jake's nomadic lifestyle

-We share our flaws in romantic relationships

-We go very deep

-Ways to stop tying our self-worth to our work

-Cycles of emotions

-Why pets are so amazing

-My hack for creating more positivity in life

-And much more!

I wanted to be blunt in this one. The Intermittent Fasting (IF) benefits have been shouted from the rooftops for a while, so I had to give an objective look at the pros and cons. IF *can* work well for many people, but it can also exacerbate deeper issues in others. I just want to make sure you have all the facts about fat loss, autophagy, gaining muscle with IF, and much more. I don't think you'll be disappointed with this Minisode! Enjoy.

Solo episode for you guys today, but I don't think it'll disappoint. In this episode, I cover why the goals you're picking might be causing you to fail more often, and how to pick better ones. In certain "seasons" of your life, it doesn't make sense to try to lose fat (for example), so simply "trying harder" won't be your solution. I talk about non-physique goals and why they can be so important if you've been chasing the same weight loss goal for years on end. And lastly, I cover how to actually get started and follow through on these goals you set so you can start seeing results. Hope you enjoy!

Any time someone wants my help with their fat loss goals, they tell me they've been trying to "clean up" their diet lately. After hearing this so often, I figured it'd make sense to create a Minisode around what that actually means. I wanted to touch on the basic strategies that have been proven time and time again. In addition to that, I wanted to give practical examples so you can put these into action right away. Hope it helps!

This was an excellent episode with Yusef on many of my favorite subjects. I've been following Yusef on Twitter more closely recently and I knew I had to get him on my show after seeing tons of overlap in our interests. He has his PhD and is a legit doctor, on top of being a fitness and business coach, and content creator. He's been running Propane Fitness with his good friend Jonny since 2008, where they coach people on both fitness and business.

In this episode, we cover:

-How Propane Fitness got started

-Why Yusef decided to get a medical degree

-How he balanced becoming a doctor, being a coach, and being a competitor

-His best advice on productivity workflow

-Why me and Yusef are the same person

-Why meditation isn't for everyone

-The lessons he learned from his 10-day meditation retreat

-Why he decided to do the meditation retreat

-What his current meditation regimen looks like

-Getting out of your mind and into your body

-Where are you located, exactly?

-How he "verifies" his spiritual practice with evidence

-Dr. Jordan Peterson's biblical lectures

-Balancing acceptance and striving

-Reducing pressure on yourself

-And much more!

If you follow fitness people on social media, in magazines, or on podcasts, it can seem that you need to be in a perpetual state of "watching your diet." You need to always be in a calorie deficit or tracking what you eat if you want to get lean and stay lean. But, to me, this is no way to live. There's a time and place to be focused on your fat loss, but it should be a much smaller time and place than you are focused on... literally anything else. In this Minisode, I discuss the misconceptions people have around dieting and how to balance this with living a "normal," un-obsessive, healthy lifestyle.

I wanted to create this list to give some insight into WHY I choose some exercises over others. It's inevitable that you're going to have to adapt your workouts at some point based on what you enjoy, the equipment available to you, what's most efficient for your time, and more. This Minisode breaks down why I like these five lifts specifically, and you might be surprised that none of them include the traditional barbell squat, bench, or deadlift. Hope it helps!

Marcus asks: "What are your top 5 favorite exercises?"

This was one of my favorite podcasts I've done in a long time. It's probably not a surprise that it's with someone who hosts one of the biggest podcasts in the world, but that doesn't take away the richness of this convo. I look up to Adam in many ways, so it was fun to ask some selfish questions that actually turned into really valuable—and sometimes emotional—lessons for myself and the listeners.

This is a boring topic, but a value-packed Minisode for the people who care about squeezing every last bit of progress. In this Minisode, I cover which macronutrients are most important and why, I give four reasons why carbs are so crucial for fat loss and muscle gain, and I give my final verdict on which I think is actually better for fat loss based off my experience, my coaching clients experience, and the latest scientific evidence. Hope it helps!

Jake asks: "Assuming you got the protein you needed for the day, what is the difference between getting the rest of the calories from carbs or fat?"

Body image, self-esteem, and "body positivity" is a big movement right now, and for good reason. But I don't know if I agree with the *methods* some people are touting as effective for these complex topics. So, in this Minisode, I break down some of the psychology behind these topics in four different ways, along with how to apply it today. Hope it helps!

This was a very easy-going chat with my new friend, Sal. We connected on social media and I loved her message about empowering women and spreading a health-centric approach to fitness. Sal is an online fitness coach who helps women get strong, from the inside out. She studied neuroscience in college, dabbles in fitness modeling, and is the founder of StrongHER Girls. Give it a listen, then definitely check her out.

Hitting on a subject that could crush some dreams if the consensus doesn't lean towards their favor. But, luckily for both sides, the answer isn't so cut and dry. There are pros and cons to energy drinks, and it will be up to the individual if they're worth it or not.

These are the questions I answer in this Minisode:

-What's in an energy drink?

-Do energy drinks cause harm?

-Who's at risk?

-Are there benefits?

-Are they bad for you?

Those who know my work know that I'm all about sustainability and balance, so it might be a surprise when I recommend that *sometimes* rapid fat loss is better than slow fat loss. Sometimes you need to go all-in and get obsessive over a goal. Sometimes you have an event planned a few months from now and need to get into shape quickly. There's plenty of contexts where aggressive dieting (the right way) makes sense. In this Minisode, I make a case for why YOU need to consider starting a rapid fat loss diet and what approach to take.

The Fat Loss Accelerator [v2.0] is currently open until July 4th!

A small twist from our usual fitness content on these Minisodes, but this is also why it's called "The More Than Fitness Podcast." Plus, this was a listener question and I think anybody's life would improve with more/better friendships.

Question (thanks, Katie): Advice on moving to a new city, meeting new people, and doing so while in your late twenties?

Remember... to be interesting, be interested. Hope it helps!