My Home Vitality
Introduction to guest:
Anthony Arvanitakis is the founder of @bodyweightmuscle and author of multiple bestselling exercise and fitness books.
Bodyweight Muscle focuses on developing fit healthy lifestyles by narrowing down workouts to short bodyweight-based methods that you can do almost anywhere, at any time.
Their aim is to create impressive, strong and lean physiques and also functional bodies.
Anthony knows what it’s like to have excuses. In 2008 he had a major motorcycle accident that led to 5 years on crutches, 13 operations, 1 leg amputation, additional health problems and depression, yet still he managed to work his way back to better physical and mental health.
“We all have our own obstacles to overcome. Increasing our physical fitness & gaining control over our body develops confidence and a sense of self-mastery. This empowers us to also take control of our own life and make more positive changes day by day.” – Anthony Arvanitakis.
Contacting Anthony:
Key quotes and takeaways from the show:
Concentrating on the muscles you are working during training, increases the quality of an exercise and improves results.
Consume fewer calories and you WILL lose weight.
Fad diets trick you into eating less.
Distinguish between skill training and strength training.
Visualisation helps the development of skills.
Focus on the mental benefits of training.
Always start small.
Find what works best for you.
Question of the day:
Do you have any tips on staying motivated for long-term training?
Links to podcast sites:
The full podcast:
Related episode:
Steve Maxwell got a mention during this podcast and his philosophy is very similar to Anthony’s.
For more advice on long-term strength training from someone who has been doing it for over 50 years, check out our podcast with Steve here…
To be notified on future podcasts:
Why would you want to do this?
- You can watch upcoming podcasts live on Facebook.
- You can interact with us and our guest live on Facebook.
- You can send in questions for upcoming guests.
If your question gets answered and you miss the live show, you can watch it here later.
Show notes:
- 00:28 – Camping in Greece.
- 05:21 – Anthony’s normal weekly training schedule.
- 06:23 – The book Anthony is currently writing.
- 07:53 – Anthony’s napping habits.
- 08:51 – Anthony’s daily circuit training design.
- 11:06 – Exercises Anthony includes in his workouts.
- 14:04 – How Anthony deals with fatigue and soreness.
- 17:05 – Gaz’s plea for Anthony’s new book!
- 18:17 – The benefits of working out in the morning.
- 19:39 – Working out around other physical commitments (sport, manual job, etc.).
- 22:15 – Training intensity during a set for muscle growth.
- 24:56 – Anthony’s total daily workout time.
- 20:07 – Anthony’s warm up routine.
- 26:47 – Anthony’s opinion on training smaller muscles (neck, feet, forearms, etc.).
- 28:33 – One major benefit of bodyweight training.
- 29:44 – The mind-muscle connection.
- 32:59 – Do you need to train fast to become fast or do isometrics slow you down?
- 35:57 – Anthony’s younger days and how he lost his leg.
- 41:55 – How long it took for Anthony to get used to his prosthetic leg.
- 44:52 – How Anthony dealt mentally with his accident and recovery.
- 46:55 – Anthony’s interests in philosophy.
- 48:07 – Books that helped Anthony deal with his accident and recovery.
- 50:58 – Captain Jack.
- 51:45 – What a normal day looks like for Anthony.
- 53:02 – Improved learning through visualisation.
- 54:54 – Anthony’s interests in martial arts.
- 56:10 – The benefits of outdoor training.
- 58:17 – Anthony’s current diet and his past diet experiments.
- 01:02:31 – The benefits of counting calories.
- 01:04:57 – Gaz’s view on nutrition.
- 01:05:52 – How fad diets work.
- 01:07:42 – How to stay motivated for long-term training.
- 01:17:17 – Anthony’s perspective on life and making time.
- 01:19:00 – Anthony’s favourite books.
- 01:20:22 – Where you can find Anthony.
- 01:20:46 – Anthony’s final message.
- 01:21:57 – Shaun’s final message.
People and resources mentioned:
- Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall
- BlackRoll (foam rollers)
- The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
- The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
- The 5am Club by Robin Sharma
- Steve Maxwell
- Dan John (Strong First)
- Stoicism
- The Joy of Living by Eric Swanson (meditation)
- Mastery by Robert Greene
- Essentialism by Greg McKeown
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
- Osho (philosopher)
- Confucius
- Lao Tzu
- The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
- Fatsecret.com
- The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
- Wallace and Gromit – The Wrong Trousers
- Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
- Dan Carlin (podcast called Common Sense with Dan Carlin)
