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Wits & Weights | Evidence-Based Fitness & Nutrition for Lifters Over 40
Wits & Weights is a strength and nutrition podcast where in every episode I put a popular piece of fitness advice under the microscope, find the hidden reason it doesn't work, and give you the deceptively simple fix that does.
For skeptics of the fitness industry who are tired of following the rules and still not seeing results. If you've been lifting weights, tracking macros, and doing "all the right things" but your body composition hasn't changed, you're probably overcomplicating it. This is the fitness podcast that shows you how to build muscle, lose fat, and achieve a real body recomp by focusing only on what the evidence actually supports.
Evidence-based fat loss coach Philip Pape brings an engineer's approach to strength training, nutrition, and metabolism. Instead of another generic program or meal plan, you get specific, science-based strategies for optimizing body composition, whether you're focused on building muscle, losing fat, or both. The focus is on strength training over 40, hormone health, perimenopause and menopause, and longevity.
You've seen the conflicting advice. One expert says cut carbs, the next says eat more. One says train six days a week, another says three is plenty. Building the body you want doesn't have to be this confusing or time-consuming. By using your wits (systems + identity-based behavior change) and lifting weights, you can build muscle definition, improve your physique, and maintain your results for life without rebound weight gain.
You'll learn smart, efficient strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle, and mindset, such as:
- Why fat loss matters more than weight loss for both your health and your physique
- Why all the macros, including protein, fats, and yes even carbs, are critical to body composition
- How just 3 hours a week of proper hypertrophy training can deliver better results than most people get in twice that time
- Why building muscle is the single most powerful thing you can do for metabolic health, longevity, and aging well
- Why perimenopause and menopause don't have to derail your progress when your training and nutrition are dialed in
- How shifting the way you think about fitness can unlock more physical (and personal) growth than any program alone
If you're ready to learn what actually works with evidence-based training and nutrition, hit "follow" and let's engineer your best physique ever!
Popular Guests Include: Mike Matthews (author of Bigger Leaner Stronger), Greg Nuckols (Stronger by Science), Alan Aragon (nutrition researcher), Eric Helms (3D Muscle Journey), Dr. Spencer Nadolsky (Docs Who Lift), Bill Campbell (exercise science researcher), Jordan Feigenbaum (Barbell Medicine), Holly Baxter (evidence-based physique coach), Laurin Conlin (physique coach), Lauren Colenso-Semple (nutrition researcher), Karen Martel (hormone optimization expert), Steph Gaudreau (women's strength and nutrition), Bryan Boorstein (hypertrophy coach)
Popular Topics Include: hormone health, metabolism optimization, hypertrophy training, longevity and healthy aging, nutrition tracking, best protein powder selection, strength training over 40, women's fitness, perimenopause, menopause, muscle building, body recomp, macros and nutrition tracking
Episodes
629 episodes
The Latest GLP-1 Science on Muscle Loss, Fat Loss, and Weight Regain | Ep 461
What REALLY happens when you take a GLP-1 drug?Your fat loss, your muscle, your heart, your inflammation, what happens to your weight when you stop, and long-term safety.This episode covers body composition data from the 2026 sema...
Why Lifting Weights 6 Days a Week Won't Help You Lose Fat (Ben Brown) | Ep 460
How much lifting is too much vs. too little? What about cardio? And how hard does your body fight back when you try to out-exercise your diet?Exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition expert Ben Brown breaks down why exercise is often...
Lifting Weights Builds Flexibility Better Than Stretching (New Research) | Ep 459
Do you need yoga, stretching, or "mobility work" to stay flexible. Does lifting weights make you "stiff" or does it improve flexibility?We examine 3 recent studies that compared resistance training to stretching for flexibility, and thei...
5 Ways Intermittent Fasting Backfires for Women Over 40 | Ep 458
Intermittent fasting is still the most popular nutrition advice on the internet. Skip breakfast, shrink your eating window, lose weight. But if you're over 40, this may not give you the results you want. It could even backfir...
How to Lose Fat Without Losing Your Muscle Gains | Ep 457
You spent months building muscle, and now you're ready to cut. Or you're on a GLP-1 medication and losing weight but not sure how much muscle your'e also losing.Without getting 3 things right, roughly 25% to 40% of the weight you lose ca...
How NASA's Artemis II Astronauts Maintain Muscle Flying to the Moon
NASA's Artemis II crew is flying around the Moon right now with a gym that weighs 30 pounds and fits in a carry-on suitcase. No treadmill, cable machine, or squat rack, just a small device that also serves as a step!In this bonus episode...
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The Mad Scientist's Guide to Strength Training After 40 (Chris Duffin) | Ep 456
Why does lifting start hurting once you hit 40? Is it really age, or is your body compensating for weak links you cannot see?Chris Duffin joins me to unpack the biomechanics behind strength training longevity, muscle building, and injur...
Your Pilates, Yoga, or Barre Class Is NOT Strength Training | Ep 455
You've been showing up to Pilates, yoga, or barre for months, maybe years, and your body composition hasn't changed. You're not getting stronger.And if you're over 40, the muscle and bone you need most may be slipping away while you work...
The LAST Time You'll Ever "Start Over"
How many times have you sworn “this time will be different” only to end up right back at square one? New program, new diet, new macros, new Monday. And every time, the results faded.Why does this keep happening to people (lik...
Stop Eating LESS to Lose Fat After 40 (Do This Instead) | Ep 454
You've been eating 1200 calories, working out, and the scale won't budge. The advice you keep getting is to eat even less, but that's the problem.If you're over 40 and stuck despite doing "everything right," your body is prob...
The 26-Week Plan to Build Muscle and Lose Fat After 40 | Ep 453
Yet again, you're motivated to make a change. You've given yourself 6 months, you pick a program, cut calories, and go after it!Then (inevitably) the whole thing falls apart about 1-2 months in (maybe even sooner).Most people over...
Why "Listening to Your Body" Kept Her Stuck for Years (Cori Lefkowith) | Ep 452
Can macro tracking actually create food freedom? What if the structure you’ve been avoiding is the exact thing that helps you lose fat, build muscle, and stop starting over?I’m joined by Cori Lefkowith, founder of Redefining Strength, ce...
Breastfeeding and Body Composition (Nursing, Lifting, and Fat Loss) | Ep 451
"Just breastfeed and the weight will fall right off." That's what every nursing mother hears. And then it's a struggle because of what's going on hormonally while you're producing milk.Lactation does a few things. It suppress...
Lose Weight Through PMS, Your Cycle, and Even Perimenopause | Ep 450
You're tracking your food, hitting the gym, doing everything right. Then your period shows up and the scale jumps 3 pounds overnight.Should you "cycle sync" your diet? Should you just ignore it as "water weight" fluctuations? Or are both...
Why Streaks and Badges Don’t Help You Lose Fat (And What Does) | Ep 449
You've been hitting your macros for two or three weeks, then one bad day wipes everything out and you're starting over. Again. The problem isn't your discipline but how you're setting up your targets.Most people use st...
Why You NEED to Lift Weights Over 50 (It Won't Make You Bulky)
Getting strong after 50 isn’t about grinding harder on the treadmill or eating like a bird. But read any fitness article for those over 50 and what do you see?"Exercise" more, walk more, do yoga, eat less.But after 50, that approa...
The Gym Won't Work Until You Fix THIS (Mitchell Osmond) | Ep 448
What if the missing piece in your nutrition and fitness results has nothing to do with the gym? Could the biggest barrier to body recomp and strength training progress actually be stress at home?Leadership consultant and Dad Nation Podca...
5 Training Mistakes That Make Lifting and Cardio Work Against Each Other | Ep 447
If you are both lifting weights and doing cardio, is your program optimizing for both without undermining each other?It's not that combining them is bad, but that most people struggle to arrange their training week.Philip w...
How to Become an Intuitive Eater (Without Ignoring Data) | Ep 446
"Just listen to your body" is the most popular nutrition advice for anyone tired of tracking who is trying to lose fat.The problem is, your hunger signals may be giving you bad data.Chronic dieting, sleep disruption, hormonal shif...
Are Toxins Disrupting Your Metabolism? (Michele Scarlet) | Ep 445
Are environmental toxins quietly slowing your body recomp? Or is the wellness industry selling you fear about things that barely matter?Functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner Michele Scarlet joins me to separate science from hype a...
You Know Enough About Nutrition and Fitness (Here's Why You're Still Stuck) | Ep 444
You're tracking your food and lifting weights. You can explain why protein matters for building muscle. So why can't you lose fat, and why hasn't your body changed? The gap between knowing what to do and getting results is no...
Strength Training and Endurance Together (Without Killing Your Gains) | Ep 443
Do you love endurance training AND want to build muscle, but you've been told you have to pick one?The "cardio kills gains" claim has been around for decades, and if you're over 40, it can feel like an impossible tradeoff between the act...
Why "Moderation" Fails and What Actually Stops Binge Eating (Dr. Glenn Livingston) | Ep 442
Why does “just eat in moderation” fail so often? Why do binge eating and emotional eating feel stronger than your willpower? I’m joined by psychologist and former food industry insider Dr. Glenn Livingston to break down what’s actua...
Are Your Fitness Goals in Conflict? (Fat Loss vs. Muscle vs. Longevity vs. Endurance) | Ep 441
Are you strength training, watching your nutrition, doing cardio, and still not seeing the fat loss or muscle gains you expected?The problem isn't effort. It's that your fitness goals are in conflict, physiologically fighting each...
How Lifting Weights Improves Cardiovascular Health (Better Than Cardio?) | Ep 440
You've been told cardio is for a healthy heart and lifting weights is for building muscle. But what if strength training is itself a form of cardio?What if you're ignoring one of the most effective tools for lowering blood pressur...
