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
Wits & Weights | Evidence-Based Fitness & Nutrition for Lifters Over 40
Quick Wits: Try THIS to Finally Smash Your Fitness Plateaus
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What if there's a mental shift that you can make right now that would make it even easier to break through plateaus and reach and smash your fitness goals?
In today's Quick Wits as we explore this little shift in your approach that will give you massive results.
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“Quick Wits” are short, 3-5 minute episodes between full episodes to give you an actionable strategy or hit of motivation.
These mini-episodes give you practical advice on fitness, training, and mindset based on my everyday experience with clients that you can implement right away.
If you enjoy these bonus episodes or have feedback on how to make them better, just send me a message on IG @witsandweights or hit me up in the free Wits & Weights Facebook community.
💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - A 6-month coaching program for lifters over 40 who are done collecting information and ready to have real human coaches watch their data and know what to focus on each week.
📱 Get Fitness Lab - My AI-powered coaching app for adults over 40. Training, nutrition, and real-time guidance to help you build muscle, lose fat, and lift weights with confidence.
👥 Join our Facebook community - For adults over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and stop following bad advice. Weekly Q&A threads, coaching insights, and real chat with other lifters.
👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram
What if there's a mental shift that you can make right now that would make it even easier to break through plateaus and reach and smash your fitness goals? Join me on today's QuickWits as we explore this little shift in your approach that will give you massive results. Welcome to the Whits and Weights podcast. I'm your host, philip Pape, and this twice a week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition. We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset, with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry, so you can look and feel your absolute best. Let's dive right in.
Philip PapeWelcome to another QuickWits, and today's episode is inspired by a quote that I heard by Kevin Palmieri, one of the co-hosts of Next Level University. He's also my podcast coach. Shout out to Kevin and he mentioned something on a recent episode where he took the traditional phrase or mantra, under promise and over deliver. You've heard that under promise, don't promise more than you think you can achieve and then over deliver. The perception is you've provided tremendous value. He said well, shouldn't we instead go for promise and over deliver, that is, make a promise that actually gives decent value to someone and then over deliver beyond that. Contrary to the former the original mantra under promise and over deliver I totally agree with where Kevin's going in setting ambitious, even slightly out of reach goals. That could be the catalyst that you need for growth.
Philip PapeNow, we talked about comfort zone in the past and expanding your comfort zone. Versus going too far out of your comfort zone, there is a fine balance of well, you don't want to promise the moon, but you want to promise to yourself something that is at least beyond what you've promised in the past that hasn't pushed you to grow, so that you can grow. This is still another version of expanding your comfort zone, of stretching your limits, of pushing and pushing and pushing and then embracing that challenge. The mindset of promise and over deliver encourage us to commit to those loftier goals. This could be a significant improvement in your strength, like a specific barbell lift, for example. This could be enhancing your endurance. If you're an endurance athlete, it could be transforming your body composition in some way. That's achievable, but it's going to push you to expand your comfort zone. Again, it's not setting ourselves up for failure by going so far beyond that, but it's expanding what we consider possible. When we aim higher, we create a psychological commitment to strive for more. This drives us to discover innovative strategies, for example, to dedicate more of our resources, our schedule, our time or money to unlock a level of persistence that we might not have tapped into if our goals were more conservative.
Philip PapeNow, if this doesn't resonate with you, if this doesn't appeal to you, I get it, because maybe you've reached for things that were far out of your comfort zone and then you failed to get there and that discouraged you. But I am generally a fan of the optimism bias, mainly because I am optimistic myself that assume things are going to go well. Go after it. If they don't, that's an opportunity to learn and grow and try again.
Philip PapeThe beauty in this approach lies in the ability to inspire extraordinary effort Without that promise level of standard. If you only do the under promise, without the promise, you may not even feel the need to put in that extra effort. If you do feel that need, even if you fall short, you still will achieve much more than you would have with modest ambitions. That's where, in my opinion, it's a win-win scenario that can reshape your understanding of potential and progress. Somebody asked me recently on a podcast why am I so ambitious? One of my responses was well, I've noticed that the more I do, the more I try for, the more ambitious my goals, the more I fail, but also the more I succeed. That's, to me, where this all comes together. I want you to consider how adopting this mindset of promise and over deliver could revolutionize the way that you put in that effort on your fitness journey.
Philip PapeYou set the bar high and then you leap for it. You don't just stretch up for it, you leap for it. You might surprise yourself. You might surprise yourself with how far you can grow. Even if you don't get all the way there, you're going to go farther you ever have in the past. Aim high, train hard and never, ever underestimate your potential. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights. If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them and make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode. Until then, stay strong.
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