Hey, this is Philip Pape, and welcome to this special Saturday bonus episode of Wits and Weights. I'm going to keep this one somewhat short, but what I wanted to do is talk about three major themes that keep coming up in the 2025 podcast listener survey. That is still out. It is still open until the end of the month and link is in the show notes. If you haven't taken that yet, I highly encourage you to do that, because that's a way to have your voice heard and shape the future of the podcast. But today I want to share some insights about three themes that keep coming up over and over again, related to questions about what topics you would like to see, and I'm going to give you some specific tips today. So this isn't just a summary of the survey results. Stick around and you'll learn something. Today.

The first theme is women-specific training and body composition, especially for women over 40. And look, I've worked with many women who spent years afraid of lifting heavy or of being bulky, of eating enough food, eating enough protein, worried about gaining too quickly. But here's what actually happens when they finally embrace the process of progressive overload proper protein intake, food intake, doing this in a precise, controlled way. They get leaner, they get more defined. They don't get bigger. New-ish client who thinks they want to lose fat. And then, after a few months where we're starting to set up for the fat loss phase, they realize how amazing the training methodology is. That's allowing them to get stronger and actually start to look better. And they haven't even lost a pound and they're already starting to get to lose body fat. And it's a huge shift in your mindset. And oftentimes I'll say you know what, maybe I should just do a muscle building phase instead. Let's try that. And women who start lifting heavy they often find their energy skyrockets, their sleep improves, they feel more capable in their daily life. A lot of the very problems that they came to me with that they thought losing weight would solve, building muscle and lifting heavy actually solved. Newer clients recently told me how surprised she was that after just a few months of and I mean like two months, not even very long of strength training, actually first, on the very first week, she said she was already hitting PRs because of the extra recovery, the extra rest, the lifting, lower rep, heavier weight and actually pushing the weight, like thinking in terms of progress and not just going to the gym and exercising, and so you expand that to a few months later, you know her clothes fit better, she could carry whatever the heck she needs to and play with her kids, and all this not feeling tired, feeling very energized, being able to be there for her family and not having to lose weight on the scale or diet to do it. I mean it's crazy, right? This isn't about getting bulky. It's about building the strength and vitality that makes life better at any age. The increased muscle mass then helps you maintain a healthy metabolism and that makes the food side easier as well, and it makes it easier to stay lean long-term. So that is one theme that I'm gonna talk about more in the future.

The second major theme is training through life changes, through transitions, through setbacks, through injuries. Think about this Every time that life throws you a curveball which is just about every week whether it's a health issue, right, a lot of people getting sick this time of year some major life event, new job, you got to move, you have children, whatever you're forced to adapt, and I've seen clients make their best progress after these challenges because they had to create systems that work in real life, not just when everything's perfect, right, in fact, if I have a client, sometimes I'll have a client that doubts themselves and say you know what? I just had, covid, I got sick. All this stuff, I'm not sure this is the right thing for me. And I said this is exactly when you need the support to show how we get through this, based on the system we built for you, because you're going to the interruptions to your routine. Those are the building blocks for how you make your approach more sustainable.

Next time you face a setback, you're forced to question your assumptions about what you really need in your life for progress. Maybe you can't train five days a week right, so you're going to train three. Maybe you can't train three, so you're going to train two. Or you're going to make it work. Maybe you can't meal prep every Sunday, so you have flexible strategies that work even with the limited time, right. Not everybody's the same and these are adaptations, just like your physical ones. They often lead to better, more sustainable results than the rigid approach that you start with day one I'm gonna do all these things, I'm gonna do them perfectly, I'm all in. No, that is not sustainable.

You know, I have lots of clients who've been through different health setbacks. Maybe they had a surgery, maybe they got sick, whatever, and instead of just saying, okay, now I'm just going to get back to exactly what I was doing. That's the time to reassess and say do we want to shift our approach based on what you can manage Right? Um, I'm thinking specifically surgery and injury here, where your whole life is has changed. So now you need a different routine, and even a new year could mean a different routine, it doesn't really matter. The point is you're not just building strength, you're not just doing the habits. You're creating a positive relationship with fitness in your life as a process of something where you're always pushing yourself to grow. That is absolutely true, but it's also sustainable and you're going to have long-term results, and now you can handle any setbacks in the future more resiliently. So that's the second theme is like talking about injuries and setbacks and how we deal with those, including my own personal experiences with them.

And then the third theme revolves around training for health and longevity, and what's fascinating here is a lot of the same principles that build an impressive physique. You know, progressive overload, recovery, nutrition are exactly what promote long-term health. They are synergistic, they go together. My strongest clients are usually my healthiest clients, because when you train primarily for performance, the aesthetic results and the health benefits naturally follow. They all work together as a beautiful a party of I don't know what I'm trying to say here. Synergy, right, I said that word already before, but think about it here.

Lifting weights it builds muscle, yes, but it also strengthens your bones. It improves insulin sensitivity, enhances your brain function, helps you maintain mobility as you age. Think about it. They're all connected. The protein intake that I'm asking you more of. It helps with muscle maintenance. It helps preserve bone density. It supports your immune system.

Right, the recovery we talk about in terms of lifting heavier, having more rest periods, having more types of mental and physical and emotional rest in between. Those are the same types of practices that will reduce inflammation, that will support cardiovascular health. Right, the walking, the movement. All of that's connected. And so I've seen this play out countless times, where clients come in focused on wanting to lose weight or look better, but as they adopt proper training principles, they find that their health markers are improving across the board.

One thing leads to another Upward spiraling is another name for this and then their doctors are amazed. You know they always tell me in stores. Oh my gosh, my doctor was just wondering what the heck are you on Like? What amazing is this? The same person, right, your bone density is much higher in your dexa. We didn't even think that was possible. Your blood work is like we thought you were pretty diabetic, but heck if you took the survey and shared these with me. But many of you shared these same things, and so now I'm going to explore them in more depth in upcoming episodes and your input is what's helping me to make that happen. And again, if you haven't taken the 2025 listener survey, I really want to hear your voice before it closes. Even if it's criticism, even if it's the things you don't like, that helps me improve as well. That's my progressive overload for this podcast for you. So click the link in the show notes or go to witsandweightscom slash survey. Very simple link witsandweightscom slash survey or click the link in the notes.

Now, if any of these themes I talked about today have sparked specific questions underneath or you submitted a topic in this realm, I want to hear very specifically what your question is, so I can create a podcast just around that question, right? Maybe you want to know exactly how to implement heavy, progressive overload as a woman over 50, or how to modify your training after health, the specific type of health setback or the specific ways to train for both performance and longevity. Whatever it is, I want to help you and answer that question. So for that I want you to go to witsandweightscom slash question. It's a new form I've recently set up where you can submit a question and I will answer it on the podcast and I'll give you a shout out if you want it.

So witsandweightscom slash survey if you want to take the survey or if you already have and you want to give me a question in one of these areas, that I can turn into a specific episode, witsandweightscom slash question. I Until next time, keep using your wits lifting those weights and remember, sometimes the most powerful changes come from challenging what we think we know, and that's what I'm all about. I'll talk to you next time here on the Wits and Weights podcast.