Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40

This conversation is from my appearance on Karen Martel’s  The Hormone Solution Podcast.

Karen invited me on her podcast to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities women over 40 face when it comes to nutrition, fitness, and hormonal health. We covered a LOT of relevant topics, like common diet myths and personalized strategies to help women maintain energy, muscle mass, and metabolic health as they age. You’ll learn the importance of body recomposition and get some practical advice on optimizing workout routines to maximize results while minimizing time spent in the gym.

You’ll hear about the role of macros in women's health post-40, the flaws in the "eat less, move more" mantra, and the benefits of strength training for managing insulin resistance. We also discussed the importance of nutrient timing, electrolyte balance, and tracking progress using metrics beyond just the scale. We talked about some amazing clients who combined proper nutrition with lifting weights, and how this holistic approach can improve your health dramatically in midlife.

Enjoy my conversation with Karen Martel!

Episode Resources

• The Hormone Solution Podcast with Karen Martel 

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Can you regain your energy and strength while losing inches to turn back the clock by 10-15 years or more?

Today, Philip  (@witsandweights)  speaks with Brian Gryn, host of the "Get Lean, Eat Clean" podcast, author of "The Stepladder System," and the go-to guy for men over 40 who want to improve their health.

Like Philip, he shares no-nonsense, practical fitness and nutrition advice. In this episode, Brian shares his six steps for rebuilding your strongest, healthiest body after 40. He shows you how to find clarity, tackle stress, and make sleep your secret weapon for fat loss and muscle gain. They also discuss nutrition myths, meal timing, and intermittent fasting, plus effective strategies for training smart, given your recovery capacity and joint health.

Brian is one of the good ones in the industry. He cuts through the noise, avoids fads and quick fixes, and gets real results. He's been in the health industry for almost 20 years, coaching middle-aged men on how to build strength and healthy habits they can use for the rest of their lives.

Brian has a background in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. He is in the business of making health transformations tangible, focusing on what really works over the long term.

Today, you’ll learn all about:

2:53 Personal connection that led to the principles
6:33 Clarity in health goals and its impact on motivation and adherence
9:34 Journaling to align the mindset and setting a baseline
16:00 Managing stress in busy lifestyles, including stress reduction techniques like meditation
22:03 What to do when stress levels are high
24:38 The role of sleep in fat loss, muscle gain, and performance, including quality improvement tips
29:12 Core nutrition principles
32:19 Intermittent fasting insights
38:16 Debunking nutrition myths
41:10 Meal timing effects on metabolism and energy
44:06 Training strategies for men over 40, focusing on joint health and balancing various activities
52:05 The question he wished Philip had asked
55:12 Where to find Brian
55:40 Outro

Episode resources:

• Brian's Podcast: GET LEAN, EAT CLEAN
• Website: briangryn.com
• IG: @brian_menshealth
• The Stepladder System – https://www.stepladdersystem.com/

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

I can't tell you how many times somebody said, "but my body fat scale says I'm 22% body fat!" If you are relying on gadgets and devices to measure body fat, it might be time for a reality check. We're going to explore the accuracy of these devices and what you should be doing instead on today's Quick Wits.

Shout out to Veronica in the Wits & Weights Facebook community for this topic!

Could your trusty body fat scale be feeding you lies? It's time to uncover the truth behind body fat measuring devices that are often seen as the ultimate arbiters of our fitness progress. We discuss the pitfalls of relying on popular gadgets like BIA scales and DEXA scans for accurate body composition data. You'll learn why variables such as hydration, food intake, and the time of day can make a mockery of your measurements and how to avoid being led astray by these fluctuating figures.

Instead of chasing elusive accuracy with high-tech tools, I argue for a return to basics. I extol the virtues of time-tested methods, showing how they provide a reliable and cost-effective alternative to monitor your body composition over time. Embrace the simplicity of traditional techniques and tune in to your own perceptions of fitness. Join me in stripping away the complexity in today's episode!

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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 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Have you ever felt dismissed by a healthcare professional when discussing your symptoms? What strategies can women use to advocate for themselves in the face of gaslighting?

WARNING: This episode may contain discussions of medical trauma, sexual assault, and gaslighting within the healthcare system. If you're sensitive to these topics or feeling vulnerable, please listen with care, or feel free to skip this episode.

Today, Philip (@witsandweights) invited two women from the Wits & Weights community, Elizabeth and Brienne, who have firsthand experience with medical gaslighting and will share their stories. Liz, a medical professional herself, will share her journey of fighting for a hypothyroidism diagnosis at a young age when doctors didn't believe it was possible. And Bree will detail her decade-long battle with mysterious symptoms before finally getting to the root of her hormone issues. They also talk about the incredible resilience and self-advocacy of women like Liz and Bree, who had to fight for the care they deserved.

If you've ever had a doctor make you doubt your own reality, if you've ever been made to feel like your pain wasn't real or your concerns weren't valid, this episode is for you. As a nutrition coach, Philip supports everyone's complete agency and advocacy of their health.

If you ARE a healthcare provider, we hope this conversation will be a call to action to ensure you're listening to, hearing, and validating what your patients are telling you. It's time for women to be heard, believed, and properly cared for the way we all want to be.

Today, you’ll learn all about:

4:14 How they found the Wits & Weights community
7:03 Elizabeth's story of hypothyroidism at a young age
12:44 Brienne's decade-long journey before hormone issues were identified
16:30 The emotional toll of having health concerns repeatedly dismissed
26:17 Strategies for self-advocacy and pushing for proper testing/diagnosis
29:01 Red flags and signs that a patient is being medically gaslit
38:12 Advice for listeners facing similar struggles with being heard by doctors
43:36 Thoughts on holistic and functional doctors (alternative / complementary medicine)
48:15 The power of sharing stories to validate others and spark change
55:45 How to connect with Liz and Brienne
56:15 Outro

Episode resources:

• Brienne on IG – @ModernMountainHomestead
• Liz on IG – @fitnurseliz3

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Do you think you're strong, or perhaps you're not sure? Let's put that strength into perspective. Today we're going to dive into relative strength standards! We're going to look at some of the numbers and what exactly they mean for you in today's Quick Wits.

Shout out to Carl B. for suggesting this topic!

Today we navigate the landscape of what it means to be 'strong' in a world where raw lifting numbers are just part of the story. We're not just seeking to inflate our egos with impressive weight totals, but rather to understand strength as a personal scale, finely tuned to our body weight. It's about finding your own version of strength, from the novice gym-goer to the seasoned lifter, and setting benchmarks that resonate with your individual fitness journey.

We'll explore the big lifts, providing a tailored breakdown for different body weights, and uncovering how changing body dynamics influence our perception of progress. Learn about the subtle ways that maintaining or boosting your lifts as your body evolves can serve as a barometer for true strength gains. Whatever skill level you are, this episode aligns metrics with aspirations, pushing you from 'I think I'm strong' to 'I know I'm strong'. So, tighten your weight belt and prep for a session that lifts more than just barbells—it lifts the veil on what strength really means for YOU.

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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 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

You spoke, and we listened! Today, we're diving into the results of our first-ever Wits & Weights Podcast Listener Survey. Tune in to find out what we learned about you, our amazing audience, and how your feedback is shaping the future of the show.

And stick around until the end where I’ll be announcing the 5 winners of our survey prizes. This was livestreamed in the free Wits & Weights Facebook community, so if you're wondering what that’s all about, join our Facebook group using THIS LINK for other livestreams like this, early podcast releases, live trainings, workshops, and masterclasses, group support and accountability, and the weekly Live Q&A I do every Friday. Just click HERE to join the free Wits & Weights Facebook community.

Episode resources:

Episodes on menopause, hormones, and female-specific training:

• Ep 31: Hormones and Weight Loss During Perimenopause with Karen Martel
• Ep 86: Energy, Workout Nutrition, and Performance-Based Strength for Women Over 40 with Steph Gaudreau
• Ep 135: The Truth About Testosterone for Women’s Health with Karen Martel
• Ep 139: Female Strength, Resistance Training, Hormones, & Muscle Growth with Lauren Colenso-Semple

An easy way to find transcripts and search every episode of the show:
Go to Listen Notes and search every episode

For practical tips on hitting your macros and fueling your gains while traveling, download this FREE Eating Out Guide:

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Want to unlock time-efficient muscle growth? Tune in as Jordan Lips spills the secrets of hypertrophy optimization and the truth about metabolic adaptation!

Today, Philip (@witsandweights) is joined by personal trainer, ex-gym owner, and MNU Certified Nutritionist Jordan Lips, who works exclusively online with people who want to get healthier across a broad range of goals.

Philip invited Jordan on the show because of his straightforward approach to topics like metabolism and building muscle, which are often misconstrued in the fitness industry. Today, he shares his expertise in three big areas we're hearing a lot about: time-efficient hypertrophy, incorporating cardio as a lifter, and clearing up some of the misconceptions about metabolic adaptation.

Jordan has over 15 years of experience as the mind behind Jordan Lips Fitness and offers both 1-on-1 and group coaching. His online group programs, including 'The Hyper Trophies' for the gym and 'Home Bodies' for those working out from home, are designed to respect your time and lifestyle. And it doesn't hurt that Jordan deeply understands biomechanics, nutrition, and individualized program design. His podcast, "Where Optimal Meets Practical," is focused on optimizing your training, nutrition, and mindset but doing so in a practical way.

Today, you’ll learn all about:

2:50 Time-efficient hypertrophy
7:29 Intensity techniques for muscle growth
11:52 SFR and time efficiency
13:58 Muscle-building for beginners
16:03 The foundation of strength
19:25 Workout splits based on experience level
24:27 Cardio for lifters
40:04 Cardio during the fat loss phase
43:12 Defining metabolic adaptation
50:47 Does metabolic adaptation accelerate?
55:02 Are diet breaks/refeeds psychological?
59:46 The effects of hormones, alcohol, sleep, and stress on metabolic adaptation
1:03:19 Philip's metabolic adaptation after his surgery
1:06:38 The question Jordan wished Philip had asked
1:10:35 Where to find Jordan
1:11:01 Outro

Episode resources:

• 
  
• IG: @jordanlipsfitness 
• Podcast: jordanlipsfitness.com/podcast/ 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1dws6_fvP1ue7auf31QOQ/featured 
• Group training programs for people in the gym or at home: https://jordanlipsfitness.com 

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

If you are chasing muscle growth, there is one principle above all others that you just can't ignore if you want to see gains (and it's not progressive overload!).

We uncover the non-negotiable secret of getting stronger on today's Quick Wits.

It's time to learn why THIS is the cornerstone for building strength, surpassing even the well-touted concept of progressive overload. I break down the art and science of training with an intelligent edge. You'll walk away with actionable insights to apply to your next workout and the understanding necessary to fine-tune your approach to muscle growth.

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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 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Today, Philip (@witsandweights) hosts a live training with the Wits and Weights community. He shares how he built 10 more pounds of muscle at 43 and your complete nutrition and training blueprint for doing the same thing.

He discusses why you would want to gain weight on purpose (and why body recomp or a bulk beats trying to lose fat first), the role of lifting weights in the process, and the exact protocol behind it. Philip also talks about four bulking scenarios, how to distribute your macros, training principles, a new mantra to frame your mental state, and many more.

Philip also shares a downloadable bonus guide, his Muscle-Building Nutrition Blueprint, that details the EXACT steps to set up your nutrition, training, recovery, and tracking to build as much muscle as possible (while minimizing fat gain) for an effective bulking phase.

Today, you’ll learn all about:

1:16 - Why would you gain weight on purpose?
3:58 - What is bulking, and what drives it?
6:13 - Why Philip doesn't recommend body fat percentage scales
7:52 - 4 different bulking scenarios
2:07 - Your rate of gain and tracking what you eat
15:16 - How do you distribute your macros?
18:32 - Should you eat carbs before or after a workout?
23:26 - How do I compensate for missing carbs after cutting out alcohol?
24:13 - Do you adjust the next few days if you exceed your calories?
25:22 - Training principles
30:11 - New mantra to frame your mental state
32:10 - Things you can track
35:05 - Philip's muscle-building phase

Episode resources:

• Get your FREE Muscle-Building Nutrition Blueprint
• Ep 141: Why I’m Getting Fluffy Before I Get Jacked
• Ep 116: 7 Lessons from My Rapid Fat Loss Micro-Cut (Aggressive Dieting is Not for Everyone!)

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Cardio is great for your cardiovascular health, but we also know it can contribute toward your metabolic rate when used strategically. Today, I'm going to share one unique strategy you might not have thought of (thanks Bryan Boorstein!) to ramp up and supercharge your metabolism when it comes to cardio.

Learn why engaging in THESE cardiovascular exercises can make your body work overtime to adapt, effectively boosting your metabolic rate and breaking through physical and mental barriers...on today's Quick Wits.

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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 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏