Wits & Weights | Strength Training & Fat Loss Over 40

Today is the DIET and NUTRITION episode, one of my favorite topics. Although this IS a podcast focused on lifting and getting strong, what you eat—and more importantly, HOW MUCH you eat—plays a huge role in your ability to lose fat (while preserving muscle) or gain muscle (while limiting fat gain).

You can’t have one without the other—and I’m going to assume you’re here because you want to get stronger AND leaner, and you want to do it productively without spinning your wheels.

I’m very passionate about taking a SUSTAINABLE approach to diet because, like many of you, I’ve personally experienced yo-yo dieting, fad diets, and all sorts of crazy food restrictions and questionable supplements over the years. Only in the last two years or so did I finally make peace with the nutrition gods and realize that proper nutrition is not nearly as complicated or restrictive as I once thought.

Today we’re going on a journey together that will equip you with the tools you need to eat a balanced, enjoyable diet for the rest of your life.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• The spectrum of dieting and why traditional diets don’t work over the long-term
• A balanced, flexible, and sustainable approach that won’t drive you crazy
• Focusing on what’s important and not sweating the rest
• An overview of calories and macronutrients, and the phases of weight change
• Determining your individual energy needs for your goal and then adjusting for success
• The phases of weight change and how they align with your goals as a lifter
• And finally, a brief foray regarding some specific foods and supplements

Timestamps:

00:31 - The importance of sustainability in diet and nutrition
02:37 - So many diets...which one to "choose"?
06:49 - A more balanced and flexible approach
09:29 - Focus on the "big things" to achieve results
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10:02 - #1: Calories (energy balance)
23:08 - #2: Macronutrients ("macros")
38:20 - #3: Macro targets to meet YOUR goal
47:45 - #4: How to ADJUST and keep making progress
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51:01 - Some helpful tips!
53:39 - Food ideas
58:16 - Supplements (whey protein and creatine)
1:01:29 - Recap and next episode

RELATED LINKS

• MacroFactor app for food logging and calculating expenditure (use code "WITSANDWEIGHTS" to extend free trial to 14 days)

💪 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 we’re focusing on the “calories out” side of energy balance with a discussion of metabolism, as well as whether and how we can manipulate this “calories out” side of the equation.

We will not discuss diet or nutrition, which is the “calories in” side of the equation. Stay tuned for the next episode. In the meantime, understanding metabolism and especially how to accurately calculate your own energy expenditure sets the foundation for a sustainable approach to diet later on.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• What is metabolism in the context of your total daily energy expenditure?
• How to estimate your expenditure, which will be useful later for weight management
• Whether it’s possible change your baseline metabolism, both short- and long-term
• The truth about cardio and its effect on metabolism and fat loss
• A more efficient, sustainable way to burn fat

Timestamps:

00:31 - Energy balance and metabolism
05:35 - Does more activity really burn more calories?
08:44 - Measuring your daily expenditure
16:59 - A surprising way to CHANGE your metabolism
21:07 - The truth about lots of cardio
24:03 - The optimal way to burn fat
25:12 - New segment! "The Internet Gets It Wrong Again"
27:25 - Recap and upcoming episodes

RELATED LINKS

• Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy by Herman Pontzer, PhD
• MacroFactor app for food logging and calculating expenditure (use code "WITSANDWEIGHTS" to extend free trial to 14 days)

💪 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’s episode is all about the “S” word—STRENGTH. What is it, why is it important, and how to get it.

If you’re listening to this podcast, it’s a safe bet that you have some sort of fitness related goal. You want to improve yourself physically in some way: build muscle, burn fat, get lean, get strong, improve athletic performance, look good in a bathing suit, or even improve mobility, flexibility, or balance.

What if there is one attribute above all others that permeates each of these attributes of fitness—that if you just focus on this attribute for a while as your top priority, it will translate to improvements in all those other attributes?

Well you’re in luck, and if I haven’t made it painfully obvious by the title and intro of this episode, that one fitness attribute is…strength!

In today’s episode, we cover:

• What do we mean by strength?
• Why is strength the most important fitness attribute?
• Assuming strength is so important, how do you get it?

Timestamps:

00:31 - It's all about strength
01:41 - What is strength?
02:53 - Why is strength relevant?
06:48 - How do you build strength?
08:04 - Resistance training
13:47 - Eating enough food
15:36 - Getting enough protein
16:58 - Stress, recovery, adaptation model
18:11 - Bonus tip: physique and aesthetics
18:44 - Recap and sneak preview of upcoming episodes

RELATED LINKS

• Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training
• The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40
• The Fitness Wiki

💪 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! 🙏

This is the episode where we lay out our fitness philosophy and give you steps to take action right away.

Strength training is by far the most effective way to increase muscle mass, boost your metabolism, and improve your health in more ways than you can imagine, from mobility, balance, and flexibility to reduced risk of metabolic disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and injury. It also tests you physically and mentally because it’s hard—one of the best reasons for doing it!

Today is about getting you moving on a training program right away.

We will definitely cover some basic principles of strength training and muscle building, but we’ll save a deep dive into all things strength-related for the next episode, where we’ll examine in great detail WHY strength and resistance training are so important.

But today is all about ACTION. Getting you moving and lifting right away. No excuses.

Timestamps:

00:31 - The effectiveness of strength training
02:05 - Understanding the lingo (defining terms)
06:56 - Why follow a training program (vs. random exercise)?
07:56 - Requirements for an effective strength training program
10:40 - The best type of exercise and equipment for strength
13:36 - What if I don't have access to a barbell or power rack?
16:13 - The importance of the "Big 4" compound lifts
18:05 - Proper form and technique
21:15 - Choosing the right program
33:07 - Your plan of action to START TODAY
35:46 - Recap and preview of upcoming episodes

RELATED LINKS

• Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training
• Greg Nuckols - 28 Free Programs
• Andy Morgan - The Big 3 Routine
• Barbell Logic "Gym Shorts" YouTube playlist
• The Fitness Wiki
• MyoTape Body Measure Tape

💪 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! 🙏

Welcome to the very first episode of Wits and Weights: Strength Training for Skeptics.

If you’re a skeptical, critically-minded person like me, you’ve probably gotten tired of what the modern-day so-called fitness industry has to offer, and you just want to know what actually works.

Not only that, you’re probably a busy, working professional with a full-time job or perhaps you own your own business or run several side hustles, so time is at a premium. Can you actually build a stronger, healthier body and maintain a sustainable, active lifestyle?

The answer is an emphatic YES.

Plenty of everyday folks have figured out what works in terms of exercise, nutrition, habits, mindset, and lifestyle, but there is so much information out there—even from highly respectable sources—that it can be overwhelming to distill it down to a single, focused plan that works for you.

That’s why I created this podcast.

On this very first episode, learn about my background, the importance of strength, and what you can expect in future episodes.

Timestamps:

00:32 - Intro
02:38 - From sedentary desk jockey to strong and capable
07:04 - Why is strength so important?
08:18 - What you'll learn on this podcast
10:37 - Unique segments and listener Q&A
11:47 - Before you go

RELATED LINKS

• Finding Your Strength Radio podcast (Romeo Athletics)

💪 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! 🙏

In this trailer episode, Philip (@witsandweights) talks about the Wits & Weights podcast.

If you're skeptical of the fitness industry and want to learn more about using strength training and sustainable nutrition to get stronger, build muscle and lose fat, upgrade your body composition, and achieve physical self-mastery, this is the show for you.

On Wits & Weights, certified nutrition coach Philip Pape uncovers science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle, and mindset. Find out why they call him the Physique Engineer!

Join Philip and guests from around the evidence-based fitness industry to cut through the noise, take control of your health, and feel empowered like never before to create the body and mind you love and deserve!

You'll love Wits & Weights if you already listen to shows like these:

• Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews
• Tailore Life Podcast with Cody McBroom
• The Hormone Solution Podcast with Karen Martel
• Self Care Simplified with Megan Dahlman
• The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show
• Mind Over Macros with Mike Millner
• Mind Pump
• Fuel Your Strength with Steph Gaudreau
• The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson
• and others like these!

📱 Get Fitness Lab (exclusive 20% off) - The #1 adaptive fitness and nutrition app. Daily coaching, workouts, and biofeedback-based guidance to help you build muscle and lose fat over 40.

🎓 Join Physique University - Evidence-based strength training, nutrition coaching, and live coaching calls for adults over 40. Build muscle, master your macros, and lose fat with accountability. FREE custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN.

👥 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

You've cut calories, added cardio, and followed the rules. Your body adapted and pushed back. The problem was never your discipline. It was the advice.

Wits & Weights is a top 1% strength and nutrition podcast for people over 40 who want to build muscle, lose fat, and get stronger using evidence, not fads.

Every episode puts a popular piece of fitness advice under the microscope, finds the hidden reason it fails, and gives you the deceptively simple fix that does.

Host and certified nutrition coach Philip Pape brings an engineering background to metabolism, body composition, hormone health, and training that fits your life.

Over 500 episodes, 1 million downloads, and Top 100 on Apple Nutrition.

Start with 3 of our most popular episodes:

• Metabolism 101 (The Science Behind Fat Loss and Muscle Building) | Ep 421
• 4 Ways to Increase Your Metabolism by 500 to 1000 Calories per Day | Ep 236
• 12 Rules of Training Volume to Build More Muscle | Ep 348

💪 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! 🙏