Wits & Weights | Fat Loss, Nutrition, & Strength Training for Lifters

11h ago

Get Fitness Lab (20% off through January 2) , the #1 fitness app that adapts to YOUR recovery, YOUR schedule, and YOUR body. Now available for iPhone (with Apple Health integration!) and Android. Build muscle, lose fat, and get stronger with daily personalized guidance. — Are injuries holding back your body recomp goals? How do you keep lifting weights when strength training never feels perfect? I sat down with Anthony Bryan, a Guinness World Record holder and double world champion in para athletics, to unpack what nutrition and fitness look like when you are never at 100%. Anthony trained his entire life with left-side paralysis after a childhood stroke, and his approach to strength training, recovery, and mindset applies to anyone dealing with injury, aging, fatigue, or stalled weight loss. We discussed auto-regulation, unilateral training, and why evidence-based fitness matters more than chasing perfect workouts. Anthony shares how to adapt lifting weights, manage recovery, and stay consistent when motivation dips. This conversation connects strength training, metabolism, and long-term muscle building in a way that supports longevity and sustainable progress. This is Wits and Weights at its core. Evidence-based training that works in the real world. Tune in to learn more. Today, you’ll learn all about: 0:00 – Training when not at 100% 2:46 – Do limitations build resilience? 3:51 – Proving doctors wrong 10:46 – Support systems and belief 12:39 – Reframing no pain, no gain 20:22 – Adapting lifts with injuries 27:36 – Unilateral training benefits 33:37 – Auto-regulation and recovery 39:31 – Sleep, hydration, performance Episode resources: Anthony Bryan on Instagram: @thenolimitsathlete YouTube: @antbryanfitness Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

2d ago

Get 20% off Fitness Lab from December 17 to January 2. Take the 2-minute quiz to see if AI-powered coaching can help you adjust your strength training during fat loss, preserve muscle while losing weight, and make smarter decisions about volume, intensity, and recovery—all personalized to your data and goals: https://witsandweights.com/app -- How do you train for fat loss? Most people screw this up by making disastrous training adjustments like switching to high reps, dropping intensity, or adding excessive cardio. Then they wonder why their muscle and strength drop. Discover how to preserve every bit of hard-earned muscle while losing fat by keeping load/intensity high, reducing volume (strategically and if necessary), and using auto-regulation to manage recovery when it's your most limited resource. Learn why lighter weights and high-rep "fat burning" workouts destroy body recomp results, how to time carbs for better performance during a deficit, and why HIIT could be sabotaging your strength training and muscle preservation. This evidence-based approach to strength training during fat loss will help you lose fat without sacrificing muscle, maintain lifting performance in a calorie deficit, and come out of your cut looking lean, strong, and ready to build muscle again. Episode Resources: Fitness Lab AI Coaching App - 20% off December 17-January 2, available on iPhone (with Apple Health integration!) and now on Android too! Timestamps: 0:00 - Training for fat loss (not fat burning workouts) 2:52 - The myth of high reps for fat loss 5:20 - Understanding strength vs. muscle during a deficit 9:32 - Intensity (weight/load, % of 1RM) and volume 13:12 - Auto-regulation strategies that work during cuts 20:24 - Recovery is your limiting factor 24:10 - How Fitness Lab helps adjust training for fat loss 26:43 - Carb timing strategies for better performance 30:00 - Too much cardio? 33:12 - Simplifying assistance (accessory) work 36:00 - Exercise selection and joint care during cuts 39:20 - Realistic expectations and mindset during fat loss Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

4d ago

Get 20% off Fitness Lab to receive AI-powered coaching that analyzes your meal patterns, identifies missing nutrient density, and adapts your training and nutrition based on biofeedback. Use this special link for 20% off: https://bit.ly/fitness-lab-pod20 -- Most people build their nutrition from the top down: calories first, macros second, micronutrients as an afterthought. That approach works from a pure energy balance and weight loss perspective but often collapses during body recomposition when you're trying to lose fat and build muscle. Discover why the traditional nutrition hierarchy is backward and the 5 specific mistakes that prevent successful body recomp. Learn the bottom-up framework that makes simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain actually work. You'll understand why micronutrients drive metabolism and energy production, how flexible dieting fails without nutrient anchors, the fiber sweet spot for body recomp, why perfect macros can't overcome poor training performance, and how to use biofeedback instead of just tracking calories. This episode gives you a practical system to optimize nutrition for strength training, muscle building, and sustainable fat loss without feeling hungry, weak, or stuck on a plateau. Timestamps: 0:00 - Flipping the nutrition pyramid for body recomposition 2:52 - Micronutrients and body recomp 7:12 - Constraint theory and metabolic bottlenecks 12:16 - Carbs, fat burning, and ATP 17:11 - Building nutrient-dense meal patterns for muscle gain 20:36 - Flexible dieting with nutrient anchors (not just IIFYM) 25:56 - The fiber "sweet spot" for digestion and metabolism 31:20 - Macro targets that support strength training performance 36:12 - Meal timing and tracking gym performance 40:10 - Using biofeedback over blind calorie tracking Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

Dec 12

Get Fitness Lab, the #1 coaching app that adapts to YOUR recovery, YOUR schedule, and YOUR body. Build muscle, lose fat, and get stronger with daily personalized guidance. Special link for podcast listeners (20% off): https://bit.ly/fitness-lab-pod20 — Why does body recomp stall even when you lift weights, track macros, and eat for nutrition and fitness? What if your thyroid is slowing metabolism, limiting muscle building, and making it harder to lose fat? Dr. Eric Osansky breaks down the real markers lifters should watch, why lifters may see unique symptoms, and how autoimmune issues like Hashimoto’s and Graves develop. We talk hormone health, stress, overtraining, environmental toxins, and what actually supports strength training, longevity, and nutrition and fitness goals. Eric also shares natural strategies that align with evidence-based training so you can make smarter decisions for your metabolism and body composition. If you want to optimize your thyroid and unlock better body recomp results, tune in to learn more. Today, you’ll learn all about: 0:00 – Hidden thyroid factors in weight loss 2:43 – Why Eric pursued thyroid health 3:36 – Thyroid basics for lifters 8:01 – Eric’s Graves diagnosis story 14:02 – Lifestyle stress vs true dysfunction 20:42 – What labs actually matter 24:17 – Autoimmune triggers explained 29:33 – Top environmental toxins to avoid 39:25 – Treatment options and natural support Episode resources: Save My Thyroid Podcast Book: Natural Treatment Solutions for Hyperthyroidism and Graves' Disease Healing Graves' Naturally Community: savemythyroid.com/healgravesdisease Healthy Gut Healthy Thyroid Newsletter: savemythyroid.com/newsletter YouTube: @NaturalThyroidDoctor Instagram: @drericosansky Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

Dec 10

Join the 3-Week Strong Finish Challenge to build self-efficacy and self-regulation through the hardest 3 weeks of the year. Get coaching, accountability, custom nutrition plans, and strength training templates to end the year strong: https://live.witsandweights.com -- Even if you know what to do for nutrition and strength training, you keep stopping, falling off, and starting over. Discover why this has nothing to do with discipline, willpower, or motivation, and everything to do with two trainable psychological skills that predict whether you'll follow through or quit. Episode Resources: Try Fitness Lab for an AI coaching app that gives you microactivities and psychological wins. Special link for podcast listeners to get 20% off. Timestamps: 0:00 - Why you keep starting over with strength training and nutrition 8:36 - Skill #1: Self-efficacy (believing you can execute the next step) 13:58 - Small wins and progressive overload for confidence 14:40 - Join the 3-Week Strong Finish Challenge 15:55 - Skill #2: Self-regulation (following through when life gets messy) 20:22 - 4 tactics to build self-regulation 24:04 - Related psychological models explained 26:18 - Practical steps and identity shift for lifters Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

Dec 8

Join the 3-Week Strong Finish Challenge to end the year stronger while everyone else backslides. Get coaching, accountability, custom nutrition plans, and strength training templates to maintain progress through the holidays. Kickoff call Monday, December 8 at 5pm Eastern, challenge starts Wednesday, December 10: https://live.witsandweights.com -- If your fat loss strategy involves eating "perfectly clean" and you find yourself swinging between strict dieting and weekend blow-outs, you're stuck in the perfection trap. Discover why chasing 100% compliance is sabotaging your fat loss progress, how the 20% "eat anything" rule creates sustainable flexibility while still driving body composition changes, and why this middle ground beats both extremes of all-junk and all-clean eating. Learn the psychology and physics behind why rigid dieting fails, how to define your 80-20 split in practical terms (daily vs weekly), and the crucial guardrails that keep flexibility from becoming chaos. This evidence-based approach to nutrition helps you lose fat, build muscle, and maintain strength without guilt, restriction, or the all-or-nothing mindset that derails most people during fat loss phases, especially around the holidays! Episode Resources: Join the 3-Week Strong Finish Challenge - Kickoff today, starts Wed Dec 10: http://live.witsandweights.com/ Try my AI coaching app Fitness Lab for personalized nutrition tracking and coaching. Special 20% off link for podcast listeners. Timestamps: 0:00 - Why you're struggling to lose fat 2:50 - A more flexible (and sustainable) approach 6:30 - What to include in your 20% flexible eating 10:38 - Why this works for fat loss (psychology and physics) 16:26 - The 3-Week Strong Finish Challenge 21:35 - Guardrails for flexible eating (protein, calories, intent, etc.) 27:48 - How to apply to fat loss, maintenance, and muscle building phases 32:37 - Travel, holidays, and weekends 36:24 - 4 common mistakes to avoid with flexible nutrition 40:44 - Identity, mindset, and next steps Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

Dec 7

Join the 3-Week Strong Finish Challenge and get direct coaching to lose fat and build muscle through Christmas and New Year's while everyone else backslides: http://live.witsandweights.com/ -- You have 3 weeks left in 2025. Are you going to waste them "surviving" or actually make progress, lose fat, and build muscle? Most people treat the final 3 weeks of the year like a throwaway, needlessly gaining weight, losing strength, and restarting in January. But if you've been working hard all year and still don't look like you lift, you don't want to waste this crucial moment. Discover why these final three weeks are actually your BIGGEST opportunity of the year to make real progress on body recomposition while everyone else has already quit. Challenge Details: Kickoff Call: Monday, December 8th at 5pm ET (setup and strategy) - replay available if you can't make it live (but you must register ) Challenge Dates: Wednesday, December 10th - Tuesday, December 30th What You Get: Direct access to 2 coaches (Philip and Carol) for personalized support Personalized nutrition setup to lose fat and build muscle (macros, protein, meal strategies) Complete strength training programs for any situation (home, travel, bodyweight) Resource library for every holiday scenario (restaurants, family meals, travel) Weekly accountability and coaching feedback on your progress 👉 Register HERE for the Strong Finish Challenge Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram

Dec 5

Get Fitness Lab (20% off for listeners), the #1 coaching app that adapts to YOUR recovery, YOUR schedule, and YOUR body. Build muscle, lose fat, and get stronger with daily personalized guidance: https://bit.ly/fitness-lab-pod20 — Have you ever wondered if your skeleton can actually support the muscles you work so hard to build? Or how bone density affects the way you lift weights, lose fat, and build muscle for long-term strength? This conversation with orthopedic surgeon and bone health expert Dr. Doug Lucas completely reframed how I think about body recomp, strength training, and longevity. We break down why bone health is the real foundation of nutrition and fitness, what happens to bone metabolism as you age, and how lifting weights, optimizing macros, and supporting hormone health directly impact bone density and muscle building. Dr. Doug also shares why women’s fitness, men’s health, and strength training over 40 all depend on resilient bones that respond to training stress. If you want evidence-based fitness strategies that support metabolism, weight loss, and long-term performance, this one is packed with takeaways. Today, you’ll learn all about: 0:00 – Why bone health shapes long-term strength 4:13 – How bone metabolism really works 7:19 – Why Dr. Doug left surgery for prevention 10:25 – At-risk groups and early bone loss 14:07 – What lifting heavy means for bone strength 16:33 – Bone density vs bone quality 21:19 – Lifestyle factors that build stronger bones 23:30 – When to use impact training 29:30 – Medications, risks, and limitations 32:55 – Hormone health and skeletal strength 40:42 – The 4R Method for reversing bone loss 46:39 – A real success story of reversing osteoporosis 53:39 – Lifting safely when you have osteoporosis Episode resources: The Dr Doug Show (YouTube): @Dr_DougLucas The OsteoCollective: osteocollective.com Instagram: @dr_douglucas Facebook: @dr_douglucas Support the show 📱 Get Fitness Lab - Philip’s science-based AI app for fat loss, muscle building, and strength training for people over 40. It adapts to your nutrition, recovery, and training to improve body composition without guesswork. 🎓 Try Physique University - Evidence-based nutrition coaching and strength training to help you lose fat, build muscle, and master your metabolism with support and accountability (free custom nutrition plan with code FREEPLAN ). 👥 Join our Facebook community - Free fat loss, muscle building, and body recomposition strategies for adults over 40 who want practical, science-backed fitness guidance. 👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape on Instagram