Latest / Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40 / Why It's Perfectly OK to Chase Aesthetics (Lose Fat to Get Lean, Healthy, AND Happy) | Ep 312

Transcript

Why It's Perfectly OK to Chase Aesthetics (Lose Fat to Get Lean, Healthy, AND Happy) | Ep 312 · Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40

• 0:01
  Philip Pape: If you've ever felt guilty about wanting to look good like, somehow wanting visible abs or defined arms makes you shallow or vain, this episode will free you from that unnecessary burden.
• 0:13
  Philip Pape: The truth is that wanting to look athletic, lean and muscular is not just about vanity.
• 0:20
  Philip Pape: It's deeply connected to optimal health markers, longevity and even psychological well-being.
• 0:26
  Philip Pape: Yet many of us have been made to feel ashamed about aesthetic goals, as if pursuing a better physique means we're somehow superficial or missing the real point of fitness.
• 0:35
  Philip Pape: Today, we're challenging this false dichotomy between health and aesthetics, revealing the overwhelming evidence that they're actually aligned.
• 0:43
  Philip Pape: Welcome to Wits and Weights, the show that helps you build a strong, healthy physique using evidence, engineering and efficiency.
• 1:12
  Philip Pape: I'm your host, philip Pape, and today we are tackling something that I see all the time in coaching and online discussions, social media, and that is the false divide between training for health and training for aesthetics.
• 1:26
  Philip Pape: And you've probably heard things before like focus on your health, not how you look, or train for performance, not appearance, and these are all well-meaning statements that are, in some cases, trying to focus you on a goal which is completely understandable, but in many cases, it creates a false choice that leaves a lot of people I'm sure, yourself included, feeling guilty because you want both and you always feel kind of torn between them.
• 1:49
  Philip Pape: And then you might come to me saying, hey, which one do I do next?
• 1:52
  Philip Pape: But let's talk about what the actual research says, because I effectively want to give you some permission to embrace both.
• 2:00
  Philip Pape: And what if I told you that the research actually shows a substantial overlap between what makes us healthy and what makes us look good?
• 2:08
  Philip Pape: And that's what we're looking at today.
• 2:10
  Philip Pape: We're going to examine why it is completely fine, even beneficial, to pursue aesthetic goals alongside health goals, and why they are often the same exact journey.
• 2:22
  Philip Pape: Whether you're trying to build muscle, lose fat, improve your overall body composition, I want you to walk away understanding why these pursuits both serve your health and your happiness.
• 2:32
  Philip Pape: And, before we get into it, if you are ready to transform your physique in a way that optimizes both health and aesthetics, I want to encourage you to join our Wits and Weights Physique University.
• 2:44
  Philip Pape: Now, the name of that program, physique, can be a little misleading, because people again think looks, look like you lift, that's great.
• 2:51
  Philip Pape: But we also take a science-backed, systematic, systematic, systematic approach to building your ideal body, one that looks great and functions optimally, because, again.
• 3:04
  Philip Pape: They go together so you can join, get two weeks free, kick the tires, get your first challenge, free access to your custom nutrition plan.
• 3:12
  Philip Pape: For me, um, all the things for free, right from day one, full access.
• 3:16
  Philip Pape: Just go to wits and weightscom, slash physique or click the link in the show notes.
• 3:21
  Philip Pape: Yeah, there's lots of other things in there, like custom workout programs dropped every month.
• 3:25
  Philip Pape: There's a monthly challenge.
• 3:26
  Philip Pape: There's, of course, a very supportive community where you can be vulnerable and share what's going on and get help in a private setting and keep you accountable.
• 3:34
  Philip Pape: So witsandweightscom slash physique, click the link in the show notes and again, just transparently.
• 3:40
  Philip Pape: As far as pricing, once the free trial is over, it's87 a month.
• 3:43
  Philip Pape: I mean, you're not going to find something that is pretty close to one-on-one coaching where I'm extremely involved as a coach for that price.
• 3:50
  Philip Pape: So remember, looking good, being healthy or not, competing goals, they're complementary and that's what we're talking about today and it's also what we teach in Physique University.
• 3:58
  Philip Pape: All right, so let's get into why.
• 3:59
  Philip Pape: It is perfectly fine to chase aesthetics and break it down into three sections.
• 4:05
  Philip Pape: I like to be organized.
• 4:06
  Philip Pape: So the first section we are going to explore this false dichotomy right that is abstract and created by the industry, I would say or created by coaches in many cases between health and aesthetics.
• 4:20
  Philip Pape: Second, we are going to examine the science showing the overlap between aesthetic goals and health markers, and then, finally, we're going to discuss how to approach aesthetic goals in a balanced and sustainable way, because what we are not pushing here is some sort of extreme get shredded and, uh, wreck your hormones type of approach.
• 4:40
  Philip Pape: Even if you do have a goal to, say, compete in a bodybuilding show or something like that, which is an extreme um, there are ways where you're living day to day where you can chase both goals, All right.
• 4:51
  Philip Pape: So, starting with the false dichotomy, there is a narrative that you must choose between training for health or training for looks, and when I did my coaching certification, we learned something called the iron triangle.
• 5:03
  Philip Pape: Is it the iron triangle?
• 5:04
  Philip Pape: Yes, I think that's what it is, and I actually still.
• 5:07
  Philip Pape: I still teach that, I still talk to my clients about it.
• 5:10
  Philip Pape: It's the idea that if you want to improve, say, your aesthetics, there's a point in time where you're going to have to focus more on fat loss than on trying to push your gains, but there's also time you're going to focus more on gains to build that muscle base before we go to fat loss.
• 5:26
  Philip Pape: So in that perspective, yes, there are some trade-offs that always have to be made if you're going to go all after a specific goal in the short term.
• 5:35
  Philip Pape: But in the long or in the medium term not even the long term, the medium term, like a year or two out you can combine these different periods, what we call periodization and ultimately get the best of it all, doing it in an efficient way.
• 5:49
  Philip Pape: So that's kind of what I'm talking about today and that's in contrast to what you hear in the industry, like the functional fitness crowd that says you know, aesthetics are shallow pursuits.
• 6:00
  Philip Pape: You always have to have a deeper reason for this, like there's something wrong with you or you have body dysmorphia or disordered whatever, and again, the actual disordered whatever is outside the scope of today's podcast.
• 6:14
  Philip Pape: We are talking about a healthy pursuit of aesthetics, even sometimes for its own goal, and that is okay.
• 6:21
  Philip Pape: On the other hand, you also have physique competitors who push the extremes of aesthetics that might temporarily compromise your health and we talk about on the show, like the cost of going to that extreme.
• 6:32
  Philip Pape: But I think this is a false choice.
• 6:34
  Philip Pape: I think it's like saying that you have to choose between enjoying food and fueling your body and eating nutritiously.
• 6:40
  Philip Pape: Why not both?
• 6:42
  Philip Pape: Why not both?
• 6:43
  Philip Pape: I heard on a podcast recently them talking about the no sugar challenge they were going through and how much of a struggle it was, and I thought well, that's because you're trying to cut something out completely, when, in fact, you can enjoy foods with sugar but also have lots of nutritious foods alongside them and have a great dietary pattern.
• 7:02
  Philip Pape: So, anyway, the dichotomy probably came up in a few different places.
• 7:06
  Philip Pape: I think the first place is the legitimate reaction against the unhealthy extremes of bodybuilding and physique competitions, and when you see Instagram physiques where competitors might sacrifice health for stage ready appearance.
• 7:21
  Philip Pape: Now there are some people doing this in a very controlled, deliberate, precise way, where there is still a short-term sacrifice to these things, for sure, but they know how to minimize that and they do it in a and I'll call it a healthy way, even though the pursuit itself may still be extreme.
• 7:36
  Philip Pape: Then there's the marketing angle right, the camps, the health longevity camps, the aesthetic stamps.
• 7:43
  Philip Pape: I mean these are to the extreme as well.
• 7:45
  Philip Pape: You have longevity camps talking about not eating very much protein Somehow that helps with longevity, or biohacking to death, my 200 supplement stack or all sorts of gadgets and equipment and programs that sell all these different products and, at the end of the day, they're trying to sell you something.
• 8:04
  Philip Pape: Heck, I'm trying to sell you something.
• 8:05
  Philip Pape: I'm trying to sell you a healthy result that you can live with for the rest of your life, just to be honest.
• 8:10
  Philip Pape: So that's what I'm trying to sell you, that's what I've gotten for myself through lots of hard knocks and hope to accelerate the process for you through this podcast, and do it in a very reasonable, evidence-based, nuanced, personalized way.
• 8:27
  Philip Pape: And then, finally, we have the well-intentioned but misguided attempt to make fitness more inclusive by downplaying aesthetics right, and again, the attention is good and I get.
• 8:36
  Philip Pape: We all need our boogeyman and it's great for a clickbait or a podcast episode where you're trying to appeal to people who may have self-doubt about their physique at the moment and feel like they can't get there, and so you focus and sit on these other things, or someone who's older and they're like, well, I don't really care how I look, I care more about my bone density or living a long life, and, and that's fine, and again, your personal reason for doing it is your own and I like that.
• 9:05
  Philip Pape: We want fitness to be accessible to everyone.
• 9:07
  Philip Pape: But I think it does inadvertently shame people who do care about their appearance.
• 9:12
  Philip Pape: Again, not you as an individual who's saying that's what you want, but the industry as a whole by somehow calling out people who want to improve their look as a bad thing, calling out people who want to improve their look as a bad thing.
• 9:27
  Philip Pape: And I've worked with numerous clients who you know they initially like they whisper their aesthetic goals right.
• 9:30
  Philip Pape: They almost apologize about it.
• 9:32
  Philip Pape: They say things like well, I know I should really focus on health and being a role model for my kids and living a long life, but I really want to see my abs too.
• 9:40
  Philip Pape: And they say it like with some guilt and shame, as if this desire is something to be embarrassed about.
• 9:45
  Philip Pape: But that desire is not shallow, it is human, it is normal and it's often aligned with health.
• 9:52
  Philip Pape: There's often a biological drive for why we want to look good.
• 9:56
  Philip Pape: Let's just admit that.
• 9:57
  Philip Pape: Okay, and I know looking good is very subjective, but there's aspects of it that are actually universal and objective that we can get into.
• 10:04
  Philip Pape: So this brings us to the second segment today, which is the quite remarkable overlap between aesthetic goals and health markers.
• 10:12
  Philip Pape: That even I was surprised about when I researched for this episode.
• 10:17
  Philip Pape: And again, let's just go and look what the science tells us.
• 10:19
  Philip Pape: Let's first talk about body composition, which is one of the main emphases Is that plural for emphasis?
• 10:25
  Philip Pape: Emphasis of this show is not focusing on weight loss, but focusing on body composition.
• 10:31
  Philip Pape: The composition of body fat to lean mass and body fat percentages that are, I'll say, typically considered aesthetically pleasing, based on studies and people's reporting and surveys, is around 10 to 15% for men and around 18 to 23% for women.
• 10:49
  Philip Pape: And guess what?
• 10:50
  Philip Pape: Those body fat ranges align almost perfectly with optimal health markers, where maintaining body fat in these ranges correlates with better insulin sensitivity, improved hormonal profiles, reduced inflammation, lower risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers.
• 11:12
  Philip Pape: I mean we know that the vast majority of these things are correlated with obesity, which is correlated with lifestyle, and it's all connected.
• 11:21
  Philip Pape: So there was a study in 2019 in the European Heart Journal that found that body fat percentage was a stronger predictor of heart disease risk than BMI alone.
• 11:33
  Philip Pape: And there have just been so many studies that show that and it's probably obvious at this point to many of us, especially when we talk about how BMI is not sufficient usually to detect some of these risks.
• 11:43
  Philip Pape: You know, body roundness and body fat tend to be better indicators and the sweet spot for the lowest risk of heart disease is right in the range.
• 11:50
  Philip Pape: That is also what most people consider visually appealing, right.
• 11:55
  Philip Pape: Again, this is trying to make this a little more objective and numbers-based.
• 11:58
  Philip Pape: And then, if we look at the muscle mass side so that's body fat we look at the muscle mass side.
• 12:02
  Philip Pape: You know the, the defined muscular physique that many pursue, that I'm still pursuing, raising my hand, like I.
• 12:13
  Philip Pape: I didn't start pursuing it properly until my forties and I'm only 44 and I have a long way to go.
• 12:16
  Philip Pape: Like my goal is to keep getting younger every year and notice younger means look good and feel good and perform well and be healthier.
• 12:21
  Philip Pape: Uh, but anyway it's it.
• 12:23
  Philip Pape: Anyway it's not just for show, even though many pursue it for that, especially younger dudes, let's say, or certain you know, if you're going for competitive aspirations, higher muscle mass We've talked about it many times on this show, but I can emphasize again it's associated with improved metabolic health, better glucose control, stronger immune function, even reduced mortality.
• 12:46
  Philip Pape: Right, not in and of itself right, we still need to have a reasonable level of body fat, right.
• 12:50
  Philip Pape: We can't go to the other extreme and say it's only about muscle.
• 12:53
  Philip Pape: But you've got to have muscle is kind of my point.
• 12:57
  Philip Pape: There's a 2018 meta-analysis in the Journal of Kachexia, sarcopenia and Muscle that found that higher muscle mass was associated with lower all-cause mortality.
• 13:08
  Philip Pape: And that's just again.
• 13:09
  Philip Pape: I'm picking individual studies.
• 13:10
  Philip Pape: Try to focusing on meta-analysis where they look at multiple studies, but you probably don't need me to convince you that muscle mass is important, even like superficial abs, right.
• 13:21
  Philip Pape: Having a six-pack or eight-pack or whatever that many of us chase can have health significance.
• 13:26
  Philip Pape: When we flip it a little bit and talk about visceral fat around your organs your abdominal fat, which is metabolically more active and associated with increased inflammation and disease risk and all sorts of health issues so you could argue that a visible six pack doesn't just look good.
• 13:45
  Philip Pape: It indicates lower visceral fat and therefore better health.
• 13:48
  Philip Pape: It doesn't mean you have to get to the point of that level of being shredded.
• 13:52
  Philip Pape: I do want to give that caveat.
• 13:53
  Philip Pape: It just means that if you are lean in your belly area, there's probably some things you're doing right from a health perspective, assuming you haven't gone to like an extreme of getting too shredded right Now.
• 14:06
  Philip Pape: What about the process of getting there?
• 14:07
  Philip Pape: Well, the method used to improve aesthetics resistance training, proper nutrition, are exactly what anyone, including health authorities, most fitness professionals myself recommend for optimal health.
• 14:23
  Philip Pape: Like, resistance training is a non-negotiable in my opinion.
• 14:27
  Philip Pape: Right, yes, being active, yes, moving, yes, managing sleep and stress, but resistance training is non-negotiable.
• 14:34
  Philip Pape: And I would say sufficient protein and nutrients are the other non-negotiable that has a little bit more flexibility in what we mean.
• 14:42
  Philip Pape: It's not like binary, in the same way that resistance training is binary.
• 14:45
  Philip Pape: Like you have to do that, um, it's more the levels that you need.
• 14:49
  Philip Pape: Uh, but there is no other path there.
• 14:52
  Philip Pape: There is no other path, right, you can't.
• 14:54
  Philip Pape: You can't improve your health and longevity with running.
• 14:57
  Philip Pape: In fact, you probably are going to set it back.
• 14:59
  Philip Pape: You can't improve it with just yoga or just mindfulness and meditation, and I say just because those things are all great, not the running, but you know, walking is far superior, of course, for fat loss and longevity and health.
• 15:13
  Philip Pape: But all those other things for your mental state, fine, you can do, them, great, but they are not going to give you what you need without strength training and the quote, unquote, functional strength that we've touched on just here and there I'm not a big fan of the word.
• 15:27
  Philip Pape: We had Lorenzo, um, lauren, lauren, colenzo Semple on from mass talking all about that topic.
• 15:34
  Philip Pape: Right, it's a real misnomer in the industry, um, but the Any program that purports to develop functional strength is probably doing so through some form of resistance training.
• 15:44
  Philip Pape: Even the things that I don't like so much, like CrossFit, the strength and the barbell, part of that is still thinking in terms of, hey, we need to load you up and push those muscles and challenge you.
• 15:55
  Philip Pape: The only difference is how they're marketed and then also whether they achieve that efficiently.
• 16:01
  Philip Pape: But you've got to resistance train, you've got to have proper nutrition, and those give you good aesthetics and good health.
• 16:06
  Philip Pape: So now let's touch on something that is often overlooked or maybe not talked about enough, and that is the psychological benefits of aestheticals, not the detriments.
• 16:17
  Philip Pape: Right, we know we can talk about the dark side, but I care about how we look matters to us psychologically, because I wouldn't want you to pursue a goal like that if it was harmful to your mental health.
• 16:31
  Philip Pape: Studies consistently show that body image impacts our mental health.
• 16:36
  Philip Pape: It impacts your self-confidence and your well-being, which is why it's so important.
• 16:41
  Philip Pape: Which way do we push the needle on this?
• 16:43
  Philip Pape: There was a 2020 review in Body Image that found that satisfaction was associated with no, I'm sorry that body satisfaction was associated with better mental health outcomes across the board.
• 16:55
  Philip Pape: Right, when we achieve our aesthetic goals, we often experience more confidence, reduced anxiety, greater satisfaction with ourselves, and so, to me, these are not shallow outcomes.
• 17:07
  Philip Pape: These are legitimate psychological benefits.
• 17:11
  Philip Pape: Right, we focus a lot on things like body positivity and people's self-doubt and negative self-talk about their bodies, but we don't focus enough on the fact that those same people probably want to improve their.
• 17:23
  Philip Pape: But we don't focus enough on the fact that those same people probably want to improve their body as well and need to be encouraged in a positive way to go.
• 17:27
  Philip Pape: Do that, not shame them for it, but also not settle for where they are now.
• 17:32
  Philip Pape: There's always a way to improve, and I've seen clients transform massively, not just physically, but mentally, when they achieve the physique that they've worked for, and it's okay.
• 17:43
  Philip Pape: That's why I'm making this show, guys.
• 17:49
  Philip Pape: It's okay to go after that because, at the end of the day, they all serve the same purpose.
• 17:52
  Philip Pape: Right, there are things like changes in your posture that have profound impacts not just on health, but also confidence.
• 17:59
  Philip Pape: Right, I hear from clients how they're able to engage more confidently in a social situation.
• 18:06
  Philip Pape: Maybe it's because people judge you for how you look.
• 18:08
  Philip Pape: Maybe it's simply because they know they're accomplishing something that very few other people are and they can stand tall and proud.
• 18:15
  Philip Pape: Right, maybe they haven't lost all the body fat or gotten to exactly where they want, but the change and the process and method are really what's bringing them the confidence right.
• 18:25
  Philip Pape: Lifting heavy not even heavy, just lifting at all and making progress.
• 18:29
  Philip Pape: And they often say look, I feel more capable in this area of my life, this area of my life, my relationships, my friends with my job okay, those are positive.
• 18:40
  Philip Pape: Now, let's not deny, let's not be delusional about the unhealthy extremes that could occur.
• 18:44
  Philip Pape: Body dysmorphia and eating disorders are out there.
• 18:47
  Philip Pape: They are serious concerns, right?
• 18:51
  Philip Pape: Holly Baxter talked about her own past with eating disorders and she's a physique competitor, but she does it in the right way.
• 18:56
  Philip Pape: Now you know, pursuing reasonable aesthetic goals as part of a balanced approach to fitness does not cause these issues.
• 19:04
  Philip Pape: Let's be clear it can actually improve your body image when approached in a healthy, constructive way, which is exactly why I don't like restrictive dieting, crash diets, demonizing foods, moving ahead with poor relationships to food, because they're all tied into your body, your safety, your security, your self-image, all of that.
• 19:26
  Philip Pape: But if we can make the process itself positive, we can make the outcome that comes from it, of improved body image, also positive.
• 19:35
  Philip Pape: Does that make sense?
• 19:36
  Philip Pape: I hope that makes sense.
• 19:37
  Philip Pape: It does to me.
• 19:38
  Philip Pape: Maybe I'm off my rocker.
• 19:39
  Philip Pape: I think it makes sense.
• 19:41
  Philip Pape: Then there's the evolutionary angle.
• 19:43
  Philip Pape: That's worth considering.
• 19:44
  Philip Pape: You know I mentioned biology.
• 19:46
  Philip Pape: I think it's important to touch on because our appreciation for these you know, beauty standards or aesthetic qualities it isn't arbitrary, like it's deeply rooted in biological signals of health and reproductive fitness.
• 19:59
  Philip Pape: There's a reason that we are attracted to certain people from a young age, I mean around the time of puberty.
• 20:04
  Philip Pape: Look back to it and just think about the hormonal chaos you had in your teenage years and how you're attracted to certain forms of things that you find beautiful.
• 20:14
  Philip Pape: Right, and don't be ashamed of that.
• 20:16
  Philip Pape: From an evolutionary standpoint, visual cues of health, clear skin, symmetrical features, favorable body composition have been valuable indicators of genetic fitness.
• 20:30
  Philip Pape: This is evolution.
• 20:31
  Philip Pape: Our ancestors couldn't run blood panels, they didn't do DEXA scans, obviously, they didn't even have like barbells to lift, but they relied on visual cues to assess health when selecting a mate.
• 20:41
  Philip Pape: And again, it's a little bit subjective, right, there have been times when being on the heavier side was actually considered valuable and a sign of health, robustness and wealth too.
• 20:52
  Philip Pape: So it's not to say that this is a perfect correlation by any means.
• 20:57
  Philip Pape: Let's acknowledge that.
• 20:58
  Philip Pape: But there are biological reasons nonetheless.
• 21:00
  Philip Pape: So when you find yourself drawn to a certain physique, whether it's muscle definition or a particular body shape or overall leanness, you're probably responding unconsciously to deeply ingrained biological signals that historically correlated with health and genetic fitness.
• 21:21
  Philip Pape: Right, the ability to spread your seeds, to pass along your DNA to offspring who will have the best chance of surviving in the world.
• 21:29
  Philip Pape: Now, that doesn't mean that all beauty standards are biologically determined.
• 21:33
  Philip Pape: Again, nuance guys.
• 21:34
  Philip Pape: Nuance, right.
• 21:35
  Philip Pape: Don't hold me to a what do you call it?
• 21:39
  Philip Pape: Soundbite.
• 21:40
  Philip Pape: That's why I like long form here.
• 21:41
  Philip Pape: Right, cultural factors play a huge role.
• 21:44
  Philip Pape: Let's acknowledge that, right.
• 21:46
  Philip Pape: If we understand the evolutionary basis that's like the baseline we can then help explain why certain physique goals persist across cultures and time periods and they tend to cycle back and forth but stay within kind of a range.
• 21:57
  Philip Pape: And then it also suggests that our desire to look a certain way is not shallow.
• 22:03
  Philip Pape: It is also not culturally imposed, right, it is partially hardwired and that's nothing to be ashamed of Like.
• 22:11
  Philip Pape: Just acknowledging reality of your biology is nothing to be ashamed of.
• 22:15
  Philip Pape: So now let's talk about how to approach aesthetic goals in a balanced, sustainable way that actually enhances health rather than compromise and I include mental health in there, for sure, body image.
• 22:28
  Philip Pape: So first, recognize, health and aesthetics exist on a spectrum, right, they're not in opposition, they're not mutually exclusive, and that goes back to the whole triangle idea where you have trade-offs and you can't, you can't pursue all in parallel to the nth degree, you know, to the 10th degree, whatever, I'm trying to say, to the maximum degree.
• 22:49
  Philip Pape: And they're on a spectrum, but they're not exclusive, they're not an opposition.
• 22:55
  Philip Pape: The methods stack on each other.
• 22:58
  Philip Pape: The methods that improve your health markers, like your nutrition, your resistance training, having adequate sleep, managing your stress, also enhance aesthetics up to a point.
• 23:07
  Philip Pape: It's only at those extremes, like bodybuilding, competition prep or extreme endurance training, right, marathon runners, long distance runners where the true exclusive trade-offs might appear, if I'm to put it that way.
• 23:21
  Philip Pape: I mean, you know that just visually you look at a marathon, an elite marathon runner.
• 23:26
  Philip Pape: They probably don't have a physique that most people aspire to.
• 23:29
  Philip Pape: Let's be honest, right.
• 23:31
  Philip Pape: And then you look at somebody who's an extreme bodybuilding competitor, especially enhanced, because if you're enhanced on steroids now you're messing with your health in other ways.
• 23:40
  Philip Pape: But even if they're not, they've made some sacrifices to their health and longevity.
• 23:44
  Philip Pape: Yes, at least in the moment.
• 23:47
  Philip Pape: A lot of it is recoverable, but at least in the moment to get there.
• 23:50
  Philip Pape: So we're not really talking about that.
• 23:51
  Philip Pape: For the vast majority of us in the middle you know 95% pursuing both simultaneously aesthetics and health is not only possible, but it's actually optimal.
• 24:00
  Philip Pape: It's optimal.
• 24:01
  Philip Pape: So I wanna give you that permission to go after them together.
• 24:05
  Philip Pape: The second thing is you want to set goals that serve both purposes and make sure they're logical, they're rational, right.
• 24:12
  Philip Pape: So instead of saying I want six-pack abs or I want to lower my cholesterol, try.
• 24:19
  Philip Pape: I want to achieve a lean, muscular physique that reflects and supports optimal health.
• 24:23
  Philip Pape: This is the framing, and again, we're talking about the big goal.
• 24:28
  Philip Pape: We're not necessarily talking about the short-term goals.
• 24:29
  Philip Pape: This is a framing, positive framing.
• 24:30
  Philip Pape: It acknowledges both aspects but doesn't privilege one over the other.
• 24:34
  Philip Pape: So I'll say that again, if you want to repeat it with me as kind of a mantra.
• 24:37
  Philip Pape: I want to achieve a lean, muscular physique that reflects and supports optimal health.
• 24:42
  Philip Pape: Just one way to do it.
• 24:43
  Philip Pape: You might put it in your own words.
• 24:45
  Philip Pape: And then, third, I want you to use metrics and data that capture both health and aesthetics.
• 24:50
  Philip Pape: You knew I would get to this eventually.
• 24:52
  Philip Pape: We're all about engineering data, measuring, tracking, experimenting and doing what works for you.
• 24:58
  Philip Pape: So body composition, which is the ratio of fat to lean mass, is going to be far more informative than weight alone, even though you need to track weight as well.
• 25:05
  Philip Pape: Now, I don't get hung up in trying to exactly calculate body fat.
• 25:10
  Philip Pape: It's more of the change in your body composition over time.
• 25:13
  Philip Pape: Are you building muscle and losing fat?
• 25:15
  Philip Pape: Is your waist shrinking while your biceps are growing, for example?
• 25:19
  Philip Pape: Right, and a lot of this comes through look and feel and performance, as well as proxies for body composition.
• 25:25
  Philip Pape: Speaking of performance metrics, what are those?
• 25:27
  Philip Pape: Strength?
• 25:28
  Philip Pape: There could be some cardiovascular metrics, but I prefer things like stress metrics, hrv, as opposed to, say, vo2 max.
• 25:37
  Philip Pape: I think that is much less useful, especially if you're looking for body composition improvement.
• 25:41
  Philip Pape: If you're looking for body composition improvement, Um, but resting heart rate is a good metric for health for sure, right, blood markers like lipids, uh, and what did I say?
• 25:49
  Philip Pape: Yeah, um, and your blood pressure, even your movement quality, and it's kind of how do you?
• 25:55
  Philip Pape: How do you track that?
• 25:55
  Philip Pape: Well, some of you may have issues with your joints and you can track the level of pain or level of mobility in those joints and how that improves over time.
• 26:02
  Philip Pape: Right, many people they start lifting, their back pain goes away, their knees feel better, their elbows, their shoulders feel better to a point, right, unless you go too extreme in the other direction.
• 26:11
  Philip Pape: So you can track all of these things and then you know that's just tracking.
• 26:16
  Philip Pape: And then how do you put all this together to make sense?
• 26:20
  Philip Pape: Well, that's where the sustainability comes in, and I kind of I feel like I overused that word and we're not talking about energy sustainability.
• 26:26
  Philip Pape: We're talking about can it be sustained for life, not just for a year or three years or five years, but for life.
• 26:31
  Philip Pape: It's going to cycle through.
• 26:32
  Philip Pape: You're going to have different sub goals and periodization where you go to more extremes in different directions, but overall it's still a sustainable approach.
• 26:40
  Philip Pape: Crash diets are not sustainable, right?
• 26:42
  Philip Pape: Even if you want to go after a very rapid, aggressive fat loss phase, which is something that I can teach you to do for an advanced person who's done all the other things first.
• 26:54
  Philip Pape: We're still going to do it in a way that doesn't harm your health, that maintains your muscle, that maintains your protein, that gives you refeeds for your energy and that keeps it really, really short, right?
• 27:02
  Philip Pape: I'm talking about crash diets like restrictive diets, where you're not really in control.
• 27:06
  Philip Pape: You're just cutting, cutting, cutting.
• 27:08
  Philip Pape: You lose a bunch of weight really fast.
• 27:09
  Philip Pape: It might temporarily improve your appearance Probably not, because you're probably going to lose muscle along with some fat, and it's going to harm your health anyway.
• 27:17
  Philip Pape: It's going to wreck everything.
• 27:20
  Philip Pape: To be honest, extreme exercise same idea, lots of cardio, right?
• 27:25
  Philip Pape: Put that in the equation.
• 27:26
  Philip Pape: I just spoke to someone yesterday on a rapid nutrition assessment and I could tell exactly what her problem was.
• 27:31
  Philip Pape: She tries to lift weights seven days a week and it's like a YouTube workout and she's with like 10-pound dumbbells, right.
• 27:39
  Philip Pape: So right there, I know she's doing a cardio endurance type approach.
• 27:41
  Philip Pape: It's probably stressing her out and it's not building muscle.
• 27:44
  Philip Pape: So it has both of the opposite of what we want when it comes to aesthetics and health.
• 27:51
  Philip Pape: Again, because they are aligned and show up for fairly easily I'm going to put it that way easily, even though there's always effort involved, but fairly low friction, where you are progressing gradually in a way that serves both health and aesthetics, without getting so extreme and losing patience that you haven't gotten it all tomorrow.
• 28:17
  Philip Pape: So I'm getting a little long-winded today, but I think this is an important topic and I did want to share something that might surprise you a bit about the relationship between aesthetic goals and everyday life.
• 28:30
  Philip Pape: And it's a pretty cool thing that I've learned talking to very skilled bodybuilders, physique competitors I think of, for example oh my gosh, revive Stronger.
• 28:41
  Philip Pape: You guys know who that is.
• 28:42
  Philip Pape: What's his name?
• 28:43
  Philip Pape: Host of Revive Stronger.
• 28:45
  Philip Pape: He was on the show man I am blanking out right now, I'm not going to look it up anyway.
• 28:49
  Philip Pape: He, um, steve Steve Hall.
• 28:52
  Philip Pape: There we go.
• 28:52
  Philip Pape: He was.
• 28:53
  Philip Pape: He and Dr Eric Helms and others like him, um have demonstrated how the skills and the mindset you develop while pursuing aesthetic goals can transfer really well to other areas of life.
• 29:05
  Philip Pape: I think there's a little bit of a push, a little bit of an extreme that we go after with some of this, and I hate to use the word extreme, it's just discomfort, expanding your comfort zone and pushing yourself to grow the essence of the struggle, of the human condition.
• 29:19
  Philip Pape: For those of us who really love and relish life every day, it's because we are going after it.
• 29:25
  Philip Pape: We are improving something, maybe everything all day in some meaningful way.
• 29:30
  Philip Pape: We have purpose right.
• 29:31
  Philip Pape: And so that skill, that mindset, it applies pretty darn well to aesthetic goals, to strength, to performance, all of it, even if you do shift around in the very micro goals that you pursue.
• 29:44
  Philip Pape: Think about what it takes to transform your physique Consistent effort over time, delayed gratification, patience, strategic planning, but also measuring your progress and adapting to the challenges, to the plan, like the black line versus blue line thinking that I talked about on a recent episode, managing setbacks, all of that.
• 30:04
  Philip Pape: These are not just fitness skills, they are life skills, and I've worked with a lot of clients who didn't really have that baseline of those skills in their life in general.
• 30:15
  Philip Pape: And by going through that process together for health, voila guess what?
• 30:19
  Philip Pape: Now they've got confidence and a system and an approach that they can apply to learning an instrument, becoming a better gardener, becoming a leader in work, improving their relationship the list goes on and on.
• 30:32
  Philip Pape: It's incredible, and I've observed clients who transform their physiques and the language.
• 30:39
  Philip Pape: The narrative that comes out of their mouth evolves to this almost sometimes shock at the improvements that they have that were unexpected in their careers, relationships or personal projects.
• 30:51
  Philip Pape: It's kind of like something I've experienced on a smaller level when I joined Toastmasters years ago and I worked on my speaking skills and I thought, well, I'm going to become a better presenter by doing this.
• 31:01
  Philip Pape: No, it was far more than that.
• 31:03
  Philip Pape: I became more confident in every meeting at work.
• 31:06
  Philip Pape: I could speak to you know, executives and customers in a way that I felt like their peer and that we could really engage in an intellectual level, all because I could communicate.
• 31:15
  Philip Pape: So don't discount the discipline, the systems, thinking, the growth mindset that you can develop through physique transformation.
• 31:23
  Philip Pape: We're not going after short-term before and after photos here.
• 31:27
  Philip Pape: We are going for long-term transformation in who you are, your identity, your systems.
• 31:33
  Philip Pape: I can remember a client who lost a decent amount of weight and by weight I mean fat and built a bunch of muscle at the same time, and he said you know, something like I used to think that I couldn't stick with anything hard.
• 31:46
  Philip Pape: Right, that was his identity.
• 31:47
  Philip Pape: Now I know I can commit to something long-term and then see it through and he just he had to go through this process, and I think the physique development process is a good way to do it because it can give you a lot of quick wins along the way and your physique will change, like it.
• 32:03
  Philip Pape: It just will, if you do this right.
• 32:08
  Philip Pape: And if it's not, if you're listening to this or watching this right now and you're like, yeah, but that hasn't happened for me, you just don't have the right approach and that's okay.
• 32:15
  Philip Pape: Like that's not a judgment on you, that's an objective fact that I want you to get on board with me about and say, okay.
• 32:21
  Philip Pape: Well then, I know that Philip is telling me there is an approach that'll work.
• 32:24
  Philip Pape: What the heck is that?
• 32:26
  Philip Pape: Talk about that on this podcast, but you're always welcome to reach out to me one-on-one.
• 32:30
  Philip Pape: I'm not going to bite.
• 32:31
  Philip Pape: Hit me up in the Facebook group, send me a message on Instagram at Wits and Weights.
• 32:36
  Philip Pape: Send me a question at witsandweightscom slash question and I'll talk to you like a person, like a human, about what it takes.
• 32:43
  Philip Pape: I'll send you a free episode or resource.
• 32:45
  Philip Pape: I'm not here to sell you anything.
• 32:46
  Philip Pape: If you need my help, you'll ask for it.
• 32:49
  Philip Pape: Another client that I can think of that came to mind.
• 32:52
  Philip Pape: She had a thing at work where she wanted to have a promotion or she wanted to get into a leadership role, mainly because she was super stressed at what she was doing.
• 33:01
  Philip Pape: I get this a lot with clients who they're stressed in their jobs and part of the thing we work through is are you even in the right role right now, or is there a way we can mitigate this with everything else you're doing?
• 33:10
  Philip Pape: By the way, lifting weights tends to reduce your stress anyway.
• 33:14
  Philip Pape: But she said, you know, I was confident enough because of the physical transformation and, mind you, she didn't lose a lot of weight on the scale, but she built muscle, improved her physique, had a better posture, just felt like she could go after it.
• 33:26
  Philip Pape: And then she went and asked and she got the promotion right, like stuff like that really makes me happy and proud for them, because this transfer effect it's not anecdotal.
• 33:40
  Philip Pape: I mean research shows this consistently.
• 33:40
  Philip Pape: I did some training in positive psychology and it is clear that self-efficacy, your belief in your ability to succeed, generalizes across domains.
• 33:47
  Philip Pape: Okay, success in one challenging area builds confidence that transfers to others.
• 33:52
  Philip Pape: So why not do it with your body?
• 33:53
  Philip Pape: Because then you get all sorts of benefits, including a long lifespan and healthspan.
• 33:57
  Philip Pape: That then translates to other things.
• 33:59
  Philip Pape: It's pretty awesome, right?
• 34:00
  Philip Pape: So when you pursue aesthetic goals in a healthy, systematic way that's what we're talking about You're not just building a better body, right.
• 34:07
  Philip Pape: You are building better life capabilities and profound benefits that go far beyond the superficial.
• 34:13
  Philip Pape: All right.
• 34:14
  Philip Pape: So let's wrap it up here, and I want to emphasize the key message it's perfectly fine to chase aesthetics.
• 34:20
  Philip Pape: In fact, it's normal, it's healthy.
• 34:24
  Philip Pape: It is often in fact, almost always aligned with optimal health outcomes.
• 34:30
  Philip Pape: The body composition that looks good in the mirror is typically the same one that produces favorable health markers.
• 34:37
  Philip Pape: Yes, you'll go through periods where you carry a little extra body fat.
• 34:40
  Philip Pape: Some of the numbers start to drift and you're doing it on purpose, to build muscle.
• 34:43
  Philip Pape: But then you come back the other way you lose some fat and, all of a sudden, everything is even better than it was before.
• 34:48
  Philip Pape: Plus, you tend to eat more food and carry a little more body weight without having to worry about it.
• 34:52
  Philip Pape: The training right, the strength training that builds the physique is the same training that enhances your capability, your function, your hormones, your longevity building muscle.
• 35:03
  Philip Pape: If you're not doing that, I'm sorry.
• 35:06
  Philip Pape: You are just not going to have this result.
• 35:08
  Philip Pape: There's no way to do it.
• 35:08
  Philip Pape: Otherwise, the nutrition that reveals your muscle definition, right Fat loss and maintaining a healthy body weight is the same approach that supports internal health.
• 35:17
  Philip Pape: When you're getting enough nutrients, enough protein, enough hydration, enough, you know, just energy, calories, that's healthy.
• 35:25
  Philip Pape: So let go of any guilt that you might feel about wanting to look good right now.
• 35:33
  Philip Pape: Let it go.
• 35:34
  Philip Pape: Let go.
• 35:36
  Philip Pape: You can look good, it's okay.
• 35:38
  Philip Pape: You can want to look good, it's okay.
• 35:40
  Philip Pape: Embrace the aesthetic goals and just think of it as a comprehensive part or a part of your comprehensive approach to fitness.
• 35:48
  Philip Pape: It honors.
• 35:49
  Philip Pape: It honors how your body looks and how it functions together.
• 35:53
  Philip Pape: So remember three principles.
• 35:55
  Philip Pape: I'm going to leave you with this.
• 35:56
  Philip Pape: Three principles One health and aesthetics are not opposing forces.
• 36:00
  Philip Pape: They complement each other and they largely overlap.
• 36:02
  Philip Pape: Number two the methods.
• 36:04
  Philip Pape: The process that produces optimal health also creates an appealing physique as a byproduct.
• 36:09
  Philip Pape: And number three pursuing reasonable aesthetic goals.
• 36:12
  Philip Pape: Right, I said reasonable aesthetic goals can also provide psychological, mental health benefits and life skills that extend way beyond fitness to everything in your life.
• 36:21
  Philip Pape: And when you approach it this way, thoughtfully, patiently, the pursuit of an aesthetic physique does not detract from health but enhances it in so many ways, and that is something worth striving for as a human being on this earth.
• 36:37
  Philip Pape: So get after it.
• 36:40
  Philip Pape: And one way to get after it is to transform your physique using evidence in a systematic way, tracking it the right way, and we help you do that in Wits and Weights Physique University.
• 36:51
  Philip Pape: We give you a personalized nutrition plan when you join.
• 36:54
  Philip Pape: So here's how it works.
• 36:55
  Philip Pape: You join, you get a nice prescriptive set of steps from me, an onboarding course where you submit an intake literally on day one.
• 37:03
  Philip Pape: You could do it within minutes.
• 37:04
  Philip Pape: I look at that within a couple of days.
• 37:06
  Philip Pape: Give you back a plan that shows you how to map out all of this stuff.
• 37:11
  Philip Pape: Okay, and it it can be overwhelming at first.
• 37:13
  Philip Pape: So what we do is we guide you through step-by-step.
• 37:16
  Philip Pape: Here's how you track this.
• 37:17
  Philip Pape: Here's how you track that.
• 37:19
  Philip Pape: Here's the one thing you want to start this week.
• 37:21
  Philip Pape: And then here's how to stay accountable.
• 37:23
  Philip Pape: You want to check in every week with us and, yeah, there's a lot of bells and whistles and courses and challenges and all that.
• 37:29
  Philip Pape: You don't have to do any of that.
• 37:30
  Philip Pape: Just come join us, get the plan.
• 37:32
  Philip Pape: I mean, that alone is worth a year in the program, in my opinion, and I've had people cancel in the first two weeks because maybe they said they couldn't afford it or they weren't sure if the program was for them.
• 37:42
  Philip Pape: And I'll say here I'm going to give you a plan anyway as a parting gift.
• 37:45
  Philip Pape: And I've had a few of those people then say, oh wait, this is actually super valuable.
• 37:48
  Philip Pape: I want to stay in and find out how to apply it to my life.
• 37:51
  Philip Pape: So join now.
• 37:53
  Philip Pape: It's a free trial for two weeks.
• 37:54
  Philip Pape: You get to kick the tires.
• 37:55
  Philip Pape: You could get your nutrition plan as part of that and, even if you cancel, you got it for free.
• 38:02
  Philip Pape: Go to witsandweightscom slash physique or click the link in the show notes Again witsandweightscom slash physique.
• 38:06
  Philip Pape: And there's a demo there.
• 38:08
  Philip Pape: By the way right, I don't keep anything hidden there's a video of me walking you through with a screen.
• 38:13
  Philip Pape: Share what the heck the program looks like.
• 38:15
  Philip Pape: So there's no risk whatsoever.
• 38:17
  Philip Pape: Give it a shot.
• 38:17
  Philip Pape: Remember that looking good and being healthy are not competing goals, right, they are complimentary, and I definitely want to show you how to achieve both.
• 38:24
  Philip Pape: But for now and until next time, keep using your wits lifting those weights and remember that pursuing an aesthetic physique is not shallow or vain.
• 38:34
  Philip Pape: When approached properly, it is a natural expression of your desire to optimize your body's appearance and function.
• 38:42
  Philip Pape: This is Philip Pape and I'll talk to you next time here on the Wits and Weights Podcast.
• 38:46
  Philip Pape: Podcast.