Latest / Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40 / 13 Overhyped Recovery Hacks That Won't Build Muscle or Burn Fat | Ep 383

Transcript

13 Overhyped Recovery Hacks That Won't Build Muscle or Burn Fat | Ep 383 · Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40

• 0:01
  Philip Pape: I don't know if your feed looks like mine, but I keep seeing ads and influencers talking about cold plunges and ice baths and red light therapy boxes, massage guns, collagen supplements, all the things.
• 0:13
  Philip Pape: And I'm wondering how many people are thinking, do these work?
• 0:18
  Philip Pape: Or are they hype?
• 0:19
  Philip Pape: And I don't want to waste my money, but it looks so attractive, it looks like it's gonna do this amazing thing that I really need right now.
• 0:26
  Philip Pape: If that's you, then this episode is for you because we are gonna rank 13 of the most overhyped fitness and recovery tools based on what the science actually says.
• 0:35
  Philip Pape: You're gonna discover which ones might help in specific situations, which ones are a complete waste of money, and how to think about these tools so you don't fall for any of these claims and do what actually works.
• 0:45
  Philip Pape: I'm your host, Philip Pape, and today we're gonna look at overhyped fitness tools.
• 1:07
  Philip Pape: Because the fitness industry runs on hype, doesn't it?
• 1:11
  Philip Pape: You've got new devices every day for recovery, for supplements, you know, miracle cures, high-tech gadgets, all promising faster results, better performance, easier gains.
• 1:22
  Philip Pape: Anyone ever heard of vibration plates?
• 1:24
  Philip Pape: Yes, they are still around.
• 1:25
  Philip Pape: The problem is that most of these tools range from barely helpful to completely useless, but they are marketed so slickly that we all keep buying them.
• 1:36
  Philip Pape: I've bought plenty of different devices over the years.
• 1:38
  Philip Pape: Some of them are on this list.
• 1:40
  Philip Pape: Am I ashamed?
• 1:41
  Philip Pape: No, because I didn't, you know, I thought I was getting what I was getting, and then now it's collecting dust.
• 1:47
  Philip Pape: Well, you're probably gonna relate to this when we get into this list.
• 1:50
  Philip Pape: We all want an edge, but these aren't it.
• 1:53
  Philip Pape: So today I'm gonna rank 13 of the most overhyped fitness and recovery tools from least to most overhyped.
• 2:00
  Philip Pape: From eh, this might actually work in some context to don't waste your money.
• 2:05
  Philip Pape: We're gonna look at what the research says at a very high level, because it's a lot.
• 2:08
  Philip Pape: It's a lot, it's a big list, so I don't want it to take too long.
• 2:10
  Philip Pape: We're gonna talk about when they might make sense and then when they are just uh emptying your wallet, let's say.
• 2:16
  Philip Pape: If anybody uses wallets these days, you know what I mean.
• 2:19
  Philip Pape: So before we get into the ranking, I did want to share just a couple of reviews that came in from listeners lately and then talk about a little giveaway we're running if you submit a review.
• 2:28
  Philip Pape: So a couple of my favorite reviews that have come in.
• 2:30
  Philip Pape: One is from Travis Roden.
• 2:33
  Philip Pape: He said, This man makes nutrition and strength training clear and actionable.
• 2:36
  Philip Pape: Each episode cuts through the noise with great tips and real world advice.
• 2:40
  Philip Pape: Check it out if you're serious about lifting and long-term results.
• 2:43
  Philip Pape: I love that review because it kind of says it all, right?
• 2:45
  Philip Pape: Actionable, strength training cuts through the noise, practical, etc.
• 2:49
  Philip Pape: And then another one I got is a bit longer, but I really love it.
• 2:52
  Philip Pape: It's from Kaniac Fan 14.
• 2:55
  Philip Pape: Yeah, I said that right.
• 2:56
  Philip Pape: Wits and weights is a game changer.
• 2:58
  Philip Pape: I discovered wits and weights in early 2023 and have been a follower ever since.
• 3:04
  Philip Pape: So this is a longtime listener.
• 3:05
  Philip Pape: Thank you so much.
• 3:06
  Philip Pape: I'm grateful.
• 3:06
  Philip Pape: Phillips engineering mind crunches numbers like a computer.
• 3:09
  Philip Pape: He has the ability to analyze data and present solutions to his clients in a no-nonsense yet compassionate way.
• 3:14
  Philip Pape: I've witnessed him grow his brand and reach a broader audience, as is evident by his growing community of podcast followers.
• 3:20
  Philip Pape: The interviews are carefully curated and up to date with current trends.
• 3:24
  Philip Pape: Philip is passionate about his work and is so approachable, providing plenty of free resources as well as guided one-on-one coaching.
• 3:30
  Philip Pape: The podcast, as well as the wits and weights community, are valuable resources anyone should have in their health and wellness toolbox.
• 3:36
  Philip Pape: And I wanted to highlight that one just to make known that I do have an entire ecosystem here I try to develop to make things accessible to as many of you as possible.
• 3:45
  Philip Pape: And this podcast is a great entry point because it's free.
• 3:48
  Philip Pape: It's 100% free.
• 3:49
  Philip Pape: You can take the information, you can apply it.
• 3:52
  Philip Pape: And, you know, I might not get it right all the time.
• 3:54
  Philip Pape: I'm always learning myself.
• 3:56
  Philip Pape: I try to have whatever tiny bit of humility I can possibly have in this space and keep learning and bringing that to you.
• 4:03
  Philip Pape: But the cool thing is, if you do enjoy the show, if you want to help others discover it, and you leave a review on Apple by October 15, you'll be entered to win three months of our mastery track level of physique university.
• 4:16
  Philip Pape: That's the more personalized level of service that we have.
• 4:18
  Philip Pape: So this is almost a $300 value that you can win.
• 4:21
  Philip Pape: I mean, essentially, I don't want to say raffle because I don't know if that passes the uh the legal test here, but you know, one reviewer will be selected for three months of free coaching.
• 4:30
  Philip Pape: And then I'll give you some more details at the end of the episode if that sounds interesting to you.
• 4:34
  Philip Pape: All right, let's talk about these tools that I'm gonna rank.
• 4:37
  Philip Pape: I'm gonna look at three things.
• 4:38
  Philip Pape: First of all, does the research show any meaningful benefit, right?
• 4:43
  Philip Pape: Not just statistically significant, which is the technical term in the literature, but really meaningful to you for your training, for your physique?
• 4:51
  Philip Pape: The things that we're scoping for our discussion.
• 4:54
  Philip Pape: Second, is the benefit specific to certain situations, or is it marketed as this big catch-all universally helpful thing when it is not?
• 5:03
  Philip Pape: I think it's important to separate those.
• 5:05
  Philip Pape: And then third, what is the cost versus benefit?
• 5:09
  Philip Pape: What is the return on investment?
• 5:11
  Philip Pape: A cheap tool that provides a small benefit actually might be worth it.
• 5:15
  Philip Pape: An expensive tool that provides a small benefit, probably not, right?
• 5:20
  Philip Pape: So with that framework, let's get into it.
• 5:22
  Philip Pape: Let's get into the ranking.
• 5:23
  Philip Pape: We're gonna go from least overhyped to most overhyped.
• 5:27
  Philip Pape: So least overhyped is gonna be number 13 on the list: cold water immersion and ice baths.
• 5:33
  Philip Pape: All right.
• 5:34
  Philip Pape: So I was not I was not even sure if I should have this on the list because ice baths actually do something.
• 5:40
  Philip Pape: You know, they reduce muscle soreness, they can help with recovery between, say, events in a tournament or competition context where you have to perform multiple times in a short period.
• 5:51
  Philip Pape: The problem is that they can blunt hypertrophy adaptation.
• 5:54
  Philip Pape: So that's the adaptation from your lifting if you use them right after lifting, because the cold interferes with the inflammatory response that signals muscle growth.
• 6:04
  Philip Pape: So ice baths work as intended.
• 6:06
  Philip Pape: They reduce acute soreness, but they kind of get misused if you're using them right after you lift.
• 6:12
  Philip Pape: Now, if you're in a competition right now, today, and you have multiple events, you want to take ice baths in between to reduce soreness, that makes total sense.
• 6:21
  Philip Pape: But if you're trying to get bigger and stronger over time, skip them after your workout and do them completely separate from your workout, mainly to reduce just general soreness or to relax or because you're crazy.
• 6:31
  Philip Pape: Any of those work.
• 6:32
  Philip Pape: All right, number 12, moving up the list from least to most overhyped.
• 6:37
  Philip Pape: Number 12 is cryotherapy chambers.
• 6:39
  Philip Pape: I yeah, I know all of you are going out to use cryotherapy right now, but seriously, I do see these a lot, especially with kind of higher-end influencers.
• 6:46
  Philip Pape: You know, and I I my feed is weird because of I look at the whole spectrum as a coach, as a fitness enthusiast, as a business owner, you know, as a person with other interests, I have nothing to do with this.
• 6:58
  Philip Pape: But it's the same mechanism, same benefits, same drawbacks as ice baths.
• 7:02
  Philip Pape: The difference is you pay more and you have to go to somewhere and you have to stand in a chamber instead of filling your bathtub with ice.
• 7:09
  Philip Pape: So, whatever that makes sense to you.
• 7:11
  Philip Pape: If you don't want to get in the ice, maybe that's why you want to do it.
• 7:13
  Philip Pape: But uh, I would say it's not necessarily overhyped in terms of what it does.
• 7:17
  Philip Pape: It's overhyped in terms of the convenience and the cost because you're paying this big premium for not really any additional benefit.
• 7:22
  Philip Pape: So that's what I would put on number 12.
• 7:24
  Philip Pape: Number 11 is compression garments and pneumatic boots.
• 7:29
  Philip Pape: And I would say these have small effects on your soreness and swelling.
• 7:33
  Philip Pape: They're about the same as walking or light movement.
• 7:36
  Philip Pape: If you like how they feel, that's fine.
• 7:39
  Philip Pape: I'm not telling anybody not to do anything today.
• 7:41
  Philip Pape: It's your choice.
• 7:42
  Philip Pape: But if you're not getting anything that you couldn't get from a 10-minute walk and then you're paying lots of money for special boots or special clothing, you know, which are hard to put on and all this, then you know, it's it's a thing to consider.
• 7:53
  Philip Pape: The benefit exists, but it's not worth the cost for most people.
• 7:55
  Philip Pape: Now, I'm not talking about knee sleeves and shoulder sleeves for lifting.
• 8:00
  Philip Pape: I'm not talking about if you have varicose veins or some medical issue, none of that.
• 8:04
  Philip Pape: Purely talking about in the context here of, you know, lifting, recovery, fitness, and and that such and that whatever.
• 8:10
  Philip Pape: I can't use proper grammar right now.
• 8:12
  Philip Pape: Okay, number 10, massage therapy and foam rolling.
• 8:16
  Philip Pape: Okay, now, interesting, right?
• 8:18
  Philip Pape: Because I get a massage once a month.
• 8:20
  Philip Pape: I do it because it feels great.
• 8:22
  Philip Pape: And if I ask my massage therapist to focus in one area, like my shoulder capsule, it will probably give me a day or two of benefit in my lifting, maybe.
• 8:32
  Philip Pape: Okay.
• 8:33
  Philip Pape: I will I have to personally use a lacrosse ball and dig into my shoulder pretty much every day for to have a more sustained benefit when it comes to reducing, let's say, scar tissue.
• 8:45
  Philip Pape: This is for me personally with my history.
• 8:47
  Philip Pape: So, what do you get from massage therapy and foam rolling?
• 8:49
  Philip Pape: Well, you get some modest reductions in DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness and stiffness, some short-term improvements in range of motion.
• 8:56
  Philip Pape: It feels great, right?
• 8:58
  Philip Pape: Foam rolling before a workout can help you move better sometimes, and they can make you comfortable, give you some acute relief, but they don't help beyond that.
• 9:07
  Philip Pape: Now, I've talked to some experts who are physical therapists who are huge advocates of foam rolling, but I would say they're not going to really help with your training capacity over time or your performance as much as maybe they claim to, is my point.
• 9:23
  Philip Pape: They're more temporary relief.
• 9:25
  Philip Pape: Maybe they reduce soreness.
• 9:26
  Philip Pape: And you could argue that reducing soreness helps improve performance.
• 9:29
  Philip Pape: This is why I put it lower on my list.
• 9:30
  Philip Pape: It's not like super, super overhyped.
• 9:32
  Philip Pape: Now, massage therapy is expensive for most people, right?
• 9:35
  Philip Pape: It is pretty expensive.
• 9:37
  Philip Pape: I mean, I've had the same therapist for for years, and I'm locked into her rate from several years ago.
• 9:42
  Philip Pape: Otherwise, it'd be, you know, way more expensive than I might even want to pay right now.
• 9:47
  Philip Pape: And maybe that's maybe that's on me to uh, you know, give her more.
• 9:51
  Philip Pape: I don't know.
• 9:51
  Philip Pape: But uh foam rollers are cheap, of course.
• 9:54
  Philip Pape: So we've got massage therapy and foam rollers.
• 9:56
  Philip Pape: And if you want that temporary relief, if you think foam rollers are the B's knees, go for it.
• 10:01
  Philip Pape: I'm just saying that they're a little bit overhyped.
• 10:03
  Philip Pape: That's all.
• 10:03
  Philip Pape: They're just a little bit overhyped.
• 10:05
  Philip Pape: Okay.
• 10:05
  Philip Pape: Number nine, moving up the list here, is percussion guns, massage guns like Theragun, Hypervolt.
• 10:12
  Philip Pape: Again, I think any of these massage gadgets, and these are probably the better ones, that's why I put them on the list, will give you a little bit of a relief with your short-term range of motion and soreness, but they they fade quickly.
• 10:23
  Philip Pape: I mean, you know this, right?
• 10:24
  Philip Pape: You've used these massage devices, whether it's the ones with the rotating spheres that you put on your neck, the ones that you could put on your back, right?
• 10:33
  Philip Pape: The massage guns, of course, these have become massively popular, right?
• 10:36
  Philip Pape: They they're super high tech.
• 10:38
  Philip Pape: They feel good in the moment.
• 10:40
  Philip Pape: I used to use them a lot during CrossFit, like right after a session, they feel good, but it's really temporary relief, kind of like getting a massage.
• 10:47
  Philip Pape: It's the vibration, it's the percussion.
• 10:48
  Philip Pape: The research shows that these effects just don't last.
• 10:52
  Philip Pape: You're not improving your recovery capacity or building more muscle or improving your performance.
• 10:56
  Philip Pape: You're just getting temporary relief.
• 10:58
  Philip Pape: And they're expensive, right?
• 10:59
  Philip Pape: Two to six hundred dollars.
• 11:01
  Philip Pape: And it's probably the same effect as a foam roller or lacrosse paul.
• 11:05
  Philip Pape: So that's something to consider.
• 11:07
  Philip Pape: All right.
• 11:08
  Philip Pape: Moving up the list to number eight, tart cherry juice, and polyphenol-rich supplements.
• 11:15
  Philip Pape: Okay.
• 11:15
  Philip Pape: So this is an interesting one I put on the list because I don't know, there's so much marketing about it.
• 11:21
  Philip Pape: Tart cherry juice, which seems like ridiculous.
• 11:24
  Philip Pape: And you just, if you were an alien that came in and saw that people were pushing tart cherry juice, you'd wonder like how that fit into the spectrum here.
• 11:32
  Philip Pape: Is it anti-inflammatory?
• 11:34
  Philip Pape: Sure, but that could be a downside when it comes to your training adaptation, kind of like the ice baths.
• 11:39
  Philip Pape: And if you're always suppressing inflammation, kind of like taking ibuprofen, that could be actually a negative.
• 11:44
  Philip Pape: Some research shows it reduces soreness, some shows it maybe interferes with what you're trying to do, right?
• 11:49
  Philip Pape: The juice is fine.
• 11:50
  Philip Pape: I have nothing wrong with fruit juice, but if you're buying it for recovery benefits or something like that, I would say probably wasting your money.
• 11:58
  Philip Pape: That's just the long and short of it.
• 12:00
  Philip Pape: All right, number seven, heat therapy and sauna.
• 12:03
  Philip Pape: Okay, now I put this kind of in the middle of the list as slightly overhyped.
• 12:08
  Philip Pape: Not that I don't think there are benefits, right?
• 12:10
  Philip Pape: There is some promising research here for heat on endurance adaptations, and of course, on being relaxed.
• 12:18
  Philip Pape: I mean, that's for time immemorium.
• 12:20
  Philip Pape: There's been some form of sauna, you know, heat baths going back to the Roman Empire for relaxation.
• 12:25
  Philip Pape: We know it can feel good.
• 12:26
  Philip Pape: Infrared sauna actually does show potential results in, I think they've studied trained women.
• 12:33
  Philip Pape: So that's that would be the kind that I would have in my house if I bought one at all, just because it's probably more practical.
• 12:38
  Philip Pape: So the benefits are real, but they're they're narrow.
• 12:41
  Philip Pape: And I would say if you are, if you want to relax, if you're training for endurance, it might help.
• 12:46
  Philip Pape: Um, it might help you because you adapt to heat.
• 12:49
  Philip Pape: For that's that's why it helps the most, believe it or not.
• 12:52
  Philip Pape: But it's not gonna help you, you know, recover better so that you grow more muscle or lose fat faster or anything like that.
• 12:58
  Philip Pape: And if it does, it's you know, a tiny, tiny thing.
• 13:00
  Philip Pape: It's like if you're buying it for yourself, you're spending thousands and thousands of dollars.
• 13:03
  Philip Pape: If you want to go do it, just think of it as it's the 1% because it's this extra time you could be spending walking or sleeping or whatever that might be more impactful than the sauna itself.
• 13:16
  Philip Pape: I'm not trying to discourage you from using sauna.
• 13:18
  Philip Pape: I'm just putting on the list of things that are overhyped, guys.
• 13:20
  Philip Pape: Okay, so don't take it personally.
• 13:21
  Philip Pape: Hey, this is Philip, and you know that one spot in your home you were thinking about all day, the place where you can finally unwind and relax?
• 13:29
  Philip Pape: For me, that's my bed.
• 13:31
  Philip Pape: I have a really good mattress, but I was still having trouble with getting too hot at night and not feeling fully rested.
• 13:37
  Philip Pape: You know that feeling where you have your seven or eight hours, but you still feel tired in the morning?
• 13:41
  Philip Pape: Well, it turns out that the missing piece was my sheets.
• 13:45
  Philip Pape: So I tried some different brands and I finally settled on a really comfortable sheet set from Cozy Earth made from viscos from bamboo.
• 13:52
  Philip Pape: They're temperature regulating, so they naturally wick away heat and moisture, which has made my sleep way more restful.
• 13:59
  Philip Pape: So if you run hot at night like I do, or your partner's always stealing the covers because they're cold, this could be a game changer for your sleep quality and recovery.
• 14:08
  Philip Pape: Cozy Earth also gives you a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, so you can literally try them for three months with your routine and still return them if you don't love them.
• 14:18
  Philip Pape: Now think about this you spend 2,500 hours a year in bed and you're already investing in training and nutrition.
• 14:25
  Philip Pape: So why not optimize your sleep as well?
• 14:27
  Philip Pape: Head over to witsandweights.com slash cozy earth and use my code Wits and Weights for 20% off to try these for yourself.
• 14:35
  Philip Pape: Because sometimes it's the small upgrades that make the biggest difference.
• 14:39
  Philip Pape: Again, go to witsandweights.com slash cozy earth.
• 14:42
  Philip Pape: Now back to the show.
• 14:43
  Philip Pape: All right, let's keep going on number to number six, right?
• 14:47
  Philip Pape: We have 13 on the list.
• 14:48
  Philip Pape: We're up to number six, moving our weight up to number one.
• 14:51
  Philip Pape: Dry needling.
• 14:52
  Philip Pape: So dry needling reduces pain and stiffness in clinical settings.
• 14:56
  Philip Pape: It's sometimes helpful for movement restrictions or chronic pain.
• 15:01
  Philip Pape: And I had dry needling myself on my shoulder.
• 15:04
  Philip Pape: I had straight up dry needling and I had one combined with a TENS device, which is going to be on my list a little bit later.
• 15:11
  Philip Pape: So, and it didn't help me too much.
• 15:13
  Philip Pape: And I'm not giving you anecdotal evidence here.
• 15:15
  Philip Pape: I'm telling you just it didn't help me that too much.
• 15:17
  Philip Pape: For some people, it does help, though, a little bit with pain and movement restrictions.
• 15:21
  Philip Pape: So if you're doing it in like a PT setting, but it's not something you necessarily have to do on a regular basis.
• 15:26
  Philip Pape: That's where, again, I think it's overhyped as an ongoing thing you go in and get, like a massage, right?
• 15:33
  Philip Pape: It's not a recovery tool.
• 15:34
  Philip Pape: It's not gonna make you stronger or leaner.
• 15:36
  Philip Pape: It's for very specific purposes that can be helpful.
• 15:39
  Philip Pape: And if you have a legitimate issue that it can address, fine.
• 15:42
  Philip Pape: But people are getting it done regularly, thinking it's gonna improve their training.
• 15:46
  Philip Pape: So I put it in that whole bucket of like wellness and spa practices that people are wasting their time on when they're not focusing on enough on the big rocks first.
• 15:55
  Philip Pape: All right, moving up to number five, red light therapy.
• 15:58
  Philip Pape: Oh no, yes, red light therapy.
• 16:00
  Philip Pape: I know it gets gets pushed on social media so hard.
• 16:03
  Philip Pape: There's some influencers, there's people that I follow that I like who, you know, they have an affiliate code and they they push their red light boxes and stuff, but the evidence is mixed.
• 16:12
  Philip Pape: Studies, some studies show relief with DOMs, others show no effect on performance.
• 16:16
  Philip Pape: The research isn't really there, and they're very expensive.
• 16:19
  Philip Pape: They're hundreds to thousands of dollars with these wild marketing claims of, you know, it's gonna just just get your energy going for the day.
• 16:26
  Philip Pape: You're gonna recover, have better performance, improved skin, better sleep.
• 16:29
  Philip Pape: It's just not supported by the research.
• 16:31
  Philip Pape: There are some promising results coming out, but there's they're very inconsistent.
• 16:35
  Philip Pape: And again, I'm comparing it to the cost and thinking of ROI, and I don't see it there.
• 16:40
  Philip Pape: All right, number four, BCAAs and EAAs, all right.
• 16:45
  Philip Pape: Bryant's chain amino acids and essential amino acids have been pushed for years.
• 16:50
  Philip Pape: The only benefit, if there is one at all, might be if you train fasted and you're not gonna eat for a long time and you're worried a little bit that you're not gonna have as much protein synthesis.
• 17:01
  Philip Pape: That's it.
• 17:02
  Philip Pape: I think they're a waste of money for almost everybody, even if you train fasted.
• 17:05
  Philip Pape: Because even if you train fasted, you could either sip something during your workout that has carbs and protein, or eat right after and recover.
• 17:14
  Philip Pape: And and training fasted is not the biggest problem, honestly, because we know that if you get used to it, you can have similar results.
• 17:21
  Philip Pape: We we see that I'll admit that, right?
• 17:23
  Philip Pape: I don't recommend it for people because most people are going to perform better if they just have that banana and whey protein before their workout.
• 17:29
  Philip Pape: And there's no, I will say this there's no reason to train fasted intentionally because you're trying to get some extra benefit.
• 17:37
  Philip Pape: It's it's mainly for practical reasons, for schedule reasons, and things like that.
• 17:41
  Philip Pape: You are getting plenty of amino acids if you eat enough protein, period.
• 17:45
  Philip Pape: You don't need to waste money on EAAs or BCAAs.
• 17:48
  Philip Pape: I used to take these myself, followed the lean gains protocol for years.
• 17:51
  Philip Pape: I did CrossFit training fasted for years.
• 17:53
  Philip Pape: But they're they cost so much for what you get.
• 17:55
  Philip Pape: You are just and you're peeing out most of the benefits.
• 17:58
  Philip Pape: Sorry to be crass, but just eat food.
• 18:00
  Philip Pape: Eat protein.
• 18:01
  Philip Pape: Even whey protein or plant-based protein powder, that's a whole protein.
• 18:05
  Philip Pape: And that takes me to number three, which is related, and that is collagen supplements.
• 18:08
  Philip Pape: All right.
• 18:09
  Philip Pape: Collagen is an incomplete protein.
• 18:12
  Philip Pape: It is just low quality.
• 18:13
  Philip Pape: It doesn't have the amino acid needed profile needed when you could just eat whole sources of protein from animal products or mixed plant products.
• 18:22
  Philip Pape: The only benefit for collagen may be for tendon and joint health when combined with vitamin C, when timed around training.
• 18:29
  Philip Pape: And even then, I would take like Fortify, which is from Legion Athletics, which has type 2 collagen and curcumin extract, right?
• 18:36
  Philip Pape: It's much more efficient, bioavailable source to help with your tendons and joint health.
• 18:40
  Philip Pape: But when it comes to like recovery with protein, with muscle, maybe even skin and hair nails, it's it's probably a waste of money.
• 18:47
  Philip Pape: And if you're doing it as part of your protein regimen, just eat regular protein from food or complete source.
• 18:54
  Philip Pape: That's all I'm saying.
• 18:55
  Philip Pape: All right, now we get to number two, which is electrical stimulation.
• 18:58
  Philip Pape: That's tens.
• 18:58
  Philip Pape: I think this is one of the most overhyped things of all, only because they they help with acute pain management for some people, but they're marketed as these big recovery muscle building tools.
• 19:10
  Philip Pape: And they are particularly overhyped, the EMS devices, especially, when marketed as shocking your muscles and not having to lift weights.
• 19:19
  Philip Pape: That's the part I'm talking about.
• 19:20
  Philip Pape: That really frustrates me.
• 19:22
  Philip Pape: That and the vibrating plates and put put anything in that category where you're trying to stop training.
• 19:27
  Philip Pape: Okay, where you just, where you're like, I don't have to train, I don't have to lift weights, I'll just put some electrical stimulation on me and I'll build muscle.
• 19:33
  Philip Pape: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
• 19:35
  Philip Pape: And then number one is glutamine.
• 19:38
  Philip Pape: So I wanted to get a supplement on this list.
• 19:40
  Philip Pape: Well, I had collagen, but like a non-food, I don't know what I'm trying to say.
• 19:44
  Philip Pape: I guess I've had a few, right?
• 19:45
  Philip Pape: EAAs might fall in there, but glutamine is a very specific, targeted supplement that is one of the most heavily marketed in the fitness industry.
• 19:52
  Philip Pape: It's been around for a long time.
• 19:54
  Philip Pape: I think it's getting marketed less and less, but it's been also researched a lot and it doesn't work for what people think thinks it does.
• 20:01
  Philip Pape: It does nothing for muscle growth, for recovery, for porn, for performance.
• 20:05
  Philip Pape: The only people that might benefit is people who are critically ill or immunocompromised.
• 20:10
  Philip Pape: And yet they still get pushed.
• 20:11
  Philip Pape: People still buy it.
• 20:12
  Philip Pape: It's still marketed with no substance.
• 20:14
  Philip Pape: And you know what?
• 20:14
  Philip Pape: I picked glutamine, I could have picked fat burners, I could have picked a whole bunch of other supplements that go on this list.
• 20:19
  Philip Pape: Just got to do your research, is what I'm saying.
• 20:22
  Philip Pape: Because if you think you're taking all these things, it's gonna help you, and then you don't have to do other things, that's really where the problem is.
• 20:28
  Philip Pape: So those are the 13.
• 20:30
  Philip Pape: Maybe you want something else on the list, message me at wits and weights.
• 20:34
  Philip Pape: Maybe you disagree with somebody on here.
• 20:36
  Philip Pape: I would love to hear your perspective.
• 20:37
  Philip Pape: Again, put it in the context of where I'm coming from today, return on investment, up cost, convenience, how effective it is relative to other things that you could be doing instead or aren't doing yet, et cetera.
• 20:50
  Philip Pape: Right?
• 20:50
  Philip Pape: What these tools have in common is that they are marketed as solutions to problems that most people don't actually have.
• 20:56
  Philip Pape: Right?
• 20:56
  Philip Pape: If you're sleeping enough and moving regularly, you probably don't need a percussion gun.
• 21:01
  Philip Pape: There's ways to recover properly at the root cause level, that then doesn't mean you need all these other tools.
• 21:07
  Philip Pape: You don't have to have certain supplements like glutamine if you're eating enough, or glutamine or EAAs, or collagen if you're eating enough protein.
• 21:14
  Philip Pape: You don't need red light therapy if you're training nutrition, sunlight exposure, walking or dialed in.
• 21:19
  Philip Pape: All right.
• 21:19
  Philip Pape: The fitness industry profits from convincing you that you're missing something, that there is a tool or supplement that you haven't found yet.
• 21:27
  Philip Pape: And voila, here it is.
• 21:29
  Philip Pape: It's going to unlock your results.
• 21:30
  Philip Pape: Buy now for the low, low price of, and here's your discount code.
• 21:34
  Philip Pape: Okay.
• 21:35
  Philip Pape: And I'm an affiliate, by the way, but the research is pretty clear on most of these tools that I talked about today, because there are some tools that do give you the secrets to longevity and fitness.
• 21:47
  Philip Pape: It's called sleep protein training consistency.
• 21:50
  Philip Pape: Okay.
• 21:50
  Philip Pape: And a few more that probably fall into those same buckets.
• 21:53
  Philip Pape: Everything else is optional at best, counterproductive at worst.
• 21:57
  Philip Pape: So if we want to bring it back to what does matter, if you're looking at any of these and wondering if you should buy them, I want you to ask yourself a qualifying question first.
• 22:04
  Philip Pape: Actually, three questions.
• 22:05
  Philip Pape: Number one, am I strength training?
• 22:08
  Philip Pape: Number two, am I getting enough sleep?
• 22:09
  Philip Pape: And number three, am I eating right?
• 22:11
  Philip Pape: Am I eating enough food and enough protein?
• 22:13
  Philip Pape: Ask yourself those three questions.
• 22:14
  Philip Pape: If you're not even doing those things, forget about the rest.
• 22:17
  Philip Pape: And then second, when you do want to go down that path, does the research show a meaningful benefit for my situation?
• 22:22
  Philip Pape: Right?
• 22:23
  Philip Pape: Not just general claims, but really what I'm trying to do specifically.
• 22:26
  Philip Pape: Third, is it worth the cost of that benefit?
• 22:29
  Philip Pape: So if there is a benefit, and I'm not arguing that these things don't have some benefit, is it worth the money and the time and the opportunity cost compared to other things, other investments, other uses of time?
• 22:40
  Philip Pape: Right?
• 22:40
  Philip Pape: Because most of the time the answer, if you take time to think about it instead of just pulling out the credit card, is no, which means don't buy it.
• 22:47
  Philip Pape: Right?
• 22:48
  Philip Pape: Now, the tools that I rank today, they're not all terrible.
• 22:51
  Philip Pape: Some of them work in specific contexts.
• 22:52
  Philip Pape: Some of them I use myself, like massage.
• 22:55
  Philip Pape: I love massage.
• 22:56
  Philip Pape: I just don't do it for the reason that is often claimed that it's good for, right?
• 23:00
  Philip Pape: I think they're everything on this list is overhyped to some extent because they're marketed as more important than they are.
• 23:05
  Philip Pape: And your money and effort are better spent on sleep, food, training, even coaching.
• 23:09
  Philip Pape: Yes, I'm a coach.
• 23:10
  Philip Pape: Full disclosure, yep, conflict of interest, but I still think that's more important than many of these tools and gadgets.
• 23:15
  Philip Pape: All right.
• 23:16
  Philip Pape: So I mentioned before we go that I was gonna talk quickly again about the review giveaway.
• 23:21
  Philip Pape: Anyone who leaves a review for the podcast on Apple by October 15 is gonna be entered to win three months of coaching in the Mastery Track of Physique University.
• 23:29
  Philip Pape: That's a $261 value.
• 23:32
  Philip Pape: And everyone who everyone who submits a review is gonna get a surprise bonus for me.
• 23:36
  Philip Pape: So here's how to enter, go to Apple Podcasts on your iPhone or iPad, search for the show, or if you're already listening right now, just go to the show page, scroll down, tap write a review, leave a star rating, write a short review, and that's it.
• 23:49
  Philip Pape: If you're not sure what to say, talk about the latest episode and your takeaway or what you like about the show.
• 23:54
  Philip Pape: And then the winner is gonna be announced in our Facebook group and by email shortly after the deadline.
• 23:59
  Philip Pape: So probably by the end of October.
• 24:00
  Philip Pape: And again, if you don't know what to write, just say what your favorite recent episode was, and it's gonna help me learn what you love.
• 24:07
  Philip Pape: And maybe I'll give you a shout on the show, and it'll help others discover the show.
• 24:10
  Philip Pape: All right, until next time, keep using your wits, lifting those weights, and remember the best tools for building your physique are the ones you already have consistency, effort, and smart training.
• 24:22
  Philip Pape: This is Philip Hape, and you've been listening to the Wits and Weights podcast.
• 24:25
  Philip Pape: Up to you next