The Forever Athletic Podcast

Ian Wood
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

The go-to podcast for over 30's who want to become high performing everyday athletes who not only dominate in the gym, but also in their careers and personal lives. Learn everything you need to know form the weekly episodes about how to train optimally AND efficiently around busy schedules and high stress lifestyles.

  1. 3d ago

    Ep204. Why Willpower Isn't the Problem With Weight Loss

    🚀 Ready to stop starting again every Monday?Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching:https://www.coachianwood.com/startwith6 In this episode of The Forever Athletic Podcast, we're unpacking one of the biggest myths in fitness and nutrition: that willpower and weight loss go hand in hand. If you've ever told yourself, "I just need more willpower," after overeating or falling off track, this episode is for you. The truth is, most people don't struggle because they're weak or lazy. They struggle because they're relying on willpower in situations where it was always likely to fail. You'll learn why willpower is a limited resource, how everyday habits and routines have a much bigger impact on fat loss than motivation, and the simple systems that make healthy choices easier. We also cover common traps like all-or-nothing thinking, under-eating during the day and making decisions when you're already hungry or tired. If you're tired of blaming yourself every time things don't go to plan, this episode will help you build a more realistic and sustainable approach to weight loss. Why willpower and weight loss aren't as closely linked as most people think.The real reason disciplined people seem so consistent.How planning ahead removes the need for willpower.Why under-eating during the day often leads to overeating later.The damage caused by all-or-nothing thinking.Why good systems beat good intentions every time.Practical ways to make healthy choices feel easier without relying on motivation.Many people believe successful fat loss comes down to having more self-control. When things go wrong, they assume they simply lack discipline. In reality, relying on willpower for weight loss is one of the least reliable strategies there is because willpower changes depending on your stress levels, sleep, hunger and environment. The people who stay consistent aren't constantly resisting temptation. They've built routines and systems that reduce the number of difficult decisions they have to make. Meals are planned before hunger kicks in, weekends have some structure and flexibility is built into the week rather than treated as failure. Once you stop seeing yourself as the problem and start improving the system around you, healthy eating becomes much easier to maintain. Long-term fat loss isn't about becoming mentally tougher. It's about making good choices the easiest choices to make. 🌐 Coachinghttps://www.coachianwood.com 📸 Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/coachianwood The Forever Athletic Podcast is for busy adults who are tired of starting over every Monday. If you want practical advice on fat loss, strength training, nutrition and building sustainable habits without fad diets, fitness misinformation or all-or-nothing thinking, you're in the right place. New episodes are released regularly to help you build a healthier, stronger body that fits around real life. Ready to build a fitness plan you can actually stick to? Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching today:https://www.coachianwood.com/startwith6

  2. Aug 10

    Ep203. How to Stop Weekend Overeating Without Ruining Your Week.

    🚀 Ready to stop starting again every Monday?Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching:https://www.coachianwood.com In this episode of The Forever Athletic Podcast, we're tackling one of the biggest reasons fat loss stalls: weekend overeating. If you spend Monday to Thursday eating well, training consistently and feeling in control, only to undo it all by Sunday night, you're not alone. It's a pattern that leaves a lot of people feeling frustrated and convinced they need more willpower. In reality, the problem is usually much simpler than that. This episode explains why weekends feel so much harder than weekdays, why relying on motivation never works, and how a lack of structure leads to overeating without you even realising it. You'll learn practical strategies to stop weekend overeating without giving up meals out, drinks with friends or enjoying your weekends. If you're tired of starting over every Monday and want a more sustainable approach to fat loss, this episode will help you build habits that work seven days a week, not just the first four. Why weekend overeating has far more to do with structure than self-control.The reason weekdays often feel easy but weekends quickly unravel.How an all-or-nothing mindset keeps you stuck in the Monday reset cycle.Why making food decisions in advance leads to better choices.The power of having one or two non-negotiable habits each weekend.How to enjoy meals out without feeling like you've "blown it."A realistic approach to fat loss that works in real life, not just Monday to Thursday.For many people, fat loss isn't undone by one takeaway or one meal out. It's the repeated cycle of treating weekends like they don't count. When your weekday routine disappears and every food decision is made in the moment, weekend overeating becomes much more likely. The solution isn't stricter dieting or trying to avoid social events. It's creating enough structure that your weekends don't become the complete opposite of your weekdays. Small anchors, a bit of planning and realistic expectations go much further than relying on willpower. Learning how to stop weekend overeating is about building consistency rather than perfection. When the gap between your weekday habits and your weekend habits gets smaller, fat loss becomes easier to maintain, and Monday stops feeling like another fresh start. 🌐 Coachinghttps://www.coachianwood.com 📸 Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/coachianwood The Forever Athletic Podcast is for busy adults who are tired of starting over every Monday. If you want practical advice on fat loss, strength training, nutrition and building sustainable habits without fad diets, fitness misinformation or all-or-nothing thinking, you're in the right place. New episodes are released regularly to help you build a healthier, stronger body that fits around real life. Ready to build a fitness plan you can actually stick to? Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching today:https://www.coachianwood.com

  3. Aug 4

    Ep202. Why You're Training Hard But Not Progressing

    🚀 Ready to stop starting again every Monday?Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching:https://www.coachianwood.com In this episode of The Forever Athletic Podcast, we're talking about one of the biggest reasons people spend months in the gym without seeing much to show for it: they're training hard, but they're not applying progressive overload. If you've been lifting the same weights for months, finishing every session exhausted, and wondering why your strength or muscle isn't improving, this episode is for you. The problem usually isn't your work ethic. It's that your training lacks a clear plan for progression. You'll learn what progressive overload actually means, why effort alone doesn't build muscle or strength, and the common mistakes that keep people stuck. We also cover the simple habits that make the biggest difference, including tracking your workouts, setting clear performance targets, and sticking with the same key exercises long enough to improve them. If you want better results from your strength training without spending more hours in the gym, this episode will help you focus on what really drives progress. Why training hard isn't the same as making progress.What progressive overload really means and why it's essential for building muscle and strength.The biggest mistakes that stop people progressing in the gym.Why not tracking your workouts is holding you back.How changing exercises too often can slow your results.Why getting close to muscular failure matters more than simply feeling tired.Three simple habits that make consistent strength training far more effective.A lot of people believe that if they're sweating, out of breath and leaving the gym feeling exhausted, they must be making progress. Unfortunately, your body doesn't reward effort for effort's sake. It adapts to a new challenge, and that's exactly what progressive overload provides. Without tracking your workouts, aiming to improve your performance and repeating the same core lifts consistently, it's very easy to spend months working hard without getting stronger or building more muscle. That's frustrating because it often leads people to blame themselves or jump to another training programme when the real issue is much simpler. Understanding how progressive overload works helps you train with purpose instead of just exercising for the sake of it. Small improvements made consistently over time will always beat random hard sessions if your goal is lasting strength, muscle growth and long-term fitness. 🌐 Coachinghttps://www.coachianwood.com 📸 Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/coachianwood The Forever Athletic Podcast is for busy adults who are tired of starting over every Monday. If you want practical advice on fat loss, strength training, nutrition and building sustainable habits without fad diets, fitness misinformation or all-or-nothing thinking, you're in the right place. New episodes are released regularly to help you build a healthier, stronger body that fits around real life. Ready to build a fitness plan you can actually stick to?Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching today:https://www.coachianwood.com

  4. Jul 27

    Ep201. 3 Things That Wind Me Up About the Fitness Industry

    🚀 Ready to stop starting again every Monday? Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching at https://www.coachianwood.com After more than 20 years working in the fitness industry, I've watched trends come and go, then come back around again wearing a different outfit. What surprises me most is that despite having more access to quality fitness advice than ever before, we're still surrounded by fitness misinformation. In this episode, I share the three things currently winding me up about the fitness industry. From the obsession with optimising every tiny detail, to influencers selling unrealistic physiques without being honest about what's behind them, to the rise of photoshoot culture as a coaching sales tool. If you've ever felt like you're working hard but still questioning whether you're doing enough, this episode will help you cut through the noise and focus on what actually matters for long-term progress. • Why chasing the "optimal" plan often leads to inconsistency. • How fitness misinformation is making sustainable fat loss harder than it needs to be. • The problem with influencers hiding their use of TRT, peptides and GLP-1 medications. • Why lighting, posing and editing create unrealistic expectations. • My thoughts on photoshoot culture and why it isn't the goal most people think it is. • What genuinely leads to long-term fitness success. The fitness industry is full of good intentions, but it's also full of misleading fitness advice and unrealistic expectations. When we're constantly told there's a perfect way to train, eat or look, it's easy to feel like we're falling short. The truth is that sustainable fitness isn't built on perfection. It's built on consistency. This episode is a reminder that you don't need the latest hack, supplement or trend to make progress. You need a plan that works in real life and one that you can still follow months and years from now. 🌐 Coaching:https://www.coachianwood.com 📸 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/coachianwood The Forever Athletic Podcast is for busy adults who are tired of starting over every Monday. If you want practical advice on fat loss, strength training, nutrition and building sustainable habits without fad diets, fitness misinformation or all-or-nothing thinking, you're in the right place. New episodes are released regularly to help you build a healthier, stronger body that fits around real life. Apply for 1-to-1 online coaching today and build a plan that actually works in the real world. https://www.coachianwood.com

  5. Jul 6

    Ep200. 5 Things I Do Differently Lifting in My 40s vs My 20s.

    Click here to apply for coaching: https://www.coachianwood.com In this episode, I break down the 5 biggest changes I've made to my training as I approach 40, compared to how I trained in my 20s. If you're a lifter noticing more niggles, slower recovery, or wondering how to keep training hard without breaking down, this episode is for you. What we cover: 🏋️ Why I now do compound lifts later in my session — and how using isolation work as an extended warm-up de-loads the whole workout📈 Why I've slowed my progression schemes (8–12 / 6–10 instead of 8–10 / 6–8) — and why slower is actually more sustainable🤖 Why machines make up a bigger part of my training now, and how good resistance profiles let me push closer to failure, safely⏱️ Why tempo — pauses and slower eccentrics — has replaced pure power and strength work from my volleyball days⏳ Why my sessions have shrunk from 90 minutes to 45–60 — and why that's actually improved my resultsPerfect for: lifters over 35, anyone managing joint pain or chronic niggles, and former athletes transitioning from performance-based training to longevity-based training.

  6. Jun 22

    Ep199. How To Avoid Ozempic Butt.

    Apply for coaching 👉🏻 https://www.coachianwood.com/ A new drug called apitegromab has been developed to prevent muscle loss in people taking GLP-1 weight loss medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro — and a study published in Nature Medicine suggests it works. People taking it alongside tirzepatide lost around 15% of their weight from muscle, compared to 30% in those who didn't take it. But in this episode, I want to have a different conversation. Because the muscle loss being caused by these medications isn't a mystery. Large, aggressive calorie deficits — created by any means, including GLP-1 drugs — break down muscle tissue alongside fat. And we already know how to prevent most of that: a moderate calorie deficit, adequate protein intake, and consistent resistance training. These aren't complicated interventions. They're the same fundamentals that would get most slightly overweight, otherwise healthy people the result they want — without the medication, without the side effects, and without the need for a second drug to manage the first one. In this episode I break down what the EMBRAZE trial actually found, why the muscle loss is happening mechanically, what the evidence says about preventing it, and my honest professional perspective after 20 years of coaching women through sustainable fat loss. This isn't an anti-medication episode. It's a basics-first episode. What You'll Learn: What the Nature Medicine apitegromab study actually found — and what it meansWhy GLP-1 medications cause muscle loss, and why it's not unique to the drugsThe three evidence-based strategies that prevent muscle loss during any calorie deficitWhy a drug to fix a drug's side effects isn't always the right answerThe honest question to ask yourself before reaching for a pharmaceutical solutionHow to lose fat and preserve muscle with the fundamentals — protein, resistance training, and a moderate deficitKeywords / Tags: Ozempic muscle loss, Ozempic butt, GLP-1 side effects, apitegromab, Mounjaro muscle loss, how to avoid muscle loss on Ozempic, weight loss jabs, resistance training for fat loss, protein for weight loss, minimum effective dose, women's fat loss, sustainable weight loss, basics before pharmaceuticals, Start With 6 Resources Mentioned: Start With 6 — [insert link] Sources Referenced: Pratley RE, et al. Apitegromab for lean mass preservation during tirzepatide-induced weight loss: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial. Nature Medicine, 2026. BBC Health. New drug to stop 'Ozempic butt' muscle loss side effect of obesity jabs. June 2026.

  7. Jun 15

    Ep198. Two Studies That Changed How I Think About Training

    Apply for Coaching Here 👉🏻 www.coachianwood.com In this episode, I break down two major peer-reviewed studies that together make one of the most compelling cases for consistent strength training ever backed by science. Study one: a 30-year study of 147,374 people published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 90 to 120 minutes of resistance training per week reduces the risk of dying early by 13%, the risk of cardiovascular death by 19%, and the risk of neurological disease death — including dementia — by 27%. Combined with regular cardio, the risk of early death from any cause drops by up to 58%. Critically: doing more than two hours a week added zero extra benefit. This is the minimum effective dose — and it's lower than most people think. Study two: a University of Michigan study of 3,873 older adults tracked for 12 years used two of the most validated biological ageing clocks — GrimAge and PhenoAge — to measure cellular age through DNA methylation. People who exercised regularly were biologically 1.26 to 1.70 years younger than inactive counterparts. Both long-term and recent activity were independently protective. Starting later still counts. Together, these studies tell us the same thing: consistency over time is what drives outcomes. Not intensity. Not perfection. Just showing up, regularly, for the long term. If you've ever felt like you're not doing enough, or that you've left it too late — this episode is for you. What You'll Learn: What the 30-year British Journal of Sports Medicine study found about resistance training and mortality riskWhy doing more than two hours of strength training a week offers no extra benefitHow scientists are now measuring biological age through DNA — and what exercise does to itWhy starting later still meaningfully changes your biologyThe practical minimum effective dose for longevity and healthy ageingKeywords / Tags: strength training, resistance training, longevity, biological age, epigenetic ageing, how much should I train, exercise and dementia, exercise and heart disease, healthy ageing, women's fitness, fat loss, consistency, minimum effective dose, GrimAge, PhenoAge, DNA methylation, strength training for women Sources Referenced: Zhang Y, Lee DH, Rezende LFM, et al. Long-term resistance training with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: assessing dose-response and joint associations with aerobic physical activity. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2026. Ammous F, Peterson MD, Mitchell C, Faul JD. Physical Activity Is Associated With Decreased Epigenetic Aging: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2026.

  8. Jun 8

    Ep197. How to Find a Good Personal Trainer or Online Coach.

    How to Find a Good Personal Trainer (And Avoid Getting It Wrong) Apply for coaching 👉🏻 https://www.coachianwood.com/ The fitness industry has a problem — and it's costing people time, money, and sometimes their health. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on something most coaches won't talk about: how easy it is to fake credibility in an industry that is almost entirely unregulated. After 20 years as a PT, 12 years in strength and conditioning, and a Master's degree with a research thesis specifically on the effectiveness of online coaching, I've seen the full spectrum of good and bad. Here's what I've learned. What's covered in this episode: Why the fitness industry is largely unregulated — and what that means for you as a consumerThe two types of coach you'll encounter, and why they can look identical on InstagramWhy qualifications alone don't make a great coach (and what actually does)The five things that separate exceptional coaches from average ones: education, experience, coaching reps, mistakes, and empathyFive practical questions to ask any coach before you hire themThe red flags that should make you walk away immediatelyKey takeaways: Anyone can legally call themselves a personal trainer or nutrition coach — there is no meaningful governing body with legal authorityA coach who lost weight themselves is not automatically qualified to help you reach your goalsGreat coaches ask a lot of questions before prescribing anything — be wary of anyone who immediately tells you exactly what you needHow a coach handles a question they can't answer tells you everythingThe right coach isn't the flashiest on social media — it's the one who understands where you are and has the knowledge and humanity to help you get thereThis episode is for you if:You're looking to hire a personal trainer or online coach, you've had a bad experience with a coach in the past, or you're trying to build muscle, lose weight sustainably, or improve your performance and don't know who to trust.

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The go-to podcast for over 30's who want to become high performing everyday athletes who not only dominate in the gym, but also in their careers and personal lives. Learn everything you need to know form the weekly episodes about how to train optimally AND efficiently around busy schedules and high stress lifestyles.

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