Is BPC-157 worth injecting for tendon pain if you're lifting weights?

You've seen the headlines about an FDA panel voting for BPC-157, and you may know someone injecting it for a sore elbow or shoulder. I look at what the FDA did this summer, every human study I could find, and my own BPC-157 experiment from a few years ago. Then I share what helps stubborn tendon pain, no injection required.

You'll learn:

• What the FDA panel voted on in July, and which use it reviewed
• How many people BPC-157 has been tested on, and for how long
• Lessons from my own 6-week BPC-157 experiment on my shoulder
• A 12-week elastic band program from a tennis elbow trial
• 3 questions to ask before you buy any peptide or supplement

If you're about to order peptides for a sore elbow, shoulder, or hip, hit play.

Join Eat More Lift Heavy to keep lifting around a sore joint with a training program matched to your schedule and equipment, plus 26 weeks of coaching. https://eatmoreliftheavy.com

Timestamps:

0:00 - BPC-157 and the peptide headlines
3:48 - The FDA timeline and the July panel vote
7:52 - Training, food, and time for a sore joint
10:16 - Who voted yes and who's using BPC-157
11:57 - Human studies, rat studies, and safety
16:39 - My BPC-157 shoulder experiment
19:57 - Tendon pain after 40 and progressive loading
25:51 - How to judge any peptide claim
27:17 - Bonus: cortisone shots for tennis elbow

Episode Resources:

• Episode 255: my first BPC-157 experiment for shoulder recovery
• Episode 492: tissue capacity and training through pain (Dr. Tom Walters)

Corrections. A few things I misspoke on air:

• I said it's "technically true" that the FDA approved these peptides, but the panel only "recommended" BPC-157 for compounding. The FDA hasn't approved it or published a rule.
• I said ulcerative colitis is "like" inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is a different condition.
• JAMA is the Journal of the American Medical Association

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Educational content only, not medical advice.

Are you getting weaker because of age, or because you started “training your age”? And how hard can you still push before recovery starts working against you?

David Frost is 73, a retired Navy captain, adjunct professor, endurance athlete, and writer on load management and recovery. He joins me to challenge the idea that getting older means automatically dialing back your training.

We cover sarcopenia, muscle building, connective-tissue recovery, sleep, full-body strength training, HRV, heart-rate recovery, and why comparing yourself to your younger self can sabotage progress. David also shares the coronary calcium wake-up call that changed how he balances hard training with longevity.

You’ll learn how to use readiness, recovery, and evidence-based training to keep lifting weights safely while protecting your long-term health.

Join Eat More Lift Heavy to build muscle, lose 10-20 lbs of fat, and learn what works for your body, 1 week at a time. Eat more and lift heavy with confidence.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Why aging doesn't mean backing off
5:26 – Sarcopenia and the recovery equation
13:08 – Starting strength training at sixty
21:08 – Building a longer strong span
23:32 – David's coronary calcium wake-up call
32:47 – Whole-body training and recovery timing
36:34 – Using HRV without overtrusting wearables
41:19 – Walking, sleep, and better recovery

Episode resources:

• Website: wellpastforty.org
• Instagram: @davidemersonfrost

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏

Belly fat after 40 feels like a curse of age and hormones, doesn't it?

In this episode, I dismantle the viral cortisol story and compare it to what research actually supports. You've seen the cortisol cocktails, the adaptogens, and the advice to quit coffee and skip hard workouts. I explain why supplements and “detox” trends miss the real movers of belly fat, then lay out the behaviors that reliably reduce visceral fat over time.

You'll learn:

• Why belly fat is not spot-reducible and what actually drives your waistline
• Subcutaneous fat vs. visceral fat and why visceral fat matters for health risk
• What cortisol does in the body and why it is not a toxin
• How Cushing syndrome fueled the “cortisol belly” origin story (but likely doesn't apply to you)
• What correlational studies show about cortisol and waist size
• Why lowering cortisol with ashwagandha does not translate to meaningful fat loss
• Why “adrenal fatigue,” cortisol cocktails, and drinking less coffee do not hold up to evidence
• What changes during perimenopause and menopause and why visceral fat can increase as estrogen falls
• How stress affects belly fat through sleep, food intake, alcohol, and skipped training
• The 4 part plan to reduce belly fat

Get 20% off your first custom protein blend at True Nutrition with code WITSANDWEIGHTS. You pick the protein, flavor, sweetener, and boosts, and everything is third-party lab tested and first-party verified, so hitting your protein while you lose fat gets a lot easier. Go to:
https://truenutrition.com/witsandweights

Timestamps:

0:00 - Cortisol belly and the TikTok detox trend
3:19 - Belly fat and total body fat
7:27 - Protein to keep muscle while you lose fat
9:03 - What cortisol does (plus Cushing's syndrome)
11:36 - Cortisol and belly fat research
15:43 - Cortisol cocktails, coffee, and hard workouts
17:53 - Belly fat after 40 and the menopause transition
20:35 - Stress, sleep, and eating habits
21:41 - 4 basics for losing belly fat
24:58 - Bonus: weekly habit for deep belly fat

Episode Resources:

• Episode 509 on what to track instead of weight loss
• Episode 501 on what perimenopause does and doesn't do to your weight
• Episode 506 on sleep
• Episode 507 on carbs and menopause

💪 Join Eat More Lift Heavy - a 26-week evidence-based strength training for men and women over 40 and fat loss program to build muscle after 40, lose fat, and maintain your results (even in perimenopause and menopause)

📱 Get Fitness Lab - AI-powered coaching app for strength training after 40, body recomposition, and evidence-based nutrition. Daily coaching that adjusts to your energy, recovery, and schedule. No calorie counting, no guesswork.

👥 Join our Facebook community - Build muscle after 40, improve body composition, and lose fat with evidence-based nutrition. Support for lifting weights, hypertrophy, fat loss, and hormones.

👋 Ask a question or find Philip Pape (strength training & fat loss nutrition coach) on Instagram & thanks for making us one of the best fat loss podcasts for men & women over 40! 🙏