The Prescription Strength Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Prescription Strength Podcast

Dr Lynette Ewart

Health & Fitness

Frequency: 1 episode/12d. Total Eps: 66

Hosted by Dr Lynette Ewart, a GP in the NHS for 20 years and a passionate personal trainer specialising in strength training. A practical, evidence-informed health and fitness podcast for people who want clarity without hype. Most weeks, you’ll hear Pocket Prescription — short, no-nonsense episodes answering real questions about strength training, health, ageing, and risk. Once a month, I sit down with a guest to explore a topic in more depth. The video version of Pocket Prescription episodes is available on YouTube.

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Data updated on 28/10/2026

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🇬🇧 Great Britain - trending
19/08/2026
#196
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🇬🇧 Great Britain - trending
09/03/2026
#147
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🇬🇧 Great Britain - trending
08/03/2026

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https://pod.link/1762298788/episode/ZTkyNGE1YTYtZDM3ZC00NzY5LWI0ZTMtNWU3NDlmZDU4ZmRk
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https://www.redtribe.org
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https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/738976
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https://www.instagram.com/esgfitness
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https://www.instagram.com/everydaysteminist
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https://www.instagram.com/craigjackson.fitness
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https://youtu.be/K6c50ynY6oo?si=RLU_Xt6nfYdv3Ic7
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https://youtube.com/@everydaysteminist?si=VZkXno79Hbdi83zO
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Score global : 17%

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A Broken Back, Fat Loss and Feeling Fragile. Tat Armstrong Gray

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 • Duration 59:52

In this episode, I'm joined by Tat Armstrong Gray, a personal trainer based in East London, who is here to share her story of recovering from a serious spinal injury through lifting weights.

At about 19, Tat broke two vertebrae in a skiing accident and had a spinal fusion, with a bone graft from her hip to rebuild the one that was shattered.

She has also lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of 14. Over the years that followed, the pain got steadily worse and the weight kept going on, until she could barely walk. At 31 she decided to change that, and went on to lose 30 kilos, and the back pain went away.

Then something surprised her: being smaller felt frail rather than strong, and that is what led her to the weights.

We talk about approaching strength training with a fragile back: finding a trainer who will listen, starting with no weight at all, and learning to tell the pain of getting stronger from the pain that is a warning. She explains why a scaled-down burpee is a good way to measure progress, why technique is everything with a deadlift, and why the advice from a consultant was to be as strong as possible while being as light as possible.

We also talk about what lifting gave back beyond strength: a sense of autonomy over a body with conditions that can't be controlled, an outlet for rage, and needing about half the insulin. And we get into the barriers that stop people starting, from personal training qualifications that barely cover medical conditions, to exercise referral schemes that turn people away for the very things exercise would help, to why she thinks the health at any size message can hold people back.

In this episode:

A skiing accident, two broken vertebrae and a spinal fusion

Living with type 1 diabetes and chronic pain

Losing 30 kilos, and feeling frail rather than strong

Being as strong as you can while being as light as you can

Starting strength training with a fragile back

Good pain, bad pain, and a traffic light system

Why burpees make a good measure of fitness

Autonomy, rage and the mental side of lifting

Why so few people are ever pointed towards the gym

The risks and costs of doing nothing

Health at any size, and why it worries her

Leading by example, for friends and for children

As Tat puts it: fitness people want you in the gym.

If you enjoyed this, listen back to my conversation with Mick Wadge, who started lifting at 85, and his coach Ross Starkie:

"He Started Strength Training at 85. This Is What Happened": https://pod.link/1762298788/episode/NGQ2NmZmNzQtMjI2NS00YzI0LWE2MTktNTRkZmI5ZTAyMTE4

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When Medicine Meets Business: What Do Patients Really Need?

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 • Duration 56:54

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr Fraser Gordon, consultant physician in the NHS and founder of Xvera Medical, a consultant-led online clinic offering testosterone replacement, perimenopause and menopause care, and weight management.

Fraser started out in pharmacology and research into adverse drug reactions before moving into medicine, and has spent twenty years working at the acute end of the NHS. What finally pushed him into private practice was watching medicine become more commercial: people confidently presenting opinions as established facts, and forgetting the basic scientific and statistical principles that need to sit behind them.

We talk about why simple explanations are so easy to believe, from rhyming sayings to adrenal fatigue, a claim he found convincing at first and says has no real scientific basis. We talk about finding a patient to fit a treatment rather than a treatment to fit the patient, and why a test needs a question before it is done, explained with a police officer, New Year's Eve and a woman in a pink unicorn hat.

We also get into the commercial pressure that comes with owning a private clinic. When his marketing team asked for a target conversion rate of 95%, his answer was that converting nearly everyone would mean the clinic was not doing the right job. Not prescribing, he argues, isn't a failure. We talk about a young stroke patient who would not take a statin but was using anabolic steroids and recreational drugs, and what that says about risk perception and marginal gains. And we talk about menopause care, why he was adamant the clinic had to offer it, and the gaps in what doctors are taught.

In this episode:

From pharmacology to medicine, and why the clinic exists

A finite NHS and an almost infinite demand

Adrenal fatigue, and why simple explanations are so believable

Finding a patient for a treatment, and pretest probability

Ageing Isn’t What You Think It Is. Sir Muir Gray

Monday, October 12, 2026 • Duration 36:23

In this episode, I'm joined by Sir Muir Gray, public health doctor and one of the people behind the NHS programme Live Longer Better.

Anti-ageing is booming, and with it the idea that if you optimise yourself enough, you can add years to your life. Muir's take is that ageing itself, the normal biological process, is not the cause of major problems until our late nineties. What causes most of the problems we put down to age is three other things: loss of fitness, disease, and the world we live in.

We talk about why your genes matter much less than was once thought, and why what he calls your exposome, everything you have been exposed to since birth, matters far more. Muir explains why he never uses the word lifestyle, why he wants chairs recognised as an occupational hazard, and why he stands up from his chair 82 times a day.

We also talk about the risk of caring too much. Thirty years ago Muir wrote an article in The Lancet asking whether we care too much for our elders, and he would still like to change the word carer to enabler. And he sets out what actually matters if you are 50 or 60 and want to make a difference to the years ahead: a Mediterranean diet, thirty minutes a day of brisk walking, ten minutes for strength, suppleness and skill, and keeping your brain and your social life busy.

In this episode:

Why ageing itself is not the problem until your late nineties
Genes, the exposome, and what your parents died of
Loss of fitness, and the five S's
Why the NHS is a national disease service
Clubs, communities, and moving a little money out of the NHS
Do we care too much for our elders?
Retirement as a renaissance, and retirement regret
What matters at 50 or 60: diet, activity and staying engaged
Creative health, and staying connected when you can't get out
What a clinician can do in nine seconds

As Muir puts it: it's never too late.

He Started Strength Training at 85. This Is What Happened

Tuesday, October 6, 2026 • Duration 49:41

In this episode, I'm joined by Mick Wadge, the 88-year-old weightlifting grandad who has taken TikTok by storm, and his coach, Ross Starkie.

Mick spent years caring for his wife Margaret, who had rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. When she died, he found himself at a loss, and carrying far more weight than he wanted to. So he took an old broom handle, hung two milk bottles full of water on it, and started training on his patio.

When he turned 85, his grandson booked him four sessions with Ross, a strength and conditioning coach who works with professional athletes. Three years on, Mick has deadlifted 100kg, come off his metformin, had a letter from Arnold Schwarzenegger and lifted on national television.

We talk about why so many people, health and fitness professionals included, are frightened of older people lifting weights, and why Ross thinks doing nothing is the bigger risk. Ross explains how he coached Mick up from an empty bar with nothing more complicated than adding a little weight over time, and why the things Mick already did every day were a squat, a hinge and a deadlift by another name.

We also talk about getting up off the floor, a skill that can matter far more than any personal best, and the technique Ross taught Mick that local firefighters have since asked to share.

In this episode:

Caring for a partner, and putting your own health last

Starting with a broom handle and two milk bottles

Why a council gym can be a great place to start

What structured coaching adds as you get older

Why coaches are nervous of training older clients

Angina, prediabetes, and why Ross says keep the coffee and cake

What Women’s Health Research Is Missing

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 • Duration 57:17

Women’s health is about far more than hormones and HRT. In this episode, I’m joined by scientist and researcher Dr Gayathri Delanerolle, whose experience of endometriosis, pregnancy loss and medically induced menopause helped shape the questions she now asks in her research.

Gayathri shares what it was like to live with severe symptoms for years, why finally seeing the extent of her endometriosis brought both relief and difficult questions about fertility, and how those experiences led her to develop the Marie Project.

We talk about gaps in women’s health research, the experiences that conventional menopause discussions can miss, and what Gayathri is learning by listening to women across different countries and cultures. It’s a conversation about asking better questions—and making room for the answers women actually give.

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What Happens to Your Health When You Become Homeless?

Tuesday, September 22, 2026 • Duration 50:16

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Andy Ward, a GP working with people experiencing homelessness in Leicester, and Kyra Biddle from Dear Albert’s Stairway Project, who brings her own lived experience of homelessness, addiction and recovery.

Kyra shares what happened when her family lost their home when she was just 14, how alcohol became a way of coping, and what it really means to live in survival mode.

We talk about the barriers people experiencing homelessness can face when trying to access healthcare, why appointments, medication and even apparently simple health advice can become almost impossible to navigate when you don’t have somewhere safe to live, and how stigma can destroy trust.

Andy explains how working in homeless healthcare changed the way he practises medicine, and why behaviour that can look “difficult” makes much more sense when you understand what someone may be living through.

But this is also a conversation about recovery. Kyra is now more than four years into her own recovery and uses her experience to support others. We talk about what helped her, why being listened to and treated as a human being matters, and how sometimes the beginning of recovery can be as simple as a cup of tea, a Hobnob and somewhere you feel welcome.

A conversation about homelessness, addiction, healthcare, recovery — and the importance of seeing the person in front of you.

You can contact Dear Albert here: https://www.dearalbert.co.uk

See the fantastic work of Inclusion Healthcare here: https://www.inclusionhealthcare.co.uk

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Why Strength Training Is Good for Your Heart

Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • Duration 42:14

We all know exercise is good for our heart — but most people still think that means cardio.

In this episode, I’m joined by Emily McGrath, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, to talk about why strength training deserves a place in the conversation about cardiovascular health.

Emily shares some of the most common worries she hears from people after a heart diagnosis, from palpitations and medication to the fear of exercising again. We talk about why a heart problem can completely change the way you see your body — and why people can end up treating themselves as far more fragile than they really are.

We also talk about the evidence for strength training and heart health, including its effects on blood pressure, and why getting stronger can make everyday life easier as we age.

Emily shares her own experience of starting strength training, despite initially feeling intimidated by it, and we discuss how to begin without needing to become a gym person, lift enormous weights or completely overhaul your life.

Finally, we talk about the British Heart Foundation’s Strong Woman Challenge, a free 31-day challenge designed to help women try strength training at home and build confidence with it.

Because cardio is excellent for your heart. But it doesn’t have to do all the work.

In this episode:

Why people can feel frightened of exercise after a cardiac diagnosis
Palpitations, smart watches and health anxiety
Why strength training is still overlooked in heart health
The effect resistance training can have on blood pressure
Starting strength training when you feel intimidated or unsure
Why our bodies are often less fragile than we imagine
Strength, function and maintaining independence as we age
Cutting through the noise about strength training in midlife
The BHF Strong Woman Challenge

Join the October challenge here www.bhf.org.uk/strongwoman

Why Am I So Tired? How to Investigate Your Own Energy

Tuesday, September 8, 2026 • Duration 10:59

Feeling tired all the time is one of the most common reasons people see their GP. But before assuming it must be your thyroid, hormones, cortisol or a vitamin deficiency, what else could your energy be telling you?

In this episode, I talk through the energy audit I’d encourage you to do: when did your energy change, when does your battery drain, and where are the best hours of your day actually going?

We look at sleep, work and caring responsibilities, food, alcohol and exercise; what your GP may reasonably investigate; and why blood tests are only one part of the picture.

Most importantly, I explain how to experiment with one thing at a time, look for patterns and collect useful information about yourself.

You don’t need to diagnose yourself. Become a detective before you become a diagnostician.

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Who Should I See? Navigating NHS and Private Healthcare

Tuesday, September 1, 2026 • Duration 47:58

Finding the right healthcare can be surprisingly difficult.

Who should you see? Should you wait for the NHS or consider going private? How do you compare providers, understand waiting times, work out what you’re entitled to — and know whether the person you’ve found online is actually reputable?

In this episode I’m joined by Roxanne Stevenson Brown, founder and CEO of Find Care Compare, a platform designed to help people navigate NHS and private healthcare options in one place.

We talk about why healthcare has become so difficult to navigate, the growing overlap between NHS and private care, Right to Choose, reviews versus actual clinical outcomes, and why women so often become the unofficial “chief medical officers” for their entire families.

We also discuss Roxanne’s bigger ambition: making healthcare information easier to access regardless of who you know, where you live or how well you understand the NHS.

Find Care Compare: findcarecompare.com

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At 50 She Was Struggling. At 73, She’s Fitter Than Ever

Tuesday, August 25, 2026 • Duration 01:18:49

Christine Hobson was struggling with her health in her 50s. She had arthritis, poor sleep, low mood and found everyday movement increasingly difficult.

Then, in her 60s, things changed.

Christine took up running after retirement, completed her first London Marathon — and eventually went on to complete more than 100 marathons, including one in Antarctica. She later discovered strength training and powerlifting too.

Now 73, Christine has a refreshingly different perspective on ageing: we spend far too much time worrying about what movement might do to us, and not enough worrying about what happens when we stop moving.

We talk about:

Starting exercise later in life
Arthritis, pain and the fear of movement
Strength training and osteoporosis
Why fitness keeps your options open as you age
Staying socially connected after retirement
The danger of gradually allowing your world to get smaller
Why it is never too late to start

This is a conversation about much more than exercise. It’s about staying capable, curious and engaged with life as you get older.

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The Prescription Strength Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

The Prescription Strength Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other27

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YouTube2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other27

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YouTube2

Apple Podcasts

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