Eat To Perform Blog

I don’t want to get bulky.

I hear this all of the time from women. There is a misconception that just won’t seem to die: lifting weights will make you look bulky or manly.

Resistance training, particularly lifting heavy, has a treasure trove of benefits that can help develop muscle, shed fat and ultimately lead to a healthy body.

Benefits of lifting heavy:

•Stronger muscles, tendons and ligaments leading to more stable joints, balance, and overall movement. This is KEY for longevity.

•Increase in muscle mass which leads to

•Decrease in body fat due to higher BMR and favorable hormonal balance

•Increase in bone density. This is where I bring up longevity again

•better mood and balanced state of mind from Increase in production of neurotransmitters

If you’ve ever thought “I want to tone up” - listen, Toning means adding muscle. You are thinking firmer, less jiggle- that’s muscle. And it’s extremely hard to build muscle. It is a slow, painstaking process and won’t happen by accident.

9 out of 10 times women aren’t eating enough calories anyway. To build muscle, you must eat more calories than you burn. Your body can’t grow new tissue without the ingredients, so don't expect muscle growth if you're eating in a calorie deficit or most times, even at maintenance.

Unless you are using performance enhancing drugs, the chances of you developing a physique that you fear is manly are 0%.

If you want “lean muscle” or to be “toned” or any of the other made up terms that marketers have coined to get us to spend money on their product:  The answer is to focus on getting enough protein with overall adequate calories, put down the pink weights and start tracking progressive overload lifting, sleep 7+ hours nightly, limit alcohol, repeat. For years. And years.

If you are looking for a balanced approach to nutrition that keeps joy in your life we have weekly challenges to keep you on track.

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