fitness myth buster: weightlifting makes you bulky

there are SO many outrageous myths about fitness out there, and today i'm gonna tackle one of the big ones...weightlifting makes you bulky. 

to be honest, i kind of forget that this is a thing that people still think because most of the things i read and follow and surround myself with is fitness related and this is something that i feel like gets repeated over and over again.. . and i don't want to beat a dead horse...but i STILL see being said.

I get it a lot while i'm doing fitness consultations, meeting potential clients. Usually someone saying they want to get "toned" and lean out but "don't want to get bulky!!! so i don't want to lift too much weight!" and i have to explain to them that lifting weights won't make them bulky. 

so here it is: weightlifting will not make you bulky. (unless you are working insanely hard to BE BULKY). 

(side note: WTF is bulky?? like how does one define "bulk???" it is different for everyone i've talked to!) 

so what does weight lifting do for you??

• you'll burn more calories throughout the day ~ when you are weight lifting you are building lean mass up in your body and lean mass uses more calories throughout the day. 
• you are not making your body bigger, you are shaping your body ~ adding weight training into your workout routine is exactly how you get the "toned" looks that everyone asks how to get! 

important factors to remember: 

• every body is going to react differently to weight training ~ we are all different people (yes, shocking brand new information!!) and so our bodies will react and adapt differently to adding resistance training into your workout routine. this DOES NOT mean that you're going to be bulky... it just means your results are not going to look the same as someone else following the same/a similar training plan. 
• you are training for the results you want ~ look, if you want to be lean and strong, that's what you work towards, if you want to get big AF, that's what you make your program work towards. 
• to get big, you have to EAT big ~ have you ever seen those big bodybuilders? they are eating A LOT, like, all the time. you have to eat SO MUCH to build and fuel those giant muscles. 
• it takes TIME ~ you are not going to wake up the morning after a strength training session looking like Johnny Bravo. people work their entire lives to get that strong. 

Some bonus benefits of strength training: 

• new types of goals: with my clients i try to make a few different types of goals, and one of the best kinds are strength training based goals. it is a real boost when you hit a deadlift or bench press PR and really keeps you moving towards your goals
• confidence boost ~ hitting goals and lifting weights you haven't before is such a high. it's a great motivator and will keep you working towards more goals at the gym.
•  get better at life ~ strength training helps you perform better at the gym, but also is gonna help you be better at getting through life. you'll be stronger and functionally fit so you don't hurt yourself going throughout your day.

SO here it is: 

go strength train! 

start with the basics and build those muscles! 

need some help to get started? i have training available- just send me a message and we can get you going! email me at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com or on instagram or facebook! 

WHAT ARE: all these different diets???

i've been talking a lot about diet these past few weeks and that is because you can work your ass off at the gym for hours, but if your diet sucks you won't make any progress. 

i've mentioned a lot of different diets so i'm gonna give you a list of all the different things (well at least a good chunk of them- cause omfg there are SO MANY) out there and let you decide for yourself what's gonna work best for you in your life! 

(side note - i was gonna try to be totally impartial on all these but some are definitely scams or just not good for you. so i'm gonna point that out. not sorry about it.also i will be noting when they are diets you have to pay to be part of) 

iifym -if it fits your macros. basically you get a set of macros (from any source- websites or trained professionals) and you just try to hit those maconutrient goals for carbs, fats, and proteins. usually have to track your intake in order to be accurate to your macros.

keto - very low carb diet. approximately less than 20 g per day to keep your body in ketosis. this will, in theory, help you to burn fat faster because your body is not taking in any energy (carbs). does require tracking to make sure you're eating under your carb goal.

low carb variations (atkins, lchf, south beach, etc). - eating low carbs for fat loss. typically less restrictive than keto (some variations allow you to eat up to 100g carbs). there are a lot of variations of low carb diets. 

carb cycling- choosing days to eat either high, moderate, or low carb. this can depend on activity level, lifting schedule, etc. 

calorie counting- figuring out how many calories you eat and reducing your intake for fat loss. have to track your intake to make sure you are eating under your calorie targets.

paleo - "caveman diet" mainly containing meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit. excludes processed foods and dairy and grain products.

whole30- a strict paleo diet meant to be followed for 30 days. eliminating dairy and processed foods, meant to help you "reset" and also to help you find foods that you may be reacting poorly to.

gluten free - cutting out gluten from the diet. this is unnecessary unless you have an actual gluten intolerance (like celiacs disease)

meal replacement kits (shakeology or herbalife or slimfast) - (gotta buy in to be part of this one). skipping or supplementing a meal with a shake with added nutrients or proteins or vitamins. 

zone diet- lower carb diet with a specific amount of meals per day. (3 meals and 2 snacks). uses the glycemic index to classify "good" carbs. ratio of 30:40:30 fat: carbs: protein

cabbage soup diet - THIS IS NOT A SUSTAINABLE DIET (nor is it advertised that way). basically you only eat a cabbage soup recipe for all your meals for a week to lose weight quick. (which you will because you aren't eating very much for an entire week)

weight watchers- (gotta buy in for this one). uses a point system instead of calories and has a community to check in with to add to your motivation to stick with the plan.

blood type diet - this diet says that you should eat and avoid specific things due to your blood type. to get the full lists you have to buy the lists of "good" and "bad" foods. seems very scammy to me.

macrobiotic diet- a diet based out of zen buddhism. an attempt to balance the yin and yang within a person. major guidelines are to eat minimal animal products, eat locally grown foods in season, and eat meals in moderation. 

raw food - basically eating mostly uncooked and unprocessed foods. several variations under "raw foodism" that can include dairy, meats, fish, and/or eggs. 

bullet proof - low carb diet again. trying to get 50-60% of your calories from healthy fats, 20% from proteins, and the remaining from vegetables. usually starts with a cup of coffee with butter or coconut oil for energy and satiety. 

intuitive eating- what the non-fitness population would call regular ass eating. eating things based on what you want to eat without restriction. becoming more attuned to the body's hunger signals and not following any strict guidelines as to what you should or should not eat. 

detox diets- all of these are so scammy y'all. anything claiming to detox your body in however many days is full of shit... and that's all these diets will do, to be honest. they're usually glorified laxatives. 

grapefruit diet - operates under the theory that grapefruit has a fat burning enzyme. eat half a grapefruit with every meal to help "burn calories/fat" (obviously not real life and a scam). some of these diets are 7 day detox diets where you only eat eggs and grapefruits (hard no on that one)

jenny craig- (have to buy in to this diet- they send you the pre-made meals). teaches portion control and eating small meals throughout the day to increase satiety and energy. this is basically calorie counting without the work of counting calories because they send you the meals

nutrisystem - (gotta buy into this one too. they'll send you all the meals that you eat) very much like the jenny craig system. they give you all the meals that you have to eat, which is at a calorie deficit so you lose weight.

Mediterranean diet- emphasis in eating plant based foods and healthy fats. limits red meat consumption. moderate intake of dairy products. (lower carb diet, as well) 

and that's just to name a few... there are so many more than that. some of these are really great... and some are pretty terrible (*cough* that cabbage soup diet y'all*) and some are crazy and some work just by happenstance. 

find what works for you and be consistent to get your long term results. 

need some food ideas? check out my facebook and instagram to see some tasty foods you can incorporate into your menu! 

did i miss any diets that you loved or hated? let me know in the comments! 

fitness terms you should know

getting into the fitness game you hear/ read people using all sorts of crazy terms that you've probably never heard of. and you're reading captions/watching videos like, "ummm... what did they even just say??" been there y'all.

but the good news is... i'm here to help! 

the following list is going to be a whole bunch of fitness terms so you don't have to do a google search every single time you come across a new term! 

this is in a loose alphabetical order...

bmi - body mass index. it is a scale that is calculated by your weight divided by your height squared. The ranges are under 18.5 is underweight, 18.5-25 is normal,25-30 is overweight, and 30 and up is obese. However this is a pretty outdated method of calculating whether or not your weight is within a healthy range because it does not take into account fat mass vs muscle mass

bmr- basal metabolic rate. it is an estimate of how many calories you would burn in a day if you did literally nothing for 24 hours. basically, the minimum amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function. 

butt wink - the term for when your tailbone tucks underneath your body during a squat- which can hurt your back. basically, when you get deeper in your squat than your hips will take you, your pelvis and lower back compensate and when doing weighted squats this can be dangerous. 

bcaas- branced chained amino acids. there are essential amino acids you need to make sure your muscles are going to recover and rebuild properly. you can get these in your diet (especially if you are eating a high protein diet) but powdered bcaas are convenient and fast and can add flavor to your water if that's something you struggle with. also if you are cutting calories using a bcaa supplement will be more helpful for you. 

compound exercise - any exercise that works two or more different joints to engage more muscles. 

cross training- working out in different ways or styles to help your performance in whatever sport/exercise is your main focus.

doms - deloyed onset muscle soreness. basically, being sore in the muscle groups you trained the day or two before. 

drop sets - you do a specific exercise until failure, then reduce the weight and repeat on and on

eating clean - vague catchall term for eating more "real" foods vs processed foods. trying to eat foods that have been processed the least amount that is possible.

foam rolling - aka self - myofascial release. fancy terms for self massage with a foam tube or ball or hands. applying pressure to certain points on your body (usually sore ones) to help aid in recovery. 

hiit - high intensity interval training. working at a maximal effort for quick bursts with minimal rest periods. 

iifym - if it fits your macros. not counting calories, but tracking your protein, fat, and carbs with specific goals in mind that you are trying to hit. aka flexible dieting. basically, you can eat what you want as long as it fits in your macro goals. (like have a bigass cheeseburger for lunch (high in fat & carbs), but balance that with a lean chicken salad for dinner (high in protein & lower in carbs & fats) and hitting your macro targets)

isometrics - strength training where you hold a static position at muscle tension

liss - long interval steady state. basically going on a long jog or walk or swim at a fairly consistent pace (compared to hiit)

macros - macronutrients. your proteins, carbs, and fats that make up your daily calories. see my post about them here. 

micronutrients - vitamins and minerals you need to have a balanced diet.

muscle pump (or a "pump")- during and after you exercise your muscles will have more blood flow to them so the active muscle groups will appear larger

overtraining - working out for long duration of time (weeks/months) with no light days or rest/recovery days. this can lead to injuries and burning out. 

preworkout - essentially powdered caffeine. when you see people walking around with neon drinks in blender bottles it's preworkout or bcaas (see above). usually flavored, low calorie, and have additional supplements in them to help get more of a muscle pump (creatine, typically)

plyometrics - exercises that exert maximum force on muscle groups, usually for short periods of time (see hiit training). also known as jump training. used to increase power and speed

reps - repetitions. how many times you will do a specific exercise in a set. (set is a round of that exercise)

rmr - resting metabolic rate. same thing as your bmr. 

rpe - rate of perceived exhaustion. usually on a scale of 1-10 or 20. how tired you feel/think you are during an exercise

super set - alternating between two exercises with no rest between them. usually working different muscle groups (like bicep curls & triceps dips) saves time in the because of the less downtime between sets. 

tabata - a type of hiit workout. 20 seconds of work/ 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds (or 4 mins) usually doing 3-4 rounds

tdee - total daily energy expenditure. an estimation of how many calories you burn per day when exercise is taken into account.  

did I miss any term that you're confused about? let me know in the comments below or on facebook and instagram! 

this will be an expanding list so definitely tell me the terms you've come across in your health & fitness journey!