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Author: tatumbrandt

Electrolytes

LETS TALK ELECTROLYTES// do you really NEED @liquidiv —⁣ I get a lot of questions on liquid IV! Which I take *almost* daily or use to supplement

Common Trail Running Terms

TRAIL TERMS 101! Ever hear someone talking about trail running or hiking out their weekend on trail and … have no idea what they mean.

Exercise Snacks

FREE EXERCISE SNACK WORKOUTS 🔑 pulled straight from the science just for you! Be sure to save 📁 + share ✈️ this if you found

5 beginner Hiking Tips

BEGINNER HIKING TIPS! Make sure to save this for later. The season of hiking is upon us and for many this means finally getting their

Pre/post Workout Nutrition

📁Be sure to save this one for later! Pre and post workout nutrition doesn’t need to be complicated! But will look a little different than

Birth Control

This isn’t a post on what you think it is. But rather an important topic of conversation within my wheelhouse that is worth bringing up

To the “Do It All-Er”

To the do it all-er. The fitness lover. The hybrid wannabe. The multi passionate. FIRST let me know below who’s guilty of this 😉👇🏻 I

Stop Substituting Your Protein Shake With Collagen

Collagen is made up of proteins but it is not a protein supplement. & while YES it will contribute to your daily total protein intake

YES I RECOMMEND CREATINE

Yes for you reading this. Yes even if you don’t lift that much. Yes unless you’re pregnant / breastfeeding only because we don’t have a

“But what it I need to lose fat first”.

^^ a reply I got a handful of times yesterday in response to my stories + posts. Here is the thing. The advice I’m giving

Alyssa Olenick, PhD

M.S., CISSN, PH.D. – EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

Alyssa is an Exercise Physiologist, sports nutritionist, weight lifter, and ultra runner. She is known for her high energy and sassy approach to bringing science to your training in a no-nonsense way. Alyssa has helped thousands of women crush big lifting goals, cross race finish lines, or even do both.

Alyssa Olenick, PhD

M.S., CISSN, PH.D. – EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

Alyssa is an Exercise Physiologist, sports nutritionist, weight lifter, and ultra runner. She is known for her high energy and sassy approach to bringing science to your training in a no-nonsense way. Alyssa has helped thousands of women crush big lifting goals, cross race finish lines, or even do both.

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3 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU NEED TO GO UP IN WEIGHT IN Y

3 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU NEED TO GO UP IN WEIGHT IN YOUR LIFTS!

1) You aren't making progress across time. Week to week*, month to month, and/or block to block of training. Either by moving more weight, doing more sets, or more reps. (*not always linear). While we won't make progress EVERY week in the gym, over time we should be noticing trends going up. If they arent, take a moment to assess why. Underloading may be a reason here!

2) You don't need 2-5 min to recover between exercises. Especially compounds. If you don't need to recover you may not be using enough weight. You feel ready to go after 30-60 sec. A lot of people underload and rush through sets + rests, their workouts feel easy, low effort. And they think lifting is "boring" or doesn't quite work. You should need time to recover between compounds especially. Accessory work you should feel like its effortful but can superset or rest 90-120 seconds if needed.

3) You aren't using weights that challenge you so that you could only do 2-3 reps left for most lifts. You feel bored and distracted during your lifting sets and can think about other things. If you are unsure about this, take a set all the way to failure. How close to that were you? Adjust weight accordingly.

If you want to learn more about the science of lifting, how to apply basic training concepts to your own program & how to make your own workouts checkout my ebook TRAIN! L!ink in bio always to get your copy and start crushing your training!

I GOT 99 PROBLEMS … and upper body pressing move

I GOT 99 PROBLEMS … and upper body pressing movements are all of them 😵‍💫

Is this you!?

When it comes to lifting — women have just as much potential gain strength as men. However we simply often have a 1) lower starting spot and 2) generally lower absolute strength — at least at first for many new trainees.

Overhead press & bench are big frustrations for @thelyssmethod clients. And we get it we really do.

My good friend + future 1:1 coach @mrcoreblend recently was chatting about how often women beat themselves up for making “small weight jumps” that are actually HUGE increases when we look at % increase. That a 405 > 425 bench would make any dude go crazy. But women who go from 95 > 105 feel like failures. Or that the jumps between smaller DB’s are massive % increases than the heavier ones.

You are NOT! But here are some tips to help improve your weight jumps in the gym.

1) USE RPE. We talk about this a lot but simply assessing your progress with RPE will let you adjust weights or reps better to meet your training stimulus. You can even track RPE PR’s in the gym. Those count too.

2) If you can’t make a big weight jump between DB’s or with plates just yet go up in reps till you hit your RPE target or that you can do. Over time drop reps back down as you add weight.

3) CHANGE PLATES. All gyms will have 2.5lb plates but if you can’t make that big of a jump you can buy smaller 0.5-1.5 lb plates or see if your gym has kilo plates which make odd jumps in weight that allow you to do “66” or say “76 lbs”. Etc.

4) If you cannot do more weight yet but you’re not hitting your RPE without a ton more reps consider adding another set OR doing a few higher and few lower rep sets. Such as 2x3 + 2x8-10

5) Give yourself grace + time. Your body is not weak it’s CAPABLE AF!

They say our views on something + opinion of it ar

They say our views on something + opinion of it are formed by the middle/peak and the end.

& as I leave Athens I sure hope so. For the many weeks that felt like my own permeant Groundhog Day, the friendless-loneliness, the burn out, the feeling that those days would never end. A chapter end capped with joy, friendship, memories + growth.

Moving away from Georgia isn’t sentimental for me because of Athens. But who I was and became there. The magnitude of that chapter of life. The 4.5 year chapter where 4.5/5.5 of my relationship with regis was spent. The longest I’ve lived anywhere that wasn’t my hometown.

Where I started my business.
Got my doctorate.
Ran my first ultras.
Took chance on my dreams.
& honestly — grew up.

24 to 29 are radical years of change.
So much of my becoming happened in this chapter.
I leave sentimental not because of a place, but what it symbolizes.

My love for regis + having each other + forming a private but simple little love / life.

The chances I took on my self + my dreams + my goals. The bad I shape shifted into good. The opportunities I didn’t ask for but created.

The shedding of the skin of self doubt I carried for years. The becoming, the self trust, the belief in my visions before others saw them.

The bone deep loneliness I turned into life long friendships.

The miles and miles my legs took me. The memories made. The trips taken.

This weekend my dad walked into my room as I packed up & said “kid, life is made of small moments that mean something. & this is a big one — you’re not longer a student. A big chapter is done.”

So as I pulled away from Athens this morning in the cool summer dusk I played “before I get there” by bronze radio return, a song that carried me through my masters to my PhD. Echoing the work left to do + not being ready to leave. “I got a little more work to do before I’m on my way”.

& tears of gratitude rolled + a small nod at this chapter as the simple lyrics sang out “when my time comes along to move on then I’ll already know.”

& I already know — “I’m ready to go”.

🤍

We done did the thing ✔️ 👩🏼‍🎓. & a

We done did the thing ✔️ 👩🏼‍🎓. & a special shout out to @gainzbydrj for seeing it through.

Through the last few years many people have asked me how I managed to do what I did during my PhD — and a big part of that was support in ALL areas of my life from @gainzbydrj.

I’ve got plenty more official grad photos coming. But for now this standstill post to shout out my PI + him finally getting us both out the door (regis and I both worked for him).

Thank you all for the support as well over the last few years. Esp those who did my dissertation from this app. I quite literally couldn’t have done it without you.

🤍👩🏼‍🎓 DOC LYSS.

29 for 29 ✨ You know how they say to pause and

29 for 29 ✨

You know how they say to pause and recognize that the life you’re living is the life you once dreamed of. That is this 28 to 29 year for me 🤍✨

The end of an era.
The end of a year.
The end of a chapter.
The start of something new.

Everything the me of 16, 18, 20, 24 dreamed of. Wrote down on goal list. Aspired to. Envisioned. She created.

I am not 29 today. I am 28 and 27 and 26 and all the former versions of me.

I am the eager 16 year old and sassy 12 year old and wide eyed 20 year old and self doubt filled 22 year old.

And at the end of the day I am just another imperfect 20 something sharing their limited life experience, life & views with you. Growing up on a screen and fumbling along the way. Take or leave my advice. Agree or not. The 35 year old me is likely looking back at 29 proud and laughing anyways.

But today I am a simply grateful to say I created the life I wanted to live. I am surrounded with so much love and support it brings me to tears. I felt so unloveable, so rejected, too loud and too much and never enough for so much of my younger years / early 20’s. I was so so lonely on my 26th birthday I spent it crying while doing data analysis alone.

To see how much my live + I have evolved these last few years is a gift. To be able to do the work I get to do is a gift. To live life on my own terms is a gift.

For 28 I healed. I paused. I pushed. I became.

Thank you all for being here.
Thank you for supporting my business + adventures + letting me share my gifts with you.

And to my friends + supportive peers here thank you.

Here’s to my 20’s victory lap 🤍💪🏻

To the do it all-er. The fitness lover. The hybrid

To the do it all-er. The fitness lover. The hybrid wannabe. The multi passionate.

FIRST let me know below who’s guilty of this 😉👇🏻

I hear you.
I see you.
I am you!

But chances are you’re trying to … do too much. By doing all the things you don’t need to be doing.

A lot of things in your fitness may overlap. And everything causes fatigue. How we manage the overlap of these things + volume within our programs is key.

This usually means doing less of BOTH than if you were to do ALL of one. The more fitness you gain the more you can do of both.

We have to ask ourselves how much time we really have to train. What we can fit into that. Where things can be moved or removed or overlap. Where are we wasting our time?

We need to ask how we’re setting up or weeks and if it makes the most sense for our training.

And we need to look at our approach as “seasons” for specific goals. The goal though is NOT to stop doing the other stuff but maintain it. It takes less to maintain than it does to GAIN. This works in our favor.

If you’re looking for help on this we would love to help you.

I wrote HYBRID with you in mind. So you can learn how to “do it all” in a no nonsense way.

& if you need a little more help — join us in @thelyssmethod where we do all the thinking for you 💪🏻

HYBRID is on sale this week for 15% off and fully updated! Code HYBRIDSUMMER. Sale ends 5/13!

Bio has all the goods 🙌🏻🤙🏻

3 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU NEED TO GO UP IN WEIGHT IN Y

3 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU NEED TO GO UP IN WEIGHT IN YOUR LIFTS!

1) You aren't making progress across time. Week to week*, month to month, and/or block to block of training. Either by moving more weight, doing more sets, or more reps. (*not always linear). While we won't make progress EVERY week in the gym, over time we should be noticing trends going up. If they arent, take a moment to assess why. Underloading may be a reason here!

2) You don't need 2-5 min to recover between exercises. Especially compounds. If you don't need to recover you may not be using enough weight. You feel ready to go after 30-60 sec. A lot of people underload and rush through sets + rests, their workouts feel easy, low effort. And they think lifting is "boring" or doesn't quite work. You should need time to recover between compounds especially. Accessory work you should feel like its effortful but can superset or rest 90-120 seconds if needed.

3) You aren't using weights that challenge you so that you could only do 2-3 reps left for most lifts. You feel bored and distracted during your lifting sets and can think about other things. If you are unsure about this, take a set all the way to failure. How close to that were you? Adjust weight accordingly.

If you want to learn more about the science of lifting, how to apply basic training concepts to your own program & how to make your own workouts checkout my ebook TRAIN! L!ink in bio always to get your copy and start crushing your training!

I GOT 99 PROBLEMS … and upper body pressing move

I GOT 99 PROBLEMS … and upper body pressing movements are all of them 😵‍💫

Is this you!?

When it comes to lifting — women have just as much potential gain strength as men. However we simply often have a 1) lower starting spot and 2) generally lower absolute strength — at least at first for many new trainees.

Overhead press & bench are big frustrations for @thelyssmethod clients. And we get it we really do.

My good friend + future 1:1 coach @mrcoreblend recently was chatting about how often women beat themselves up for making “small weight jumps” that are actually HUGE increases when we look at % increase. That a 405 > 425 bench would make any dude go crazy. But women who go from 95 > 105 feel like failures. Or that the jumps between smaller DB’s are massive % increases than the heavier ones.

You are NOT! But here are some tips to help improve your weight jumps in the gym.

1) USE RPE. We talk about this a lot but simply assessing your progress with RPE will let you adjust weights or reps better to meet your training stimulus. You can even track RPE PR’s in the gym. Those count too.

2) If you can’t make a big weight jump between DB’s or with plates just yet go up in reps till you hit your RPE target or that you can do. Over time drop reps back down as you add weight.

3) CHANGE PLATES. All gyms will have 2.5lb plates but if you can’t make that big of a jump you can buy smaller 0.5-1.5 lb plates or see if your gym has kilo plates which make odd jumps in weight that allow you to do “66” or say “76 lbs”. Etc.

4) If you cannot do more weight yet but you’re not hitting your RPE without a ton more reps consider adding another set OR doing a few higher and few lower rep sets. Such as 2x3 + 2x8-10

5) Give yourself grace + time. Your body is not weak it’s CAPABLE AF!

They say our views on something + opinion of it ar

They say our views on something + opinion of it are formed by the middle/peak and the end.

& as I leave Athens I sure hope so. For the many weeks that felt like my own permeant Groundhog Day, the friendless-loneliness, the burn out, the feeling that those days would never end. A chapter end capped with joy, friendship, memories + growth.

Moving away from Georgia isn’t sentimental for me because of Athens. But who I was and became there. The magnitude of that chapter of life. The 4.5 year chapter where 4.5/5.5 of my relationship with regis was spent. The longest I’ve lived anywhere that wasn’t my hometown.

Where I started my business.
Got my doctorate.
Ran my first ultras.
Took chance on my dreams.
& honestly — grew up.

24 to 29 are radical years of change.
So much of my becoming happened in this chapter.
I leave sentimental not because of a place, but what it symbolizes.

My love for regis + having each other + forming a private but simple little love / life.

The chances I took on my self + my dreams + my goals. The bad I shape shifted into good. The opportunities I didn’t ask for but created.

The shedding of the skin of self doubt I carried for years. The becoming, the self trust, the belief in my visions before others saw them.

The bone deep loneliness I turned into life long friendships.

The miles and miles my legs took me. The memories made. The trips taken.

This weekend my dad walked into my room as I packed up & said “kid, life is made of small moments that mean something. & this is a big one — you’re not longer a student. A big chapter is done.”

So as I pulled away from Athens this morning in the cool summer dusk I played “before I get there” by bronze radio return, a song that carried me through my masters to my PhD. Echoing the work left to do + not being ready to leave. “I got a little more work to do before I’m on my way”.

& tears of gratitude rolled + a small nod at this chapter as the simple lyrics sang out “when my time comes along to move on then I’ll already know.”

& I already know — “I’m ready to go”.

🤍

We done did the thing ✔️ 👩🏼‍🎓. & a

We done did the thing ✔️ 👩🏼‍🎓. & a special shout out to @gainzbydrj for seeing it through.

Through the last few years many people have asked me how I managed to do what I did during my PhD — and a big part of that was support in ALL areas of my life from @gainzbydrj.

I’ve got plenty more official grad photos coming. But for now this standstill post to shout out my PI + him finally getting us both out the door (regis and I both worked for him).

Thank you all for the support as well over the last few years. Esp those who did my dissertation from this app. I quite literally couldn’t have done it without you.

🤍👩🏼‍🎓 DOC LYSS.

29 for 29 ✨ You know how they say to pause and

29 for 29 ✨

You know how they say to pause and recognize that the life you’re living is the life you once dreamed of. That is this 28 to 29 year for me 🤍✨

The end of an era.
The end of a year.
The end of a chapter.
The start of something new.

Everything the me of 16, 18, 20, 24 dreamed of. Wrote down on goal list. Aspired to. Envisioned. She created.

I am not 29 today. I am 28 and 27 and 26 and all the former versions of me.

I am the eager 16 year old and sassy 12 year old and wide eyed 20 year old and self doubt filled 22 year old.

And at the end of the day I am just another imperfect 20 something sharing their limited life experience, life & views with you. Growing up on a screen and fumbling along the way. Take or leave my advice. Agree or not. The 35 year old me is likely looking back at 29 proud and laughing anyways.

But today I am a simply grateful to say I created the life I wanted to live. I am surrounded with so much love and support it brings me to tears. I felt so unloveable, so rejected, too loud and too much and never enough for so much of my younger years / early 20’s. I was so so lonely on my 26th birthday I spent it crying while doing data analysis alone.

To see how much my live + I have evolved these last few years is a gift. To be able to do the work I get to do is a gift. To live life on my own terms is a gift.

For 28 I healed. I paused. I pushed. I became.

Thank you all for being here.
Thank you for supporting my business + adventures + letting me share my gifts with you.

And to my friends + supportive peers here thank you.

Here’s to my 20’s victory lap 🤍💪🏻

To the do it all-er. The fitness lover. The hybrid

To the do it all-er. The fitness lover. The hybrid wannabe. The multi passionate.

FIRST let me know below who’s guilty of this 😉👇🏻

I hear you.
I see you.
I am you!

But chances are you’re trying to … do too much. By doing all the things you don’t need to be doing.

A lot of things in your fitness may overlap. And everything causes fatigue. How we manage the overlap of these things + volume within our programs is key.

This usually means doing less of BOTH than if you were to do ALL of one. The more fitness you gain the more you can do of both.

We have to ask ourselves how much time we really have to train. What we can fit into that. Where things can be moved or removed or overlap. Where are we wasting our time?

We need to ask how we’re setting up or weeks and if it makes the most sense for our training.

And we need to look at our approach as “seasons” for specific goals. The goal though is NOT to stop doing the other stuff but maintain it. It takes less to maintain than it does to GAIN. This works in our favor.

If you’re looking for help on this we would love to help you.

I wrote HYBRID with you in mind. So you can learn how to “do it all” in a no nonsense way.

& if you need a little more help — join us in @thelyssmethod where we do all the thinking for you 💪🏻

HYBRID is on sale this week for 15% off and fully updated! Code HYBRIDSUMMER. Sale ends 5/13!

Bio has all the goods 🙌🏻🤙🏻

Live It Up With Me On The ‘Gram

@littlelyssfitness

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