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Calories.

HEY— love you— stop this.⁣

Listen I know every single message ever spewed out of the dumpster fire under layers of the fitness industry has you hard wired to believe EVERYTHING we do… is for calorie burn.⁣


Yes. Being alive, moving, lifting, peeing, breathing & humaning requires energy. Yes, to some degree being able to expend more calories or just putting your body under stress to expend then (eh hm… exercise) is good for us. Yes, we’re in a “global calorie overload crisis” blah blah blah.⁣

I digress.⁣

The entire freaking point of lifting is NOT to “burn calories. ⁣

When we exercise either with mechanical tension (aka lifting) or making acute energy deficits (aka cardio) in our muscles it turns on TWO different pathways because our bodies sense this. Tension, or energy deficits.⁣

Lifting stimulates something called mTOR which is the Mac daddy master regulator or muscle protein synthesis. Think of him like the top domino in a cascade that flips on a light switch for muscle building.⁣

This then recruits amino acids aka proteins + other shit to our muscles to BUILD them back up. This is ANABOLIC. Our bodies using energy aka calories yes — but it’s trying to MAKE tissue. Not be in an energy deficit or to break it down.⁣

This technically happens with cardio (but hold your gains boys it takes a lot) & is two totally different pathways.⁣

Lifting doesn’t expend a ton of calories in the moment like your swipe video HIIT workout (okay that likely doesn’t either 😉) but it’s a VERY energy costly process for our bodies.⁣



It requires calories + proteins + lifting. It’s MAKING tissue.⁣

That is the entire point.⁣

If you’re working out for just health and don’t have massive goals that’s cool. But the point of lifting there still isn’t calorie burn. + Your fitness trackers do a worse job at guesstimating lifting cals than that person from your hometown who got into fitness last Wednesday does at designing fitness programs.⁣

You can be in an energy deficit & lift. You can eat like a wild hog & lift. But the point either way isn’t to burn a ton of calories.⁣

You’re robbing your self of a metric shit ton of joy too.⁣

🤙🏻 XO, https://doclyssfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2E85B3F6-CC1D-45E0-B9A3-E2EE04D8C478-1.jpeg

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Hey, I'm Lyss!

I’m Exercise Physiologist, sports nutritionist, weight lifter, and ultra runner. I am here to bring science to your training in a no-nonsense way. I have helped thousands of women crush big lifting goals, cross race finish lines, and even do both. I’m here to help you do the same!

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