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Our Grad School Experience: Application, Funding and Getting Started

PART ONE. Lyss and Kait chat about their graduate school experiences and answer big ticket questions like: How do you know when grad school is right for you? What is the application process like? How do you get funding for your program? How do you decide what program is best for you?

► Supportive Grad-School Instagram Accounts:

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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!

Dr. Lyss — DAY 1 ☑️ Hard to believe I defe

Dr. Lyss — DAY 1 ☑️

Hard to believe I defended & turned in the good ol diss 3 months ago and here I am after day 1 of my postdoc.

I never formally announced here that I accepted a postdoc position (mostly for privacy and easing into my new position 🤍) but am really excited to continue my training within science.

There was one point during the 15 month hiatus from research from the panni that I really didn’t think this was an option for me. I leaned in hard to my business to create my own career backup during that time.

With a lot of “we don’t have fundings” I somehow managed to land the position I knew back in 2019 would be a dream gig.

I love science. And I’m not done learning or asking questions or challenging myself in the areas that I know I have room to grow it.

But share this here to thank my community for supporting me these past few years of my PhD + into this new chapter. While things may look a little different moving forward (mostly a lot less access to me as my priorities shift) — I have an amazing team I’ve been building to help keep all the content you know and love coming. (And I’m kind of wicked smart and really prepared for this transition a year out so I can “do both”.)

So a reminder that if I’m not able to answer a DM, get to all comments or “give” as much it’s not because I hate ya. It’s because I love y’all and I love science and I’m out here doing the dang thing 🤘🏻🤍.

Today I saw a post asking someone what advice they would give their younger self and they said “Nothing. Everything I did worked because I am here.” & dang, if that isn’t the real hard truth.

The girl at 18 who cried “I’m not smart enough for science” turned into the “girl with 6 tutors afraid to fail” to “graduating early with high honors & working like hell”.

This decision was not without stress. But I know that saying yes to the option that gives you the greatest possibility of happiness + the direction you hope to go + scares you a little means the odds are stacked in your favor. & that my friends — is my advice for you.

What excites you but also scares you a little is a magic sweet spot right past your comfort zone. It’s where all the good is— go there.🤍

High intensity interval training, sprint interval

High intensity interval training, sprint interval training, metabolic conditioning, Tabata, anything like that are great for you and your health. While they get a lot of slack for being “too intense” we have to consider a few key factors:

1) High intensity is an issue when over used as the main or only form of movement OR excessively/abused/we’re doing a lot of workouts.

2) We need to eat enough to support higher volumes of higher intensity if we’re worried about its stress on our hormonal health.

3) What we cannot achieve with time… we can do with intensity! Meaning those who aren’t able to do higher volumes of other training can “do a lot with a little” here.

There is a reason exercise guidelines say “150 min of moderate or 75 min of vigorous activity”. For basic health — the harder you go the less you need. For training it’s slightly different!

I bring up the walking analogy not because I’m knocking walking. But some well-intended fitness messages tend to paint walking as an equal “swap”, suggest lower intensity stuff is “less harmful” or say that moderate to high intensity cardio is “bad for fat loss”, or other statements of the like.

I’m writing this caption on a walk — I suggest you walk more & move more. But I also encourage you to do some intensity too! It doesn’t have to be a lot either. Especially so if the bulk of your cardio/ non-lifting movement is walking.

The physiological adaptations are different. High intensity exercise can be uniquely potent for our health OR deliver the same health benefits of more time consuming movement in a more intense but smaller time demand.

Keep doing your walks … but do some intensity too 💪🏻. Your metabolic health, cardiovascular health, training, fitness & body will thank you!

Celebrating this summers health and fitness goals

Celebrating this summers health and fitness goals with @insidetracker #sponsored

Teaming up with InsideTracker to chat my big summer health and fitness goals.

It feels almost timely and bittersweet to be talking about these things after 6 weeks off of work for so much rest + play. Along with starting work tomorrow 👀.

My fitness goals for this year were originally to toe the line of another ultra. But with injuries and life it seems like that may be a next year goal. Which doesn’t mean my efforts now or health focus is wasted!

A big goal I had was to be able to crush a bunch of big 14k foot mountians with regis during our time off 🤍🏔🤘🏻. And we did 7 summits this past month!

Along with still working on sleep + my GI stuff and really making stress management and self care better in my postdoc than PhD🧬.

I have gotten blood work with @insidetracker every year since 2019 and it was immediately apparent when stress started to hurt my health more than training or running ever was and decided to make big changes AS I finished my degree.

I did the ultimate panel every few months for this past year and again before graduating to track my progress of working w/ health professional, nutritional adjustments, other health promoting behaviors + more. Finally this may we were back in a really good place across the board and hoping to keep trends that way 💪🏻.

You can save 20% off @insidetracker with my code DOCLYSSFITNESS and get a peek under your hood as well. With full reports with behavior suggestions + citations, flagging when your should speak with a doctor or nutrition/RD professional & even ways to track your behaviors all in one place.

I get the ultimate but you can save on any test with my code as well. 👩🏼‍🔬💪🏻🏃🏼‍♀️🏋🏼‍♀️.

Im excited to have data to drive me forward with confidence that if I want a big ultra year next year, once my injuries are ready — my insides are ready for that kind of physical stress to 💪🏻🤍.

FREE RESOURCE. // I spent today putting together t

Have you ever wondered how I pack + prep + prepare

Have you ever wondered how I pack + prep + prepare for big hikes or trail runs from gear to food?

I know you do! Because I’m asked about these things quite a bit which is why last summer when I was prepping for the wonderland trail I made a video going over the gear and food i brought.

While the hike didn’t go quite as planned (my wonderland trail video is already up for you to watch too!) this is a great idea of how I prepare for bigger efforts!

I’ll share the link in my story today + my YouTube is always linked in my b!o! 💪🏻🤘🏻

Within the fitness industry their is a common idea

Within the fitness industry their is a common idea / narrative that a form of fitness is only valuable if it results in high heart rates, end zone intensities & lots of calorie burn.

Often I see people say “well isn’t cardio better because it burns more calories” completely missing the point of WHY we lift and WHY we do cardio & their unique adaptations.

The point of lifting is NOT to burn calories. And while you WILL expend energy it’s often less in the moment than cardio — yes. But is additionally costly in its energy requirement (calories / protein) to repair and grow new muscle.

Lifting is an anabolic process and is required to set off (“turn on”) the muscle signals that tell our bodies to make or repair muscle. As well as help train our bodies to use our nerves to recruit more muscle cells so we can produce more force output or increase our skills or ability.

Trying to quantify your calories burned during lifting is redundant and missed a lot of this with your basic smart watch tracker or estimations through your food tracking apps (im looking at you MFP).

You’re far better off using your lifting to simply get stronger + gain muscle NOT trying to expend energy. While all exercise supports healthy fat cell distribution and physiology — let’s let our lifting be LIFTING.

Increasing muscle tissue and strength has far better + cooler benefits that “calorie burning” like increased bone density, tendon health, energy expenditure, glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity, and quality of life + longevity.

Our muscles are some of the largest stores of extra glucose in our bodies! And the more muscle you have the harder your body has to work to grow and maintain it. The are houses of our metabolic machinery which IS enhanced with cardio.

But the goal of lifting is not and has never been to “burn calories”. Turns out — when you make it NOT about that … you’ll likely get all the benefits you were dreaming of and more 🤘🏻🤍

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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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Dr. Lyss — DAY 1 ☑️ Hard to believe I defe

Dr. Lyss — DAY 1 ☑️

Hard to believe I defended & turned in the good ol diss 3 months ago and here I am after day 1 of my postdoc.

I never formally announced here that I accepted a postdoc position (mostly for privacy and easing into my new position 🤍) but am really excited to continue my training within science.

There was one point during the 15 month hiatus from research from the panni that I really didn’t think this was an option for me. I leaned in hard to my business to create my own career backup during that time.

With a lot of “we don’t have fundings” I somehow managed to land the position I knew back in 2019 would be a dream gig.

I love science. And I’m not done learning or asking questions or challenging myself in the areas that I know I have room to grow it.

But share this here to thank my community for supporting me these past few years of my PhD + into this new chapter. While things may look a little different moving forward (mostly a lot less access to me as my priorities shift) — I have an amazing team I’ve been building to help keep all the content you know and love coming. (And I’m kind of wicked smart and really prepared for this transition a year out so I can “do both”.)

So a reminder that if I’m not able to answer a DM, get to all comments or “give” as much it’s not because I hate ya. It’s because I love y’all and I love science and I’m out here doing the dang thing 🤘🏻🤍.

Today I saw a post asking someone what advice they would give their younger self and they said “Nothing. Everything I did worked because I am here.” & dang, if that isn’t the real hard truth.

The girl at 18 who cried “I’m not smart enough for science” turned into the “girl with 6 tutors afraid to fail” to “graduating early with high honors & working like hell”.

This decision was not without stress. But I know that saying yes to the option that gives you the greatest possibility of happiness + the direction you hope to go + scares you a little means the odds are stacked in your favor. & that my friends — is my advice for you.

What excites you but also scares you a little is a magic sweet spot right past your comfort zone. It’s where all the good is— go there.🤍

High intensity interval training, sprint interval

High intensity interval training, sprint interval training, metabolic conditioning, Tabata, anything like that are great for you and your health. While they get a lot of slack for being “too intense” we have to consider a few key factors:

1) High intensity is an issue when over used as the main or only form of movement OR excessively/abused/we’re doing a lot of workouts.

2) We need to eat enough to support higher volumes of higher intensity if we’re worried about its stress on our hormonal health.

3) What we cannot achieve with time… we can do with intensity! Meaning those who aren’t able to do higher volumes of other training can “do a lot with a little” here.

There is a reason exercise guidelines say “150 min of moderate or 75 min of vigorous activity”. For basic health — the harder you go the less you need. For training it’s slightly different!

I bring up the walking analogy not because I’m knocking walking. But some well-intended fitness messages tend to paint walking as an equal “swap”, suggest lower intensity stuff is “less harmful” or say that moderate to high intensity cardio is “bad for fat loss”, or other statements of the like.

I’m writing this caption on a walk — I suggest you walk more & move more. But I also encourage you to do some intensity too! It doesn’t have to be a lot either. Especially so if the bulk of your cardio/ non-lifting movement is walking.

The physiological adaptations are different. High intensity exercise can be uniquely potent for our health OR deliver the same health benefits of more time consuming movement in a more intense but smaller time demand.

Keep doing your walks … but do some intensity too 💪🏻. Your metabolic health, cardiovascular health, training, fitness & body will thank you!

Celebrating this summers health and fitness goals

Celebrating this summers health and fitness goals with @insidetracker #sponsored

Teaming up with InsideTracker to chat my big summer health and fitness goals.

It feels almost timely and bittersweet to be talking about these things after 6 weeks off of work for so much rest + play. Along with starting work tomorrow 👀.

My fitness goals for this year were originally to toe the line of another ultra. But with injuries and life it seems like that may be a next year goal. Which doesn’t mean my efforts now or health focus is wasted!

A big goal I had was to be able to crush a bunch of big 14k foot mountians with regis during our time off 🤍🏔🤘🏻. And we did 7 summits this past month!

Along with still working on sleep + my GI stuff and really making stress management and self care better in my postdoc than PhD🧬.

I have gotten blood work with @insidetracker every year since 2019 and it was immediately apparent when stress started to hurt my health more than training or running ever was and decided to make big changes AS I finished my degree.

I did the ultimate panel every few months for this past year and again before graduating to track my progress of working w/ health professional, nutritional adjustments, other health promoting behaviors + more. Finally this may we were back in a really good place across the board and hoping to keep trends that way 💪🏻.

You can save 20% off @insidetracker with my code DOCLYSSFITNESS and get a peek under your hood as well. With full reports with behavior suggestions + citations, flagging when your should speak with a doctor or nutrition/RD professional & even ways to track your behaviors all in one place.

I get the ultimate but you can save on any test with my code as well. 👩🏼‍🔬💪🏻🏃🏼‍♀️🏋🏼‍♀️.

Im excited to have data to drive me forward with confidence that if I want a big ultra year next year, once my injuries are ready — my insides are ready for that kind of physical stress to 💪🏻🤍.

FREE RESOURCE. // I spent today putting together t

Have you ever wondered how I pack + prep + prepare

Have you ever wondered how I pack + prep + prepare for big hikes or trail runs from gear to food?

I know you do! Because I’m asked about these things quite a bit which is why last summer when I was prepping for the wonderland trail I made a video going over the gear and food i brought.

While the hike didn’t go quite as planned (my wonderland trail video is already up for you to watch too!) this is a great idea of how I prepare for bigger efforts!

I’ll share the link in my story today + my YouTube is always linked in my b!o! 💪🏻🤘🏻

Within the fitness industry their is a common idea

Within the fitness industry their is a common idea / narrative that a form of fitness is only valuable if it results in high heart rates, end zone intensities & lots of calorie burn.

Often I see people say “well isn’t cardio better because it burns more calories” completely missing the point of WHY we lift and WHY we do cardio & their unique adaptations.

The point of lifting is NOT to burn calories. And while you WILL expend energy it’s often less in the moment than cardio — yes. But is additionally costly in its energy requirement (calories / protein) to repair and grow new muscle.

Lifting is an anabolic process and is required to set off (“turn on”) the muscle signals that tell our bodies to make or repair muscle. As well as help train our bodies to use our nerves to recruit more muscle cells so we can produce more force output or increase our skills or ability.

Trying to quantify your calories burned during lifting is redundant and missed a lot of this with your basic smart watch tracker or estimations through your food tracking apps (im looking at you MFP).

You’re far better off using your lifting to simply get stronger + gain muscle NOT trying to expend energy. While all exercise supports healthy fat cell distribution and physiology — let’s let our lifting be LIFTING.

Increasing muscle tissue and strength has far better + cooler benefits that “calorie burning” like increased bone density, tendon health, energy expenditure, glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity, and quality of life + longevity.

Our muscles are some of the largest stores of extra glucose in our bodies! And the more muscle you have the harder your body has to work to grow and maintain it. The are houses of our metabolic machinery which IS enhanced with cardio.

But the goal of lifting is not and has never been to “burn calories”. Turns out — when you make it NOT about that … you’ll likely get all the benefits you were dreaming of and more 🤘🏻🤍

Dr. Lyss — DAY 1 ☑️ Hard to believe I defe

Dr. Lyss — DAY 1 ☑️

Hard to believe I defended & turned in the good ol diss 3 months ago and here I am after day 1 of my postdoc.

I never formally announced here that I accepted a postdoc position (mostly for privacy and easing into my new position 🤍) but am really excited to continue my training within science.

There was one point during the 15 month hiatus from research from the panni that I really didn’t think this was an option for me. I leaned in hard to my business to create my own career backup during that time.

With a lot of “we don’t have fundings” I somehow managed to land the position I knew back in 2019 would be a dream gig.

I love science. And I’m not done learning or asking questions or challenging myself in the areas that I know I have room to grow it.

But share this here to thank my community for supporting me these past few years of my PhD + into this new chapter. While things may look a little different moving forward (mostly a lot less access to me as my priorities shift) — I have an amazing team I’ve been building to help keep all the content you know and love coming. (And I’m kind of wicked smart and really prepared for this transition a year out so I can “do both”.)

So a reminder that if I’m not able to answer a DM, get to all comments or “give” as much it’s not because I hate ya. It’s because I love y’all and I love science and I’m out here doing the dang thing 🤘🏻🤍.

Today I saw a post asking someone what advice they would give their younger self and they said “Nothing. Everything I did worked because I am here.” & dang, if that isn’t the real hard truth.

The girl at 18 who cried “I’m not smart enough for science” turned into the “girl with 6 tutors afraid to fail” to “graduating early with high honors & working like hell”.

This decision was not without stress. But I know that saying yes to the option that gives you the greatest possibility of happiness + the direction you hope to go + scares you a little means the odds are stacked in your favor. & that my friends — is my advice for you.

What excites you but also scares you a little is a magic sweet spot right past your comfort zone. It’s where all the good is— go there.🤍

High intensity interval training, sprint interval

High intensity interval training, sprint interval training, metabolic conditioning, Tabata, anything like that are great for you and your health. While they get a lot of slack for being “too intense” we have to consider a few key factors:

1) High intensity is an issue when over used as the main or only form of movement OR excessively/abused/we’re doing a lot of workouts.

2) We need to eat enough to support higher volumes of higher intensity if we’re worried about its stress on our hormonal health.

3) What we cannot achieve with time… we can do with intensity! Meaning those who aren’t able to do higher volumes of other training can “do a lot with a little” here.

There is a reason exercise guidelines say “150 min of moderate or 75 min of vigorous activity”. For basic health — the harder you go the less you need. For training it’s slightly different!

I bring up the walking analogy not because I’m knocking walking. But some well-intended fitness messages tend to paint walking as an equal “swap”, suggest lower intensity stuff is “less harmful” or say that moderate to high intensity cardio is “bad for fat loss”, or other statements of the like.

I’m writing this caption on a walk — I suggest you walk more & move more. But I also encourage you to do some intensity too! It doesn’t have to be a lot either. Especially so if the bulk of your cardio/ non-lifting movement is walking.

The physiological adaptations are different. High intensity exercise can be uniquely potent for our health OR deliver the same health benefits of more time consuming movement in a more intense but smaller time demand.

Keep doing your walks … but do some intensity too 💪🏻. Your metabolic health, cardiovascular health, training, fitness & body will thank you!

Celebrating this summers health and fitness goals

Celebrating this summers health and fitness goals with @insidetracker #sponsored

Teaming up with InsideTracker to chat my big summer health and fitness goals.

It feels almost timely and bittersweet to be talking about these things after 6 weeks off of work for so much rest + play. Along with starting work tomorrow 👀.

My fitness goals for this year were originally to toe the line of another ultra. But with injuries and life it seems like that may be a next year goal. Which doesn’t mean my efforts now or health focus is wasted!

A big goal I had was to be able to crush a bunch of big 14k foot mountians with regis during our time off 🤍🏔🤘🏻. And we did 7 summits this past month!

Along with still working on sleep + my GI stuff and really making stress management and self care better in my postdoc than PhD🧬.

I have gotten blood work with @insidetracker every year since 2019 and it was immediately apparent when stress started to hurt my health more than training or running ever was and decided to make big changes AS I finished my degree.

I did the ultimate panel every few months for this past year and again before graduating to track my progress of working w/ health professional, nutritional adjustments, other health promoting behaviors + more. Finally this may we were back in a really good place across the board and hoping to keep trends that way 💪🏻.

You can save 20% off @insidetracker with my code DOCLYSSFITNESS and get a peek under your hood as well. With full reports with behavior suggestions + citations, flagging when your should speak with a doctor or nutrition/RD professional & even ways to track your behaviors all in one place.

I get the ultimate but you can save on any test with my code as well. 👩🏼‍🔬💪🏻🏃🏼‍♀️🏋🏼‍♀️.

Im excited to have data to drive me forward with confidence that if I want a big ultra year next year, once my injuries are ready — my insides are ready for that kind of physical stress to 💪🏻🤍.

FREE RESOURCE. // I spent today putting together t

Have you ever wondered how I pack + prep + prepare

Have you ever wondered how I pack + prep + prepare for big hikes or trail runs from gear to food?

I know you do! Because I’m asked about these things quite a bit which is why last summer when I was prepping for the wonderland trail I made a video going over the gear and food i brought.

While the hike didn’t go quite as planned (my wonderland trail video is already up for you to watch too!) this is a great idea of how I prepare for bigger efforts!

I’ll share the link in my story today + my YouTube is always linked in my b!o! 💪🏻🤘🏻

Within the fitness industry their is a common idea

Within the fitness industry their is a common idea / narrative that a form of fitness is only valuable if it results in high heart rates, end zone intensities & lots of calorie burn.

Often I see people say “well isn’t cardio better because it burns more calories” completely missing the point of WHY we lift and WHY we do cardio & their unique adaptations.

The point of lifting is NOT to burn calories. And while you WILL expend energy it’s often less in the moment than cardio — yes. But is additionally costly in its energy requirement (calories / protein) to repair and grow new muscle.

Lifting is an anabolic process and is required to set off (“turn on”) the muscle signals that tell our bodies to make or repair muscle. As well as help train our bodies to use our nerves to recruit more muscle cells so we can produce more force output or increase our skills or ability.

Trying to quantify your calories burned during lifting is redundant and missed a lot of this with your basic smart watch tracker or estimations through your food tracking apps (im looking at you MFP).

You’re far better off using your lifting to simply get stronger + gain muscle NOT trying to expend energy. While all exercise supports healthy fat cell distribution and physiology — let’s let our lifting be LIFTING.

Increasing muscle tissue and strength has far better + cooler benefits that “calorie burning” like increased bone density, tendon health, energy expenditure, glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity, and quality of life + longevity.

Our muscles are some of the largest stores of extra glucose in our bodies! And the more muscle you have the harder your body has to work to grow and maintain it. The are houses of our metabolic machinery which IS enhanced with cardio.

But the goal of lifting is not and has never been to “burn calories”. Turns out — when you make it NOT about that … you’ll likely get all the benefits you were dreaming of and more 🤘🏻🤍

Live It Up With Me On The ‘Gram

@littlelyssfitness

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