A blog to help you optimize your full-body and life performance

“I don’t want to lift weights, it will make me bulk up!” This is a common mindset in women wary of starting a new training routine. Even a quick Google search will reveal that it's an incredibly popular area of interest on bodybuilding blogs and fitness forums. Women enter the gym to improve a healthy inside and outside, and, sometimes, building a bulky exterior doesn’t align with their goals.

The truth is, merely taking the next step in your gym routine won’t automatically result in bigger muscles. And yet, this misconception can unfortunately impede women from entering the weight room. But in fact, the body of research showing resistance training's diverse benefits (particularly in women) continues to grow. So before you shy away from the weight room, here are some science-supported facts about weight lifting for women.

If you have your eyes and ears on the CrossFit® scene at all, you’ve probably heard of the *big* changes that occurred to the competitive season over the past several months. It’s hard to miss the gripes and complaints coming from the internet on the drastic changes (which seemingly came out of nowhere) in the early fall, as they've left many athletes puzzled, confused, scared and maybe even a little angry. As with any change, growing pains are to be expected. But there are some things that athletes can do to smooth over the transition and set themselves up for success for the 2019 Games season.

Increasing muscle mass does more than just alter your physical appearance. It’s actually crucial for sustaining your health in the long term. Sufficient muscle mass helps you manage your weight, build and maintain strong bones, increase your metabolism, and keep you active as you age.

So, have we convinced you it’s time to add some lean mass? The InsideTracker platform has you covered when you choose “Gain Muscle” as your goal. But here, we’ve broken down the science to provide you with some top recommendations for achieving serious #gains.

To get detailed portrait of the human body’s internal biochemistry, it is helpful to understand how biomarkers impact each other. In this article we investigate recent scientific literature looking at how testosterone levels are affected by a commonly overlooked biomarker: the mineral magnesium. Read below to learn the importance of each biomarker and how monitoring magnesium can boost testosterone and improve muscle growth, sex drive, and overall health and wellness in both men and women.

Of the 30 biomarkers InsideTracker monitors, Vitamin D is the one we most frequently see at non-optimal levels. And this is no surprise: Vitamin D insufficiency is one of the most prevalent nutrient-related pandemics in the world. While its deficiency is commonly associated with diseases of the muscular and skeletal systems, cutting-edge research illustrates that optimized levels of vitamin D amplify the expression of certain genes to stimulate muscle growth, optimize body composition, and prevent injury. Read below to learn how monitoring and modifying levels of this overlooked vitamin using InsideTracker can help you get leaner, healthier, and stronger.

If you’re an athlete, you know that in order to improve your physical performance, you have to work hard. But is the “no pain, no gain” mantra doing your body more harm than good? Here’s the tip that many world-class athletes use to increase their chances of success: getting an adequate amount of rest in between workouts can actually make you stronger!

If you participate in strenuous exercise, you probably have some amount of sarcomeric damage, which just signifies that you’re muscles and skeletal system are being worked hard. Marathon runners, and weight-lifters put the greatest amount of stress on their muscular-skeletal system, and evidence of the damage can easily be found in the body.