Women and Bulk with guest WBFF Pro Linda Stephens

There is a four-letter word when it comes to women and weight training – “Bulk.” It is a myth perpetuated by numerous “celebrity trainers,” ones who play into this fear while pushing the promise of long, lean muscles. Avoiding strength training for fear of building “bulk” is one of the primary reasons women fail to achieve their healthiest bodies. Hear the truth about women and muscle as Tom interviews Linda Stephens, pro athlete in the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio. Hi,
welcome to Fitness Disrupted. I am Tom holland your host.
In this show, I tackle the hottest topics and exercise,
nutrition and motivation, debunking the myths and misconceptions while giving

(00:23):
you actionable advice you're gonna be able to use right away.
I am so excited for the show today. Here a
beautiful day in New York City, my Heart Radio studios
here with showing my producer. I've got Ernie, my engineer,
and it's gonna be an amazing show with Linda Stevens.
And you know what our topic is today. It's gonna
be women and muscle. And you can't see Linda, I

(00:45):
can just let me paint a picture right. She has
an amazing physique. She is an i f BB Figure
Pro competition prep coach, personal trainer, and a full time
single mom of two teenagers. She's doing it all. She
holds a master's degree in nutrition and she has written
for magazines including Muscle and Fitness, Hers, Oxygen Strong. She

(01:05):
presents she's a lecturer. She is out there as a
nutritionist and a bodybuilder. She knows more about muscle than
of Uh, I'd say women and men safely, you know. Uh.
So this is just an amazing show because the show
is all about debunking those myths. Linda, And like the

(01:26):
four letter word that almost drove me out of fitness
years ago was bulk. Right, So women and muscle, let's
get right down to it. Though. Give people a little
of your background. How did you get started? You know,
have you been lifting for a long time? And when
did you start bodybuilding? Um? I started lifting weights in
my early twenties, but prior to that, I taught a

(01:47):
lot of aerobics classes. I worked for Richard Simmons at
one point, teaching in his He had a string of
studios called the Anatomy Asylum, and I started teaching classes there.
So I was kind of kind of a cardio queen
back then. But um, and then I got into weight
training in my early twenties and always lifted just for
my own personal health. I worked in the city on
Wall Street for a long time when I graduated from college.

(02:09):
That was my career. Um. And then after I had
children in my mid early to mid thirties, had two children,
and I knew I couldn't go back to Wall Street
that lifestyle just was not gonna not conduce to having kids.
What to do. I couldn't get on the train in
six in the morning and be home at nine o'clock
at night. Just I chose to raise my children. So

(02:32):
I retired from that life. And then after they got
to be a little bit older, maybe you know, three
or four or five years old, I went back and
got my personal training certification, which is where it's all started.
And then I decided I wanted to be a cut
above a regular personal trainer because there were so many
personal trainers out there, and some are amazing and some
are not. Um. So I wanted to get my degree

(02:52):
in nutrition. I felt like that would put me a
cut above everybody else and give me more credentials and
more um you know, more of of a resume, if
you will. So I went back at forty two and
took me about three years, got my master's degree and nutrition,
and then it just stores started opening up because people
listen when you have you know, education behind you. So

(03:15):
that's that's what I wanted. Sometimes that's why I got then,
But you know what it was, it was a great choice.
I mean, you know, I have this discussion with a
lot of people, and it's like we just need to
do things. Sometimes if we just get started, we sit
around and go, oh, I'd love to do this or
I'd love to do that. It's like, well, get up
and get go and do it. Because if I had waited,

(03:36):
I'm fifty one now I could have said, God, in
my forties, I should have gone back to school. But
I didn't. But I did it, and I'm done. You know,
like we waste so much time thinking about what we
should want to do. Yesterday you said tomorrow, right, I say.
The secrets to life are all over Instagram. Everyone post them,
but no one does them. I know. Yeah, And that's
what this show is all about. You know, Acam's razor.

(03:57):
It's the simple solutions and the simple things that get
the results. But that's not the industry, right, That's not
what you and I have to battle against, the quick fix,
the lack of science. Right. And that's why I love
having you on the show, is because you not only
have and again I need to paint the pictures you
can't see Linda, she looks amazing and go to her

(04:18):
website Linda M. Stevens dot com as your uh you know,
if you have the internet available as you're listening to
the show or after, and just get get an idea
of what she looks like. Amazing, you know, an extreme
and we're gonna talk about that. I do extreme cardio. Uh.
And then I pulled back and Linda does more uh
strength training than most people do. Right, but she has

(04:40):
better looking arms than most men. And uh, you know
that's something we're gonna talk about, the muscle and how
important muscle is. But but that's it, Linda, is that
the knowledge, the science is perverted, right or it's not
even thought about at all. So you said, and I'm
gonna be a little tougher that. You know, trainers, there's
a lot of great there are aren't that many really

(05:01):
good fitness people. There just aren't. And that's part of
the problem. Right, We made it our career. And I
went back and got my masters like you, because the
same thing, and got all the certifications because I knew
that I could so easily as you did separate. We
could separate ourselves with the knowledge, right and then truly
help people. And this isn't. This isn't when you know, bro,

(05:22):
science is exercise science, nutrition and I love that. And
you know, I went back for the exercise science and
psychology sports psychology because I wanted the motivation side, and
then I did the sports nutrition. You went back and
because nutrition is so crucial. As we know, nutrition is
you can go in the gym and work out every
single day of the week, but if you're going to
hit the drive through too three times a day and

(05:44):
not gonna see the results, it's not going to show.
So you know, and and then we just live in
a world of instant gratifications. So everyone and I get
this all the time from clients when I signed them up,
is you know how long is this gonna take? How
long is it gonna take me to build muscle? And not?
My answer always is, well, let's say I started really
lifting weights at forty two, like seriously, to build muscle.
I'm fifty one and I can say I'm really happy

(06:06):
with what I've built over the years, Like I'm content now.
I don't want to any more muscle. I'm happy to
where I am. So what's that nine years? What? Right
back to the Wall Street guys just have the Wall
Street guys would say I want a six pack, and
I'd say I want your Ferrari How long did it
take you to earn that? Yeah? Exactly. So it's it's
you know, people are like after a month of diet

(06:27):
and they're like, well, i'm hw come, I'm only down
you know X amount. Like you're like, you ate two
good meals, right, you expected to see. And that's what
we'll talk about. It is SiGe and it's math, you know,
and that's what drives me nuts. I holy cow, you
know the cow, he's not a cow and all this
kind of stuff. And when it comes down to pure
weight loss, and you know, that's a topic for another day.

(06:49):
But you know we're talking about muscle. We're gonna talk
about how important it is. Again. I'm with Linda Stevens,
you know, I f BB pro. She knows not only
the strength side, but the nutrition side, and they are
totally connected and you can't have one without the other.
These is it nutrition, is it diet an exercise? It
to both? It's both right, uh yeah? And the bodybuilding

(07:10):
site like when we go to extremes. When I did
the natural bodybuilding, I warned so much about just simply
cutting out carps and how horrible that is and how
much my brain ran on that. You know, when I
was training seventeen hours a day as a trainer, bodybuilding,
cutting calories and it was brutal. Right, And so when
I think I saw you years ago at the gym,

(07:31):
right and you're cutting calories, and I was like, I
don't want to talk to you, I know when you're
that close. But that's it comes down to science. And
you know, so when we're talking about the fear of bulk,
explained to women how important strength training is to achieving
their goals. Um, so women don't really have to bulk,
first of all. I mean I hear that a lot,
and it's like, well, unless you're going to be a

(07:52):
bodybuilder up on stage, you don't really need to quote
unquote bulk. But what you do need to do is
make sure you're eating a good balance of protein, good
complex carbs, good fats at every meal. So maybe you're
eating four or five times a day, depending on how
active you are. But so it all ties together. It's
you don't need to put on pounds to build muscle.

(08:16):
I mean, right now I'm in a stage where I'm
cutting because I want to get on stage, but normally
i'd go back to I'll probably put ten pounds back on.
But let's be honest. The people, the women who are
concerned about putting on twenty thirty pounds of muscle. If
those women trying to do what it's not gonna happen
without some kind of help, without help, and we'll talk
about that help. And I love that because because that's

(08:38):
what this show is about, you know, busting the myths,
being honest, going there where people don't. But that's the problem.
Is that again, the women who have the concern where
you and I come from, and you know, the skinny unfit,
many of them right are son, it's not gonna happen, right,
They're concerned about picking up a ten pound dumb bell
versus a five pound dumb bell when it's like, you're not.

(09:00):
You know, you see women swinging in the five pound
dumbell around in the gym. You see it. I see
it every day, and it's like pick up a fifteen
you know, do less reps. And they they're like, well,
I don't want to get bulky, and I'm like, well,
you know, it's not gonna happen. What you are going
to do that was build some nice lean muscle, because
you're gonna force the muscle to grow a little bit,
not crazy, but you're gonna build and grow and make

(09:21):
some shape to your body versus just being kind of straight.
And I guess the term is what skinny fat almost.
But you know, as we age, as we get into
our forties and fifties and sixties, it's not good for
women to look that thin and be that waive it.
It doesn't look good on your skin. Your skin just
it doesn't look healthy or it's it'll get saggy droopy,

(09:42):
like the muscle underneath will keep the skin full and
looking good. So and even if you put on even
if you do carry a little extra weight five eight
ten pounds, it's probably not that big of a deal
because it's probably gonna make you look better. So, I
mean everyone's concerned about doing you know, botox and fillers
and this and that, but you know what natural fillers like,
lift some weight, build some muscles exactly that way there

(10:04):
your body will look firm and full and good people
say to me all the time, you don't look fifty
when I thought you were like thirty eight, and um,
and I love that. But it's because strength training and
exercising and eating right really is the only anti aging
medicine there is out there. It's so simple. Turnover faster,

(10:24):
you sleep better at night, growth hormone kicks in, you repair,
you regenerate. It's it's it's been proven their studies. It
shows that exercises the fountain of you. There's no magic pill,
there's no magic bullet, there's no raspberry keytone, there's no whatever.
I mean, it's you know, it's just that stuff is
just money. People are just making so much money on
selling some of these crazy supplements that people are going

(10:47):
to think they're gonna take and then just sit on
the sofa and it doesn't work. And what people don't
realize and you alluded to it, is that the only
natural way to increase your metabolism is through build lean muscle. Y.
You know, when when clients would say to you, and
I would train clients, and I would rarely do a
husband and wife because that just has its own, you know,

(11:08):
host of problems there. And one of the problems is
the guy would generally lose more weight than the woman
quicker because they have more lean muscles. So, ladies, one
of the main reasons and men, but especially women, you
want to build lean muscle is it is metabolically more
active than fat tissue. It burns more calories twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week. You can't out

(11:28):
run your fork. You're talking about that earlier. So when
people say, oh, Tom, will you do marathons and ultra
marathons and triathlons, you can eat whatever you want. Absolutely
not even close, right, and we can talk about that math.
But that is such great news for people. And I
love the line cardio adds years to our lives. Strength
training adds life to our years. Right, you're gonna be fit,

(11:49):
and you see at fifty six, if you're not strong,
if you don't do prehab, you're gonna do rehab. Here's
what I love with it. You're gonna lift weights. It's
your choice. Are you gonna do it in physical therapy?
Thank you? Right, let's say that again. You will lift weight.
It is not a question of if. But when do
you pay someone because you have to when you're injured,

(12:10):
or do you do it ahead of time? And unfortunately
that's human nature right when people just wait till the
west And there have been studies done to showing that
people as they age that have trained their legs like
that do strength training and train their legs, you know,
through squatting, lunging, deadlifting, whatever, and it doesn't have to
be crazy amounts of weight, um. But it's been shown
that as they age, those people are less likely to

(12:32):
have injuries like breaking their hips when they're seventy eight
years old. And remember being in school and one of
my professors would always say, older people seenior people don't
fall down and break their hip. Their hip breaks and
then they fall and they fall down. So they're saying,
you know, you keep your legs strong as you age
throughout your life, those people tend to have less of
those things happening. I love that you brought that up

(12:54):
because that's mind blowing from people. Right. People think, oh,
she fell and she broke her hip. No, her hip
actually snapped and and which obviously caused her to fall down,
and both happen. But the fact that people don't realize that,
so strength training and again we're not saying, you know,
and again to try to look like Linda. She has
worked ridiculously hard to get there. And you know, the

(13:15):
goal is to be functionally strong and to enjoy quality
of life exactly, and to achieve that. The great news
is you don't have to run as far as I do.
You don't have to lift the weights and diet as
strictly as Linda does. You just have to do be consistent, right,
and so strength training so crucial and it'll give you.

(13:35):
I have a client who just recently lost forty pounds.
We started working together in September. Um. I think she's
down about forty pounds. And you know, she said to me,
I feel so good. I can go on a bike
ride now and I'm not out of breath, I can
carry my groceries upstairs. I sleep better. She's like, I'm
just everything is so much better. And it's true. And she,
you know, she was just on. I had her on

(13:56):
a good comprehensive eating program and she had her you know,
her h ups along the way, a lot of hand holding,
but um, and she worked out religiously and did you know,
cardio and she did some weights and you know, it
wasn't certainly she wasn't doing prs or anything like that,
but she was moving five or six times a week
and she lost forty pounds and she looks like a
completely different person and she feels good and she did

(14:17):
it the right way. So she'll keep it off, right,
and that's it. It's it's small steps forward are steps forward.
When I was a trainer, I never wanted a client
to lose five pounds in a week, right, because we
know that's water, and you know it's and and muscle,
and so let's go really important to women and men
as well. So Winda was talking about as we age

(14:37):
generally thirty five, somewhere around there, we start to lose muscle.
The technical term is sarcopenia, right. What that means is
so so you know, Linda and those of you listening,
you say, you know what, I'm thirty, I'm doing the same,
I'm eating the same, but I'm gaining weight. Why is that?
And one of the main reasons is you are losing
muscle mass, You're losing that metabolically active tissue. So but

(14:58):
here's the great news, because I'm all about the great news, right,
you can prevent that and reverse it. How do we
do that? Strength training? Strength training? Absolutely, it's um As
you just said before, muscle burns more calories even at rest.
Using myself as an example, if I take a couple
of days off, I'm still just as hungry as if
I was in the gym training because my body is

(15:20):
just calling for that fuel because I have so much
muscle that I'm constantly burning calories. Even if it's a
rest day, I still have to eat every two hours.
It's religious, it is. And and again, they don't have
to take it to the level that you or I
take it to. Um, you know, we choose to do
that because we just we love it for lots of
different reasons. And it's my job. So I feel like,
who's gonna listen to a fat nutritionist that's out of shape? Right,

(15:43):
So I feel like I have to keep some level
of of fitness. But um, you know, people can just
get in the gym four times a week and lift weights.
You can combine muscle groups if you want to, um,
you know, and it doesn't have to be crazy, but
you want to push yourself enough and do some cardio
to keep your heart strong and help burn the fat
um and then you take the muscle, you take the

(16:04):
weights to help build the shape. So the cardio burns
the fat, the muscle builds the shape, and there it's
just a great compliment. And then when you add in
all the right nutritional um components, it's not hard. And
then and you can still go on the weekend maybe
and have a cheat meal, go out to dinner and
if you enjoy a glass of wine, or you want
to have a Burger and fries or you want to

(16:24):
go out for a nice dinner, you can. You can
do that and and we do. Yeah, and it's you know,
you you all week Monday through Saturday, you live clean,
you know, strict kind of life. Not strict, but you
know what I mean, Like you live clean and then
you look forward to Saturday nights to my night. I'm
gonna go to my favorite restaurant and have and that's
what I do. I'm like, I can't wait to go have.

(16:44):
You know, Burger and Fries is a great place in Westport.
You need to try. That's winda right. And we always
talk about people out there listening. Have heard eight percent
at the time really healthy the time indulge, I would argue,
Americans are pretty Yeah, that's that's it. People are eating
out so much in one day, maybe two three times

(17:07):
a day or and keeping meals and then chowing down
and you know, hitting some I have a people say
all the time, I was so hungry to know what
to do. And McDonald's was there and I drove through
the drive through, and I'm like, that's like the worst
thing you could do. McDonald's are for people like Lyndon myself.
That's where we hide and we drive through. Can I
give you a really funny story. I actually have two
boys right play hockey, coming back from hockey. Now, listen,

(17:28):
we do it all. Not frequently do I go to
you know, my kids, Actually my older son doesn't like it,
my younger son every now and again, you know, and
then we get the mc gurgles, right then you feel
really horrible. You feel good for two minutes, and then
you feel horrible after. But I was in the McDonald's
with one of my sons and all of a sudden
the text came through and it was a picture of
me in the McDonald's eating. So a friend had driven by.

(17:49):
So oh my gosh, drive throughs her for us. But
that's so E twenty right, And and listen, I'm not
I cut out nothing. So when people say do you
cut out carbs? Do you know I drink wine. I
do a little bit of everything. And then when I
need to get in shape a little better for a
race or people, So what when is saying and I
personally believe and I'm sure you'd agree to some degree

(18:09):
agree about. So I do a one day cycle in
a seven day cycle. So if I'm eating five to
six meals a day, one of those can be not
as perfect, and it's generally at night. And if you
eat really well all day, then you can, you know,
have a couple of extra calories at night because it's
cowries in and cowries out. And then, as you said,
one day during the week. And I love doing it
on the weekends with my friends and there like, oh
my gosh, you eat like wine and you have dessert. Yeah,

(18:33):
just not I know, three every night exactly, or yeah, exactly.
It can't do it every single day. It can't be
you know, eating drive through food every day, hitting the
deli for sandwiches at lunch, and then wherever else you're going.
It's just it's it just adds up. And people then
they're like, god, I've put on like ten pounds and
you know, like a month and I don't know how

(18:53):
that happened. And I'm like, well, right, what are you
doing what you're eating? Like? And then they that's what
they either put their head down in shame or you
know they roll their eyes, right, And and what I
really want listeners to understand and what Linda and I
are saying, it gets easier, it doesn't get harder. So
the deprivation side that you have been sold in the
in the books and the videos, and these are people.

(19:15):
Guess what. Most of those people look the way they do,
the Tracy Anderson's of the world. Just go throw names
out there. We're born that way. If you want to
look like them, you need their parents, you need their genetics, right,
and many of those people are going to have issues
down the road. My goal is to be doing this
one I'm nine, you know, that's it, and I'm doing

(19:35):
it for my kids and everything. So we're talking about
muscle and and how this you know you should and
could eat much more frequently than you do. And let's
just go there real quickly because we're talking about breakfast.
So you if you could see the studio too. Right
next to Sean is a pink bag filled with food.
And it's not his process of elimination, right, and it's

(19:58):
not mine, right pink. But um, So when Di and
I were before the show started, I sprinted here. Came
from the city or outside the city on the train
and there's a Starbucks downstairs, and I sprinted, I go,
I got eight minutes. That's just enough time for oatmeal, right,
oatmeal and nuts and raisins. And I say, give me
all the toppings, you know, And you said what you

(20:19):
as well? I did. I was on my way in.
I had my breakfast at home this morning. But I
have that is that's my hot pink bag. It has
three has two meals in it now because I ate
one on the way in because it was about five,
and I know my second meal comes around ten ten thirty,
and I knew right away, so I I pulled out
my food. I have three ounces of chicken. I had
a cup of rice because I'm eating a little extra

(20:41):
carbs today, and I had some green beans and I
put sea salts on it. So I ate that on
my way in. So I feel good now, right, my
energy is good. And I know, probably like I don't know,
twelve and one o'clock ish, I'll have I have another
meal with me, and in case I get delayed on
the way home for whatever reason, I got another meal
with right, So I will not ever get stuck with
about fueling my body, because if not I feel terrible.

(21:02):
I get a headache, I feel light at it. I
just don't feel good. So, um, you people, people, normal
regular genuine population people experience that also. But they're not
prepared right, so they don't have food with them, so
that's when they're going to grab a danish or whatever.
You know. So Starbucks is good and and we write
on McDonald's, but they're not so bad. I think you

(21:24):
can even get oatmeal, and McDonald's are salad. I get
the salad with chicken, and I walk into most places
and I'll order it and we'll go. We serve that,
I know, but anywhere some of the places now, because
sometimes clowns will be like, well, I'm here and there,
I don't know what to do. I'm like, you can
usually always get a salad somewhere. Somewhere you can get
a salad and put some kind of protein on us.

(21:45):
You're making me hungry. It's a perfect time to take
a break and you and I will both have a
protein shake or a banana with peanut butter or something. Again,
when to Stevens, we're talking about bulk. We're gonna get
back there, but we will be right back after this

(22:11):
and we're back. So I just love talking to you.
Can we do a nine hour show show? How much
time do you have? When do you have to get back?
I just I love this. And if you want the
results of someone, follow what they do. Now. Most of
you don't write, and that's what I did when I
started in this business. So I started doing push ups
when I was fourteen because I read herschel Walker did

(22:33):
three under Today and three crunch and that got me started, right,
And that will be our takeaway at the end. We're
gonna give people always something they can do right away
to get started. So I know people are listening going, well,
I'm not going to do that, and we're not asking
you to know we're not. What we're saying is you
can eat and should eat. The study show frequently. Absolutely
that's the best way to keep your keep your weight down.

(22:54):
And eat breakfast. I mean I know, and oh my gosh,
you can read these articles. Is breakfast that important front
load your day? Right? Why? People? So when people eat
again topic a hole do this and a whole another show?
Is eating at night really that bad for you? Um? Not?
If you eat the right things and if you can't,
well it can't be a Hogganda's pint, but it could

(23:15):
be some protein and a little fat. You know, it
could be maybe an apple with a little almond butter.
What are your last two meals of the day? What
time you um? I eat? I usually eat my last
meal around seven thirty eight o'clock, but I have I
have had to eat food at like nine or ten
o'clock at night if I'm at an event and I'm
doing something and my meals are spaced out a little
bit more. But you know, I'll eat some Like last night,

(23:37):
I made some egg whites and I put a little
vanilla protein potter in it and some cinnamon at like
nine and I had that and I went to bed
and it made me feel good. It was you know,
I love eggs. Second, you can eat eggs anytime, so like,
there are lots of things that you can eat. You know,
you can do a little cottage cheese or a little
Greek yogurt. You know, it's just what you choose to
eat at night. You can't eat a bowl of spaghetti
and meatballs and then go to bed at you know,

(23:58):
eat it at nine o'clock and go to bed at ten.
And a glass of wine and bread and all that
scene Italian here, I am too. But wait a minute,
let's if if let's just go there with a science.
If you've had nothing all day, right, if you literally,
if you've had or very little food, and that spaghetti
and wine is and you're around two, you can do that.

(24:22):
Now most people can't because they've eaten way too much before.
But we're talking total cowaries. But to your point, and
and that's what we need people to know, is you
are consuming the vast majority of your colories at night.
And part of the problem is you're not eating enough
throughout the day. I mean, how many people said to
you and they said it to me for so many
I can't I'm not hungry. I can't eat that. And

(24:43):
my answer would be, well, you're getting hungry at some point, Yeah,
you have to be. I don't understand how they can't be,
and then they have extra weight. So so why don't
you change what you're doing? If you're not eating breakfast
and you want to lose weight, change You can't change
if you don't change, right, right, And that's great news.
A lot of people don't eat on purpose because they'll say, well,
I eat breakfast and I don't need anything until dinner.
I don't know why I'm gaining weight. I'm like, well,

(25:04):
because your metabolism has slowed down because your body thinks
you're starving it and you're consuming three thousand, four thousand
calories at night. Yeah, and or even if if you
just eat, let us, you're gonna store that as fat
because your body is like, we don't know when we're
getting more foods. We're holding onto this. We're not gonna
burn U. We're gonna keep it. And I just want
people to eat, you know, and eat eat food. And

(25:25):
you know we're talking about muscle, but it's tied in
because protein is the building block of muscle, so we
need to go there. So you can't. Back when I was,
you know, I was a skinny kid. Not always a
skinny kid. I couldn't run. I had so to be
a more muscular guy who runs ultras now and stuff
is not because that wasn't who I was as a kid.

(25:45):
And I used to take something called Gainer's fuel five
thousand and I think it was literally like five thousand.
It was something insane back in the day, back in
the wild West of supplements too, and I put on
because there's no protein in I don't even know what
was in it, but it's just garbage. Right, So when
I started eating protein at every meal, every meal, my
philosophy and I'm sure again Linda is pretty close. Is

(26:06):
healthy carbs, healthy protein at every meal, right, right, and
that works. Don't even get me into the topic of
like you shouldn't combine those two. Most people wholy cow
Now they work together, you know, they work together. So
and you and I say that to women all the time,
like are you eating enough protein at at your meals?
And a lot of them usually are not. Usually they're

(26:26):
not eating enough protein. So can we say that because
how many doctors and you read they say, you know,
and now, yes, there are people eating crazy amounts of meat,
but those are different, right, most people don't get enough protein, right, absolutely,
absolutely we can agree on that. And again mostly you go,
come on, now, most people, if you eat too much protein, listen,
you will gain weight, right, So calories doesn't matter where

(26:47):
the cowies come from. For the most part, you are
going to gain weight. Right. So but when again, you're
gonna feel satiated. You know, people don't really understand how
powerful that word is. When you eat protein and healthy fat,
feel full or longer exactly because you know, it slows
down the digestion versus if you sit down and eat
some simple processed you know, carb or something. And a

(27:09):
lot of people that's why people always say that hitting
the wall at three or four o'clock and they're like, oh,
I need coffee, or they eat a chocolate bar, or
they drink five hour energy or you see those commercials.
And I just I was banging my head when I
see that. You started so on the train here, I
told you you want to learning this, so I just
love again that I you know, I'm running the train

(27:30):
most you know finance guys. Right, young guy gets on
next to me. He's gotta be in his mid twenties,
got the suit on and he definitely, you know, he
has a couple of pounds to lose, right, and I hear,
you know, can't open. And I look at him and
he's got huge monster monster. Okay, actually, okay, you know,
not the best thing. I get it ten minutes later,

(27:51):
another one second, one. Now he's going to flow off
the wagon, probably probably already has, probably already has right now. Listen,
I'm a believer in caffeine. I got nothing out. I
love caffeine, coffee. I have coffee out there. Coffee is
an aergogenic gaide. It's a performance enhanced there's a fat
burner moderation. I probably do a little bit more than

(28:12):
as opposed to But okay, I'm gonna be honest, um,
but yes, and I guarantee you're saying, if that guy
was one of our clients and you said, what did
he have for breakfast, he would not mention. The monsters
would not. And that's part of the problem with dietary
studies and self reports and stuff like that. But again,
the takeaway that Lynde and I are talking about is
get excited that you can eat more frequently, that you

(28:34):
should eat a huge breakfast. That's the other thing too.
Especially women will go I had one egg and you
go on, eaties had an egg and a piece of toast.
I'm like, we need to eat more than that. Or
every time I write a program. For a lot of
the times when I write programs from women, you know,
some of the responses back will be like, well, this

(28:55):
is so much food. I'm like, you know what, it really,
it's really not that my It's just because it's it's
itemized out now by meals you know so, and people
don't think they People probably eat a hell of a
lot more than what I've got on a piece of paper.
And then they're like, this is too much food, and
I'm like, no, it's really not. It's only because I've
listed everything. I'm like, do me a favorite. Do this

(29:15):
for a week. I'm like, you were not going to
have gained fifty pounds in a week. We're gonna do
this for a week, and I want you to tell
me how you feel. And then they do it for
a week and they've lost usually have lose two or
three pounds, and they're like, oh, I feel really good.
I actually really liked this program. Like yes, because Listen
and I had a coach way back when once for
Traflon and I started writing books, and I wanted to

(29:35):
do it myself. When he would ask me what I
would eat, I would completely lie. Listen, I get it
because I don't want to admit that I ate the
entire box of Malamar's. I want to tell my coach that,
so we get that. So I always say self reports
the three day food intake. That's why that's a nutritionist
got I started the same nutrition program you did years ago.
And if I told you, and I stopped because I
was like, I can't. It's hard enough for me to

(29:57):
deal with like the nutrition stuff. But um, the three
day self reports are the greatest works of fiction ever written. Right,
So one of two things happened are both they eat better,
uh or they lie and a combination of the two.
So what I say to people, and again this is
your side more than a mine, is do that three
day self report, be honest, rite down every blt bites,

(30:19):
licks and taste people. By the way, that's one thing
that women don't realize. And I'm home with the boys
a lot when they were growing up, especially, I get it,
like you know, you're eating every chicken nugget that's left over,
and like all those cowards count, but no one counts those, right,
No one counts mac and cheese. Yeah, yeah, five times
a day now it's a bowl of mac and cheese.

(30:41):
And people don't realize too. Do you know that, Um,
we're so all over the place, we don't care. Uh.
That baby food is uh. They tested on adults because
they know that the mother most likely will be taking
taste of it. That's interesting. I didn't know that. To
make sure that it tastes the baby like it, Mom's
gotta like it because chances are strong that mom will

(31:02):
be tasting it. So smart. That takeaway is is people eat, eat, eat, eat.
Carbohydrates are not the enime. Protein is not the enemy
and bulk is not the enemy. And that's the main
reason that that when is here. But we're going to
talk about all these different things because they're all interconnected,
and that's one thing that's really important, and fitness is
too often these articles and clickbait things try to parse

(31:23):
it out and try to separate the issues. And and
that's why it is an art and the science, right,
it's people have to figure out what work for them.
So we're gonna give you the science. We're gonna say,
here's what carbs do, here's what protein does. Here's what
they say about breakfast. Here's muscle and metabolically more active,
and then you're going to figure it out for yourself.
And there's so many options. There's so many sources of protein.

(31:43):
Do you have to eat eggs? Absolutely? Now, Now you
gotta figure out your protein though, right, you can figure
out for breakfast. Um, you know, you can do a
protein you can make use a great protein potter. There's
somebody now make a smoothie. You don't need to do eggs.
You can do if you like yogurt, or you like
cottage cheese, or you could do steak in the morning.
You mean, there's a lot of different things you can do.
So um, find what work, find what works and what

(32:06):
you like. But um, but eggs are so easy, and
you can make them so many different ways, and you
can throw so many so much, so much in them.
Even if you wanted to throw in like a few
bacon bits just to give it that little bit of flavor,
you can you can do that. You can use a
little fat cheese if you wanted to. Like it doesn't
have to be like so strict, Like you can add
things in and add vegetables and make it tasty and

(32:29):
good and happy. And it's really simple. I think we
just overthink it, just overthink it. But it's so it's
so important. And even if it's a rest day, you
still need to keep your nutrition up, Like, you still
need to eat the way you would eat. Um, do
you know that you can rent chickens, by the way,
I was gonna get my own chicken really eggs, like
you need to get one. I don't know one chicken.

(32:52):
What's gonna maybe one or two eggs a day, but
that would be great. I love my neighbors to go
the fitness guy's chickens. You can rent them. Just go
by the organic ones and try to show to buy
some white in a cart and I'm good, but they're
real quickly. I'm so lazy with cooking. The only thing
I do have is I have an egg cooker because
I'm kind of even screwed up in the water like

(33:13):
the boiling part. So it's it's like twenty dollars and
it looks like an egg and you put some water
in depending on how cooked you want it to be,
and put it but but seamless. Um. But you know,
just getting back to I think women to building muscle.
It's what we also need to recognize is that it
builds bone mass. So and you know osteopenia and all

(33:36):
those bone diseases that women are susceptible to, are you know,
it really helps to prevent that. So building bone mass
by doing weight bearing exercises. Um. So, I mean that's
that's one thing right there that is should make any
woman want to lift weights. I mean, who wants to
be seventy years old with brittle bones and not healthy?

(33:56):
And we don't think, we don't think I've ten twenty
years down the road. You know. It's like I think
we just think today. We're just focused on today, or
instant gratification where it's like set yourself up. I always
say to people, how do you want to age? Do
you want to age gracefully and look good and be
strong and or do you want to be in the
doctor's office having issues and joint problems and this problem,

(34:19):
digestive problems all those things, and you know, not looking
healthy and good and happy, like how do you want
to live? And golf terms the back nine really so
to speak right, I mean, and it's and that's really important.
And you know I keep that in my mind too,
because I know, you know, when I'm I want to
look like this still, let's take a quick break. We'll

(34:40):
be right back. And you know what, you hit the
nail on the headland that we are. And it's just
it's everything in fitness and diet, and it's short term thinking, right,
and and it's a marathon, not a sprint, and the

(35:03):
prehab versus rehab that we're talking about earlier. And here's
the great news is, well, what's if more people than
ever are joining gyms or members of gyms and obesity
is something is way off? Right? And what's way off?
And I say the future of fitness two things short
workouts and working at at home. Right, still go to
the gym, but I call it the Netflix kind of phenomenon,
right Right. I love going to the movie theater. I

(35:25):
go there with my kids. I love it. That's an experience.
I want to be around people. But I do most
of my TV watching on Netflix and things like that.
That's the future, right. The same thing with fitness is
now you can have it in your home and you
can have content and and everything delivered right there in
the coolest equipment at great prices and just amazing. She'll
go to the gym, right. But I love Jim Gaffey
and I did stand up comedy many years ago and

(35:45):
started with him just and he's the guy who says
he looks at the person in the gym who's in shape. You,
he says, what are you doing? Go home? You're done.
Most people wait until because you don't feel comfortable. Now again,
Jim server purpose us and classes and being around people. Community.
That's a huge part of it. But it's not about

(36:06):
going to the gym and our day. It's it's small
chunks of time, right, and that's one of the takeaways
will give. And it's body weight exercises too. You don't
have to have fancy equipment. You want to use it
all right, free weights and machines. Stop, it doesn't right,
Just it's not if you're doing something that's good, you
know most people, right and put them down, get your

(36:27):
heart rate up and then let it come down. Right.
I don't care if that's tennis or running or biking
or swimming. But this is not the messages you are getting.
So again, think of bulk and think of what Linda
just said. You know, it's this is a marathon, not
a sprint, and you don't have to do a lot,
and you're not going to get bulky unless you want,
and then you're gonna have to work really hard to

(36:48):
do that and to sustain it. Women just don't have
the testosterone to get you that big. It's not gonna
it's just not gonna happen. Like I said, I've been
with the stream weights for nine years. And I'm finally
happy with where I'm at. So it takes time and
eating and taking certain supplements and just in doing things. So, um,
we just don't have the testosterone. It's not going to happen.
So so let's go there. That myth is. So if

(37:10):
people when they go to your website again it's Linda Stevens.
I'm speaking with Linda M. Stevens dot com is the website. Uh,
They're gonna go, They're gonna look at you and go,
holy cow, she's got amazing shoulders, amazing arms. You're a professional,
correct and with a professional speak, but you are right,
I mean, and that is so well a professional from

(37:32):
in the in the sense of competing, I'm a professional.
I was an amateur competitor in the National Physique Committee,
which is really one of the largest bodybuilding federations around.
There are a lot of federations, but most people recognize
NPC if they know the sport at all. Then the
professional level of the NPC is the i FBB, which
is the International Federation of Bodybuilding. So if you pick
up a Muscle and Fitness or any of those magazines,

(37:54):
most of the guys and women that are in there
are I FBB pros most likely, uh um, so that's
the federation I belong to now. I competed as an
amateur for four years. Took a long time, a lot
of shows, a lot of dieting, um. But then I
turned pro because that's what I wanted to do. So
that was something that was a goal that I wanted
to achieve. So that's why I had to go so

(38:16):
extreme because or else I wouldn't have gotten there. Um.
And it took me four years. At forty six years old,
I turned pro. So and I've done I've had a
pro career now since then. So it's about five years.
So I'm gonna do one more show in August and
then I'm going to retire for good. But I don't
know why they keep saying that. People look at me

(38:37):
with shake their head like yeah, whatever, you say that
all the time. But um, I'm having a lot more
fun helping people lose weight and get in shape and
you know, and building my business now and helping people.
That's really what I my goal. My passion is to
help people feel better they I do. I work with
a lot of competitors still athletes, which I love, but
really a big the biggest part of my business our
general population people that are like luck. I don't know

(39:00):
what happened over the last ten years, but I'm not
feeling great, so I need to fix it. So between
diet and training and supplementation, I've had great success working
with women and men, primarily women, but I've helped a
lot of men as well. So um, Honestly, the difference
between a competitor diet and a general population diet really
it's there's not that much difference. You know, the amounts

(39:22):
are a little bit different, but the foods are similar.
People are still eating five times a day. It's it's
not that different. It's just that one is super duper extreme,
and as you come closer to the end, when you
get to your show, it gets even more extreme. Whereas
the general person, I try to teach them how to
eat for lifestyle, so they take to weight off, and
then I teach them how to do it on their own.
I don't want to have clients hanging around forever, like

(39:44):
I want to take them for three or four or
five months, fix them up, and off you go. So
and then if they want to come back for a refresher,
they pop in for a refresher and we change a
few things and they go back on their way. So
the goal is to teach people, you know, to teach
people ever right, exactly, it's not a Keto diet. It's
not a Paleo. It's not instlemented fast thing and heart right.

(40:05):
You know, I was doing so well, I know, I
just you know, those those diets are maybe okay for
someone that really knows what they're doing, but Paleo is
people lose a lot of weight fast on Paleo and Keto.
A lot of them don't do it right, or they
take the weight off, they take their weight off, and
then they're dying for a pizza, you know. And then
once the floodgates open, that's the end. I'll have you

(40:26):
back and we'll talk about that. Because every single diet
works people short term, every single one. And it's calie restriction.
And and that's the new thing with the Keto when
people tell me they're on Keto, because again, that's very
akin to body building if you're doing it right right,
And so when they're smiling and telling me they haven't
had carbs in filling the blank, I go, I know,
you have no idea what a carb is that because

(40:46):
you should be really unhappy and we know that and
that's why. And it's a great place to kind of
tie it all together. Right when didn't I know the
extremes right? And I have this crazy resume of of
trying the natural body building and trying a little bit
of everything, kind of finding what works right and go
into those extremes, which I'm so happy I did. I say,
I hope I never do it again because it's and

(41:07):
my wife got blessed. He who was my girlfriend at
the time. I mean, my first show was down in
West Virginia and I'll never forget being in this just
cheap hotel motel and my girlfriend now my wife, I
don't know how again she's stuck with me painting me
from the protel completely naked, you know, and she's going, Okay,
this is the weirdest thing I've ever done. I know,

(41:28):
but I learned so much, and you learned so much,
and let's just really, do you really learn what you're
made stream well? And extremes and how do people You're
saying so again what I really want because people will
look at you and and look at what I've done
and say I can't do that. I don't want to
do that. And we are not asking you. We want
you to be the best you and let's just go
there really quickly. And I get specific, but when people

(41:51):
see you, what what it takes to be a pro
is you have to do things that that pros do, right,
so you take things that other people don't take. And
at is you know, I say, when when boys look
at Muscle and Fitness magazine, Arnold schwartzen Inger talked about
what he did, um, so that fear of bulk that
this whole show is about. Um, there's so many different factors,

(42:12):
and Window wants it. She's a pro. This is her job,
so definitely. I mean when you look at the Bodybuilders
and you go to a show and you see these men,
even some of the women are like, you know, really big.
Of course. I mean there are things that they may
use to help them get to that level of fitness,
but that's that's where they want to be because that's
their passion. That's what they want. They want to win

(42:33):
the Olympia, they want to win the Arnold and that's
what they do. And I think Jay Cutler for people
are people that are listening to know who that is
if not look him up. But he's a great um
testament of you know, if you're going to use things,
just be smart, talk to the right people, talk to
your doctor, watch your blood, just keep you know, take
care of your body. So um. You know, just because

(42:56):
someone may use the performance enhancing drug doesn't mean that
they're not busting it and working hard. But they want
to be competitive, and in order to be competitive sometimes
you have to do some things that normal people would
not do to get to that level. So is it
right or wrong? I don't know. That's for every individual
to decide. But I'm in a sport where it happens

(43:18):
um and it's not drug tested. So yes, it's just
because people aren't honest about it. And then this show
there's that we are just will be as honest as
we can with keeping people comfortable and stuff like that.
And and it listen, hockey players, baseball player, I mean,
it's part that it's their job. And I only bring
it up now because you know that fear of bulk

(43:41):
is you're looking at someone who has is doing doing
so many different things, not the least of which is
is dieting in a way you're not gonna do and
lifting weights that you don't have to um because and
so don't work, don't work, and then you know, using
other things. So that should be again just like us
telling you should eat more and all that kind of stuff.

(44:01):
It's just great news. So the fear of bulk, please.
The number one reason or one of the top reasons
I always say that women have failed to achieve their
best bodies is because of the fear of bulk. You've
been sold a horrible, horrible bill of goods when it
comes to lifting weights. So let's leave it there. So
let's wrap it all up. So when someone, you know,
we talk about short workouts at home, I always recommend

(44:24):
to get people started. What are the greatest exercises, the
ones that have been around forever. Yeah, they're tried and true. Yeah,
I mean I pushed off was a great push push
up is a great overall body conditioning exercise I do.
I still do push ups maybe every other day. I
try to do a bunch just because it's your back,
at your chest, your arms, your core, everything. And and
then the one other buzz thing too that always cracks

(44:45):
me up is people will say, you know, I have
to work my core more. I need to do more
core work. And I'm like, all right, I said, well,
deadlifting and squatting and even sitting in a chair, I'm like,
you're always utilizing your core apps from push ups type
when you sitting in the chair, don't just sit in
the chair slout, like, sit up straight, hold your abs in.
I mean that's core work right there. So yes, planks

(45:07):
and all that stuff are great, and you should incorporate
that into your program. But deadlifting and squatting and anything
you're doing, you always want to hold your core tight
while your bicep curling anything. And exactly just contributed to
an article or I said ten percent of your workout
time is my real though. If you're doing an hour
of exercise or doing a half, like a couple of
minutes is all you need. And when when I was

(45:27):
saying is because you're using in all these different exercises.
And if your goal is truly comic for another show
to get full head of abs, it's diet and kreo
and everything. We're gonna talk about that. Um. But so
there's your takeaway. So when did I still I'm doing
push ups, I'm doing body weight squats, and I'm doing
planks So there's three exercises you can do right now

(45:48):
when the show is over. And what I like to
do is do it by time. Don't worry about reps
to get started, because the great thing about doing exercises
by time is it then gets you where you need
to be. Because if you can do to put shops
in sixty seconds or you gonna do it's whatever you
can do. So here's your your takeaway. Get started. Five

(46:08):
minute plan four and a half. Let's make it four
and a half under five minute plan. Thirty seconds of
push ups, thirty seconds of body weight squats, a thirty
second plank. Do that three times, right that alone, and
repeat it and repeat it a circuit right, and then
as you get more, build more endurance and you get
better at it, add something else and then add some
jump squats in or buy a light kettlebell and do

(46:29):
some swings, or slam a medicine ball or but you
don't have to know, you don't have to, but people,
but your body will start to adapt and you gotta change.
You'll build, you'll build fit, You'll your fitness level will
go up, You'll build endurance, so you're gonna want more
and you'll be exactly. You'll be amazed at where you go.
Your body is an incredible machine and I wish that
more people would take it as such and not misuse
it and treat it badly. And you know, and respect

(46:52):
your body, respect your body exactly. See, you know this
is we'll leave him with this. It's the vessel. It's
gonna take you a long, long way. It's gonna give
you a long, great life if you respect it and
take care of it. There are three things we can
control in life, how much we move, what we put
in our mouths, and our attitude right, and those three
things are insane. I need nine hours with you now. Mindset.

(47:16):
We can do a whole shown well, and we'll do nutrition.
But but and I know, like this is how the
show is gonna because we just go off on tangents
and it's all connected and that's part of the the
whole process. So again, thank you so much. So Linda Stevens,
let me give you. You gotta follow her. And again,
if you're an aspirational figure bikini body building, you know

(47:37):
there's no one better. But as Linda said, if you
are general pop, don't get you want to go to
someone who has achieved the the pinnacle and so you
look at a picture, go again. The whole show has
been about you. Don't try to try to look like
her unless you want to. Is gonna take a lot
of work. But to be the best you you want
someone like Linda who has studied it, lived it, gone

(47:57):
to extremes so she can get you to where you
want to be. So Instagram is Linda Steven's I f
BB Pro Again, Instagram Linda Stevens, It's pH E n
s I f BB Pro. Twitter is Linda I f
BB Pro and Linda M. Stevens dot com. Thank you
so much for listening, and please, if you enjoyed it,
follow it wherever you listen to podcasts. That maybe Apple

(48:20):
podcasts on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you
listen to podcasts. And if you have a couple of minutes,
I want to hear from you, so leave a review.
Tell me what you thought I would greatly appreciate. Again,
take care of your body. Strength train men and women.
You won't get bulky unless you want to. And if

(48:41):
you really, really, really really want to, it's gonna take
some work and go to WNDA Steven's to get there. Linda,
thank you so much and we will do this again
absolutely all right. Thank you everyone for listening. This is
Fitness Disrupted. I am Tom Holland, have a great day
and believe in yourself. M H. Fitness Disrupted as a

(49:04):
production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from My
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.