Ep. #594 | Not All Women Are Trying To Lose Weight

By Jenn Pike | June 22, 2026

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Last week’s case study episode got such a strong response that I wanted to go deeper with a different scenario: the woman who is already lean, doesn’t have weight to lose, and is trying to build muscle and look more athletic.

This one’s for her — and honestly, it was me at certain points too.

In this episode, I cover:

  • Why the advice to “eat less and do more cardio” is almost never the right answer for lean women
  • The three phases of body composition: Build → Reveal → Maintain
  • How long to actually spend in the build phase (hint: longer than you think — 4–12 months depending on your training history)
  • Sample nutrition targets for a lean woman looking to build: ~2,000 calories, ~150g protein, ~220–230g carbs, ~60g fat
  • Why a “dirty bulk” approach often backfires for women
  • A sample 4-day strength training split (2 lower, 2 upper) with exercise selection guidance
  • The importance of tracking weights to turn warmup sets into real working sets
  • Volume targets: 10–20 quality sets per muscle group per week
  • Cardio guidance during the build phase: steps, Zone 2, and why HIIT is NOT necessary right now
  • What a mini cut (reveal phase) looks like: 6–10 weeks, 10–20% caloric reduction, protect the protein
  • How to reverse diet back to maintenance — the phase no one talks about but everyone needs
  • The mindset piece: most women spend 90% of their year in a deficit while saying their goal is to build muscle

Let’s dive in!

Thank you for joining us today. If you could rate, review & subscribe, it would mean the world to me! While you’re at it, take a screenshot and tag me @jennpike to share on Instagram – I’ll re-share that baby out to the community & once a month I’ll be doing a draw from those re-shares and send the winner something special!

Click here to listen:

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Have a question? Send it over to hello@jennpike.com and I’ll do my best to share helpful insights, thoughts and advice.

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