Sponsored by: Little Lyss Fitness

In today’s society, fitness is often interpreted as the need to dedicate every ounce of mental space to hyperfixation and comparison. When you’re not doing endless cardio, you’re eating clean for every meal and cutting calories when possible. When scrolling through Instagram, you’re wondering what you can do to look more like the women modeling workout gear. If these patterns reflect your own, it’s time to redefine what fitness means to you.

Little Lyss Fitness owner Alyssa Olenick has dedicated her academic and professional career to studying women’s physiology, with her business being centered around women’s empowerment through fitness.

“I’m not here to be a fitspo,” Olenick said. “I’m an exercise professional trying to bridge the gap between science and practical application for women.”

As a lifelong athlete, Olenick noticed she was always learning from and training alongside men. Olenick said she discovered the lack of educated women’s voices in fitness led to the industry feeding women incorrect or even harmful information, and she believes that they deserve better.

“It’s targeted to women that they need to train 100% uniquely different from men,” Olenick said. “My goal is to teach women how to train intentionally.”

Olenick cultivated her passion for women’s physiology in WKU’s kinesiology master’s program, which she graduated from in 2017. As her closest mentor and one of her professors, Rachel Tinius witnessed first-hand Olenick’s personable nature, hard-working attitude and selfless acts that made her energy so attractive to others.

”She was a grad student I felt like would sleep for two hours and give everything up to make everything work,” Tinius said. “She was always going the extra mile, going above and beyond. She was always someone I could rely on.”

The pregnancy and women-specific research conducted by Tinius and professor Jill Maples built a strong foundation for Olenick as she dove into all things related to women’s fitness. Once she completed her studies, Olenick sought to give women the same level of tailored education and training that men frequently had.

What began as Olenick teaching and coaching on Instagram has since become Little Lyss Fitness — a business offering template training plans and a plethora of resources specifically made for women to reach their exercise goals. All levels of experience are considered in the Little Lyss method, ranging from a basic beginner program all the way to a pro weightlifting plan. Each program includes a new plan every 4-5 weeks, scientific reasoning behind each exercise, exclusive tutorials, Facebook groups and, perhaps the best perk of all — flexibility. With the ability to adjust weight, swap exercises and shorten workout times, the Little Lyss method is tailored to work with each woman’s skill and lifestyle, not against it.

Little Lyss Fitness offers four ebooks to supplement a training plan or stand alone. “Endure” is a 15-level race plan for those who want to run their first 5K or tackle their first marathon. “Fuel” is a general nutrition guide designed to give back the mental space food restrictions and diets often take. “Train” breaks down the science behind resistance training, and “At Home” provides 55 workouts that require minimal equipment for busy women on-the-go or at home.

Olenick is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in exercise physiology and researching the metabolic and exercise differences between the sexes. As a business owner, she wants women to go forth feeling empowered by the education she provides and discover a newfound goal to train with intention. For more information, you can visit the business’s Instagram page (@littlelyssfitness), or go to www.LittleLyssFitness.com to purchase an ebook or sign up for a Little Lyss method plan. It is time to demand better from the fitness industry, your training plan and yourself.