180: Why Women Need To Lift Heavy, Build Muscle & Eat More Protein | Stef Bare

June 29, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Stef Bare had been training for 20 years—since she was 14, when her older brother introduced her to a bro split at a Lifetime Fitness—but she had never been more muscular than she was at any other point. She had tried everything: kickboxing, Pilates, spin, Orange Theory, F45, Barry’s. She had taught boot camps and spin classes. She had run two half marathons. She had spent a full year doing gentle, high-rep Pilates-style work after her second baby. And then she got a DEXA scan, looked at the numbers, and realized she wanted to see what her body could actually do if she stopped maintaining and started building. That curiosity—not a crisis, not a health scare—is what launched a year-long experiment in eating more, lifting heavier, and finally getting the results that twenty years of casual training had never delivered.

The Reverse Diet: Eating More to Build Muscle

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What you'll learn

1 (00:05) **Introduction & Stef's Fitness Background** - Nick introduces the episode about Stef's year-long strength and muscle-building experiment.
2 (06:50) **The Trigger: Dexa Scan & Curiosity About Muscle** - Stef explains what sparked her shift to a muscle-building focus.
3 (08:50) **The Diet Shift: Reverse Dieting & Calorie Surprise** - Stef hired a coach and started a reverse diet to fuel muscle growth.
4 (10:30) **Protein Strategy: Front-Loading & Favorite Sources** - Practical breakdown of how Stef hits 130-150g of protein daily.
5 (14:30) **Training Changes: Volume, Intensity & Progressive Overload** - How Stef's workouts evolved to drive muscle growth.
6 (18:30) **The Tennis Hobby: Mental Reset & Social Connection** - Stef shares why she started tennis and what she loves about it.
7 (22:30) **Daily Supplement Routine** - Stef's complete stack, from morning to night.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

My wife, Stef Bare, joins me to share how a year of intentional strength training transformed her body and mindset. We break down reverse dieting, eating 2,300 calories, progressive overload, prioritizing protein, playing tennis, and her daily supplement routine.

This conversation is for all of you wanting to add in more strength programming, but specifically for women ready to stop holding back and build strength.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 Intro

2:00 Stef's 20-Year Fitness Background

6:20 Working Out vs. Being Intentional

11:10 How We Met

18:20 What Sparked the Muscle-Building Era

22:00 The Reverse Diet: From 1,500 to 2,300 Calories

25:35 Front-Loading Protein: The 70-Gram Breakfast

30:00 Full Day of Eating & Favorite Protein Sources

35:50 Food Is Fuel — Carbs Are Not the Enemy

38:45 Nick's Crispy Rice & Pan-Seared Salmon Method

43:45 How Stef's Training Changed: Volume, Intensity & Progressive Overload

49:35 The Hobby That Changed Everything

58:40 Fueling for Heat

1:00:10 Stef's Daily Supplement Stack

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