Bodybuilder Renee Jewett in  Two-Piece Workout Gear is "Enjoying a Softer Bod"

Renee Jewett is enjoying food and embracing her curves. In a new social media post the bodybuilder shows off her amazing body in a two-piece exercise set, while discussing her diet. "I mean, I don't hate food 😂 I like food just as much as the next person. I've just learned how to make food fit within my diet. Right now is especially nice since I'm eating in a surplus and I have so many calories to work with. If I'm in a deficit, I can still eat fun foods, but my menu is a bit more limited. Currently eating all the foods and enjoying a softer bod 😉," she captioned the Instagram video. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits. 

"Lifting heavy at a high effort is the holy grail to all your muscle building dreams," Renee writes for Animal Pak. "Forget about using limited resistance, such as light dumbbells and banded exercises that barely make you break a sweat. Videos like this run rampant on social media with promises to 'tone' your glutes, legs, abs or promise to 'tone' that stubborn area that has literally been a part of you since puberty hit. Insert the biggest eye roll of my life here," she says. "This is the truth. If you use the term 'tone' then what you're really after is muscle gain, body fat reduction or a combination of both. For muscle growth, a weight that challenges you and falls within a 6-20 rep range is optimal. How challenging do these need to be? Those last reps should be close to or even reach muscular failure."

Diet is also key, says Renee. "An issue that I see often is women aren't eating enough to support their muscle building goals. Time after time, I see women spending more time in a calorie deficit than a surplus wondering why they're not growing. To support muscle gain and strength, eating a balanced, nutrient-dense diet with the right amount of proteins, carbs and fats is a must. These amounts will vary based on the volume of individuals' exercise, age, body composition, total energy intake and training status," she writes. "While eating in a surplus you can expect the scale weight to increase, but don't obsess over it. Aim for a 0.5% body weight increase every 2-3 weeks. If you're not gaining weight, chances are you're eating at a maintenance level and need to increase calorie intake. If weight gain is happening at a more rapid speed, you're probably eating in an excessive surplus and need to decrease calories to slow body fat gain. Just remember, while pursuing muscle gain, some body fat may accumulate. This is normal and to be expected. Since gaining muscle is the goal, it's so important to remember that unless you're a genetically lean individual, you will not be lean and shredded during a growth phase. Embracing a little extra softness in exchange for the long term goal of muscle gain is well worth it."

"Muscle gain isn't just about smashing weights and eating food. Allowing our bodies to recover is an essential part of muscle growth. I know it's easy to fall into the more is better' mentality. But there are advantages to taking regular rest days," she says, going on to list the advantages.

• Time for Recovery – "During exercise we're creating microscopic tears in our muscle tissue. During rest, cells called fibroblasts repair it. Rest is when our muscles build, heal, and GROW," she writes.
• Reduces the Risk of Injury – "Strength training has a slew of advantages, but it also puts stress on our bodies. Excessive amounts increase risk of overuse injuries," she adds.
• Performance Improvement – "I touched on effort during training earlier in this article; when you don't get enough rest, it will be hard to put forth the effort needed for muscle growth to happen. Without rest, motivation and physical performance will eventually decline," she says. 

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Renee stresses the importance of sleep. "Just like rest days, getting an adequate amount of sleep is essential to muscle growth. In fact, I like to think of sleep as a muscle building tool. NREM Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep accounts for approximately 40% of our total sleep time. During this stage, breathing becomes slower and deeper, blood pressure drops, your brain is at rest, and activity slows. The blood supply to your muscles also increases, delivering extra oxygen and nutrients to help your muscles grow while you sleep. Growth hormone during this time increases which helps facilitate muscle repair and growth. Not getting enough sleep can cause a decline in growth hormone secretion, which means fewer gains. So make sure to get your zzzzz!" she says. 

Renee recommends supplements. "Did you know, as female athletes, we are more likely to suffer from nutritional deficiencies compared to our male counterparts? It's believed that around 30 percent of all women are deficient in one or more vitamins and minerals. Even more concerning is that it's estimated that about 75 percent of women would likely develop nutrient deficiencies without supplemental multivitamins. This statistic encompasses the general population of women. It would be interesting to see how these percentages would change based on female athletes since we have such rigid diets and exercise regimens. Filling in nutritional "gaps" is a good idea to keep us functioning optimally and reaching for those muscle gains." She suggests taking creatine, vitamin D, and Calcium.