How the Olympian Nutrition Coach Balances Being Lean, Fit and Healthy

But prioritizing one to the extreme will cause one, if not two, of the other areas to suffer.

Molloy thinks of it as a Venn diagram: The goals overlap, and the average person would likely improve all three areas by eating better and exercising more.

Molloy told Business Insider how to strike a balance between the three.

Changing focus periodically

“There is an amount of training that will help you get strong. There is an amount of training that will help you lean (with nutrition and all). And then there’s the amount that will help you perform at your highest level. human performance levels,” said Molloy, who works with Olympians and professional CrossFit athletes.

Balancing the three requires compromise, Molloy said. He accomplishes this by recognizing that the basic foundation of each goal is the same: eight hours of sleep each night, prioritizing protein at every meal, and eating a good amount of micronutrient-dense, minimally processed foods.

“From there, I try to spend a few months each year a little more focused on one aspect of the Venn diagram,” Molloy said. “So four months might revolve around training for a Spartan or CrossFit race, four months might focus on getting a little more lean (say, before summer), and four months might be more focused on doing everything I can to maximize my physique. and mental health”.

A lean body is not necessarily a healthy body

Many people want to lose fat, build muscle and look like bodybuilders, but it’s a misconception that the fittest and healthiest version of you is also the thinnest, Molloy said.

“People who get skinny, who go to these bodybuilding shows or these figure competitions, they’re not, when they get on that stage, the healthiest versions of themselves by any stretch of the imagination,” Molloy said. .

Many former bodybuilders and bikini competitors later revealed that they were unhealthy and felt terrible despite looking in their leanest “peak” physiques.

“Their sex hormones are probably down, their thyroid hormones are way down, their hunger hormones are way up,” Molloy said. “It’s problematic.”

For example, viewed from the perspective of Molloy’s Venn diagram, being too thin can affect both a woman’s performance and physical health.

“Getting to 12% or 13% body fat can actually be negative for performance, especially if a woman is training intensely in a sport like Hyrox or CrossFit, because when you get to a low body fat level, of changes usually occur. to hormonal aspects that are negative for performance,” Molloy said

When a woman’s body fat level drops too low, the body begins to shut down nonessential functions that are essential for performance, Molloy said. For example, estrogen, which helps build muscle, decreases.

Similarly, exercising too much or cutting calories too low can cause the body to interrupt the menstrual cycle to prevent a person from conceiving during a time of stress, Molloy explained.

Overtraining has an effect on the body

Meanwhile, intense training most days isn’t necessarily best for your longevity.

He gave the example of a CrossFit athlete: “Working out three, four, five hours a day will get you very fit, but we shouldn’t confuse that fitness with long-term health.”

Molloy explained that high-intensity training leads to a lot of physical wear and tear on the body, as well as what is known as oxidative damage, where an imbalance of free radicals in the body’s cells can lead to tissue damage, aging and the development of conditions such as cancer. , diabetes and heart disease.

Molloy said many elite athletes are essentially trading long-term health for elite performance, experiences and, in some sports, “a boatload of money.”

“If you really want to push something to the extreme, there are going to be sacrifices you have to make to other aspects of your aesthetics or your health,” Molloy said.