Why I Lift Heavy Even Though I Love Running and Cycling
In this article:
Why functional strength matters more than aesthetic goals for moms who are actively caregiving
The real reason lifting heavy doesn't make you bulky (and why that myth has stuck around so long)
How cross-training with running, cycling, and lifting actually fits a neurospicy brain better than any single-track program
What "low friction movement" actually looks like when motivation is unreliable and decision fatigue is real
Why the goal isn't to look a certain way — it's to be physically capable when your people need you
Why I Lift Heavy Even Though I Love Running and Cycling
When my daughter said "Mom, my hips — rotate me," I didn't hesitate.
She was mid-anaphylaxis from an iron infusion. Her body was reacting fast, the nurses were still getting their bearings, and she needed to move. Because of her hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, staying in one position for too long causes real pain. So I reached over and rotated her before anyone else in that room could offer to help.
Nobody clapped. Nobody noticed, really. But I noticed.
I'd carried her up a flight of stairs earlier that week. Scooped her out of her wheelchair, placed her gently into the car, carried her back in when we got home. She's been an ambulatory wheelchair user for years now — one of over 25 diagnoses she's accumulated since 2019, when her body first started showing us how complex it could get. We don't have a ramp at home. So when her legs aren't cooperating, mom picks her up.
This is what I lift for.
It didn't start this way.
Back in 2015, I stumbled onto Brazilian Butt Lift by Beachbody and fell hard. Then Body Beast with Sagi, and I was completely hooked on lifting. By 2018, I wanted to ride in the Tour de France — okay, not literally, but close enough. My husband at the time took me to Trek, I got a road bike, and I signed up for my first duathlon. I came in dead last in 2019. It was one of the best days I'd had in years.
Training for that race showed me how freeing running and cycling could feel. And then, that same year, Justyne started getting sick.
She was 12. Over the next few months we watched her lose function of her arms, her legs, her voice. We didn't know what we were looking at yet. The answer, eventually: Tourette Syndrome, hEDS, MCAS, and over two dozen other things living in that one small person.
I realized pretty quickly that I needed to get stronger. Not for aesthetics. Not for a finish line. For her.
Why lifting heavy won't make you bulky.
Before we go further, let's get this out of the way: lifting weights will not make you look like a bodybuilder.
Unless you're introducing pharmaceutical support or have specific hormonal factors at play, significant muscle bulk doesn't just happen to women who lift. What does happen: definition, strength, and a body that can actually do things. My duathlon coach back in 2019 was firmly against me strength training alongside running and cycling. She thought it would interfere with my performance. It's now 2026, and she proudly lifts weights herself. I'm not going to pretend I don't find that deeply satisfying.
The fitness industry has spent decades selling women the idea that weights are for men and cardio is for everyone else. That's not just wrong — it's also kind of boring.
What strength training actually does for your body.
Lifting heavy does several things that matter beyond how you look.
It makes you capable. The ability to lift, carry, rotate, stabilize, and support another person is a real physical skill. Caregiving is physical labor. Parenting is physical labor. Building the strength to do it without injury isn't vanity — it's preparation.
It supports your metabolism. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. More of it means your body burns more at rest. For those of us navigating conditions like MCAS that complicate fat metabolism, this matters. It's not a quick fix, but it's a real lever.
It protects you long-term. Bone density. Joint stability. Balance. Fall prevention. The research on strength training for women as they age is clear and consistent: it's one of the most effective things you can do for your future self. I want to be able to move well into my 60s, 70s, and beyond — not because I'm afraid of aging, but because I have people to show up for.
Why this works especially well for neurospicy brains.
Here's what I didn't expect when I started lifting: it fits my brain in a way that rigid programs never did.
I can run on the days running sounds good. I can cycle when I want that particular kind of freedom. I can go throw heavy things around when I need to feel strong and grounded and like I'm doing something real. And on the days when decision fatigue has completely taken over, I can repeat the same three lifts I always do without having to think about it.
Variety when I want it. Repetition when I need it. No one format wins every day.
That's not a bug in my programming. That's how neurospicy brains are often wired: novelty is energizing, routine is stabilizing, and having access to both is the whole point. Cross-training isn't inconsistency. It's a flexible system that bends with whatever version of you shows up that week.
The low-friction version of this.
You don't need a barbell. You don't need a gym membership. You don't need a program you commit to six days a week.
You need to move in ways that feel good in your actual body, on your actual days.
If dancing with your kids in the kitchen is what happens today, that counts. If you carry laundry up the stairs twice instead of once, that counts. If you pick something heavy up off the floor and put it back down a few times while your coffee brews, that counts.
The goal isn't to follow a perfect plan. The goal is to build a body that can do the things your life is asking of it — whatever those things turn out to be.
For me, one of those things is carrying my daughter up the stairs when she needs me to.
That's enough reason.
Summary
Lifting heavy isn't about looking a certain way. It's about being capable — physically, consistently, and without apology — for the people and the life you're already showing up for.
You won't get bulky. You will get stronger. And stronger looks different for every mom, every brain, and every season.
If this resonates and you're ready to figure out what movement actually fits your body and your life right now, the Find Your Rhythm Call is a good place to start. It's one hour, just us, and we build from exactly where you are.
Linnea 🐾
