Tag: body changes from crossfit

The Love/Hate Relationship CrossFit Women Have with their Bodies

by crossfitmomm, posted in CrossFit

I recently came across an article about how CrossFit women should be proud of their bodies, have less body issues than other women, and are strong. It was written very definitively about how women who CrossFit love their strong bodies.

I’m here with the counter-argument: CrossFit women have just as many body issues as other women (maybe more so since our bodies do change significantly when you continue with CrossFit). We struggle just as much with nutrition and food choices. We do care what we look like in terms of makeup. Clothes shopping is much harder with a CrossFit body.

There is one difference NOT noted in the article:

CrossFit women have a love/hate relationship with their bodies that other women do not.

WHY CROSSFIT WOMEN LOVE/HATE THEIR BODIES

  • We are stared at. Usually in a leering way, not in a healthy way. Women either are
    CrossFit hotties at CrossFit Competition doing box jumps
    CrossFit Box Jumps

    jealous or think we look gross. Men look at us like men look at other women — they just stare longer since we DON’T look like other women they see too often.

  • Clothes don’t fit. I have given up trying to find jeans that will go over my calves and my thighs. I live in yoga pants. I have given up trying to find nice-fitting T-shirts that are small but fit my shoulders. Dresses have to be the right cut or my muscles look horrible in them.
  • Food is a real struggle. Adhering to a strict diet is a test of mental strength, which after doing a CrossFit WOD which puts us on the floor, is a battle many of us don’t have the strength for. How your body looks is all about food. Period. If you don’t eat right, you won’t look right no matter the hours you throw down at the gym.
  • We are strong but still want to be delicate flowers. I am strong. I can lift heavy items. But I don’t outside the box. Why? Because I’m a woman who wants a man to lift heavy things for me when the need arises. I don’t want to have to lift MORE heavy items after the gym.
  • Our changing bodies yield body insecurities. When people first started telling me, “Hey, Jen. You’re ripped!” I didn’t realize how muscular I had become. It was definitely an acceptance process. Now, as I lift heavier, my lats are thicker, my shoulders wider, my legs bigger. It’s an on-going battle women CrossFitters face.

It’s a fact if you lift heavy weights, you’ll gain muscle. Muscle is bulk. You will look different than your average woman. Some women I know quit CrossFit because they don’t like what CrossFit does to their bodies. Anyone who tells you you won’t bulk up is lying to you. This is part of accepting your body as it does gain muscle. And this is part of CrossFit.

CrossFit will Change Your Body

Go into CrossFit with your eyes open. Learn about it. Read and study about lifting weights. Read about the metabolic pathways. Then decide if CrossFit is for you.

You all know I love CrossFit. I love what CrossFit does for me. I love how my body looks. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a struggle to accept how I look, to not be critical, to think I’m fat, etc.

We all have baggage we carry from childhood into adulthood and from society. It’s a mindset we all have to overcome.

Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before I Started CrossFit…

by crossfitmomm, posted in CrossFit

orig_3365eda27d54b0198fd2b4f1d6a66b90a970ac6b1)  Olympic Weightlifting.  Most boxes do a poor job in teaching their members Olympic Weightlifting.  It wasn’t until I took the Olympic Weightlifting Level 1 Certification that I realized how ignorant I was.  Find a reputable coach and learn from the best in your area.

2)  You REALLY do need shoulder strength to kip and to prevent injuries.  I wish someone would have warned me how horrible kipping is for your shoulders and arms.  I wish my coaches would have prevented me from doing kipping pull ups until I could do strict pull ups.  I wish someone would have warned me doing 100 pull ups and negatives were a bad idea the second month of CrossFit.  Finally, after 2 years, I feel strong enough.

3)  CrossFit will trump many other things in your life if it becomes your passion.  I live for CrossFit.  I put CrossFit above many other important things in my life (like sleep for example) because it is an addiction.  A healthy one, but one I recognize nonetheless lest it turn unhealthy.  A fine line to walk!

4)  You’re devoted to your box because of the people, not the workouts.  Some of my closest friends I met at my box and I get to see everyday.  I’ve thought of going elsewhere to other boxes, but at the end of the day it’s the friendships that keep you going!

5)  Rest days are harder than work days.  I live for the box and when I’m on a rest day, it takes all of my might to resist going (especially if the workout is one want to do).  Stick to the plan.  It works.

6)  Eating right is a daily struggle.  Since I have kids having junk food lying around is a given.  Will power takes on new meaning when you’re eating for performance.  Again, stick to the plan, the diet, the nutrition.  It works.  When you deviate, you’ll pay in unwanted weight gain and in stomach cramps!

7)  Ripping is a part of CrossFit that never goes away.  You can shave your callouses all you want, you’ll still rip on workouts such as Murph or Angie.  Do your utmost to prevent it but it’s as much a part of CrossFit as PR’s.

8)  Muscle soreness is perpetual.  It never goes away.  Neither does having something tweaked.  It’s a part of CrossFit I think that drives many to quit after 6 months.  You either accept it or you don’t.

9)  Your body will change.  And drastically.  I never thought I’d have “the CrossFit look” but one look at me and you’ll know.  And I keep getting stronger and leaner and bigger.  If you push yourself, this is inevitable.

10)  Your self-confidence in yourself will grow and you will bloom when you never, ever thought you would.  I can do things most women can’t physically.  I work hard.  I train hard.  And my mind has worked just as hard and harder.  I have grown as a person not just as an athlete.  You will discover that anything in life truly is possible.  You will find your life’s passion.  You will succeed at anything you do.  That’s a promise.  That’s CrossFit.

“You Have Beautiful Arms…”

by crossfitmomm, posted in CrossFit

games2011_womene4_camilleleblancbazinet_muI teach fitness classes.  A few days ago, I visited my local Starbucks after teaching a class so I was in my workout gear without a jacket on.  The barista said this to me.  My response:  “Lots of hours in the gym.  Lots.”

It made my day.  As a woman, I sometimes feel as if muscles aren’t that attractive to others.  When I went on job interviews last summer, I purposely wore clothes that would cover my arms because of my muscles.  Especially to men.  My husband (who is biased) loves my body and my muscles.  But to others I never know.  My kids’ friends’ notice and remark “Your mom is muscular” and I don’t know how to take that.

This comment vindicated all my work.  It’s nice to hear.  Because it is hours and hours in the gym.  Lots of sweat.

Results are nice.  Very, very nice.