Can I do CrossFit and still look soft?
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3dogsrunning wrote: »If you want to look soft, keep your bodyfat at a higher percentage. The defined look comes with lower bodyfat levels.
Sorry to sound like such a noob-- but how do I keep my body fat higher? Not cut as many calories? Or simply keep a few sugars and fats in my diet?
Yep if u want the soft look up the suger in take.. Suger higher carbs hold more water given u the soft look.0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »If you want to look soft, keep your bodyfat at a higher percentage. The defined look comes with lower bodyfat levels.
Sorry to sound like such a noob-- but how do I keep my body fat higher? Not cut as many calories? Or simply keep a few sugars and fats in my diet?
Yep if u want the soft look up the suger in take.. Suger higher carbs hold more water given u the soft look.
When I eat high carb I hold water in my muscles and they look bigger, I don't look softer.0 -
No, just a rather bad pun.professionalHobbyist wrote: »
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Erm... I don't think that's really true. Some of us maintain muscle mass for a very long time after stopping heavy exercise.
My CrossFit experience is basically that, if you don't subscribe to Paleo strictly (and probably supplement at least a little bit,) you're really unlikely to "bulk up" unless your system is already prone to that. There are certainly women who bulk up but most of us are built to maintain that soft layer.
Many women are hesitant to join CrossFit for exactly the same concerns you're voicing, and my box is pretty clear about what kind of gains to expect for women and what it would take to become that solid and well-defined. If you're not forcing yourself into a deficit to cut weight, you'll most likely maintain the softer feeling/appearance.
HA. ha ha ha ha
paleo and bulking.... giggle.
thank you- that was funny. you made my morning.0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »If you want to look soft, keep your bodyfat at a higher percentage. The defined look comes with lower bodyfat levels.
Sorry to sound like such a noob-- but how do I keep my body fat higher? Not cut as many calories? Or simply keep a few sugars and fats in my diet?
Yep if u want the soft look up the suger in take.. Suger higher carbs hold more water given u the soft look.
When I eat high carb I hold water in my muscles and they look bigger, I don't look softer.
If u carry on eating this way OH YES THEY WILL0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »If you want to look soft, keep your bodyfat at a higher percentage. The defined look comes with lower bodyfat levels.
Sorry to sound like such a noob-- but how do I keep my body fat higher? Not cut as many calories? Or simply keep a few sugars and fats in my diet?
Yep if u want the soft look up the suger in take.. Suger higher carbs hold more water given u the soft look.
When I eat high carb I hold water in my muscles and they look bigger, I don't look softer.
If u carry on eating this way OH YES THEY WILL
Uh, yeah, no. You really should read more, speak less. There are some really good threads on here that you could learn a thing or two from.0 -
Take a look at Roni Noone, the blogger. She's a pretty avid crossfitter and she doesn't look like a professional crossfitter. She looks lean, healthy, etc. The people that I know that are into crossfit look like her, not the professionals.0
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Don't eat at a surplus and don't eat surplus protein and you won't have an issue. As a woman who crossfits, it's been slow going trying to grow muscles on purpose. You won't grow them by accident.0
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You won't bulk up by accident, don't worry.0
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3dogsrunning wrote: »If you want to look soft, keep your bodyfat at a higher percentage. The defined look comes with lower bodyfat levels.
Sorry to sound like such a noob-- but how do I keep my body fat higher? Not cut as many calories? Or simply keep a few sugars and fats in my diet?
Yep if u want the soft look up the suger in take.. Suger higher carbs hold more water given u the soft look.
When I eat high carb I hold water in my muscles and they look bigger, I don't look softer.
If u carry on eating this way OH YES THEY WILL
Not if you are eating at or below TDEE. Carbs don't magically make you soft or fat. You posted similar carb fear garbage in the why are abs impossible thread. Your advice is simply wrong.0 -
ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »There's also something of a genetic predisposition to do that. I have wide shoulders and slightly heavier musculature on them my whole life. Since I was little, people have commented on this - mostly in an up-beat fashion, but it's been a thing. At my lower weights and body fat % I wear a size 12 suit jacket and a size 6 pants. And the suit jacket isn't because of my chest. It's my shoulders. And my exercises for many years were swimming and ballet. No weights. No crossfit. My shoulders look bulkier than other womens' without me even trying
On the up side. Lifting hasn't really made that worse. It's just the way I've always been. I suspect that if you like the way you look now, the crossfit isn't going to change that in a negative way. And if you have a tendency to bulk up fast, you'd probably already be aware of it.
Me too! I'm a size 4 on the bottom, but wear med - large tops and size 8-10 dresses so they fit across my wide shoulders/back. I'm only 5 ft tall too, so I've always felt out of proportion, but there's nothing I can do to make my shoulders narrower.0 -
Haha. I've been waiting for years for someone to prescribe that to me!
Right now I aspire to 1500 calories/day. No paleo for me -- Luna bars, salads, fruits, chicken sandwiches, the occasional Popsicle.
I still need to shred off the fat I have now, but perhaps when I get closer to my goal I will increase my caloric intake.
As far as the reps and lifting done at the gym...? Should I avoid those, or do more reps vs more weight etc?
You are not going to bulk. If you are on a calorie deficit. The only way to add muscle is by eating at a surplus.
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Yup0
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I did Crossfit for about 18 months. I loved it. It was the only thing that really kept my attention for longer than 6 months. I was super strong and healthy and lost a lot of weight initially.
I didn't bulk up in terms of looking super muscle-y, but I did notice that my shoulders got bigger . A couple of family members commented on it over the summer (when I was in a bikini) and I started to notice it when I put on dresses for work - when I did the zip up at the back I realised that the armholes had started getting smaller. My jackets also started to become a slightly poorer fit.
My thighs and butt slimmed down at first but then they increased a little bit in size - again, not huge bulking, just a small effect over time which in turn impacted my clothing a bit.
It wasn't a massively noticeable change, but it was enough that I found it annoying and I could see that it was getting worse. I googled and found that it was not an uncommon problem. It isn't "bulking" as people usually refer to it - I never looked like a traditional weightlifter, it was just an overall increase in size in certain areas.
At my Crossfit box there were some girls which it impacted on way more than others. Obviously the ones who did it religiously and were very strict with their diets were on their way to becoming like the Hottest Crossfit girls. However in the end I decided that the impact on my clothing and shape overall wasn't what I wanted.
Around the same time that I reached this decision I also suffered a knee injury, so had to stop for at the moment anyway. If I go back (although I don't think I will because I have already noticed that my shoulders have started going back to normal)0
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