Will CrossFit Make You Bulky?

This question is almost as old as CrossFit itself.

I could go on and on about whether CrossFit will, or won't make you bulky, but if I did, it probably wouldn't solve anything.

Instead of asking whether CrossFit will make you bulky, I'd rather look at some similar questions women have likely asked about their bodies in other times, locations, and cultures.

Some of these questions might seem like a stretch, but hang with me...

"Will my little girl's feet look big and ugly when she grows up if I don't bind them to keep them from growing?"

Will I still have status, and be regarded for my beauty if I don't wear neck rings?

Will I still be attractive if I don't force myself into an hourglass shape?

What do these images have in common with the question "Will CrossFit make you bulky?"

To borrow concept and a phrase from CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman, many women in modern American society are pursuing a "non-functional aesthetic."

What an accurate way of putting it.

Foot binding makes it hard to walk, run, or stand.

Neck rings reduce your body's ability to hold your own head up when you're not wearing them.

Corsets make it hard to breath, and put strain on your internal organs.

Starving yourself, and living on a treadmill in an effort to be rail thin erodes our ability to perform basic human functions like squatting, jumping, and lifting.

If becoming healthier, stronger, and more functional is ever at odds with the way we look, the issue is not with our training plan. The issue is with the lies we've been told about the bodies we been given.

Whether you land on CrossFit as your training plan or not, you should be pursuing a body that can do awesome things, not a body that will align with the current standards of beauty.

You are wonderfully made.

Take time to believe this truth today.

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