I want contradictory things :(

[Chronicworrier123]

But at 41 and now officially peri-menopausal I've started doing everything everybody tells you should be doing (i.e. eating more protein and start lifting).
I must say I actually do enjoy it and do plan to sign up for a Hyrox race in due course BUT everybody says that it takes forever to get muscular, need very specific diets, etc... but I seem to get muscle mass fairly easily (or more easily than the average person).
So I just have to accept I'll look more like a CrossFit person rather than a yogi/Pilates practitioner because my body prefers to be a certain shape.

At 41 you should still be in a good position to build muscle - not as good as in your 20s and 30s but late 40s/early 50s is when things really tend to start declining (though being in peri early may make that earlier for you). I wish I'd invested more in muscle building when I was a bit younger. I'm doing all I can at 48 but results come slowly, partly because there's an increasingly small sweet spot between doing enough to build muscle/bone and overdoing it/getting injured.

It's frustrating that the female aesthetic we're told to desire by the media is svelte and fragile, but perhaps following some women who are rocking the strong and powerful look would help. Overall, I'd far rather be muscular now than frail and stooped in 20 years time!

It's not necessarily that, but I have a fairly masculine face (and it's not just my opinion) so looking muscular makes me feel less feminine

You’ll need to train for a Hyrox! It’s a running race plus strength and endurance. So muscle mass will be important.

Have you done a Hyrox sim?

Kind of! But I'm a marathoner so the runny bit doesn't worry me so much and I'm ok with the weight stuff. I just need to get the pull/push simulation and the skiing bit

I look like a yogi but would like a bit more definition but really struggle to build any. I did loads of dancing as a dc, some of us are just longer & leaner.

Yep, I started Crossfit at your age. Lost weight, added a tonne of muscle. It's just my constitution. I'm very 🙄 reading about it taking an age to add muscle if you're an (older) woman.

Change the rep scheme to more muscular endurance? Do the minimum effective dose for your needs.

That's EXACTLY the face I make (or the other one that's says I need to eat tons) I don't. And theoretically I shouldn't be so "muscular" - mostly my shoulders and a bit around my midriff" but hey ho!

Wow, £100 to enter those hyrox races.

Marathons aren't cheap either!

Btw, I have l the weight back now, still have the muscle and really have to eat very little to not get even bigger. 😁

Embrace it. I have sharp angular facial features and muscular body, and I also tried to be cute and feminine. Well, doesn't work. I look like I try to cosplay a girl. Look at Kibbe dramatic types, maybe you identify with that? Can still look and feel feminine, we just need to aim for a more dramatic, femme fatale style as opposed to cute and soft.

Just wanted to add that a lot of very petite women can also lift really heavy.

The point is that I don't evenift heavy

Yes I agree. I think it’s more down to genes than the weight we lift. Maybe until bodybuilder level?

That's an idea!

Definitely want to look more feminine, but even at my thinnest I was told I looked like a prepubescent boy