Today’s Crossfit conundrum: What to do when your bottom half gets smaller and your top have gets larger?
Basically, the bottom half of me is a size 6 and the top half is now a size 10 – maybe more. It’s my shoulders.
I have always had what people who don’t want to hurt your feelings call “broad shoulders.” I swam butterfly competitively for 10+ years and ended up with butterfly shoulders. I’m also what they call “busty” so I have that going for me, too.
Were the 80s ridiculous or what?
It wasn’t such a bad thing when shoulder pads became the rage in the 1980s because I already had shoulder pads. I actually had to rip out the shoulder pads when I bought tops and jackets back then otherwise I looked like a cartoon character or a white, blonde Grace Jones.
I ran into a high school classmate five years ago and he looked at me and said, “You’ve still got those shoulders.” I’m not sure that was a compliment but I decided keep my mouth shut and not say anything about his lack of hair.
Anyway, my coach, Matt, has had me doing LOTS of shoulder work and it shows. My shoulders are getting so big that the blouses I wear to work no longer fit. Skirts and pants fit fine but it’s the blouses that have me worried. I could blow out a shoulder seam sneezing.
I’m thinking of going to knits, since I don’t know how much larger my shoulders are going to get. Plus, you don’t have to iron knit blouses. Extra bonus points!
The upside of big shoulders is that I’m getting pretty comfortable doing overhead lifts with 75#. I also suspect that no mugger in his right mind would try to mess with a middle-aged women with my shoulders.
Silly mugger.
Crossfitters of a certain age 
LOL. This has been the story of my life since I dabbled in bodybuilding in the 80s. (I was a swimmer in high school as well, so that’s probably where it started.) And yes, I ripped out the shoulder pads back then too. Now, thanks to Crossfit, my shoulders are an 8, my butt is a 2 (try finding a dress that fits), and my thighs are a 4 (pants that fit, also rare). Knit tops and skirts seem to be the best solution. If only I could just wear my workout clothes to the office…
I think about that all the time. All I want to wear is my workout clothes. I especially want to wear my compression tights – which I actually did wear out one night – kind of like leggings. But I get the impression leggings are out. Alas, the dilemma of a woman CrossFitter. My coach’s quads are so big he can’t wear jeans without looking like a freak!
I wish I had that problem! I am trying to grow my shoulders and still slim my butt down a tad so I am balanced. You look great!