Crossfit for a lean muscle?

[Lhasa mama]

I have been doing Beach body workout DVDs (Insanity, Focus t25, Brazillian Butt lift) at home for about 6 month and I am thinking about doing a crossfit.

I used to do a lot more hard core workouts until I had 80% of my right leg meniscus removed last year.

I need something to kick me back in gear but my knee soreness still gets in the way.

It seems like a lot of people doing a Paleo diet are into Cross fit.

Is Cross fit an ideal match for the Paleo?

My main purpose of doing all these are bit vain. I want to lean out quite a bit.

Does cross fit bulk you up?  I know women doen't bulk up like men do but I still saw some women at a Crossfit gym who was bulky like that woman 'China'.

My body adapt to workouts fairly easily and develop muscle quicker thanks to my dad's gene   .

Also, will it put too much pressure on my knee?

Any word of advice will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Megan Claydon]

Yikes honey! Did you take a breath while typing all that out! lol 

 

Yes a lot of people in the crossfit community eat paleo, but there is also a fair amount who don't. Crossfit and paleo is a good match. You just need to do your research in finding a good gym with good coaches. This is especially true given your knee. A good coach will be able to slowly ramp up your intensity as needed and put you into safe movements that don't jeopardize your knee's stability. 

 

Might I also add, eating habits alone make the greatest impact on body composition. You are what you eat. You can crossfit all you want but if your food isn't dialed in you are most likely not going to see any changes.  

 

And NO, women do not get bulky from lifting. The women that you perceive to be "bulky" on the crossfit games are eating, training, and supplementing with the intention to carry around that much muscle. They also have genetics on their side. My point is, you would have to intentionally have a lot of lifestyle changes to add that kind of muscle.  

[amberino21]

I have no idea about whether crossfit is a good with paleo - I don't do crossfit, and I just eat food.

You mention leaning out, but being afraid of putting in muscle and looking bulky. leaning out involves losing fat, which is predominantly diet based. Looking bulky happens when your muscle is covered in fat.

You can put on muscle and lose fat. You'll look smaller than if you put on muscle but don't lose fat. I lifted weights and ate to achieve my physique goals. I went from 80kg to 60kg, but lost more kgs of fat. I have more muscle now than I did at 80kgs but look a whole lot smaller and less "bulky"!!!

[Suzy1]

I Crossfit 5-6 times per week and am a lean, hard 55kg. Crossfit has given me amazing, sustainable definition and no bulkiness.

When competing in physique comps many moons ago the 12 week comp diet etc which was not sustainable once the comp was over did not give me the physique I have now.

I have crossfitted with women who train hard however do not change their diet and scratch their heads as to why there is no change.

Remember it is still easy to eat cake etc on Paleo. There are so many yummy paleofied goodies which would give you less than impressive results if you indulged.

Go to You Tube and search Beauty in Strength which interviews a number of Crossfit women.

Good luck hope all goes well.

[Lhasa mama]

Thank you all for the great input!  

[Chris74]

Did CF for a couple years, a secondary reason for stopping was lack of hypertrophy.  It's fun and challenging but there's definitely drawbacks.  I would suggest you try it, the worst that could come of it would be you learn how to do Olympic lifts (mostly) properly.

 

I would also call a good amount of the movements that you would be performing would be knee intensive, squats, thrusters, box jumps, double unders, etc... you can scale to a degree for an injury/medical condition.

[Irish Rose]

I do strength and conditioning workouts and they incorporate Olympic lifting, gymnastics and WODs. It's so much fun, you never know what you will be doing next. Why not try? As for getting bulky? It's unlikely. You need to train with very heavy weights, eat and supplement in a very specific way. You will definitely get a lean 'toned' look if you combine crossfit with paleo and there is a great community spirit among most cross fitters . Give it a go! What have you got to lose?