Because of my training, my clothes are starting to no longer fit

@countrygurl32 You need to go by measurements, not label sizing. It's inaccurate from brand to brand, and vanity sizing throws everything off.

Also, FWIW, go to the Bra That Fits subreddit (they don't allow cross-linking, sorry), and use their 6 measurement calculator to ensure you're in the correct bra size. That one fit alone can drastically change how your clothes fit.
 
@countrygurl32 My strength trainer told me the other day (it’s not my personal knowledge so please feel free to contradict me) that you put on bulk when you do more reps with less weight (say 15 reps with 10kg weight), and get lean muscle when you do less reps with more weight (say 5 reps with 30kg weight) which is why powerlifters are usually lean. If you feel, in addition to fat weight, that’s what’s happening you could ask your trainer to change strategy.
 
@orthogonalman Thank you for the suggestion! I'll be sure to ask my trainer about it.

I know for now, certain things like deadlifts have very small reps (like maybe 4 reps at a time, but a few sets). I'm still learning about how all of this works so there's more to learn!
 
@countrygurl32 It’s not always about being big or small. It’s about being proportional… I think ppl don’t talk about that enough tbh. You should have the body you want to do the type of fitness you prefer. It’s like the “in” thing to gain weight or whatever but you should do what makes you comfortable. It’s about finding imbalances… so you said that your upper is lacking so work on that more whether it’s through yoga or lifting.

What I mean by proportional is this: I recently had some guy friends say I would look better w a bigger butt and quads by gaining some weight. But I explained to them that I have small hips so it just wouldn’t look proportional and gaining weight would mean some more fat in my stomach too and since my hips don’t curve out as much, my waist will look larger esp w the extra weight (no it won’t go to my side hips because I have hip dips lol…).
 
@countrygurl32 Speaking as a size 8 (who enjoys yoga), you being a size 8 and comparing yourself to the guy who said lifting made him "too big to function" is really insulting. It's also total bullshit. There are a lot of big bodies (actually big bodies, size 20s, not 8s) out there that are incredible at yoga.

Check yourself.
 
@chandrika I was not trying to make any value judgment on anyone else but myself, so I apologize if it came off that way. This post was about me seeing a large jump in sizes in myself, and perhaps the mental implications of that, not about whether other people are capable of or not.

We're all built different and not everyone is meant to be able to attain a certain size. One could argue that I'm not even built to be size 0 (I was having a conversation with another commenter who is 4" shorter than me and is a muscular size 0), since that was a size I had when I was extremely lean, including in the muscular department.

But again, I apologize if that came off the wrong way. That wasn't my intention.
 
@countrygurl32 I won’t say anything about your fitness other than congrats! Staying consistent and seeing progress is such an accomplishment and should be celebrated

With that said, I loathe shopping for clothing after weight lifting. I am in shape and have gained muscles in the areas I want. Women’s standard number sizing (6,8,10,etc) just does not take into account the difference in hips, waist, thighs. And that’s not even considering the length of it!

Obviously it is not profitable to have such custom sizing but a girl can dream
 
@countrygurl32 There’s a lot going on with your post, but I feel like I can answer question #1 at least: No. As long as your strength keeps pace with your weight, you should be able to do whatever balances or inversions you want. I’m “overweight” by the BMI & do handstands as one of my major fitness activities. There could become a point where you might gain enough weight to put undue strain on your wrists & joints, but I promise you, that point is not gaining 20 pounds while weight training consistently. Your strength is keeping up just fine.
 
@countrygurl32 I get attached to certain favorite clothes and when I gain muscle I am excited and proud (my calves once ripped the seams on a pair of skinny jeans hehehe) to be stronger, heavier, more muscular but a little bit of me is sad that I can’t wear (as well/as comfortably) my favorite clothes pieces.

Shopping is a little bit fun but mostly exhausting and tiring for me so I dread having to replace large chunk of my own wardrobe. I also don’t like spending a lot of money or taking part in the fast fashion carousel.

It seems like you have more of an attachment to size. For pants, I detest womens sizing and have found solace in Levis sizing (waist measurements/mens pant sizes).

I’m not sure what the size 0 means for you. I’ve almost always been a size 2 in most brands and I would feel a bit odd about going up to a size 4, as I have occasionally, usually due to a particular brands sizing. I think it is a little unnerving because I don’t always know WHICH part of my body and the garment is disagreeable.

Perhaps you can use a tape measure to track your measurements/gains if that would feel like a healthy way to remind yourself that not ALL of you is getting larger, just some parts that matter for garment fitting.

In middle school I was very frustrated by trying to understand what clothing fit me well (and why it sometimes didn’t) and I took all my measurements with a tailors tape. I was and am quite interesting in sewing and tailoring. It was some extra work over time to measure myself monthly and compare to my best/worst fitting clothes but it was very enlightening.

I will mention that muscle is three times denser than fat tissue, and it does not have the same malleability/compressability that less dense tissue does.
In my own opinion, gaining circumference in torso or limb via muscle FEELS more noticeably restrictive than gaining the same circumference in soft tissue.

Having a larger posterior pulls on stretch fabric not just longitudinally but also latitudinally. It can particularly reduce movement/fit in the groin and hip area because it’s already stretched so close to the max capacity. If your thighs have also gained circumference via muscle, this can reduce not just fabric stretch in thigh areas but also the hip/groin area mobility a surprising amount.

These types of muscle gains/losses can be a huge part of suit tailoring for men particularly, though it’s not talked about as much in womens wear.

I think womens clothing/sizing has a weird disregard for muscle tissue, as if it doesn’t exist. As if the only fathomable tissue type contributing to sizing is soft tissue, which is totally inaccurate.

If anything, you can tell yourself your bones are a size 0 but your muscles demand a size up.
 
@countrygurl32 I’m sort of in the same dilemma as you and totally understand. But ultimately, it really depends on what you want.

I might get many downvotes in this sub, but I’ve always admired the more lithe skinny toned bodies like Victoria secret bodies and Kate Middleton! Some people may find that unattractive and I’ve heard of people saying their bodies look like 12 year old boys but to me, that’s attractive and more culturally preferred where I live in (and this definitely plays a role).

With intense high impact sports especially if you try to improve, you will inadvertently burn more calories which will make you hungrier which will make you eat more and bulk up. This happened to me too and now I’m trying to reduce the frequency of my high impact exercises and stick to exercises that work on flexibility more. I’m also looking to get into calisthenics, maybe you can try that too? Calisthenics uses more body weight as your “weights” and you have to be flexible and strong enough to sort of pull/push your weights. I think it’ll be a good combo with your yoga.
 
@countrygurl32 my 2 cents:

its normal to have a different body as you age. accept it.

you're not gonna get too big for yoga. don't worry.

smaller =/= healthier =/= better. girl are you seriously complaining about getting an ass?
 
@countrygurl32 Look up some of the elite strongmen. They train for both power and flexibility. It's hard to balance but it's entirely possible to be both massive and flexible. However we're talking absolutely elite levels of muscles. At the beginner/intermediate levels, any muscle gain will be useful.

DLs are fantastic for women as it greatly helps our bones and it's one of the best lifts for overall muscle building. You should ask about focusing on more functional fitness vs strength or body building. Any trainer worth their salt should be able to tailor your training plan to your goals.
 
@countrygurl32 Just want to chip in my 2 cents as someone who also lifts & does yoga - I've been doing heavy ish (for me) dummbell workouts for the past year, and I think it's substantially helped my yoga practice especially in inversions. Having stronger shoulders helps so much in handstands! I do feel that my shoulders are "tighter" than before, e.g. when I do the one hand up one hand down behind my back pose (sorry forgot the name) I can feel a clear stretch wheareas before it was just "meh", but yoga actually really helps with that and overall I haven't noticed any regression in my yoga practice. I now use yoga as active recovery and actually think it works perfectly alongside lifting!! I took creatine for a short period of time but it made me pack on water weight like crazy and I just felt like it didn't work for me aesethetic/function wise so I stopped. I think shoulder workouts (overhead presses etc) helped me the most with handstands.
 
@mrmarkyboy Thank you for sharing this info! I'll try focusing more on shoulders because handstands are what I've been trying to work toward (I can do crow pretty stable but it's hard to get past that). I was also taking creatine because my husband said it helps with recovery... so maybe I don't need to do that lol.
 
@countrygurl32 Good luck!! I also feel that all the compound lifts made my core a lot stronger, which also helps with handstands! Susan Bishop yoga on instagram has lots of useful handstand drills - I pretty much learned how to do one from her posts! People react to creatine differently so don't let my experience put you off entirely, it doesn't hurt to try and see how you feel! I didn't feel thaaaat stronger but my muscles did seem more "full", but I didn't like how it looked on me and felt happy with my lifting progress otherwise so decided I could do without the creatine. As for recovery, I actually do find yoga very helpful & personally I think lots of sleep is key. Good luck & hope you continue to get stronger and progress in yoga :)
 
@countrygurl32 So there are people that most of us would consider obese doing inversions more stable than mine. I also feel as my shoulders and back get more muscular I lose a bit of reach, but yoga is a practice not a perfection so not everyone’s bodies can do every pose possible. You do what feels good to your body. I prefer the long and lean asthetic for myself so I don’t bulk on purpose but do try to consume a ton of protien keeping my body muscular for longevity
 
@i_need_god I mostly wanted to lament on the realization I had the other day when I bought new pants, even in a size up from what I was expecting, for them to still not fit. Like I had to go through the mental exercise of being okay with that higher size in the first place, then I come to find out I still underestimated.

I wouldn't say it's something that is constantly bothering me or anything.
 
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