Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Discuss female concerns here.

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The_stray_cat
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Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by The_stray_cat »

Hi! So I am a young athletic female and have always been athletic since 6th grade. Going into 11th grade now i noticed that even though I am more toned and fit for an average teen, bra size has been bugging me for the past two years.
They say it's all genetic and body fat.
So...
Well every female in father'a family has either a C or D cup and same goes for mother'a side. She has a C and both grandparents are D's.

i am only a B (not a very full one)

So ladies, i love lifting and going to the gym and im a rower, will i eventually grow??

People tell me that in order to grow a bigger chest i need to stop working out cause im too lean and muscular. It's preventing me from growing?

(Im 5'2 at 101lbs)

Can some of you guys share your experiences or advise me?
I love working out, but I don't love lack of chest :(

Thanks!
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Boss Man
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by Boss Man »

Well I can't give you a female perspective, but the one thing I can tell you is that not working out is a totally counterproductive thing.

What might happen could be that you lost some muscle, lost some of the fat burning potential of muscle and then gained more fat a little of which could be deposited in the chest area, but allowing your health to weaken by allowing the improvements you have made to partly or completely disappear.

You could actually pronounce the chest a little more by adding some chest muscle, but I certainly wouldn't suggest surgery of any kind, however adding a little more muscle to the chest might help and it would also be a good idea to keep the torso in good alignment as a back that is stronger than the chest could cause postural problems.
The_stray_cat
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by The_stray_cat »

Thanks for the response!

I've always done a lot of pushups and such, but won't working out on chest burn fat?
I can flex chest to the point where the sides where nonexistent cleavage is becomes really firm
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fitoverforty
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by fitoverforty »

First of all I want to applaud the fact that you are a young athletic female! :clap: You go girl! What you are doing in these early years of your life will help you so much down the road and is so important in establishing a mindset to stay fit and healthy.
You are still very young, 16, 17? You are not done growing yet. And while genetics does play a part in what your body type is, it doesn't necessarily mean you will have a large chest - WHICH IS NOT A BAD THING. I know it is hard for you to see the "big picture" right now at your age, but let me assure you in life experience with what female friends who have large chest say....they would trade places with me (small chested) in a minute.
For many years I wished for a larger chest, I worried that I wasn't "female" enough or that I was not attractive enough. Alot of that comes from peer pressure and the media that portray women in such a way that if you do not have huge boobs you are not pretty. NOT SO!! Beauty comes from inside, from who you are, and from self confidence in your abilities and self image. That is true beauty - not the size of our chest or butt or anything like that.
Don't be discouraged if you don't develop a large chest. Be proud of the athletic body you have, it will serve you well in your life. This comes from own life experience. I have always been small chested, and lets' just say it never interfered with attractiveness (even tho' when I was young, I thought it did). I learned to use body as an advantage over other girls in sports, I could run faster, jump higher, and move quicker! :mrgreen:
Hang in there and keep doing what you are doing, stay active, be involved in sports thru out your school years and later on when you are older and life happens and things get busy (college, marriage, kids, etc.) you will have that athletic background to fall back on to help you stay fit and healthy. And you can be a great role model for other girls your age who struggle with self image. :thumb:
The_stray_cat
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by The_stray_cat »

Haha thank you so much! Yes i will try to remember what you said from here on out. I was just looking at the fitness models on this site shapefit and i saw how they had the same height weight and like perfect i want to achieve and they had full chests. Thats why i was unsure if im doing this all wrong
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Boss Man
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by Boss Man »

I'd actually overlooked the age thing and forgotten you were the age you are.

Yes, it's understandable to wonder about such things at your age, as the media and peer pressure, as have been highlighted before, can have a dictatorial image to people where a young person can feel commanded or dictated to about how they should look, by pictorial and physical images of other people, but training your chest is important, to avoid back problems, if you have a stronger back as opposed to your chest.

You may find in time that you can't have more of a chest as Lynne said, but the main thing is you will be strong, healthy and more beautiful on the outside, as it's clear you're already beautiful on the inside, by how you talk and how you look after yourself and your potential to be a good role model in words and in deeds, looks very high right now and you should be proud of being you, because it really does mean something.

Your concerns about female image are justified and perfectly normal, but other peoples chest appearance or magazine images, need not be a key defining factor in your decisions about how you view yourself, as a young, beautiful lady, whereas if you see someone who looked athletic and strong, then that is to be admired and respected and as you are choosing to pursue such a look, aspired to.

So don't worry about training your chest as muscle balance is important and you're a really, really lovely young lady, I can tell that and your goals are terrific and you should be proud of them and I'm proud of you for the care and attention you're giving yourself and I'm sending you a BIG HUG, to let you know it's okay to feel like you do and it's okay to be you as well, because you're turning into a really wonderful person and I admire your life choices and your personality as well.

So keep going and keep believing because you ARE worth it and we will endeavour to support you in any way(s) we can, for as long as you would like us to :).
Alinshop
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by Alinshop »

As others suggested you might not be done growing yet, so only time will tell. I think it's great you spend so much time in the gym at such an early age.

I know this is not a good example (because wife is in her early 40's) but each time she leans down for a competition the 1st place she loses is in the chest area.
The_stray_cat
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by The_stray_cat »

It's just sometimes I dont quite feel feminine and girly because im so built with small hips and small busy with big muscles and going to the beach in swimsuits make me feel insecure since i can't fill out the tips :/
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Boss Man
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by Boss Man »

I might write quite a bit here, but I wanted to give you a totally honest response to what you just said, so hopefully I won't bore you :).

I completely understand where you're coming from, obviously from a human perspective, not a female perspective, as I'm , but it makes perfect sense for you to feel like you do and to think your femininity is somehow affected, by an aspect of your body image, that is heavily promoted in the media, but real beauty comes from within and your words and emotion you have expressed show me you're a beautiful person and you should celebrate that and be able to look yourself in the mirror and feel beautiful and vibrant and energised by the person looking back at you.

You've got a right to feel feminine, but being strong and feminine can be a very positive and emotive image and you don't need to be so conscious of yourself, but I really do understand why you might feel like this, as the media doesn't help, especially when some people are photo shopped to have a look that sometimes nature simply cannot give and in that respect it is a bit wrong, but a females DNA can dictate how their upper body looks and sometimes, some people are out of favour.

You're someone that has endeared themselves to me purely for how you come across with your words and the emotion. I have no idea how you look apart from what you say about yourself and yet I am sure I would find many positives in how you look if I saw any pictures of you, but you have said so much about yourself anyway in how you express yourself and word your content :).

I would be so happy for you if you came on here at some point and said something like, I am a 120lb female with 14%-18% fat. I look lean, strong, healthy and beautiful and yes I never could find that extra inch or two on the bosom that I hoped for, but I am proud of myself for the wonderful physical future I have crated for myself and I think I will still look awesome even when I'm 75.

You're young, you're bombarded by the media and other peoples image and it's understandable you could be influenced by that and want to emulate what other females have, that define their femininity in a way you would like yours to be defined, but if you became through your own hard work and effort, a young Lady with strong, aqualine statuesque curves and an artistic looking body, you'd be feminine from head to toe I think almost certainly without question and the main thing here is not to be letting the imagery around you, make you feel like you're taking sucker punches to your confidence, because you needn't do that.

You're who you are on the inside, because you know it's right and I know it's right. You're probably, I imagine, a world away from being plain looking regardless of your bosoms proportions and unless you let other people or things in the world steal a lot of who you are on the inside, then you will always have that beautiful person to grow, blossom and mature in your head and heart and you will always be a beautiful person with a lot to be proud of, for being fit, strong and emotionally gifted and I really do want you to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and recognise all the wonderful things about yourself, I think you have, because that's not being vain or egotistical, it's being self affirming as long as you don't develop and ego and a smug sense of self by doing it, which I don't think you would.

A lot of females with flat chests can still be feminine even if they wear stuff like a sweatshirt, jeans and nikes, as opposed to a sleeveless top, knee length skirt and some wedge shoes for example and it doesn't matter if they have ponytails, or spiky, funky hair, because femininity in a female is not solely defined by the way a bosom looks, as that's one minor aspect that is inflated by the media and the small proportion of guys who view females with a very shallow outlook and if a good bosom is in their top 2 critieria for a good female, then they don't deserve people like you with a beautiful heart and an intelligent mind, because they should be ranking things like your heart, mind, humour and conversation and other aspects of your external beauty, way above how proportioned your bosom is.

You insecurities are understandable and human, but you have the power to control them, by demoting the relevance of a fuller bosom behind the other aspects of your beauty and the person you are on the inside, because then when you look at your intellect, overall beauty and personality, I'm sure you'd see just what a positive, confident and amazing person I think you have the power to be and I think you can focus on building up your strength and body image and health and still be able to feel better about yourself in swimsuits and feel great abotu yourself.

I mean who would you rather be, a strong, lean, flat chested person, or someone with a fuller bosom, but another 100lbs in weight and not very healthy, because for many that is a reality and it's not a good tradeoff, to be that overweight and have a fuller chest and in some cases the chest becomes so full in relation to their weight, it causes soreness, possible rashes and pain problems especially in the back.

You're young and vulnerable to the media and some peoples interpretation of a good looking female, but I guarantee you, you're showing me through your words where your real beauty lies and you say you have an athletic body, so then be proud of yourself and keep working it hard, for the improvement and health you are worth and you wear a swimsuit if you want to and know that you will shine brightly enough to compete with the sun every single time.

:thumb: :thumb:
The_stray_cat
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by The_stray_cat »

Hey Boss man, thank you so much for your words of wisdom. I will focus energy into getting stronger because even though i will never be a sultry supermodel, I will be the athlete I was sculpted to be. Strong will be sexy, thanks :)
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Boss Man
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by Boss Man »

That's a really positive attitude and I'm delighted to hear someone of you age speaking so positively about your future.

Your family should be proud of your outlook on life and I'm proud of you too, so chin up, be strong and keep believing and remember our strength and support are yours always :).
OfficeGirl
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Re: Female athletes/lifters/gym addicts

Post by OfficeGirl »

Girlfriend, I am 28, and I still have insecurities just like yours. It's so hard to just be who we are, isn't it? I love your last post about strong being your sexy. That's awesome! Don't let some preconceived notion of the female body run your life. We can wear bikinis together next summer. you can most likely google search the best bathing suits for your body type as well. Then you can have an idea of what will look good, and you can step out in style and confidence. Good luck to you! :clap:
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