The Leanest Version of You Isn’t the Healthiest or Most Competitive

By: Briana Siegert

For the last 10-15 years, we’ve been sold the idea that leaner is better. We can thank Fitspo for that.

The thing is…most of those people that were selling this ultra lean body on the internet weren’t the healthiest. Many later came back with GI issues, hormones of a menopausal woman, despite being in their 20’s, eating disorders, and poor mindsets with food and body image. 

The internet can put is in a vicious comparison cycle that makes us think we have to look a certain way to perform better and be more competitive, the leanest version of you is often not the healthiest or best performing version of you. Especially in CrossFit which is a glycolytic sport. AKA, you NEED carbs. What takes the biggest hit in a diet? YUP! Carbs! That’s a discussion for another day. Today, I want to talk about something I like to call “The Triangle of Awareness.”

• Health sits at the top

• Aesthetics at a bottom corner

• Performance at the other bottom corner

  
  

Here’s what most people don’t realize:

The closer you move toward one corner, the farther you move away from the other two.

This doesn’t mean you can’t touch all three over time. It does mean, that if you want all three at once, you likely won’t be elite in any, but that is probably one of the best places you can be. It’s like CrossFit, but nutrition and health related. The way CrossFit wants you to be above average at all things but not specialized in one thing. We want to have above average biomarkers, and athletic frame, but not being too lean, and we want to prioritize our fitness for our entire life.

And where people get stuck is wanting one primary goal but chasing all three simultaneously.

Where People Get Lost

You’ve probably seen (or felt) this before:

• “I want to perform better, but I don’t have a six-pack.”

• “I want to lose weight, but I’m frustrated I’m not hitting PRs.”

• “I want to compete, but I also want to look shredded year-round.”

  
  

We want everything at once.

But physiology doesn’t work that way.

Each corner of the triangle comes with trade-offs

For example, someone might say they want one goal, but they really want another. For example, a client’s goal is that they want to lose 15 lbs. That will require a period of a sustained cut (around 12–15 weeks) where your body is burning more calories than what is consumed. This is NOT ideal for sports performance. Then, around the 6-8 week mark they realize they’re not hitting pr’s like the rest of their class or that they’re falling flat in metcons.

So they want to up their calories again, never really attaining either goal. 

You have to keep your eye on that task at hand (where a coach is extremely helpful) and understand that regardless of the goal you are working towards, the closer you get to one corner…say it with me: Everybody “The farther you are away from another.”

What Each Corner Actually Looks Like

Health (The Top of the Triangle)

Health is your foundation. This includes:

• Hormonal balance

• Regular cycles (for women)

• Solid digestion

• Stable energy

• Good blood work

• Good blood pressure and metabolic health

• Stress tolerance

• 
  

Health is not always the leanest version of you. It’s the version where:

• Calories are sufficient

• Carbs are not feared

• There’s no obsessive tracking

• Training stress is appropriate

• Sleep and recovery are prioritized

• Life is overall more balanced

  
  

Without this corner solid, the other two eventually collapse. This should be at the forefront of everybody’s mind because when we don’t have our young and ravishing good looks and we aren’t competing anymore…we will be relying on the cornerstone we should have been working on in our younger years and that is your HEALTH. 

Now, don’t get me wrong…If you want to be the best at what you do…that is NOT healthy. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it…but this is where we might see some health markers fall off when we are extreme in any capacity. That’s what makes high performers so mesmerizing. They are disciplined and prioritize performing over everything else. Which brings us to our next cornerstone…

Performance (Bottom Corner #1)

Performance requires fuel. Period.

To compete well, you must:

• Eat for output, not optics

• Support glycogen storage

• Build and maintain muscle

• Recover from high training volumes

  
  

This means:

• You may not be sub-16% body fat

• You may or may not have a total 6 pack. 

• You may weigh more than you think you “should”

  
  

Yes, athletes do get lean eating for performance and building muscle. But not bodybuilder lean like fitspo convinced us was normal. 

People often fall victim to glamorizing athletes' build and don’t realize that you can take a line of athletes that are all high performing and weigh and look completely different. A person can literally train and eat the same way as somebody else and guess what? They will still look different. 

Another thing about trying to attain leanness and high performance at the same time is sometimes losing an extra 5-10 lbs often hurts performance more than it helps and will eventually come with some hindrance in other areas of performance. 

Remember, gymnastics is only ONE part of CrossFit and it’s also an area of fitness that requires relative body strength meaning you are strong for your body weight.  

You might gain 1–2 extra reps on a max set if you lose a few pounds, but you might lose:

• Strength under fatigue

• Glycogen late in workouts

• Power output

• Training consistency

• Recovery

  
  

All of those things matter and they matter a LOT. There are plenty of body weight ninjas out there that aren’t at the Games because they lack strength or endurance or stamina or a mixture of the three. 

High level competing isn’t about what you can do fresh. It's about what you can sustain when tired.

Aesthetics (Bottom Corner #2)

Aesthetics prioritize:

• Leanness

• Visual definition

• Scale weight or body fat %

  
  

If you want to lose weight or body fat, you have to be eating in a calorie deficit. Meaning you are eating less than what you burn. If you are wanting to perform well you have to, at bare minimum, be eating maintenance calories to sustain and build muscle, recovery, and health. 

And that’s okay...when aesthetics are the goal.

The problem comes when aesthetics are chased during a season that demands performance or when athletes try to do both at one time. Trying to chase these goals at the same time and then wonder why they’re not seeing either flourish. 

If a calorie deficit is the goal, you can definitely do that and I don’t want to put fear in anybody that this is never something you should chase, but it should be at the right time, in the right season, and done tactfully to make the most out of it and to avoid regain later. 

Genetics & Leanness

“But ‘so and so’ at the CrossFit Games has had a 6 pack for forever and I know she eats a lot.’” Yes, there are very lean elite CrossFit athletes.

There are also many who are:

• Not the leanest or have year-round 6-packs

• Not the lightest

• Still absolute monsters on the competition floor

  
  

Genetics play a role in:

• Where you store fat

• How lean you look at higher and lower body fat percentages

• How your body responds to training stress

• Skin thickness

  
  

We don’t need to name names. We don’t need to compare athlete bodies. We do need to stop assuming leanness equals superiority and good performance.

When Weight Loss Can Improve Health and Performance

Weight loss can be appropriate when:

• Health markers are poor and losing weight would improve your overall life and health

• Blood work suggests insulin resistance or metabolic dysfunction

• Gymnastics efficiency is limited by bodyweight (body fat is above ~25%)

• Conditioning is suffering due to excess mass (same body fat scoring as above)

  
  

In these cases, improving body composition can:

• Improve movement efficiency

• Support long term health

• Enhance aerobic capacity

  
  

If this is the case, we are likely not talking about competing…YET. 

I also don’t want anyone to run away with the notion that you can be competitive in CrossFit at a high body fat percentage. We have to be realistic with this. However, what I see is that when people start training and eating for performance, they will naturally start to lean out as they build muscle. 

When Weight Loss Is Not the Answer

Weight loss is usually not the move when:

• You’re already relatively lean

• You’re actively competing or preparing to compete

• Performance matters enough that taking a season off is not an option

• Strength is a limiter

• Recovery is already stretched thin

• Hormone dysregulation is present

• Athlete has poor mindset with body image and food

  
  

This is especially important for gymnastics.

Many athletes in CrossFit that are competing are already lean enough. Trying to “just lose 5 lbs” often comes at the cost of:

• Strength retention and gain

• Power 

• Endurance

• The ability to maintain output under fatigue (stamina)

  
  

(Pssst…these are just a few of CrossFit’s 10 Fitness Domains to improve in becoming your fittest self.)

What’s the Takeaway?

The goal isn’t to abandon any corner of the triangle. The goal is to choose the right corner for the season you’re in.

• Competing?  Eat for performance. Eat at maintenance or slightly above. Prioritize carbs

• Rebuilding health? Prioritize eating for better health metrics. Eat the garden. Balance your plate. 

• Chasing aesthetics? Keep the long goal in mind. Don’t decrease too much too soon. Stay consistent and rebuild back into performance eating at the end of your cut.

  
  

You can move around the triangle over time. But trying to live in all three corners at once is where most athletes burn out, stall, or feel like they’re constantly failing or starting over. 

If you’re lost in your nutrition, your goals, or can’t stay consistent. We can help you. Email us at admin@blacklisted.com and we can set you up with a nutrition coach, a programming coach, or both!