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transwomen and weightlifting

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by MapleBrownSugar, Mar 20, 2015.

  1. MapleBrownSugar

    Regular Member

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    Location:
    ottawa
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    I'm not out to anyone except my counsellor and my best friend as being transgender, so I largely still live as a man, unfortunately that's mostly because I live with my parents.

    Everyone I know want me to start going to the gym because they think it would be good for me since I'm not in school right now to get out and be active.

    I'm not opposed to being fit and healthy, but I don't want to bulk out. What would be a good workout routine? Is there muscle groups I can work on that might actually improve my femininity? Like working my core for a flatter stomach? or something to make my hips seem wider?
     
  2. KayJay

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    Well I personally just do cardio, some squats and leg raises. I wish the little bit of fat on my tummy would go away! I try to avoid anything involving muscle building on my arms and stuff.

    I'm not really into fitness so hopefully someone can give better advice. They do have some routines on YouTube I've seen.
     
  3. Puddincakes

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    I follow a woman on facebook

    https://www.facebook.com/emilyskyemodel?ref=ts&fref=ts

    She does workouts that help to accentuate the female form. i.e butt, thighs, stomach, and leaves out the upper chest area so the breasts are not lost.

    Also, I'm not sure if you would be comfortable working out in this (you could always have a loose shirt on over top as to hide it, but a friend of mine works out in a cincher and she says it really helps to kind of mold the fat into the right places. I don't really see how it helps in the actual workout portion, but she believes it works soooo here's some off of amazon

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=workout+cincher&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aworkout+cincher

    I hope I helped :slight_smile: and good luck in your life and whatnot!
     
  4. NingyoBroken

    NingyoBroken Guest

    Avoid weightlifting. It's often what they tell trans guys to do to appear more masculine. Having muscular arms is quite counterproductive for a trans woman. I assume you are also not yet on hormones, which means you will gain more bulk than cis women.
     
  5. sighnomore

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    Yoga is for everyone and for people of every gender. A lot of gyms have yoga classes. If anyone asks why you are doing it instead of weight lifting, you can point out all the pro football players who do yoga for core strength and flexibility. There is also Diamond Dallas Page who is quite famous for designing a yoga program for pro wrestlers. I have his DVDs and they're super fun (I am a cis woman).
     
  6. Cesar123

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    Lol this is kinda weird. I always have given tips on how to build muscle never how to avoid them! Here it goes anyway.
    The gym servers for 4 purposes: Muscle building, Strength Training, Weight management, and Endurance Training. If you haven't heard it already, Ill be the first to break it to you - going to the gym is only 15-20% of a healthy style. The other 80-85% means is composed of what you do away from the gym. This means a proper diet, lifestyle, and off day exercises ( yoga, meditation, brain exercises, etc.). This is why I always say that if you truly want a healthy lifestyle ( muscle building requires on some level of this ) you need to commit to it 100%. This is not one of those things that people say it hard to fail - it is incredibly hard to obtain.

    So if you are concerned about bulking up don't be. If you fail to get into your body the proper amount of protein & carbohydrates at the necessary time - you will not gain muscle. If you are just starting out as well, your nervous system will be primary targeted for the first month ( meaning little muscle will grow at this time ). Watch your carbohydrate intake before and after your workout. You should take some complex carbohydrates before your workout and a little bit after your workout. If you load up on carbohydrates, it will just turn into fat if they go unused and I am assuming you don't want that. If you begin to stimulate your nervous system with constant strain - it will eventually adapt and begin conservation carbs and directing proteins for muscle repair ( the whole point of bodybuilding ). Ill list below what you should focus on while at the gym

    Endurance: Endurance exercise are usually low to no weight training that targets to body abilities to move itself. It usually includes cycling through various exercising, can be timed, or include intervals.

    Cardio: This is a sure fire way to never build muscle, lose fat, and gain an awesome endurance. If you wish to build up your cardio do interval training. 3-4 Minutes at your Max - 3 - 4 Minutes half your max Repeat. You could also do 75% of your max for 1 minute and 30 seconds at your max and repeat.

    Swimming: This is an awesome endurance exercise as well. It really works your entire core and is to me is one of the most funniest.

    Misc. Body Exercise.
    For these one, you typically do not use weights and you should cycle them. For example do cycle 8 - 10 times this with no breaks in between < 10 Push ups - 10 crunches - 10 wide hand push ups - 10 leg raises - 10 tricep push ups - 10 side crunches ( on each side ).

    Strength Exercises: I caution you with this one. If you do strength training long enough, you will build some muscle. It involves weights. It's typically done with high volume weights ( your absolute MAX ) repping 2 - 3 sets for 6 - 8 Reps ( for some it can even go down as low as 4 ). Short recovery time.

    This one is kinda straight forward. Grab the weights and do the usual exercise. I would suggest doing full body exercises - this means your deadlift, squats, bench press, leg presses, etc. If you want to gain thicker legs and a butt ( like so many woman I know want ) Do your squats and leg press! I caution you with this though to. The amount of testosterone that is released from leg exercises is ridiculous! They could cause muscle growth.

    If you really do not care from the gym ( which I believe you don't ) than just mix endurance and strength together! If you want a more feminine body ( skinny should I say ) than you should focus on cardio, swimming and running are the best! The problem ( as you may have seen above ) is that you genetically have a male body - so your body naturally adapted to build more muscle ( which is why strength training can be tricky ).
    Try this.
    Do some form of cardio, like the treadmill
    than go to various machines and do light weight on them ( first time I am recommending machines! They are awful for muscle growth and strength training ).
    Than do abs.
    Should take you roughly 1 hour!

    I refuse to promote an unhealthy diet! I'm mentored by cardiologist here in Brazil and after hours of finding your plaques in your arteries and scheduling angioplasty ( get to scrub in for my first one soon! ), I can not promote and unhealthy diet. If you want to know whats healthy and unhealthy for your body on the chemical level, I'll be more than happy to inform you :slight_smile:...

    Have a nice workout!
    Cesar

    P.S This was the hardest thing I may have possibly wrote. I have never given advice counter muscle growth.
     
    #6 Cesar123, Mar 20, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2015
  7. MapleBrownSugar

    Regular Member

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    This is great! I'm gonna save this in textfile for later! :grin: I definitely appreciate the effort, haha, I know it's kind of a funny thing to ask, but if my dad is going to make me use the gym, at least I can do something productive without losing progress in other facets of my life.

    Thanks a bunch everyone (*hug*)