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Weightlifting for FTM and Transmasculine/Gender Neutral/Non-Binary


Palovana

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Hey all, so I have a female body and a really small frame (5'3" 90 lbs) and for years I've been looking for ways to look more androgynous. My build has always made me look like a little girl because my bone structure is very slender/delicate. I hate it so much. Ideally I would like to be truly androgynous, tall enough that I might be mistaken for a guy at times or if I wished, but that will never be a reality because of my height and facial features. When I was younger, I tried everything to gain weight, by eating constantly and choosing foods with a lot of "healthy" fats (peanuts, seeds, olive oil, whole milk, protein shakes, etc.) but my metabolism is too fast for it to have really made any difference, and I just felt miserable and bloated all the time instead of actually gaining weight. (Side note - I don't want to hear anything about being "so lucky". No, it fucking sucks.)

 

Last year I started lifting just to see what would happen, only with 2 lb dumb bells and doing lots of reps. Within about 3 months, I really started to develop the muscles in my arms, especially biceps and deltoid muscles, so much that other people noticed. I loved how my arms looked and even though they weren't huge yet, just psychologically I felt a lot better, some of the dysphoria I feel about looking like a "little girl" lessened. I looked at seriously getting into weight training and went up to 3 lb dumb bells and also started looking at using barbells at the gym and benching.

 

Now, I've had a condition called chronic costochondritis, which is an inflamation of the cartilage in the rib cage and sternum, for many years, and lifting irritated it so bad that I had to stop. I was in so much pain all the time I couldn't stand up straight, and it only started to get better when my chiropractor referred me for traction therapy. Basically what happens with the condition is the ribs "lock" because the cartilage is so inflamed and it causes horrible pain and stiffness in the back and shoulderblade on the affected side. 

 

It's been a lot better since January, and I want to start lifting again. All of my arm muscles have mostly atrophied so I have to start over from the beginning. I've figured out that I can't bench or do any lifts above my head or directly in front of me at a 90 degree angle while standing (or sitting) without seriously fucking up my chest/ribs/shoulder again. Which I find enormously limiting and a total shame, because shoulder presses made my shoulders and upper back look amazing. I'm pretty much limited to bicep curls and other lifts that are below the plane of my shoulders.

 

Does anyone else lift and have any suggestions or ideas for lifts? I'd love to talk about lifting with other androgynous or transgender folks, if anyone else is into it. And any other ideas someone could send my way about looking more "masculine" without hormones or wearing men's clothes - they don't fit.

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Maybe you could try something that's low impact on your bones. Just for example. My kneecaps explode on any heavy impacts with my feet. All of my impacts are heavy since I tend to weigh around 170-80 pounds. I am definitely not a runner despite the long legs of mine. But a jump into the pool and I can do whatever I want with my shitty knees.

 

To my understanding, water is quite beneficial for some forms of exercising as it acts as a dampener to some of the damage you receive from fighting gravity in weight training. It also of course has the benefit of helping your cardio immensely. I remember reading articles about a surfer who trained her muscles by carrying boulders on the ocean floor and simultaneously increased her lung capacity since she did all of the training without oxygen tanks.

 

On a similar subject, it might help if you studied the bodies of different types of athletes. The body of a hockey player will look different compared to that of a football player as they use different sets of muscles for different purposes. You might find quite a variety of exercises that different athletes use which could circumvent your inflammation problems. Or maybe with a little bit of research you could find something that helps stop the inflamation before it gets worse or starts. There's a lot of natural remedies out there. Some of it is crackpot and some of it is genuine. It takes a little bit of research to find out what the truth is, but it can pay off.

 

Something else I suppose, wracking my brain. I don't work out or go to the gym or anything, but I'm in shape. Not sculpted, just adapted to my environment. Apart from lifting things quite often, one of the things I've done quite a bit of is holding. Hold an iron stove up off the ground, keep a support beam from falling, etc. That may or may not be less of an impact on the key areas of yours that get inflamed. Take that with a grain of salt as I don't figure I know enough in those regards.

 

I held a 4x8 floor beam above my head for three hours one time, arms completely rigid above my head. I didn't feel the strain so much while holding it, but afterwards when I let go I felt that obviously my muscles had their workout for the day. But it didn't happen to hurt as much as it would have had I done something like pick up, lift, and set down logged trees all day. Logistically, it may have some merit if we break it down.

 

Instead of the repetition you get from repeated motions in lifting, imagine holding a weight out in front of you, but never setting it down for a set amount of time. The muscles are in constant use, even if the weight is light. Beyond that I'm afraid that's likely all I can provide in the meantime. 

 

 

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nerdperson777

I don't lift, but I've worn 20 pound backpacks to school everyday.  That gave me wide enough shoulders to pass.  If you're still in school, you could put your textbooks in your backpack instead of holding them with hands to help bulk up shoulders a little.  I'm also 5' 3", maybe a little extra, but not by much.  Even at my skinniest I wasn't 90 pounds.

 

The only help I can provide is probably that I'm in a Facebook group with transgender people that exercise.  I'm more leg heavy so I have massive thighs, but I think most of the people in the group are about upper body workouts, since many are binary FtM, from what I can tell.  They might be able to give better advice.  If you want, I can link this thread to them.

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Celyn: The Lutening

Wow, it's a collection of 5'3" AFAB trans* people! (Is there something about that height that makes us hate being female???)

 

@nerdperson777 That link would be pretty cool :)

3 hours ago, E is for E said:

Instead of the repetition you get from repeated motions in lifting, imagine holding a weight out in front of you, but never setting it down for a set amount of time. The muscles are in constant use, even if the weight is light.

A guy who was a knight for medieval fairs came to our school and he said that was how he trained. It's a really neat method that works out the slow twitch muscles.

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Thanks for all your replies. I didn't think about doing any sort of exercise in a pool but that's a really good idea. The university I work for has an Olympic size indoor pool and it's free for faculty and staff to use. Just swimming might help me, at least it might be easier on my shoulder and chest muscles. 

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1 hour ago, Palovana said:

Thanks for all your replies. I didn't think about doing any sort of exercise in a pool but that's a really good idea. The university I work for has an Olympic size indoor pool and it's free for faculty and staff to use. Just swimming might help me, at least it might be easier on my shoulder and chest muscles. 

If you ever tend to observe the body of olympic swimmers, you'll see that they have muscle definition to be sure. I actually didn't even think about that, the repitition of arms and legs while swimming or diving. I used to swim a lot as a kid. From day one I always had problems with my knees but I never noticed it while swimming. That in itself may be your answer right there.

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nerdperson777

Here is a link.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/223811038023052/

I can either link this thread or you can go in and ask yourself.

 

I think 5' 3" is average AFAB height.  It's short for a guy but not so short like 5'.  I'll just say that it's almost acceptable.  I'd wish for 5' 4" or 5' 5".  But I've always been the small short one in school so I guess I just wish for a bigger size.

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On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 4:03 PM, Palovana said:

Hey all, so I have a female body and a really small frame (5'3" 90 lbs) and for years I've been looking for ways to look more androgynous. My build has always made me look like a little girl because my bone structure is very slender/delicate. I hate it so much. Ideally I would like to be truly androgynous, tall enough that I might be mistaken for a guy at times or if I wished, but that will never be a reality because of my height and facial features...Does anyone else lift and have any suggestions or ideas for lifts? I'd love to talk about lifting with other androgynous or transgender folks, if anyone else is into it. And any other ideas someone could send my way about looking more "masculine" without hormones or wearing men's clothes - they don't fit.

:) Hi. Gender non-conforming, and apparently, unintentionally androgynous-looking person, here.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your medical condition. Did your doctor offer advice on which exercises/lifts you are allowed to do, in order to not inflame or accidently re-injury yourself? It feels a little difficult to offer advice on weight lifting, when I'm unsure which exercises you're allowed to do, or how much weight would be too much for your medical condition. For example, I don't know whether it's safe for you to lift a book or two in your arms to increase your shoulder muscles, or whether you're allowed to lie on the floor and lift yourself by your arms, since that would put your weight on them. I'm more into cardio exercises than weight-lifting.

 

I'm only 2 and a half inches taller than you, and, despite being shorter than the average height of other males/men, I'm still mistaken for one of them. So, I'd think there's still hope for you.

 

You didn't mention your chest size, but, from my experience, having a smaller chest contributes to others seeing me as male. So, if you have one like that, that'll probably help. 

 

Also, the good news is that it's not necessary for you to wear men's clothes in order for others to perceive you as male: I occasionally wore my brother's t-shirts and jeans, but I grew up wearing mostly unisex t-shirts and women's/girls in a larger size than I needed, so they weren't tightly fitted against my chest, which, I guess helped convince others I looked male, since the males where I live, wear baggy clothes. Also, walking like them, imitating their confident swagger, might help.

 

I guess that's another consideration that might be important: What do the males in your area usually wear? Wearing similar clothes like them might help others see you as one of them, too. Also, keeping your legs and body hair unshaved might help, too. And, of course, having short hair helps a lot more than longer hair. And not having a makeup routine and letting your eyebrows grow large might help.

 

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by "they [men's clothes] don't fit." Do you mean they're way too big for your body? If so, have you tried looking at smaller sized clothes for youth or websites that sell petite clothes for adult men? (Or, if the women's section has dark, neutral t-shirts that look unisex, perhaps you could find a larger size, so that it might look more like a men's shirt?)

 

I hope this helped.

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nerdperson777
4 hours ago, InquisitivePhilosopher said:

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by "they [men's clothes] don't fit." Do you mean they're way too big for your body? If so, have you tried looking at smaller sized clothes for youth or websites that sell petite clothes for adult men? (Or, if the women's section has dark, neutral t-shirts that look unisex, perhaps you could find a larger size, so that it might look more like a men's shirt?)

I'm not the OP, but my guess is the clothes don't fit based on body shape.  Some AFAB trans people find it hard to pass when their body shape is too distinctly feminine so it's hard to be gendered anything but.  The goal may be big shoulders and small hips, but sometimes it's small shoulders and/or big hips.  That becomes too tight in the hips or too roomy in the shoulders if a men's shirt is worn.  I personally have passable dimensions even if I still have it a little tight at the hips.  It probably isn't a bad thing but I'm afraid that it affects my passing.

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Hi. I do a bit of power lifting as a means of helping to solve some of my injuries and to build muscle (I too like the masculine look it gives my arms).

 

So as folks have said it will depend on what kind of look you're going for. But if you're doing lots of reps at a light weight you'll be building up for endurance rather than strength. Endurance lends to a ropey style of muscle and can take longer to put that muscle on. If you would like to put on a bit more in the way of muscle bulk you would do better to aim for a very low number of reps at a high weight. We're talking 4 - 6 reps, four lots there of. In terms of food to aid in the weight gain there you would be right with the protein thing but in terms of shakes; if they give you any more than 20 grams of protein it's wasted.

 

I don't know precisely what your body can take but you could try things like deadlifts; they can help build a bit of muscle around your shoulders too and they exercise a big muscle group so you get a lot of bang for your buck. You could also try shrugs, I don't know how to explain these well enough so here's a video demonstrating them;

 

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If you can imagine a swan's neck, that's pretty much what my entire body looks like, my torso, my neck, and my extremities. Everything is long and slender and very delicate looking. Hourglass figure, long torso, tiny waist. Men's clothes are just too big in even the smallest sizes, and boys' clothes are all cut like squares that are too short and too wide for my my body. I even have trouble finding women's clothes that fit me. I have to get the smallest sizes and even those are sometimes too big. Really I think the best I can do as far as clothes is to get clothes made for women but that have a tomboy type style. That's typically what I aim for and I still can't pass because of my face. All of my features are tiny and pointy, like a fucking forest nymph. There's nothing square or strong or heavy about them. So I kind of just come across looking more or less butch/soft butch, which I'm fine with most of the time. Better butch than little girly. Dressing for work is a completely different story though. My office is business casual, and pretty much the only thing I can wear that doesn't make me feel like a little girl is a blazer, but a blazer every day would be overdressed. My boss doesn't even wear a suit to the office on a daily basis. So all I can really find is like, cardigans and shit, which makes me feel and look like a 12 year old school girl. I have some collared button-downs, which are way more androgynous, but they're only suitable in warmer weather, which we really haven't had yet here.

 

@Alex_S  Thanks, I didn't know that about lower weights + lots of reps vs. higher weights and lower reps. I had always been planning to go up to higher weights, once my arms were a little bit more than sticks, but since I fucked up my shoulder I'm just starting with the three lb. free weights for a few weeks to get used to it again. I tried the 5 lb. ones, but they hurt my elbow joints too much at the moment. I have a problem with hypermobility in my elbows and knees, so once I've maybe gotten to where I was before I will try them again. Shrugs will seriously kill my shoulder. Anything really involving the scapula will cause huge mobility problems for me very quickly. Deadlifts might be an option though.

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  • 1 year later...
C.J.the.Hot.Mess

Something that may help with your face shape is that apperently chewing a lot of gum can widen your face and give the jaw a slightly more square look. I'm not sure if it's true, but multiple sources on the Internet said the same thing so the potential is there. I'm trying it out myself.

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