Women Know About Being A Man, And Men Know About Being A Woman

[Guest MrAwesome]

Okay here's what I wanted to ask you Gals, I wanted to do some more posts on weight training on my FTM guide, but I don't know a LOT about it, I do some, but not enough to feel like I can truly do justice to the FTM community with my little bit of knowledge ;( So for you X-Muscly girls, I would like if you can give me all the info you're willing to give. What exercises do you recommend? The shoulders in particular are good for us to work. And good pec exercises too cause that I read helps with good outcomes for chest surgery. xP And exercises for building the biceps and triceps just because that makes the arms look bigger. and if you post some ideas to this you can also add a question for MTF that I'll answer

[Guest skyy]

if you want to be big, i would say try to see just how much of a specific weight you can do. all the guys i saw were going for max, and not for reps. i dont know what lack of T does to the abality to do all of that stuff, and my knowledge is pretty limited. one thing i do know about is that you want to consume a lot of protein, like 50g, soon after working out. and dont ever consume sugar before working out. the sugar will kill your ability to heal or get stronger. you dont want it afterward either. gaterade-like products are right out when doing weight training. i learned these facts from a coach i had for wellness. he is like 60, and can bench well over 200lbs. i dont know much about the types of exercise. i didnt have a good teacher for weight training. hope the food stuff helps. most people dont take it too seriously, and so dont see much result. but it is key. oh, and it is sort of like shaving. once you start, you dont want to quit, because that muscle will be replaced with fat, do to the fact that your matablism will still be low, only it wont be being burnt off anymore. good luck on getting stronger

[Guest April63]

The bench press will be your best friend. That will help you pectorals, biceps, and triceps. Make sure you bench before doing other arm exercises. This will help you to get the most out of it.

Big triceps= big arms. Big biceps = big bumps. So if you work your biceps, you can show off your muscles when you flex your arms, but if you work your triceps, people will admire your arms all the time. You can do bicep curls and tricep push downs after the bench press.

For shoulders, you can take a dumbbell in each hand (start with low weight). Stand and have your arms down at your sides. Lift both arms up while keeping them straight. You should have the dumbbells at shoulder level. Bring both arms together so that you are holding them directly in front of you. Let your arms go down, but keep them in front. Bring them back up to the same position, and then bring the dumbbells in to your chest (hold them up to your pecs). Bring them down to your sides and repeat.

I hope I explained that well

More weight will give you more strength, but repetition gives you more muscle tone and endurance. Protein can help, but I'm not sure how much you'll benefit.

April

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

Testosterone definitely plays a big role in how big you can get with weight training. A lot of women I know worry that they will get bulky if they weight train. For the most part, it's not possible to get too big if your testosterone levels are in the "normal" range for a genetic female. That being said, you CAN put on some bulk pre-T. It's just that you'll have to work MUCH harder for every inch of muscle you gain than a genetic male would have to.

Here's my story! I started working out when I was pre-T. I wanted to lose weight, get stronger, and make my physique more masculine. I think I started lifting weights around....ummmm... December 2007 or January 2008. I busted butt. I was in the gym 4 days a week, minimum. Even though it was hard to see results, I kept going. I can see why women have a hard time maintaining a program of regular exercise. It takes FOREVER to see results. Because my chest was very large, I didn't start T until right before I had top surgery. The downside to this was that I needed to build up definition in my pecs to get good surgery results, but had to do it without T. What I did must have worked because Dr. Garramone commented that I had prominent pecs after he did my surgery. Before surgery you wouldn't have been able to tell ANYTHING about my pecs.

Here's what I did:

Seated fly: 3 sets of 10 reps each. I think I started out at about 30 pounds with that one and was able to work up to 60. It took me like a year to do that. Maybe I didn't do it right, or maybe that was the best I could do without T. Now that I am on T it is much easier to increase the amount of weight I can safely handle.

Vertical chest press: 3 sets of 10 reps each. Sometimes I mix it up a bit and do incline chest presses. With this one I think I started with maybe 50 pounds and was able to work up to around 75 pounds when I was pre-T. I ended up regressing back to 60 pounds while I was recovering from my chest surgery (couldn't do weights for 2 months). Now I'm around 85 pounds on this one. It's getting much easier to get stronger, but I'm still being cautious. With FTM's our muscles grow stronger faster than our bones and connective tissues can compensate for. If you aren't careful, you can hurt yourself pretty badly.

For back and traps, you might check out the lat pulldown, seated rows, and maybe do some shrugs with barbells. All of these exercises can be easily Googled. There are videos showing proper form on YouTube and elsewhere.

What April said about triceps is right on. Definitely work the triceps. Those get noticed. I've got some definition in my arms, but it is harder to see because I'm sporting some body fat. The little skinny guys get ripped faster, but I think I'll be able to get stronger.

I stayed away from lower body exercise. What I do is usually at lower weights with more reps. The only leg muscle I am trying to increase the size of is my calf muscles. Heaven forbid that my thighs or glutes get any bigger.

With weight training, there are lots of opinions about what works and what doesn't. Some of it is probably true and some probably isn't. I've heard that it is better to do one set until you can't do anymore. You'd just want to warm up before going all out. We actually found some research that suggests that "one set until exhaustion" is an effective approach. I think the general rule is lower weights and higher numbers of reps are to build endurance. Higher weights and lower numbers of reps are for strength. There is at least some debate whether you should hammer out those reps as fast as you can or if you should do slow and controlled movements.

You might want to just check out a weight lifting book at the library. A lot of the basic principles would be explained there. However, just keep in mind that many books are written with a genetic male's body in mind. Even transguys who are on T have a heightened risk of injury. It's good to be at least a little careful.

In the end, you will be able to build up some muscle, but testosterone levels matter. I've seen guys with horrible form getting GIANT and other guys who stay little even though they work out a lot. There's a lot of genetic and hormonal things that affect what kind of visible results you can get. In my case, once I started T, I started to build muscle very fast. Part of that, according to my doctor, might have been because I had been lifting weights pre-T and the "blueprint" was there. Either way, you can't go wrong lifting weights if you do it right. It's good for bone density and all kinds of stuff.

Also, don't skimp on the cardio!

[Guest ~Brenda~]

Hey Lewis,

You want to bulk up? Then use the tried and true US Military way. Lots of carbs and protien with bucoo pushups and weight lifting. Run, run, and run, and more situps and more pushups, and more carbs, more carbs, and meat!!

Get mean!!!

LOL

bernii

[Guest amie]

I toldja how to build the shoulderz up a month or so back.

But yeah, April's got the right idea with yet another shoulder exercise.

And she's right, the bench press can become your sweetest friend.

By the way, Arnold promotes the idea of coffee without sugar for energy for the workout.

You can cheat a little and get away with it, Bub.

I tell yu what, hit me again and we'll search for short cuts together if yu wanna. It'll gimme somethin' to do.

I'll look foward to it.

[Guest leo]

thanks for the tips guys!

as i was told by my trainer way back im lucky to be black lol

we have more define muscle without much exercise and with exercise results are fast

but on the up hand that has made me lazy!

[Guest julia_d]

In my late teens I had a job which involved lifting and carrying large boxes.. lots of large boxes.. up and down stairs, in and out of wagons, up on stages.. and all that junk every day for 12 years. Turned me from lithe and svelte to some musclebound thing.. and made my bones and shoulders grow big to carry the muscles. My biggest regret.. because you can't do much about it at 43

[Guest Little Sara]

In my late teens I had a job which involved lifting and carrying large boxes.. lots of large boxes.. up and down stairs, in and out of wagons, up on stages.. and all that junk every day for 12 years. Turned me from lithe and svelte to some musclebound thing.. and made my bones and shoulders grow big to carry the muscles. My biggest regret.. because you can't do much about it at 43

Did 5 years of lifting boxes and stuff like that. It made my biceps ever so slightly bigger (cause now they're completely insignificant, since I don't work physically at all), but not noticeably unless I flexed. It also gave me nice leg muscles from all this walking. Even now, my mom is jealous.

Besides that, working in physically-demanding jobs did nothing. I lost 5 lbs worth of muscles since. That's probably near minimal healthy levels for walking around/running etc. Certainly not at masculine levels.

Go figure why I was mostly unaffected though.

[Guest julia_d]

I was stage crew.. we used to set up and pull down 18 tons of stage and sound kit every day... 3 of us. 6 or 7 days a week month in month out.. kinda makes you strong... especially amp racks weighing 300lbs up stairs between two of you... often more than one flight. Amazing how many music venues were on the second floor or above without any lifts back when.

That's how to get big and strong if you want to.. heavy exercise every day regularly.. I don't think the gym compares to really pushing it every day because it's your job. I see men who sit in the office every day then go to the gym a few times a week.. they don't look strong in the way I was... Might have been because in the music business you don't eat properly (beer and greasy spoon late night services mostly) so you never really bulk up.. more just grow what you need.. Even now the muscles have gone I'm strong and can lift things like washing machines on my own.. not because I'm any stronger than any other woman around.. but because I know how to lift.

Whatever you decide to do all it takes is sticking with it every day.. before you know it the shoulders and arms will be there. For legs get a backpack and carry a decent weight in it everywhere you go. Every time I think my recent diet hasn't worked I put the 15k's I lost over the last few months in a bag and carry it in town and back.. errrr.. yeah.. no wonder I feel better XD

[Guest angie]

Did 5 years of lifting boxes and stuff like that. It made my biceps ever so slightly bigger (cause now they're completely insignificant, since I don't work physically at all), but not noticeably unless I flexed. It also gave me nice leg muscles from all this walking. Even now, my mom is jealous.

Besides that, working in physically-demanding jobs did nothing. I lost 5 lbs worth of muscles since. That's probably near minimal healthy levels for walking around/running etc. Certainly not at masculine levels.

Go figure why I was mostly unaffected though.

When I left my courier job,I had larger biceps than my boyfriend.

Two months later,most all of it has melted away.Though still firm,my arms have taken on the shape of a fit woman's arms,small and non muscular.I mountain bike on the city streets.Therefore,I am trim and tight all over,pretty breasts,great legs,nice round bottom,flat tummy.Regular exercise in transition is good for you.Breasts even develop better being active at least three times a week.

Remember ladies,once your muscle atrophies and withers away,it is gone for good.Being small is

good,being fit and small is better.A woman on estrogens,cannot gain bulk,advice from my doctor.

Angie

[Guest MrAwesome]

I toldja how to build the shoulderz up a month or so back.

But yeah, April's got the right idea with yet another shoulder exercise.

And she's right, the bench press can become your sweetest friend.

By the way, Arnold promotes the idea of coffee without sugar for energy for the workout.

You can cheat a little and get away with it, Bub.

I tell yu what, hit me again and we'll search for short cuts together if yu wanna. It'll gimme somethin' to do.

I'll look foward to it.

*hits you* >.> Okay

[Guest Little Sara]

I was stage crew.. we used to set up and pull down 18 tons of stage and sound kit every day... 3 of us. 6 or 7 days a week month in month out.. kinda makes you strong... especially amp racks weighing 300lbs up stairs between two of you... often more than one flight. Amazing how many music venues were on the second floor or above without any lifts back when.

That's how to get big and strong if you want to.. heavy exercise every day regularly.. I don't think the gym compares to really pushing it every day because it's your job. I see men who sit in the office every day then go to the gym a few times a week.. they don't look strong in the way I was... Might have been because in the music business you don't eat properly (beer and greasy spoon late night services mostly) so you never really bulk up.. more just grow what you need.. Even now the muscles have gone I'm strong and can lift things like washing machines on my own.. not because I'm any stronger than any other woman around.. but because I know how to lift.

Whatever you decide to do all it takes is sticking with it every day.. before you know it the shoulders and arms will be there. For legs get a backpack and carry a decent weight in it everywhere you go. Every time I think my recent diet hasn't worked I put the 15k's I lost over the last few months in a bag and carry it in town and back.. errrr.. yeah.. no wonder I feel better XD

300 lbs between two? I can barely lift 100 lbs, I'll throw myself with it, and can't pick it from the floor (I won't be able to lift it). I can do with say, 65 lbs boxes (or could, back then anyways), provided its not 8 hours of that a day.

I can lift maybe 150 lbs with two. Like say an oven, a dryer. Forget about me lifting a refrigerator, I'll get stomped by it in 2 seconds. Just doing one trip with a dryer through 3 flights of stairs is enough to make me sweat heavily and become very red, and exhausted.

That was all pre-transition.