How do you handle going to gyms/pools

[Bri2020]

I quit going to the gym at the beginning of Covid and before my awakening/transition.  I'm really missing it but now the thought of going back to a gym while on HRT but before surgeries has me in a cold sweat.  Besides anxiety about working out with aspects of both gender's anatomy, locker rooms/pools scare the jeebies out of me. No denying I have breast now so.....

I did call my old gym: Lifetime Fitness and they did say I could use whichever locker room I identify with but I don't feel like I belong in either right now. They have a "family" locker room which offers private shower stalls/changing areas but I'm a bit freaked out/afraid someone will make a scene about a "-transgender-" using the "kids" area.  I used to put in a lot of time swimming which brings up a whole new level of challenges.

I could change / shower at home but that's pretty inconvenient and the spiro has me needing to use bathrooms pretty frequently.

What have been your experiences so far if you are using the gym?  

 

[Jackie C.]

When I first started at my gym, I was "undercover" presenting as male. While my gym (LA Fitness) allows you to use whatever restroom you identify with, my state says that you have to use whatever restroom your genitals identify with or it's a crime. I was very upfront about being trans when I signed up. We also have laws that say, "You can absolutely discriminate against trans people if you want to." That's turned into one of the first questions that I ask if it's likely to come up.

Anyway, even with the blessing of the gym (and several friends I made AT the gym), much like Bri I'd rather lose an arm than make my sisters uncomfortable. Using the ladies room was an absolute no-go until I was in full compliance with the law. I'm a good girl dammit! Most of the time. I'll admit to some episodes of bathroom terrorism when I had to go pee in the wild. That's different though, it's not like anything was out in the open where people could see it.

I should also point out that I'd been working out at home for about a year when I signed up. I was down a lot of pounds and initially joined because it was cheaper than fixing my home workout equipment. Basically, my treadmill broke so indoor walks during the winter were out. That also meant that I'd been on hormones for, oh, about six months. I decided the way to go was to wear my gym clothes under my street clothes and strip off my outer layer when I got to the gym. No nakedness required.

 

It was three or four months in when an older fellow in the men's room noticed that I had a pair of small, perky female breasts. Fun thing to hear, "You've got a lot of balls coming in here with those."

Fortunately, I was able to think clearly enough to explain the situation to him. "Hey, I know. I can't legally use the women's room at this point though and I need to work out, so here we are." He was accepting enough that he didn't bring it up again. I kept on using the men's room that way for another month or so before a friend said, "Hey, you know we have a unisex changing room, right?"

Obviously I did not.

 

The unisex room became my refuge until I had to go in for bottom surgery. My outfit changed, which was lovely. I added my headscarves and wore more female-appropriate attire. No midriff-bearing shirts because even *I* don't want to look at the wreckage that is my stomach, but I started adopting racerbacks and brighter colors. A lot of women don't do that at the gym. I see a lot of blacks and browns. I'm often colored like a poisonous frog. Today was actually pretty subdued. I didn't even wear my mask with the pride flag.

I had to wait for the room sometimes because single occupancy and Xena likes to take long showers. I haven't actually seen her since the pandemic, but the two of us became friendly. I hope she's alright. Anyway, sharing seemed like a small price to pay. If you have to be somewhere, you might feel differently.

I should also point out here that the unisex bathroom is intended for handicapped patrons more than "families." LA Fitness doesn't allow kids in the gym area. They've got a special daycare kind of area for them where they can play and watch TV while being supervised. It's also, again, single occupancy. Nobody has to worry about anybody else perving on them.

I should also mention that while I was using the unisex restroom, I wore a gaffe to the gym to keep my tuck in place. I would have been ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED if it had ever come up for air while I was working out. Fortunately, the HRT kept that under control. The month or so before surgery was a little tense though because once off my HRT I didn't know WHAT to expect.

 

It's a total non-issue now. Everybody at the gym knows who I am. They accept me in the ladies' room without question. I'm in full compliance with the law. I'm just another one of the girls. Like I was always meant to be.

 

Hugs!

[Mx.Drago]

3 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

I started adopting racerbacks and brighter colors. A lot of women don't do that at the gym. I see a lot of blacks and browns. I'm often colored like a poisonous frog. Today was actually pretty subdued. I didn't even wear my mask with the pride flag.

 

 

Doesn't surprise me. Wouldn't want to be accused of being the flower that sticks out and gets plucked cuz bright colors are advertising and revealing your toned feminine form. Wouldn't want meatheads getting the wrong messages and thinking I'm interested and needing attention. Most my cloths be dark colors cuz eyes on the face not below. Tried gyms but never feel comfortable once inside, too many people.

[Jackie C.]

I don't know, I go at off times (6am until I'm done. Usually around 10am). The gym isn't really busy yet and I don't go on the weekends. I've been told evenings and weekends are a different crowd, but in my time slot the place isn't crowded and the clientele is pretty chill.

 

I also hang with an ex-cop who's built like a superhero and an absolute unit of a young man who used to work as a casino bouncer, so that might have something to do with it.

 

Hugs!

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, Ellie Jean said:

Personally I never go to gyms or swimming pools anyway; I do go to the local water park once in a blue moon, but I probably won't until I feel like I can pass as female lol. My exercise routine is probably going to consist of running/jogging to the lake nearby for swimming, combined with body-weight exercises and resistance bands. Kinda worried about building too much muscle so I don't think I'll do any weight training; if I did it would be low-weight/high reps; that makes the muscles come in hard and strong but without building mass. ?

 

Stretching afterwards is more key honestly. If you're on any kind of HRT you won't bulk up like a man would anyway. Running is good, you'll want to build up your backside so running, squats and lunges. There's honestly only so much that cardio can do for toning, it's more about heart health and burning unwanted calories. Your technique matters a LOT.

I did have pretty good luck with cardio dance and a resistance band for basic fitness. Nothing like the definition I have now, but I lost ten pounds in quarantine instead of packing them on with my cardio-dance/weights routine coupled with a long walk and some fasting.

 

Hugs!

[Bri2020]

1 hour ago, Jackie C. said:

 

I did have pretty good luck with cardio dance and a resistance band for basic fitness. Nothing like the definition I have now, but I lost ten pounds in quarantine instead of packing them on with my cardio-dance/weights routine coupled with a long walk and some fasting.

 

Hugs!

I dream of doing some kind of women's cardio /dance class and feeling welcome.  I'm thinking next year.  If all goes well I can get SRS this upcoming fall/winter.

[Jackie C.]

Oh. I can see how that wouldn't be clear. While there is a cardio dance class at the gym I go to, it's isn't divided into sexes. My program however is just a video I bought from Amazon:

 

Absolute Beginners: Cardio Dance Interval Workout

 

It takes a little over an hour works everything and gets me to sweat. Then I went for about a 6km walk around the neighborhood while I played Pokemon Go. So yeah, from March to... what, September? I lost about 10 pounds doing that. I also learned about a dozen dance steps, which is nice in and of itself.

 

Hugs!

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, Ellie Jean said:

My HRT doctor commented on it saying that I'm in like, PERFECT health and physical condition aside from my drinking and smoking; it's kind of a miracle that my physical health is as good as it is lol; even better once I quit drinking and smoking today. AGAIN lmao

 

You'll get there. It's just like they say. Quit and keep quitting until it takes.

 

I started my exercise routine for much the same reason. I wanted to slim down, which apparently you don't need and offset the bone density loss from the HRT. Ironically, I'm in better shape/can do more things after two-and-a-half-ish years of HRT than I was before I started.

 

I have chronic white-girl butt so I concentrate on that in my workouts. My friend taught me a really good way to build gluteal muscle on the elliptical, so I try to get at least 20 minutes of that in a day. It's exhausting, but my backside is much less flat.

 

Spider-man is a good jumping off point. If you keep that toned, the HRT will do the rest and you'll look amazing. I wish I'd been less self-loathing when I was your age so I could have worked on things like that. ?

But hey, the best time would have been, oh, 40 years ago. The next best time is today, right?

 

Hugs! 

[Jackie C.]

I wouldn't worry about that. Somewhere between 9 months and 2 years (it depends on a bunch of factors) you'll have lost at least 30% of your muscle mass. Whatever percentage of body fat you have will move around to the intended areas and you'll fill out in different spots. Absolutely stay on top of your exercises. Weight is much, much harder to take off without testosterone and once your body makes a fat cell, it's there basically forever. It may not be full, but it's still there. Waiting.

 

You don't need giant boobs to be a woman. If you decide you do, there's implants. Stay healthy.

 

Hugs!

[Jackie C.]

Nah, you will not regret any time you spent keeping yourself healthy if you go for any corrective surgical procedures. The healthier you are, the better the results will be and the faster you'll heal. Keeping healthy also means keeping yourself healthy enough for HRT. Besides breast size (pout) there are zero down sides to keeping yourself in prime condition.

 

It's also dead sexy, so there's that.

 

Hugs!

[Jackie C.]

9 hours ago, Ellie Jean said:

Where can I learn proper technique? ? Preferably without having to go to a gym lol. ?

 

Well, I learned from a friend who is into bodybuilding. See if you can find a personal trainer to give you some pointers. Preferably a woman because men do some STUPID stuff to look hard-core. Sure, they're going to get bigger than me because testosterone, but in twenty years, I'll still have knees.

 

Hugs!