want to share something that you don't think deserves it's own thread? wanna chill with your trans homies? wanna support your trans comrades? do it here!

  • Jenniferrr [she/her, comrade/them]
    ·
    10 months ago

    I could use a little advice from other transfems here. So like, pre-transition, I did a lot of lifting. I'm not huge by any stretch but I have an athletic, inverted triangle body. Like, your classic "masculine" kinda thing, semi large pecs, semi large biceps, all that stuff. For the past 2 months when on HRT I haven't been doing any upper body workout because I kinda wanna shrink it, but like, idk. Does working our your upper body really prevent muscle shrinkage /atrophy? Or does no T basically overcome that? Did anyone do anything like this through transition?

    • Ideology [she/her]
      ·
      10 months ago

      I don't work out frequently, but I do work physically demanding jobs. After starting hrt it's become much harder to maintain muscle mass (particularly arms) so even if I stop working for a couple months (or get an office job for a bit) I just kinda lose it all. With T I had decent-ish arm muscles for years for basically no reason, and now I have to try pretty hard to even get to a fraction of that pre-hrt strength.

      I would say even if you continue to work out as normal, changes in fat distribution will still affect your silhouette. But if you're aiming for like, shaping your lower body through exercise, that will definitely have an effect as well.

      • Jenniferrr [she/her, comrade/them]
        ·
        10 months ago

        Oh yeah. Definitely aiming to shape my lower body and it's working. But I used to do more full body workouts and now I'm just focusing on lower body, and I was always more of a "Max out weightlifting" kind of person, low rep high weight (for my body) but like idk if I should change that now for upper body to go for more of a toned look. Part of me still want to try and just move lots of weight because it's fun though

        • Ideology [she/her]
          ·
          10 months ago

          Personally, I'd just say do what's fun. Like, exploring different techniques is all fine and good, but if you make self actualization into a thankless chore it won't be very fulfilling after a while. If the real Jenniferrr likes to lift the big heavy things I say let her.

          • Jenniferrr [she/her, comrade/them]
            ·
            10 months ago

            Thanks this is a good point. Like honestly, just doing consistent workouts is already a win. Making it fun will make it easier long term.