The struggle is real, but that doesn’t mean you are failing. You can’t expect to be perfect at everything, especially when first starting out. 😅 - I know it can sometimes feel like you are the only one who is struggling to strive toward your goals (whether that is fitness goals or other life goals) but the reality is: everyone struggles! This shit ain’t easy. - In fact, if you didn’t struggle to reach your goals I’d argue that your goals were not hard enough. - Keep fighting, quitting is not an option. 💪 - #motivation #workout #failure #bodybuilding #fitness #nutrition #ftmfitness #ftmbodybuilding #health #fit #weightloss #fatloss https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn7UMOcJX-_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
The International Association of Trans Bodybuilders is now accepting applications for both the bodybuilding and powerlifting events to be held in Atlanta, GA, Saturday, October 6, 2018. Between FTM Fitness World and the IATB, we will be celebrating our fifth year of offering bodybuilding competitions to athletes from around the world.
We are excited to be transitioning from a for-profit to a non-profit model to get better funding to help you get the quality events you deserve. Thanks for believing in us as we do our best to show the world what we can do when we unite!
We are in the process of making sure the new president and head judge, Bucky Motter, has all the tools to take over. If you have any questions about the information below, please contact Bucky at [email protected].
Here goes, some bullet points to steer you in the direction you want to go. Whether you are a competitor, a spectator, a potential sponsor, an individual donor, or want to host an IATB event in your city, all the info is either listed below or available to you on the IATB website.
Also, please be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you can keep up to date with all the latest info.
we need judges in different cities: Read specifications on website (http://iatb.info/certification/ ) and if interested, send an email at [email protected]
Competitors:
Bodybuilders who identify as Trans (belonging at any level of the Trans spectrum) are invited to compete. Get your Annual Membership here, then register for Atlanta!
The Powerlifting competition is open to all genders. Winners are judged against each other by the Wilks Formula, which focuses on the absolute strength of each lifter and compares them on an equal standing.
Spectators:
Tickets for the Bodybuilding Competition are available here and at the door, location TBA. Look for the “ Buy Now” button on the bottom right corner of the web page.
Sponsors:
Sponsorship Packages are available now. If you’d like to be a sponsor, contact Bucky Motter at [email protected]. Many levels of Sponsorship are available, for example, $250 buys all the trophies needed for the competitions. Your company logo will be included on banners and print materials.
Individual Donor:
There are now two ways to donate to the IATB. Any amount, no matter how small, can help us reach our goals. You can donate to IATB here, or to the new GoFundMe campaign. Our strategy is to get lots of folks to donate small amounts, though larger amounts are certainly appreciated. Also, posting the GoFundMe link to your Facebook page is a huge help, even if you can’t donate yourself. We realize a lot of you are saving for surgery, and you may not have much disposable income. Consider $10, $20 ,or whatever you can afford. Thanks in advance for your help!
Host an IATB event:
We have all the information you need to hold an IATB event in your area. Simply contact IATB President and Head Judge Bucky Motter at [email protected], or go to the IATB website and click on Events, then Host a Competition. Bucky can walk you through the process, and he will help you find judges in your city as well as attend your event as Head Judge.
We need judges in different cities: You can read specifications on website and if interested, send an email at [email protected].
OK, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading this far. Again, thanks for believing in us as we do our best to show the world what we can do when we unite!
The effect of trans male culture’s relationship with fitness over wellness on my self esteem (Why and how I’m shifting focus)
Bodybuilding comes in many forms, from huge muscles and vast sponsorships to clean eating and calisthenics. No matter the style, the method or the positive effects bodybuilding may have on self esteem and health it’s primary purpose is to attain a particular physique. Often a physique that is not attainable for many of us.
Before folks start suggesting that I’m making excuses, bear with me on this.
For many trans men time, money, energy (physical or mental) can be highly limited resources that need to be rationed according to immediate priority needs such as family commitments, going to work, or if you can’t work, going to the doctor. you get the idea leaving little left for fitness goals, which as I’m sure you can imagine tends to play havoc with self esteem when all about us we see images of rippling muscular trans male bodies.
For some of us who struggle with this, another way based on wellness and body positivity might work better.
What is Health:
Now I know for many of you this will sound like excuses for not getting “healthy” but let’s look for a moment at what healthy means:
“a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” - WHO, 1948
Ok so, by this definition “health” is really wellbeing. So why is so much of the health and fitness industry focused solely on outward physical appearance? Given the huge diversity of athletes’ bodies we can’t draw the conclusion that the perfect gym body is an accurate indicator of health or wellbeing.
The reason I talk about the definition of health is because since the 1980s health has slowly become synonymous with fitness/physique rather than with wellness.
The result is that rather than engaging in physical activity for the sake of feeling good, most people including and perhaps especially trans men often engage in physical activity in order to look good; spending more time examining how our bodies look in a mirror than how our bodies feel to live in.
For a group on society that has a tendency towards low self esteem due to transphobia, toxic masculinity and gender norms, this way of looking at things can be hugely detrimental. It is hugely understandable for guys to focus on physique and muscle size in order to build a “optimal male body” to reduce dysphoria, i get it.
Less of a trans MAN?
This has become idealized as the ultimate transmasculine goal and jacked trans male bodies have become the ideal that is championed by the trans masculine community, putting pressure on everyone to achieve this cis passing macho body. In essence we as a community have replicated the hugely pressured and patriarchal culture of ultra masculinity that causes so many cis and trans men to hate their bodies, have unrealistic goals and generally feel shit about themselves to the point where they injure themselves or give up on sport or physical activity entirely! We need to stop doing this!
Now, I’m not saying guys shouldn’t work out or get big/swole/ripped/whatever. Great if that’s your thing! I’m glad it works for you! My issue is that for many trans men, especially younger guys trying to figure out “how to be a trans man” this can seem like the only way to be a healthy adult man, so I just wanna go back to the definition of health for a sec.
In 1986 the WHO held a conference where 61 states agreed on some prerequisites to health based on the definition I quoted earlier, these were:
peace
shelter
education
food
income
a stable eco-system
sustainable resources
social justice, and equity
As you can see, health is way more complex than hitting the gym. And extensive research has shown that a one size fits all approach to health and wellbeing rarely works in any community or population.
Focus solely on gym fitness and muscular physique fails to recognise the many options for living a healthy lifestyle and results in feelings of dysphoria, low self-esteem and inferiority amongst trans men because you know what, not everyone enjoys or finds gym fitness enjoyable! And they shouldn’t have to feel less valid as a man, trans or otherwise for not getting on well in a gym environment.
From Fitness to Wellness:
I believe that shifting our focus as a community from fitness to wellness is a great place to start fixing the situation we are in.
So how is this done? Well there is no one way to do this, that’s the point wellness is holistic and works in different ways for different people. One thing that I would say is integral to shifting from fitness to wellness is to make feeling good the number one priority over achieving particular looking good.
Here’s how this works in practice for me:
For a long time I worked really hard doing exercise and sport that I really hate because I was trying to achieve a particular body type. I never achieved it and even if I had it wouldn’t have been enough. I wanted to be a total muscle bear with big pecs, big arms and a huge back. For me years of ultra-fit modelesque trans men on tumblr and instagram told me that hey “This is how you get people to see you as a man, this is the *right* way to be a man”.
I was wrong. Because if you don’t enjoy something, you’re not likely to stick to it! The logical conclusion is therefore, you never achieve your goals and feel forever like a failure.
Even doing sport that I like such as swimming, climbing, hiking or cycling didn’t make me feel good because my focus was on what I would get out of this activity, not on enjoying the activity for it’s own sake. I wasn’t getting bigger or more toned fast enough. I didn’t have veins popping everywhere. That expectation of myself made me hate the activities I used to love and hate my body.
I stopped working out all together and did some soul searching. The conclusion I came to is that I had to stop caring about what any given sport or physical activity would have on the appearance of my body and focus only on how it makes me feel.
For example, swimming is great for my cardio and overall strength, it makes me breathe easier, feel fresher and I feel stronger.
Building sports/fitness activity into an overall wellbeing plan really helps me to keep the focus off my body and on my sense of wellness. I see yoga, prayer, meditation, swimming, climbing, home bodyweight strength training, hiking, spiritual pursuits, creating art and eating food that nourishes me and surrounding myself with images of diverse male bodies as activities that are essential and flow into one and other to dramatically improve my wellbeing, and funnily enough through not focusing on my body, my body has begun to change too.
2020 vs. 2022 💪 - In 2020 I competed in my first men’s physique show and unfortunately I didn’t place. I then competed in another show a week later and got 5th out of 6 guys. 😅 - I was definitely bummed, but it also lit a fire under my ass to do everything I could to improve and get back on stage to beat my previous physique. - I am a pretty socially awkward individual so stepping on stage was way out of my comfort zone… but being trans and not feeling comfortable in my skin for half of my life, it felt so damn empowering. - The past couple years of building have been quite a patience game. There were times where I seemed to keep hitting hurdle after hurdle with injuries, and I seriously wondered whether the universe was trying to tell me it just wasn’t in my cards to compete again… but I think the real lesson was that no matter what hurdle was thrown my way, I needed to learn to pivot and enjoy the process along the way. - Working around injuries is never fun, but @scoobyprep1_ifbbpro reminded me that I needed to focus on the things I could do, NOT the things I couldn’t. - Sure, it sucks I have a bad knee and I’ll have to stick to mens physique, but I still get to do what I love, I am healthy, and I am still making progress 💪 - All that being said: Life will always throw hurdles your way, but that doesn’t mean you need to quit or that you are not on the right path. Find ways to pivot. If you want something bad enough you will find a way. 💪 - Hoping to compete again next year if coach says I’m ready, but still have lots of work to do until then! 💪 - Giving up is not an option 🙌 - #bodybuilding #mensphysique #npc #workout #transformation #progress #fitness #health #ftmfitness #ftmbodybuilding #onlinecoach https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl675WJyGC2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
