I know the feeling, I was blessed with an hourglass figure and voluptuous hips that make everything else pale in comparison. While no, you can't change your pelvic bone structure, you definitely can offset it and kick that dysphoria in the ass by other means, especially in regards to working out. I'll include tips you may have heard, but in more detail, cover some misconceptions, and some deconstruction of workout myths and gender stereotypes that I hadn't really heard before I started looking into it.
I won't be providing an exhaustive list of exercises, just some deconstruction of body image and proportions that I've gone through trying to figure out how to build a kind of physique that makes me feel comfortable and strong. You can go look up exercises yourself, build a routine that you just like doing since I can't build a perfect routine for you--and I'm not a fitness coach either, just a guy who likes working out. If you don't have equipment, you don't need equipment! Look up bodyweight exercises, you can still build muscle with no equipment or money!
I'll also be showing photos along the way, but don't take them as some kind of standard to attain. Find your own goals for yourself. These are just photo examples of either what I'm talking about, or showing that cis men can also have things that a lot of trans men find dysphoric. These photos are just from pinterest and will be linked to the source pin, but I can take them down if requested.
Tip #1: Your Core
This is what will give you the illusion of a bigger and more squared off core and will de-accentuate hips by comparison.
Train your obliques and your side core especially, these are the muscles that are beside your abs and above the side of your hips, and they are built with rotation of the core or bending sideways. They'll help make the area above the hips more bulky and defined, giving a bit of a more square shape.
Keep in mind, ab muscles are often genetically predispositioned, and AFAB people often have a lot more body fat in their cores just naturally, so don't hinge your goals and expectations of having a solid core solely on abs. You can have a solid core without defined abs, don't just focus on abs alone; they're part of a greater whole.
Pictured below: hey this guy has hips, SO CAN YOU.
Tip #2: Your Back
Okay, how is training your back going to give you a more square-looking silhouette? The answer lies in your lats and lower back--and shoulders, but everyone's heard before that having big shoulders will balance out the lower body. Your lats are on the sides of your back, and are trained with pulling motions, such as dumbbell rows or pullups. Pulling motions can be a lot harder to train bodyweight wise, but there are still things out there, such as door rows or finding random weights like heavy textbooks to row with.
Having defined lats will also give your core and overall depth of your ribcage more of a blocky shape, and your lower back will help to . They will also support a lot of the ab work, as well as your posture and your shoulders for less injury and better posture. It's very important for the previous tip that you also work your back muscles so that you don't strain yourself by being imbalanced in your core.
Pictured below: The lats are the muscles running over the lower half of the ribcage, to where they meet with the obliques. They help to smooth down the curves of the waist, because cis men can have relatively small waists, and will also create depth to the back and chest.
Tip #3: Your Legs & Glutes
Most people think 'ahh but won't training my legs make my hips look bigger' and everything? No it won't! Never underestimate the power of a bigass quad that could outkick a horse. Having well-defined quads and hamstrings will bulk up your legs and straighten out your lower silhouette. Plus, having defined glutes will make hips look more proportionate by comparison and smooth them out by adding muscle on top of the pelvic bones.
Don't believe me? Look at this example photo for just how masculine some bigass legs can look in proportion to the hips, even with a very small waist. Don't let anyone fool you into saying that big powerful legs and glutes are only feminine traits and can't be masculine.
Tip #4: Your Hips
Yes, you should train your hips, but no it won't make them bigger, I promise. I thought that too, but it's important to have strong hips for providing stability in coordination between your upper body and lower body, as well as be the source of a lot of lower body power and the prevention of a lot of lower back pain.
This will often be part of glute and leg focused workouts, but it will help overall. Having strong hips prevents the highs from rotating inward and causing the knees to buckle and touch together when lifting things or walking. Don't let anyone tell you that strong hips aren't masculine, whether they protrude a lot or have dips or not. Hint: men can have hip dips too, it's not a gender-specific thing. Plus it's hot, fight me on that.
Summary: Accept Yourself
Yes you may be far from where you wish you were, but don't just focus on the aesthetic results. They don't come immediately, and if you give up because you're not getting the results you want, then you'll never get them. Even though I've talked a lot about how to get certain aesthetic results, focus as much as you can on stabilizing your body and balancing it so that it can perform better and become stronger without injury.
I'll say it loudly: FIND YOUR WAY TO FEEL MASCULINE BY DOING WORKOUTS, NOT JUST RESULTS. Nothing to me feels better than destroying a leg or back workout and feeling my body adjust to what I'm asking it to do. It's an act of devotion to yourself, showing your body that it can achieve things that it couldn't last month or even last week.
Something that helps me when I have dysphoria is finding examples of men with the thing that I'm dysphoric about. Hip dips, big thighs, nearly anything. And it still looks masculine as hell. Some things you can't change about your body, but you can find the positives in it and work with it to make it one of your strengths as well.
Bonus Tip: Be Self-Indulgent
I hated my hourglass figure and hips, but now I'm learning to love it and frame it as a nice masculine waist with solid powerful bone structure, even before I could see any form of results coming through. Even though working out is about building yourself up, try to also build yourself up mentally too.
Be silly, be self-indulgent. Go on, call your hourglass figure your slutty little man waist, call your hip-dips your v-taper, pat yourself on the back for your big wings (lats). You can steal obnoxious gym guy terms and make them your own. Nobody's stopping you! Obnoxiously affirm yourself, do it whatever your body shape is right now. Reframe things in a way that makes you feel good, don't let anyone stop you from being the masc of your dreams today.
how do you find the discipline to work out? I wanna be masculine enough that I can wear whatever clothes I want to without feeling dysphoric but im impatient and it hurts my wrists to do pushups.... so I just dont... like I still want to do it, but my brain and body don't care what I want, they just want to be a lazy little bastard, lol.... any tips?
To be perfectly honest, I struggle a lot with being disciplined. I find that instead of forcing myself to work out every day, I instead try to work out about once a week. I also try to make the exercise something I already am going to do. Going to the store? Walk or jog there. Need to pick something up off the ground? Do a deep squat. Standing in place for long periods of time? March in place.
Also, if push-ups specifically hurt, I would try some alternative push-ups. Instead of doing push-ups on the ground, try leaning against a counter or even a wall. If it's a steep enough angle, it's still a workout without hurting yourself.
It's about finding what works best for you. One thing you can even try is something like if you're playing a video game, stand and play. Or even every time you die or lose a level , do X exercise.
It's not about being perfect. It's about building a habit. Once you start doing those exercises every month, increase it till it's every other week, once a week, then twice a week, and so on.
Do what you can first, then push yourself a little bit farther.
how did you genuinely lose weight in a quick/semi quick timeframe? nothing extreme like “only chicken and rice and pilates everyday🤓☝️” i mean what rules and what exercises seemed the most effective to your success cause i need to lock these last few months.
help is MUCH appreciated ladies!
(for reference i’m trying to loose stomach and arm weight)
hey, sorry, but i was wondering how you started on your fitness journey? i'm in a similar spot that you were two years ago and i want so badly to make the progress you have. i keep trying to begin but stopping because i get too scared or nervous, it's so daunting. do you have any good resources like websites/videos/youtube channels/blogs/etc.? i would really appreciate it. you look awesome and your post was super inspiring.
No apologies needed! It is pretty daunting man because it's getting into it for the long run.
Before I finally stuck with it I started and stopped several times in the past as well. If I were to give short tips personally on how to get started based on how I did:
-Start with the most simple thing for you and focus on building a habit out of it. Whatever that is, do it even if you don't want to. For me, I started with a scheduled walk around a trackfield (one full loop around the track) twice a week.
-Take the time to really outline your goals. Make sure to include short term goals and not only long term ones! It helps to say "I'm gonna walk for 5 minutes" and building up to the goal of "I'm gonna walk for 60 minutes", for example. Additional: having something visual can help with tracking it.
-Take it slow, and keep it simple. You're in this for the longhaul. And it will be very slow, but trust the progress and focus on the present
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As for resources, these are what I used (with some notes if it helps!)
Jeremy Either's Youtube Channel
Great source of information in regards to many things, particularly muscle building. I already had a base understanding of working out due to my sports background, but he's great for complete newbies and for anyone who needs a refresher. I still watch his stuff today but I don't rely on it nearly as much now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing.
Hybrid Calisthenics Youtube Channel
Fantastic channel for complete beginners and for people looking to get into the swing of things again, but at a slower rate. He focuses on being genuinely positive and encouraging finding ways that'll work specifically for you. That includes doing variations of exercises that may be too hard at first, like variations of the pushup, or pullup. Simple routines to get you started without destroying yourself. Very good channel, honestly.
Sean Nalewanyj Youtube Channel
He was the first fella I followed before I found Jeremy. His content is short, punctual, and easy to understand, so if you're looking for much quicker advice without the super detailed explanations his YT Shorts would be recommended. You'll likely have to do a little more research on your own to supplement the knowledge though. Like Jeremy I still watch his content.
Jeff Nippard Youtube Channel
His content is chocked full of research based shit and sometimes can be a tiiiiny bit much to follow, so not really something I'd recommend for beginning lifters. That said, his content in general is downright fascinating and if you're looking for in-depth analysis on the world of bodybuilding, powerlifting, and so on, he's my go-to.
Leanbeefpatty Youtube Channel
Her content is far more vlog-ish, but she gives solid advice while simultaneously just being fun to watch. I like how much more relaxed her stuff is as well, so if you're looking for something that isn't as potentially stressful I'd recommend her over anyone else listed.
Eugene Teo Youtube Channel
I've only just started watching him a couple of months ago but he's been a joy to listen to. His content is relatively chill but he gives indepth explanations without getting too science-y with them. He also promotes things other than fitness that'll help with your goals; stuff like mindful hobbies, healthy food-relation habits (for example: there's no such thing as a good or bad food), so on.
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Other sources I've used to help educate myself the more I got into it include MyFitnessPal (I use it to count my calories and macros), Healthline, countless other youtubes I won't list just so I don't talk your ears off, and asking for tips from fellow gym goers who attend the same gym I do.
I hope these are of some help to you! And keep up the grind; take it one step at a time, and if you need any more advice you think I can help with I'm all ears. I'm rootin' for ya! :)
HIIIIIII, my name is Gabrielle, I'm currently a student in the U.S! Im new tumblr, I got tired of the same boring social media platforms😒. I thought this would be a better place for me to connect with people !
Im really here to make friends, connect, and find ways to better myself. I feel like I always wanna enhance my life but I let laziness and procrastination take control. Im hoping I can change that this year.
So this post is really just my get to know me ୭ 🧷 ˚. ᵎᵎ 🎀! I wont be able to post or message much due to school and my extracurricular activities but ill try my hardest 😽.
₊˚🦢✩ About Me⊹☁️♡
Name: Gabrielle
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Tysm, I cant wait to start getting to know all of you 😍
workout tips that work (from someone who isn’t trying to sell you anything) vvv
(look, half of these are common knowledge, but they weren’t common to me when i started! 😭)
eat beforehand! i’m not telling you to devour a whole cake or anything, but food really is fuel and you’ll get a lot more done in your workouts with real energy behind you instead of an energy drink.
if you’re walking, especially if you’re just starting out, please wear proper footwear. double sock it if you have to! you are not immune to blisters, and exercise shouldn’t feel like walking on hot coals!
if you struggle with how long to work out, put on an album you like! really helped me stay focused/motivated when i wanted to give up.
don’t push yourself too hard! yes, push your limits, but not to the point you burn out. no one wants to work out 7 days a week, take your rest days! (and, yes, this includes walking. the period where i got 10k steps in every day left me with blisters for weeks. good lord are those not fun)
remind yourself why you started. this one is so important! was it to gain muscle, to stay healthy, for a hobby? all of these are completely valid reasons, and possible. stick to it for yourself!
