Hey this is a special situation and any advice would be appreciated
I'm looking for advice I've been researching for about 2 years and still have a few questions before I start any cycle.
A little about me: I have been lifting consistently for almost a decade with the exception of the last year due to illness (my strength is mostly still there but I've lost a lot of quality size) but I've been nack in the gym a few months now. My present stats are 29 yrs old, 5"6" and 180lbs. I'm going for a body composition scan on Monday to figure out exactly where my lean body mass sits. I've lost approx 55ish lbs over the last 4yrs and would ideally like to lose another 20-25 more of fat and put on 20 of muscle. I eat around 1900 cals with a 40/40/20 distribution in terms of protein/carbs/fat. I lift and do cardio 4x a week. My split is legs, back and shoulders, chest and bi's, and shoulders n tri's with 20 mins of steady state cardio before and after each lift.
Day 1 - legs and abs
20 mins moderate resistance cycling average mph 22 - avg watts 160 - 7mi
(the resistance system on these bikes is based on wattage)
120 second breaks between sets & exercises all warm up sets are 15reps and I work til I find my 8-10 rep max with good form
Squat 1 warm up set 15r
4 sets- 10,10,10,8 reps
i got up 10lbs each set
Deadlift - warm up set of 15r
4x 10,8,10,10
i go up 5 lbs each set and nex workout I start 5lbs higher
Leg ext- warm up set 10r
super set with unilateral calf raises 20 each side
3x 12,12,12
Lying leg curl warm up 12r
3x10 r
hyper extension
3x 10r with a 5 second hold at the top of each rep
super set with lying leg raises
3x25
Crunches 3x25
super set standing calf raises 3x20
20 min brisk walk 3.7mph
then shoulder mobility work - cool down n stretch
Day 2 Back shoulders
15 min bike 20 mph - avg 180 watts- 4.5 mi
Underhand pull ups 2.5 min rest
3x7 (yes 7 is my max at the moment, but it's better than the 0 I started with!)
Assisted pull up 60s rest
3x 10 reps. i take breaks if needed but each set doesn't end til I get 10 reps
Barbell row w.u. 15r 90s rest
3x10,10,8 weight goes up each set
unilateral db row
3x8-10r depeds on what left side can do I'm trying to get it caught up
Wide grip pull downs 90s rest 3x10-12
s.s. hyper extension 3x20-15-15
dual cable row 90s rest
3x12r
face pull 60s rest
w.u. 15r
3x15r
Arnold press 90s rest
3x10-10-8
Hanging lateral raise 3x12r
decline sit up 3x20r 60s rest
20 min brisk walk 3.7mph
then shoulder mobility work - cool down n stretch
Day 3 chest shoulders
15 min bike 20 mph - avg 180 watts- 5ish mi
Db incline bench w.u 12r 90s break
4x10-8-8-8
Db flat bench w.u. 12r 90s rest
4x8-9-10-8
Decline able fly 60s rest w.u. 15r
5x 12,15,20,20, (my shoulder blade wings on my left side fro an injury so I have to go ight to keep good form)
Cable cross 60s rest
4x12r
Incline fly 60s rest
3x10r
Hammer strength wide press 90s rest
4x12
super set Alternating db curls
4x10,12,10,10
Outward curls 60s rest
3x8r
Hammer curl 70s reast
3x10
Overhand ez bar curl 60s rest
3x10
20 min brisk walk 3.7mph
then shoulder mobility work - cool down n stretch
Day 4 shoulders tris
15 min bike 24 mph - avg 190 watts- 6ish mi
Seated db shoulder press 90s rest w.u 15r
3x12-10-8
Standing lateral 90s rest
w.u. 12r
3x10,10,12
Rear delt fly w.u. 12r
3x12
Front raise 90s rest
3x15,10,10
Face pull
4x20 (trying to rehab my shoulder)
Assisted Dip 60s rest
w.u.-10r
3x10
Skull crusher 90s rest
w.u. 15r
3x10r
Unilateral cable kickbacks 60s rest
4x10r
Captain's char leg raise 3x20r 60s rest
20min brisk walk 3.8 mph
shoulder work stretch and cool down
I am also female to male and trying to recomp my body to look more male. I am pre hrt but have an endocrinologist and should be on a low dose test regime within the next 3-6 months pending my blood test and my doc signing off on my hrt letter. Yes I know my bf% is still high even for a genetic female but that is not a limiting factor for hrt and once on T I have no intention of ever getting off. Remember I trying to get my hourglass shaped painfully female looking body to look male like all of you guys out there. My goal is to get to 160lbs at 14% to start and set my next goal from there. Why 160? Because i REFUSE to be shorter AND smaller than my fiancé.
My questions are:
On T can I put on muscle and still lose fat at the same time?
How can I develo mass in my chest and shoulders faster? I do mostly dumbbell multi joint movements and a lot of incline work in the 8-12 range for most of the lift and finish up with lighter 15 rep exercises to make sure I truely burn out everything.
Once on T should I adjust my diet and if yes how so? Should i adjust my caloric intake based on my genetic gender or the one I'm shifting to? Base it on my present lbm or target lbm? Or should I calculate it based on bmr?
Should I be trying to cut or focus more on building mass / losing fat?
He's only starting me out on 20mg of test c a week is that too little to see gains? I've seen cycles in the ladies lounge that are way more agressive then that, should I ask to start higher?
Lastly I generally like my face & would like my jaw to square out some but don't want facial hair or my voice to drop that low. Is there are steroid that I could cycle that would allow me to develop the density and musculature of a guy but not virilize me too much? If yes what is it and how should i cycle it?
My endo doesn't lift, and my nutritionist says the average adult needs less that 100g of protein a day to build muscle which is bs so I've come to see what the pro's here can tell me.
Your advice is greatly appreciated and thanks for your time.
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I'm the father of a trans male, get used to the idea. Even on just the low dose your doc is giving you you will first see your voice drop (and crack a bit like a pubescent boy), You will probably notice chin hair first. The process will take years. Losing the fat, and building your upper body and arms will go a long way to making you look more masculine.
I'm guessing you already have had a mastectomy. For inspiration look at chaz bono and his transformational progress over the years.
I got used to the idea; it's not going to happen anytime soon and I'll cross whatever bridges when I get there. Name change is almost done, socially I've always been, "one of the guys" and I get read as male 75/25. Now, almost a year later I've lost 24% bf and have put on a good 30-35 in muscle . For the 1st time in my life my shoulders are NOTICEABLY wider than my hips! That sh!t is awesome, though my shoulders haven't gotten more broad. Still 44 but solid muscle now, and literally everything has male quality definition though I wish I hadn't been a fat kid first because loose is killing my 5.75 pack lol. I appreciate everyone's comments and everyone I've spoken to over the months; I don't have a mastectomy yet but that just gives me to grow bigger pecs so I won't get oddly placed nipples later that I'll never grow into like this poor soul: https://66.media.tumblr.com/1076138487707cdaef3212565f43d11d/tumblr_o4m4...
I'm shooting for a more muscular cut version of Laithe Ashley.
Anyone have any suggestions on that? I hit my chest heavy from every angle with weights and cables but it isn't growing/ dropping like I'm aiming for. Are pecs just harder to bring out or am I doing something wrong?
Ps. Over the summer I designed a program around their development (3x a week for 7ish weeks) keeping all other things except back and shoulders at maintenance level. I got some definitive growth but chest 3x a week for the rest of my life doesn't doesn't sound sustainable or in the best interests of my rotator cuffs. Anyone here have suggestions?
TryHarder007As i commented below.. thank you for making this place so supportive. I don’t know OP, but personally having a MTF Sibling this hits home and love the support for the OP.
Thank you and you’re a wonderful father!
Q1. Yes. As an f2m, you will find test to be amazing for assisting with this. Other things are likely to happen too like a slight shift in t4 to t3 conversion in your favour which will upregulate your metabolism
Q2. By developing a periodised program that incorporates all aspects necessary for hypertrophy, this will include a strength period where compounds can be a focus but only as 1 part of 7 stages or so. Stimulate, dont (always) aniahilate
Q3. I recommend judging as you transition because your metabolism will change significantly. Ben Pakulski's incredible Bulk is a great guide
Q4. A properly periodised program with a properly periodised food program will require youbto focus on all of these in dofferent ways, at different times
Q5. As an f2m you will notice changes, small ones, probably things like libido, metabolism changes etc.
Please forget the ladies lounge cycles for now. You are embarking on the biggest journey of your life to date. Get the life-changes right, and do not for 1 moment muddy the waters with cycle information/misinformation. Work ypur process, adjust to change and get it right. Otherwise you will ruin your transition.
Q6. Again, do not cycle. Stop thinking too far ahead. Your endo might not be an expert at lifting (in fact you wont find many on this site either), but he is an expert at helping you transition. Dont get your priorities crooked
Q7. Protein! Your nutritionist is 100% correct. The academics have proven ad nauseum the requirements for both muscle protein synthesis and mp balance, both of which are required for muscle building. Your nutritionist is 100% correct. Anyone who says otherwise simply does not know what they are talking about. However, how you metabolise nutrients will change so get the muscle protein balance right. That is to say, 20g protein every 3 hours for balance. Synthesis and nitro retention etc will follow perfectly. Leucine os your friend intra meal or across longer periods.
Start listening to your expert advisors. Stop preparing to do this wrong by seeking endocrinology and nutrition advice from anon internet bro's on... a steroid forum!
Best wishes for the transition.
TryHarder007Wow I just came across this.. thank you, for being so supportive. I got no clue who the OP is.. but with a sibling who wants to transition to female it’s been hard seeing the hate.. I will admit, being a VERY conservative redneck it was so hard to understand where my sibling was coming from.. I fought it and for about a month refused to use proper pronouns.. I was so against it all.. I’m still learning to accept it.. but my sibling means the world to me, more than my own life. I’ve raised that little one (13yr) since the diaper days.. so as a man who loves his family I learned after about a month to accept. And I’m so happy seeing others accept this FTM transformation.
Thank you for helping it makes me so happy
Hopefully OP Sees your comments fella.
basskiller89Boom x2 !
With your doc he probably started you out at that does and will have blood work and adjust you based off of that. So give it a little bit of time. If you start feeling more like shit talk to your doctor he will adjust you then. I wouldn’t jump the gun until you find you proper weekly dosage and then think about a cycle after but I wouldn’t until you have a base to go down to
copy paste as double posted!!!
Hello Bexton,
As you are under Doc's supervision, I would advice you to stick to Doc's recommendations in regards to hormone therapy. In your situation you do not want to have drastic changes in any of the aspects but more likely change one thing at a time and monitor the progress. Since your hormone levels are changing now and not stable more likely your body composition will change too. So if you start making changes to your diet plan, training etc you will not know what exactly what is working. Once Doc has stabilized your hormones and you know exactly what substances you have to take to maintain that hormone levels, that is a good starting point.
In regards to diet, it is the same thing. You can start making changes to it but due to imbalance of the hormones your body composition may change not due to actual nutrition but because of the hormone level change.
Considering you want to prioritize pecks and delts muscle groups, you would need to concentrate more on Pushing part of the exercises while applying progressive overload training approach. Keep Pulling movements and legs at the maintenance level, while concentrating on the parts that you are looking to develop.
Once Doc has done the job and your hormone levels are stable then we can think of what to do next to get the body that you dream about but the key thing do one thing at a time, do not try to change everything in one go.
Well done for sharing this with us and not being shy.
Hope this helps.
Regards
X2
Rustyhooker.
Your nutritionist is correct. We’re not average adults though.
I won’t talk about drugs, but I can tell you your program sucks. So you want to put on as much mass as possible while recompositioning? That’s what big, heavy, properly executed barbell compounds and weighted calisthenics (yes I know that’s a contradiction) are for. What’s with all the isolation exercises? This looks like something yanked out of a bodybuilding magazine. The kind of thing a genetic freak on massive amounts of gear can run and make gains on. You, me, most of the people here aren’t in that position. We have to train intelligently.
Luckily we have world renowned strength and conditioning coaches who have written programs for the very purpose of getting as big as possible as quickly as possible.
Squats, deadlifts, and rows are great. I’d recommend looking up some strength and size programs—real ones, not something out of a magazine or off some random fitness guru’s website—reading testimonials and seeing how many people have used it successfully. They’re free, easy to find, and brutally effective. If you put the work in.
Thanks for the reply, i do the isolation work because I have nerve damage in my neck from a injury back in college that leads to asymetry. My left shoulder blades wings and I've been out of physical therapy for about a year now but as the weight on most of my lifts goes up I lose good form on my left side an compensate on that side by recruiting everything but what I'm actually trying to work, ie. my serratus is weak on the side my shoulder blade wings and my form turns for the worst on that side when benching, doing heavy deads or presses. Or maybe I'm mis-interpretting what you're saying are you saying I should only do multi joint movements like a 5x5 or something like that? Can you be more specific?
Light isolation unilateral movements beginning with the affected side. There are no problems only solutions
Okay, I didn’t know that. It who’d be wise to get a go ahead from a physical therapist before starting any exercise program. Multi joint movements are fantastic if you can do them, but if you can’t, then seek acceptable substitutes.
There are a lot of great programs out there. Starting Strength, 5/3/1, Greyskull, ICF 5x5, All-Pros, Reg Park’s 5x5 Tactical Barbell, Madcows, Texas Method, StrongLifts, One Man One Barbell, Westside Conjugate… maybe not that last one for most people, but there are plenty of good ones that are proven and time tested to deliver results.
Wow that was cool. Would love to help you but so many questions to answer. What's the most important questions you have? You can pm if you want to. Yes testosterone is gonna be very important to you! Hgh also. You need to read alot! You do not want to bulk. You want to lose weight(fat) and replace it with muscle. Diet is huge!! I'm here for you
thanks for your response I my biggest questions right now are about diet, I can pm you what my typical day/ week looks like and will you lt me know what I need to change?
Post it here so you can get as much information as possible
Diet is as follows: (please be brutally honest. I come from a fat family where absolutely no one lifts or even attempted to eat healthy until 4 years ago;, so I honestly have no better ideas than what lies herein.)
Typical I shoot to get at least 20g protein a meal, keep carbs under 30g, and fat as low as possible. (I did keto n carb cycling previously but had my gallbladder removed over the summer and the docs recommend against both styles for now.)
I work over night as yard jockey and material handler in a warehouse. I go in at midnight and don't usually eat until I get off around 9-10ish.Then I have class ti 12 so I may get a protein shake in between the 2 but not usually. I heard one isn't supposed to eat late night if they could avoid it then also read that it doesn't matter when you eat; IDK. Generally I avoid eating before work and we don't get breaks so I never get the chance to eat/drink/go to the bathroom at any point during work. My job consists of managing the yard and unloading truck averaging 8-10 miles a shift or 2-3 hours of hoisting boxes out of trailers but I never factor these things into my macros. Should I?
avg = 3-4 meals a deal and it's generally pretty clean unless I get weak and eat something that is obviously junk which I'm working on. My question is how do I figure out how many cals should I be eating a day. How do I figure out my targets for my macros?
Meal 1: 4 egg whites- 5oz greek yogurt- either cereal like kashi w/unsweetened almond milk or plain oatmeal. (388cal,42p,54c,5f)
Lift
protein- i have pro nos and drink half a serving 1 scoop aprox 25g P 150cal. or premiere protein whuch is 30g for 160cal
Meal 2- 6oz either baked lemon pepper catfish or swai, curried asparagus/string beens & 2/3 cup white rice. (443cal-33p,50c,14f)
---AS far are meat goes is it supposed to be counted for it raw or cooked weight?---
Meal 3 white bean turkey chili - 250cal-18p,15c,9f. or Southwestern corn chowder (210ish-16p,27p,5f)
Meal- 4 JUNK but if I don't eat junk then something like 5oz beef/ chicken breast cabbage/greens, something green that is also a vegetable, and rice. (average from 450-600cal, 35-50P, 45-50c, 5-10f)
Maybe casein before bed but not often.
These aren't necessarily in order and I batch cook so if one day looks like this the week follows suit. I always have fish and chicken cooked and ready in the fridge and either beef or ham/or porkloin.
I don't use butter when I cook, use sweet sauces, and can't eat raw vegetable, fruits, or nuts (oral allergy syndrome). I can add more days if this isn't pecific enough but my questions are as follows:
Any obvious mistakes?
How do I find my target macros/ caloric range?
How can I add variety to this?
When one is weighing meat do one count the raw weight or cooked weight?
Should I be eating before work?
As far as protein goes I hear it's 1-1.8g per lb of body weight- how besides drinking tons of protein shakes does one manage that? I know this sound like a dumb question but I just can't seem to manage it; how do you guys?
I'm sure there are some questions I missed so don't be surprised if I edit this later.
thanks in advance
Wow that's a mouth full lol I'm not sure where to start but I'm in to hear what others have to say....I do like how you broke down your split! I need you as a coach ;)