Transgender Teen Survival Guide

Lee says:

We don’t recommend exercising in a binder in general!

Lee says:

You should do whatever exercise routine you want to do!

Since you’re just starting to work out, you’ll have to start with just a few reps and low weights and such and work your way up, but you can do a “male” exercise routine- just modify it to work for a man who doesn’t have a lot of muscles yet. 

Your trainer should be able to work with you to find a routine that you’re able to do and that is focused on building strength/muscle wherever it is that you want to build it.

Followers say:

societyliver said: There’s no significant difference between how testosterone-dominant and estrogen-dominant people get fitter… you just gain muscle more easily on T / need more energy to maintain the muscle. When people talk about “men’s routines” and “women’s routines” they’re mostly talking about what muscle groups they want to target, or the fact that women tend to focus more on losing fat than gaining muscle (ie. Some women avoid arm exercises because they’re worried it makes you “look like a man”)

vadhnatta said: ^this. “Women’s” routines tend to be high rep, low weight for toning. “Men’s” tend to be low rep, high weight for bulk. There may also be more focus on lower vs upper body respectively

Lee says:

We’ve been a trans advice blog blog for 8 years now, so we have been answering questions for 4 more years than gc2b ever existed. 

Over the past 8 years I’d estimate we’ve gotten at least a hundred asks by people who got injured while binding and exercising.

There’s only one study on binding that I know of, and they didn’t say anything about the safety of exercising in a binder. So in the absence of data that supports the safety of binding while exercising, we have to rely on the community to figure out what seems to be safe and what isn’t.

“Current recommendations shared by transmasculine and LGBTQ community organisations for healthy binding include: wearing a correctly sized binder, avoiding the use of elastic bandages, duct tape, or plastic wrap, removing binders when sleeping, and limiting binding to 8-12 hours/day (QMunity 2013; Stanford University 2014). These recommendations are largely based on personal experience with binding rather than clinical or population-based studies.”

We tend to answer things that there aren’t much/any research about on a “better safe than sorry” basis. Maybe we’re a bit conservative in our advice, but for good reason. Maybe for every person who gets injured, there are 30 who come through unscathed. But that’s still one trans person who has been given dangerous advice.

Gc2b says you can exercise in a binder if you wear a binder a size larger than your normal size to exercise in and “Know your limits and take it easy. Go slowly with exercise intensity and take baby steps if you’re worried; everybody is different. It is important to take the binder off/cease the activity if you notice any sort of pain or discomfort.” There’s no supporting sources on their site saying why they think potentially intense exercising in a binder is safe though- just that statement. 

I think it’s possible that if someone is doing mild exercise in a binder that they’ve ordered specifically in a size too large to exercise in, they may not get injured. But I also think that many people will either do vigorous exercise and push themselves too hard, or wear their normally sized binder. Moderation and caution in doing risky things is great, but you need to know that they’re risky in order for you to have enough knowledge to be cautious about it.

So maybe there isn’t any data that says binding while exercising is dangerous. But we can tell you from the years of running this blog and from our personal experiences as trans people who bind, people do get hurt while binding and exercising. It isn’t a made-up phenomena, and the asks we’ve gotten prove that to us.

And maybe we’re a bit conservative and black/white in our advice, but it’s for good reason. Maybe for every person who gets injured, there are 10 who come through unscathed- but that 1 person who gets hurt may have a hard time accessing a trans-competent doctor, especially if they’re a closeted teen, and they may have to stop binding for a good amount of time while their ribs heal and it can be emotionally devastating if they’re stealth or have a lot of dysphoria and use binding to cope. So you also have to consider our audience when you see our posts that urge caution.

I can’t speak for gc2b here, and I honestly believe that gc2b is a good company that tries to make safe binders and help inform people on how to use their products safely. I actually wore gc2b binders myself before I got top surgery and I recommend them on this blog in our Binding FAQ and when asked by followers. I also know we’ve been around twice as long as them, and we have no conflicting financial interests here. We are all volunteers who make no money from this blog whatsoever- we aren’t trying to sell you binders or any other product. 

Maybe the people at gc2b have been lucky and haven’t gotten injured while binding and exercising. That’s great- I would never wish a binding injury on any trans person. But I’m not convinced the binding while exercising is actually safe, and I wouldn’t knowingly recommend anything potentially dangerous to our followers, who are mostly teens and preteens.

If gc2b has some secret data they aren’t sharing on their site that indicates binding and exercising is safe, then I’ll happy update our information. But until there is unbiased scientific info supporting their claim, I think it’s best to be safe rather than sorry and avoid binding while exercising so you don’t become one of the “I’ve injured myself binding” anons we get so frequently in our inbox.

We don’t want to be responsible for you getting injured! If something seems unsafe, we’re going to tell you that. If you then decide “I want to do it anyway,” then that’s your decision- we can’t force you to bind safely. We can only tell you what information we know, based off of our personal experiences, and let you make your own choices.

Lee says:

Testosterone-dominant people tend to have bit more muscle than folks who are estrogen-dominant, so working out may help you look a bit more masculine, yeah.

But there are plenty of muscular women too, so being a bit more buff won’t necessarily make you pass if you aren’t passing right now.

In the end I’d say if you think that you’d be happier with your body if you gained muscle, then go for it! 

Working out is usually good for you, so there’s nothing to lose from doing it as long as you’re doing it in a healthy manner of course, so don’t bind while working out, overexercise, or under-eat.

(But before someone asks, we don’t give specific workout or exercise advice here)

Kii says:

You should not bind while exercising, no matter the size of your chest. You can wear a compression sports bra instead.

Kii says:

From our binding FAQ:

Can I bind while doing x?

Yes

No

Kii says:

You should not bind while doing any form of exercise.

Lee says:

If the dysphoria is your thighs/hips/butt, compression shorts/shapewear might help! Our Hip dysphoria post has info on that.

Followers?

Followers say:

cheesycheese1800 said: Strength training , cardio

findusthecat said: For me it took a while, but I finally found a pair of pants that I look really mask in. But I don’t know exactly whats different in them. I think they just fit really good and have a straight but not too tight cut. They are the only ones that my butt and thighs don’t look so soft in. I would say try on a lot of pants, maybe you will find the right ones. I hope I could help 💜And if the pants in the mens section are too big on you, dont be afraid to try the kids section.. you can find some stylish stuff there sometimes..

whoopstoobad said: Maybe trying to build muscle would help, especially since you’re already slim so the “soft” look isn’t because of fat. Eat more, especially protein, which might give you the energy boost you need to do a bit more strength training. Or find an exercise you love/is fun, like for me it’s aerial silks and rock climbing. The strongest I’ve ever been was when I did those two things consistently, but you will have to eat more if you wanna put on muscle.

Lee says:

Sorry, we don’t give exercise advice to anyone, regardless of axab.

Kii says:

If someone works out enough that their muscles are growing, they might just need a larger sized binder! If someone works out enough that they lose a significant amount of weight, they might just need a smaller sized binder! 

I’ve never heard of anyone working out and saying they can’t bind at all anymore. Binders fit a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Kii says:

Here’s a post about that!

Kii says:

Lifting weights is definitely exercise, and you should not do that while binding.

Kii says:

We don’t recommend any method of binding during exercise.

Kii says:

No, you should not wear your binder while exercising, and that would include lifting weights.

Jay says:

If you want to work out, you can just do it whenever. After you start T, you will have an easier time building and maintaining muscle, but that works no matter how much muscle you start with. I gained quite a lot in my upper body when I started T without working out like at all, way more than I ever gained pre-T when I was working out consistently. I went from no muscle with good exercise to no exercise but great muscle on T. So if you want to work out, go ahead and do it whenever (if you have any medical problems let your doctors know what you’re doing first). 

We don’t give workout advice, so we won’t tell you what muscles to work or how to work out or anything. So I won’t go into more detail. If you’re healthy enough and you want to work out, talk to a personal trainer and start an exercise plan whenever you have the time and energy to do so. And I’d take a minute to think and make sure you’re working out because your body feels good, not because you feel pressured to get ripped because the “ideal transmasc person” is muscular. 

Kii says:

This is answered in our binding FAQ.

Kii says:

T will not make you have less muscular legs, but thigh gaps aren’t a good way to measure whether you’re at a healthy weight or not. (Note: that article is written to cis women, but I can’t find anyone at all who’s written about thigh gaps on men because that tends to be a beauty standard that only women are held to.)

We don’t give workout or weight loss advice, and if you are concerned about your weight, you should talk to your doctor about that.