Any tips to grow leg and butt muscles?

[Charlie Nicki]

I've been skinny most of my life, my metabolism is super fast, so gaining weight has always been a challenge (also a blessing in many ways). Last year way before I even considered transition I got very serious about going to the gym so I started lifting weights to look more masculine. I was successful, especially with the help of anabolic pills, I think the name was decadurabolin. So my muscles developed everywhere except on my legs and butt even though I worked everything the same amount, once a week.

This year I am transitioning and of course I am not interested in having a masculine body. I already lost all the muscles I had but I'm interested in making my legs and butt bigger to achieve a more feminine shape so I started going to the gym and only working on those. Any tips to increase these parts faster? Are there any pills I can take that will not mess with my transition? It seems like I'm genetically predisposed to have a small butt and skinny legs because it's very hard for me to gain muscle mass there.

[Deborah]

It sounds like you are an ectomorph so putting on muscle will be difficult.  There are no substances other than anabolic steroids that will make your muscles grow faster.  However, creatine will provide some energy to be able to do harder workouts and whey protein will provide nutrients if you're not getting enough in your food.

The best exercises for what you want are "heavy" barbell back squats and deadlifts.  You can add various body weight exercises like glute raises  to be sure your glutes are properly activating.  Many people's are not.  You can tell if during squats you feel it all in your quads rather than your glutes and hamstrings.  If that's the case then your glutes are not working as they should.

The reason this happens is just because most people today sit so much.  Targeted body weight exercises will get them firing again as they should.


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[Jessica]

It sounds like you are an ectomorph so putting on muscle will be difficult.  There are no substances other than anabolic steroids that will make your muscles grow faster.  However, creatine will provide some energy to be able to do harder workouts and whey protein will provide nutrients if you're not getting enough in your food.

The best exercises for what you want are "heavy" barbell back squats and deadlifts.  You can add various body weight exercises like glute raises  to be sure your glutes are properly activating.  Many people's are not.  You can tell if during squats you feel it all in your quads rather than your glutes and hamstrings.  If that's the case then your glutes are not working as they should.

The reason this happens is just because most people today sit so much.  Targeted body weight exercises will get them firing again as they should.


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Deborah, I've noticed a drop in endurance after the 5th mile since hrt.  A wall.  Will creatine help with that?
Thanks, Jess

[Deborah]

Creative won't really help in endurance events and it may hurt a little because along with creatine come two to five pounds of stored water.

What creatine does is supply the building blocks for your cells to make ATP which is the substance your cells use to do work and contract. 

If you're doing an endurance event your cells make the ATP out of stored fat and glycogen.  Fat takes oxygen and glycogen takes some time, both of which are available during endurance events.

In an event such as a short sprint or lifting a heavy weight neither oxygen or time are available.  Creatine loads phosphate molecules to the cells so that ATP can be produced quickly without oxygen.  This allows you to do just a little more anaerobic work before you run out of gas and have to take a 4+ minute recovery where your cells can regenerate their ATP.

Creatine is a natural substance you can get by eating meat.  Taking a supplement just maxes out the amount you get so the cells become full.

For an endurance event the best thing to do is increase your body's ability to convert fat.  That just takes a lot of aerobic training at between around 65 to 75 percent max heart rate (easy pace).  Going harder than that in training defeats that purpose as you'll be burning primarily glycogen instead of fat.

The reason fat is better than glycogen is because your body stores lots of fat and only a little glycogen.  Also, each unit of fat converts to more ATP than glycogen does. 

Over time with training in the zone I mentioned above you will be able to run longer and faster at the same effort level because your body shifts to burning more fat and less glycogen at those paces.  Also, burning glycogen produces lactate which shuts your muscle down when the concentration rises high enough, the lactic acid burn!  Some harder training, not more than 20 percent of your total, will improve your body's ability to handle that lactate and go longer before it shuts you off.


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[Jessica]

Creative won't really help in endurance events and it may hurt a little because along with creatine come two to five pounds of stored water.

What creatine does is supply the building blocks for your cells to make ATP which is the substance your cells use to do work and contract. 

If you're doing an endurance event your cells make the ATP out of stored fat and glycogen.  Fat takes oxygen and glycogen takes some time, both of which are available during endurance events.

In an event such as a short sprint or lifting a heavy weight neither oxygen or time are available.  Creatine loads phosphate molecules to the cells so that ATP can be produced quickly without oxygen.  This allows you to do just a little more anaerobic work before you run out of gas and have to take a 4+ minute recovery where your cells can regenerate their ATP.

Creatine is a natural substance you can get by eating meat.  Taking a supplement just maxes out the amount you get so the cells become full.

For an endurance event the best thing to do is increase your body's ability to convert fat.  That just takes a lot of aerobic training at between around 65 to 75 percent max heart rate (easy pace).  Going harder than that in training defeats that purpose as you'll be burning primarily glycogen instead of fat.

The reason fat is better than glycogen is because your body stores lots of fat and only a little glycogen.  Also, each unit of fat converts to more ATP than glycogen does. 

Over time with training in the zone I mentioned above you will be able to run longer and faster at the same effort level because your body shifts to burning more fat and less glycogen at those paces.  Also, burning glycogen produces lactate which shuts your muscle down when the concentration rises high enough, the lactic acid burn!  Some harder training, not more than 20 percent of your total, will improve your body's ability to handle that lactate and go longer before it shuts you off.


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Well, I guess I'll just have to up my routine and do the work.
Thanks, Jessica

[Deborah]

Just to add on the subject of endurance training.

Training at the right effort level produces physiological changes in your body over time.  Some come pretty quickly and the others take more time and continue to improve for years with consistent training.  These changes include:
- Increased blood volume
- Increased red blood cells
- increased capillaries in your muscles
- Increased glycogen storage
- Increased mitochondrial density and size in the muscle cells
- Increased aerobic enzymes for more efficient energy conversion
- Larger heart stroke volume


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[elkie-t]

When you start HRT - hormones would direct new fats where they needed. Hopefully, your metabolism would slow down as well. In a way - you don't need to grow more muscles, hormones will make whatever feminine version of you they can. Maybe it won't be supercurvy, it's just your body type.

Although, foods rich in proteins (or supplements) and foods rich in fats and carbohydrates should help you gaining some curves.


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[Charlie Nicki]

It sounds like you are an ectomorph so putting on muscle will be difficult.  There are no substances other than anabolic steroids that will make your muscles grow faster.  However, creatine will provide some energy to be able to do harder workouts and whey protein will provide nutrients if you're not getting enough in your food.

The best exercises for what you want are "heavy" barbell back squats and deadlifts.  You can add various body weight exercises like glute raises  to be sure your glutes are properly activating.  Many people's are not.  You can tell if during squats you feel it all in your quads rather than your glutes and hamstrings.  If that's the case then your glutes are not working as they should.

The reason this happens is just because most people today sit so much.  Targeted body weight exercises will get them firing again as they should.


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Hi Deborah, are there any type of steroids that would help me and won't affect HRT or my transition negatively? I honestly want a fast and easy fix to this.

[Charlie Nicki]

When you start HRT - hormones would direct new fats where they needed. Hopefully, your metabolism would slow down as well. In a way - you don't need to grow more muscles, hormones will make whatever feminine version of you they can. Maybe it won't be supercurvy, it's just your body type.

Although, foods rich in proteins (or supplements) and foods rich in fats and carbohydrates should help you gaining some curves.


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Considering both my mom and my dad have skinny legs and no ass, I'm doomed lol. Unless I take after my aunts.

Also, I know fat redistribution takes a long time and I want to go full time in June 2018. I want my body to be on point by then.

[Deborah]

Hi Deborah, are there any type of steroids that would help me and won't affect HRT or my transition negatively? I honestly want a fast and easy fix to this.

Steroids for muscle growth are simply high doses of testosterone.  So they will work against your transition goals.  If you do want to try it the first thing you should do is stop using any T blockers you may be on and see if you can get your natural T levels back up.


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[Charlie Nicki]

Steroids for muscle growth are simply high doses of testosterone.  So they will work against your transition goals.  If you do want to try it the first thing you should do is stop using any T blockers you may be on and see if you can get your natural T levels back up.


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Oh no. I wouldn't do that, I don't want my T levels to go up. Oh well I'll do it the natural way then, thanks Deborah!

[jaybutterfly]

as a fellow ectomorph (and you wont like this for the first few weeks) heavy, HEAVY squats and deadlifts as often as you can. You'll need to eat a lot as well. Staying hydrated and making sure youre on a high protein diet will add up.

[Charlie Nicki]

as a fellow ectomorph (and you wont like this for the first few weeks) heavy, HEAVY squats and deadlifts as often as you can. You'll need to eat a lot as well. Staying hydrated and making sure youre on a high protein diet will add up.

Oh believe me, I hate it already! I'm feeling so lazy about it.

[Deborah]

Oh believe me, I hate it already! I'm feeling so lazy about it.

Once the soreness passes away and you start seeing improvements in strength and muscle tone then you may start looking forward to it.  If you are lifting any type of weights then progressive resistance is the key.  Without that you won't see improvements in anything.  For the first few months you should be either doing more weight or more reps in each workout.  After a few months the improvements will slow some to weekly instead of each workout.  After a couple of years they may slow even more, but they will still continue for a long time.  If this isn't happening then you're doing something wrong.  Diet, sleep, and stress reduction are all part of recovering after each workout.


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[jaybutterfly]

Oh believe me, I hate it already! I'm feeling so lazy about it.

I find it's honestly hard but very rewarding. Im starting to find the offset between my lower and upper body mass has really helped hide my broad shoulders.

Now all I need is the hormones to complete my 'white chun-li' aesthetic

[Charlie Nicki]

I find it's honestly hard but very rewarding. Im starting to find the offset between my lower and upper body mass has really helped hide my broad shoulders.

Now all I need is the hormones to complete my 'white chun-li' aesthetic

Since I have low T thanks to HRT, I'm not as strong as I was before so it literally and figuratively is a pain in the ass.

[EvaT]

I'm also an ectomorph, so gaining mass for me is pretty hard. But right now my butt and thigh are pretty thick, that my mom thought I was using pads when I was using compression shorts lol.
And the only leg workout I've been doing is explosive pistols, 3 x 10 on each leg, and some minor workouts that lightly uses legs.  But of course when I go full time I'll implement more exercises into my regimen.

P.s. just be careful with pistols, make sure you can do them properly, before trying, or you could seriously hurt your ankle, knee, or other.

[DawnOday]

Don't just sit on them.

[Charlie Nicki]

I'm also an ectomorph, so gaining mass for me is pretty hard. But right now my butt and thigh are pretty thick, that my mom thought I was using pads when I was using compression shorts lol.
And the only leg workout I've been doing is explosive pistols, 3 x 10 on each leg, and some minor workouts that lightly uses legs.  But of course when I go full time I'll implement more exercises into my regimen.

P.s. just be careful with pistols, make sure you can do them properly, before trying, or you could seriously hurt your ankle, knee, or other.

Did you mean pistol squats? I googled "explosive pistols" and that's the closest I got. How long have you been doing this exercise? I've been going to the gym twice a week to work on my legs and butt, but if this is as efficient as you say I might add it to my routine.

[EvaT]

Did you mean pistol squats? I googled "explosive pistols" and that's the closest I got. How long have you been doing this exercise? I've been going to the gym twice a week to work on my legs and butt, but if this is as efficient as you say I might add it to my routine.

Yes sorry lol. Explosive pistol squats. They're just like regular pistol squats, but you're going to try to jump as high as you can as you're going up on one leg. But if you've never done pistols before, start with regular ones. Because you could twist your ankle hyper extend your knee or injure your hips if your lower back is not strong enough.
Hmm I've been doing them for over a year now. But I'm pretty sure you'll see results in like 3 months. If you add other leg and butt exercise.
Let me know if you need any more tips