I'm always seeing posts and articles stressing the importance of fitness and working out for trans guys. This is all fine and well, but for those of us who are less athletically inclined, some of the recommended workout routines and goals can seem pretty daunting!
Since I'm sure I'm not the only guy in this boat, I figured I'd start a discussion on the topic.
Those of you who like the idea of staying fit but aren't ready to sell your soul to the gym: what do you do? What fitness goals are important to you, and what do you do to make them possible? Do you have any tips for people just getting started (such as recommended exercises, warms-ups, dietary adjustments, etc.)? Feel free to share some of your favorite easy/quick/cost-effective exercises and how you fit them into your routine.
Personally, I do a lot of hiking, which does a pretty good job of keeping my legs happy, but it does next to nil for my upper body. I've considered the possibility of getting back into the habit of swimming on a weekly basis and/or putting together a small shoulder/back workout to do every couple days.
Quote from: Crow on July 06, 2013, 06:40:39 PM
Those of you who like the idea of staying fit but aren't ready to sell your soul to the gym: what do you do? What fitness goals are important to you, and what do you do to make them possible? Do you have any tips for people just getting started (such as recommended exercises, warms-ups, dietary adjustments, etc.)? Feel free to share some of your favorite easy/quick/cost-effective exercises and how you fit them into your routine.
Personally, I do a lot of hiking, which does a pretty good job of keeping my legs happy, but it does next to nil for my upper body. I've considered the possibility of getting back into the habit of swimming on a weekly basis and/or putting together a small shoulder/back workout to do every couple days.
If you are regularly hiking, you are really ahead of the game.
I like this guy's beginning workout - no gym needed - all body weight:
Beginner Body Weight Circuit Workout (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvhHhDNjtxM#)
If you enjoy hiking then go back packing or just hike with a bag. I do both and it is a great way to work out the core and stay in shape. It is also good for cardio if you move a good bit. This is hope I try to stay slim, but if you do it right you can bulk up as well. I try to just go and loose weight, but I have friends who bulk because of it too. I am mtf and that is why I am not trying to bulk, but you can if you want.
Yep, hiking is my favorite. I work at a summer camp right now, and I'm a wildlife biology major, so I get a lot of excuses to hike. Plus I go hiking just for fun when I get the chance. The bird sanctuary I work at has some nice rock ridges for climbing around on, too.
I do sometimes carry a bag with me, but I have to be careful with that and pack light-- I have scoliosis and can really screw up my back by lugging around heavy bags.
I really like that body weight circuit! That's a nice assortment of exercises. I think I'll try working that into my schedule a few nights a week and see how it goes.
Quote from: Crow on July 06, 2013, 07:04:01 PM
Yep, hiking is my favorite. I work at a summer camp right now, and I'm a wildlife biology major, so I get a lot of excuses to hike. Plus I go hiking just for fun when I get the chance. The bird sanctuary I work at has some nice rock ridges for climbing around on, too.
I do sometimes carry a bag with me, but I have to be careful with that and pack light-- I have scoliosis and can really screw up my back by lugging around heavy bags.
I really like that body weight circuit! That's a nice assortment of exercises. I think I'll try working that into my schedule a few nights a week and see how it goes.
Oh see then a pack might not be the best. I was going to suggest just working your way up in weight and length of time, but not that would not be smart. I have issues with my joints so hiking and swimming keep me loose. I totally understand how much all of that fights with what you want with your body. My body is mannish because a lot of the exercise that I could do to keep slim/ in general puts a strain on my joints.
I've been physically active and have been exercising consistently since high school, and over the years I've been able to stay in decent shape and not sell myself to the gym.
Cost-effective:
get some DVDs or watch YouTube videos-there's tons of cheap workout DVDs for beginners-advanced exercisers, and if you have friends who also exercise, it's fun to swap videos. I like Gaiam yoga DVDs, and the yogatoday youtube channel. For other exercises (like cardio and strength training), I like the BeachBody programs (I have a friend who does BeachBody too, so we swap DVDs back and forth). Most videos are only between 30-60 minutes long.
[I prefer working out at home rather than the gym, because I don't have to pay for memberships, gas in my car, or take time out of my day to drive to and from a gym]
Good warm-ups:
doing a light jog and some stretches. You can find a lot of videos on stretches, you probably do some when you go hiking I'd imagine. When I am going to go running, I usually warm-up by doing a 1/2 mile or a mile at a slow pace, and then spend a few minutes stretching (doing stretches I learned back when I did Track and Field). For lifting weights, I do a light jog in place just to get some blood flowing, and do some stretches, the stretches I do usually depend on what I am going to be lifting that day.
What's important to me is having good overall fitness--flexibility, strength, speed, and endurance. To get this, I do yoga (most days I spend just a few minutes doing my favorite yoga poses, and then try to do a full hour or longer routine on the weekends). I also lift weights--I used to lift weights with a male friend, but I just finished the BeachBody "Body Beast" program which is on DVDs, it was a lot of fun and I am going to do it again. Speed/endurance I do running and cardio DVDs (for DVDs, I do TurboFire). I usually only spend between 30 and 90 minutes working out daily.
Yeah, my back and most of my joints have all kinds of issues. I feel like swimming would probably be my best bet, since it builds back and shoulder muscle with minimal joint/back strain (plus it's just FUN). But then we just return to the age-old "how do I conceal my chest in a swimsuit" question.
I really need to get better about warming up. I sometimes underestimate just how much warm-up I need and then do silly things and muscles. Last week I pulled a thigh muscle while playing tag with a bunch of kindergarteners, which was a little embarassing.
Would you be able to wear light weights on your wrist while you hiked?
Wrist weights are an awesome idea! Why didn't I think of that? I definitely would be able to while just-for-fun hiking. I probably could on the easier hikes at work (at the risk of being made fun of by campers, which is more funny than offputting), but not for the ones that involve a lot of helping small children scale giant rocks.
Quote from: Crow on July 06, 2013, 07:28:29 PM
Yeah, my back and most of my joints have all kinds of issues. I feel like swimming would probably be my best bet, since it builds back and shoulder muscle with minimal joint/back strain (plus it's just FUN). But then we just return to the age-old "how do I conceal my chest in a swimsuit" question.
I really need to get better about warming up. I sometimes underestimate just how much warm-up I need and then do silly things and muscles. Last week I pulled a thigh muscle while playing tag with a bunch of kindergarteners, which was a little embarassing.
I watch kids all of the time and yeah I know the feeling. Twist one way and then they go the other and yeah muscles then hurt like hell XD
I should not laugh, but still.
I second the home workout idea.
1) It's way easier to motivate yourself to put a DVD in than organise to get all your gear together and head to a gym.
2) There's no way I could go to a gym pre-Top surgery. Even though a part of me truly despises it, I work out in a sports bra...and then basketball shorts (or just boxers if it's a really hot day) as a way to kinda balance it lol. I find if you want to get the best workout a binder isn't good. It limits range of motion and it limits how far I can push myself because I get too warm and sweaty way too fast. I know this as fact because I have to wear one when I go to Taekwon-do and I get tired much faster there and sweat so hard my belt gets soaked. When I finally came out there and showed my instructor what my binder was like it was like a light bulb moment for him in why I tend to leave a puddle of sweat during cool down exercises lol. In public I couldn't go anywhere without a binder. If I went to a gym, I'd end up having a crappy workout because I'd be so limited. Some can use a compression shirt, which can be good for more strength training exercises but I still don't recommend compression for cardio because the sweat factor overrules. Some may think more sweat = good and that's true. The more you sweat the better the workout. However, I'd rather reach the same level of sweat after working out for a solid, hard 1 hour session than working out for 30 mins and finding myself either unable to keep going or half assing it the last 30 mins.
3) If you're having a crappy day and don't have a lot of energy, you can do as much as you can and then either stop or take extra breaks. In a gym there's almost that extra drive that if you're not ready to hit the gym hard, you don't go because you don't want to look like the pathetic wus at the gym.
4) If you're not fit or you don't have a lot of muscle, it can be quite off putting to go to a gym and be around people who are fit and look much better than you. It's easy to find a gym environment intimidating.
5) You go at your own pace and stay at your comfort level. When surrounded by others and worrying about looking like a weakling there's a potential to push yourself too hard, in a bad way. To try too high a weight, or to run longer because when you got on the treadmill the guy next to you had already been running for a while and he's still going so you need to keep going, and other such nonsense our silly little brains come up with. At home, there's no one to impress or look pathetic in front of. It's you and a TV screen, that's it!
6) There's lots of workouts you can do from home that require no or minimal workout equipment. Programs from Beachbody (what I also use, I've completed Insanity and working through P90X) have a wide range of programs for different ability levels. And even programs like Insanity incorporate both cardio and strength training without one piece of equipment. WARNING: I don't advise anyone do this particular program off the bat, work up to something like that, it's truly mental! It's just a good example of a program without any equipment that still incorporates strength training and gets good results. Other programs might only need something like wrist or ankle weights, which are often supplied with the program. There's other programs, like P90X that do require things like weights but they're advanced and shouldn't even be something anyone non athletic should be looking into. You don't have to go with Beachbody (I make no money off them) it's just that I personally find the programs great as long as you go with something aimed at your ability level. I did some hip hop abs with a friend not too long back and that was a TON of fun! Lol.
And you know what, if none of that sounds good, there's loads of places you can get exercise. Dancing is exercising - all forms. Ballroom to street. Cycling. Rock climbing. Roller blading. Skateboarding. And my favourite - martial arts! Everyone should do martial arts, it's exercise, fun and an AMAZING stress reliever. Just picture whatever or whoever is bugging you on a pad and take out your frustration :P.
If you're looking into building your upper body, pushups are awesome. There's this whole 100 pushups thing I've seen going around, at least on my Facebook. If you want to do that you can but instead I would far more recommend varying the type of pushups than just sticking to one type of pushup. You want to work the whole upper body, so one type of pushup isn't as good.
I tend to do most of the following vid pushups in one long session taking 60 sec breaks in between each set. Watch the video properly, not every pushup has elbows going out to side, sometimes elbows go back and this works the triceps. Quality over quantity and keep your back flat! Concentrating on tucking your hips in and engaging the abs. DO NOT be tempted to use your back or even stomach for any pushups, just keep the back flat and the abs tight - and ALWAYS check you're tucking your hips in to have the correct posture. The work should be all in the arms, shoulders and chest, or you stop! This means it shouldn't affect scoliosis, in fact, pushups are advised for people with scoliosis as it actually strengthen the back muscle stabilisers (that stabilise the spine). From this video though I would advise staying with the simple to start and move up slowly, and maybe taking out ones where you're having to move your body through a range of motion, like hindu pushups. Vertical press would be fine though because you should be engaging your shoulders, not back at all, and if you find you are - STOP! This one is great for working on a V shape too.
http://youtu.be/vdxO1TpMgDA (http://youtu.be/vdxO1TpMgDA)
What you say is true about stronger people. I hate going because I am not as strong as a long of cisguys and even if I was I dont like the bulking workouts. I exercise at home as well. It is just easier.
Oh man, I miss martial arts! I don't have even remotely enough time or money to get back into tae kwon do, right now. Maybe eventually.
In the meanwhile, I have a job full of hiking and a basement full of carpet to exercise on.
Thanks for all the push up info! I'll try out some different types of push ups. The main things I want to accomplish strength-wise are strengthening my ever-sucky back and buff up my scrawny shoulders, so push ups seem like a promising option. Plus, those and the other body weight powered exercises people have been suggesting work nicely in my tiny basement.
Where there's a will, there's a way ;)
Yeah, but sometimes I have more will than I have hours in a day! Tae kwon do costs more than my rent, and I already spend multiple hours on a bus most days. I think my love of martial arts is going to have to wait until I have a bachelor's degree.
Ouch! That expensive?
Do you have a black belt? If so, sometimes you can work out a deal to help teach classes for a reduced rate. That's what my unemployed ass is doing right now :P.
I've started the hundred pushup thing. If you get the book it also has a bunch of different pushups and lists the different muscles they use. (And it has a whole section for people who can't complete a full pushup, which I think is a nice touch :D )
Quote from: Jack_M on July 06, 2013, 08:23:59 PM
5) You go at your own pace and stay at your comfort level. When surrounded by others and worrying about looking like a weakling there's a potential to push yourself too hard, in a bad way. To try too high a weight, or to run longer because when you got on the treadmill the guy next to you had already been running for a while and he's still going so you need to keep going, and other such nonsense our silly little brains come up with.
Haha I do this too. What was really sad the other day was when an old guy was there before me and when I got done lifting and went to the pool and hung out for about an hour, he was still working out when I left!
I recently moved to a very biker friendly and have started biking a lot more than I ever have in the past 10 years. Yesterday I found out about a local state park that has mountain biking trails as well as hiking. I'm looking forward to building up my endurance so that I can start biking those.
How do you find the right place to start taking a martial arts class, or the right style to take?
Some of them seem sorta sketchy...like there is a cult of personality going on around whoever is in charge of it, or that the style they use is such a mashed together hodge podge they tweaked around to look interesting for marketing purposes.
Ask them how long it takes to get a black belt. If they say a year, it's a McDojo. If they say 3, but more likely 4 yrs, it's likely a far more reputable school. Get the specific name of the style of martial art and look it up online to see how prevalent it is.
I've done a ton of martial arts and have 2 black belts. Kung Fu is a lot of fun, but a little inefficient for self defense on its own, but in terms of building power and developing strong technique, it's invaluable. Karate is okay. I have a black belt but only cause my parents kept sending me there, I'm not the biggest fan of Karate. Capoeira is a lot of fun too; good exercise.
End of the day the martial art I've been most impressed and happy with is ITF Taekwon-do. Although I absolutely stress ITF over WTF. WTF is quite aptly named IMO. WTF is the Olympic Taekwon-do and their sparring is an absolute joke throughout the martial arts community. They only kick which is a useless display of ability. Hands work very well, why cut them out? I have done WTF, freestyle and ITF. My own suggestion would be freestyle or ITF Taekwon-do. If you can find a club that does either of them, you'll be in good standing in an internationally recognised art.