I love the Trans fitness community. I've been a part of it for a long time now, and I've seen it grow so much over the years. But, just like with the general fitness community, there's some nonsense I see floating about.
Here are 5 issues I have (and want to see stamped out) within the Trans fitness space.
The Lack Of Transparency
Look, I'm not going to be mentioning any names here. But, if there's one thing the Trans fitness community has in common with the wider fitness community, it's the lack of honesty around steroid usage. As someone who is educated on this topic, it's usually very obvious to me when someone is using steroids. But, to someone just starting out on their gym journey, It would be very easy to think certain Trans influencers/ coaches results were attainable without performance enhancing drug (PED) usage.
To make it very clear, my issue isn't with the PED usage itself. As much as this is obviously not something I would ever encourage someone to do, I accept it is a part of bodybuilding. My issue is with the lack of transparency. Be careful who you trust.
Chest Training Guides For A Smaller Chest
This is probably the 708th time I've now said this on the internet. Chest pressing is not going to make your chest smaller.
Glandular tissue (aka breast tissue) cannot be burnt off. It's not a fuel source for the body, therefore it's going to stay put until a surgeon comes along and takes it out. No amount of chest pressing or calorie reductions will change this. For more, in-depth info on this, give this guide a read here.
People Thinking They Can Increase Their Testosterone Levels With Diet Changes
Trust me, if you could dramatically increase your testosterone levels via your diet, there wouldn't be any pre-t trans guys out there. They'd be filling their faces with food.
Does the food you eat impact hormone levels? Sure. But you are not going to eat your way to a male range testosterone level.
No Barrier To Entry Coaches
This is a big problem in the general fitness community, not just exclusive to the Trans space. Absolutley anybody can call themselves an online coach, and that's wrong (and incredibly dangerous).
I've had top surgery, does that mean I can go and perform surgery on someone? I've had a wisdom tooth taken out, does that mean I can offer my services as a dentist? So why, because you've lost some weight yourself or been going to the gym for 2 months, can you now call yourself an online coach?
Please, when picking a coach, find out as much about that person as you can. Not just how big their biceps are, or how many Instagram followers they have. What is their history? Their qualifications? Their experience? Their client proof and testimonials?
The Self Love BS
I accept there will be people who want to disagree with me on this one. But I'm also an adult who is open to respectful debate, so let's do it.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to change something about yourself. Want a set of abs to rock on the beach? Great. Want bigger arms to hug your sleeves? Cool.
I once watched a video online of a coach saying "you need to love yourself before the weight loss, if you want to love yourself after the weight loss". This is like saying I should have loved my pear shaped figure and monthly cycle before starting testosterone, in order to now be happy with my beard and adams apple.
It's ok (and perfectly understandable) if you feel more confident after losing weight. It's ok if you love your body more when it has more muscle on it. Evolution has designed us to be attracted to people we like the look of. This means we also want to look good (or, what we perceive ourselves to be good looking).
The problem only arises when we believe getting ripped will solve all of our problems. Like believing having a six pack will stop me from feeling sad about my childhood. Or that having bigger arms will mean I get over my last relationship. This is obviously not true, and something we would want to address.
But feeling more confident and happy within yourself after dropping 5 jean sizes? Good for you.
If you want to speed up your ability to get results without all the BS that's out there on the internet, then that would make you the same as the 100's of Trans people I have coached.
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