Good topic. I've been looking for some info on this as well.

Quote from: TessaM on August 05, 2012, 05:41:22 PM
Thank you so much

Welcome

Quote from: Bexi on August 02, 2012, 06:27:13 PM
Yoga, it feminizes everything - relaxed facial expressions, longer neck, poised shoulders and collar bone, tightened abdomen and core, thighs turned inward (which rotates hips outwards and broadens buttocks).

Also, if you want a booty to rival a Kardashian then check this out -
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Butt-Bigger

x

I love this article. yoga, is a must, along with squats, and some random jogging in my opinion, legs help make the butt 

I have been questioning myself about how to modify my work out since the beginning of my transition.
I want to keep my body in shape and toned without building masculine muscle definition.  Even yoga which always insures you stretch you muscles makes me end up defined and veiny.

When I do strengthening exercises my arms, thighs and shoulders get bigger which caused me to stop or reduce the quantity/reps ( I do not use any form of machine (gym) only my own body weight ). This reduction in the long run weakened my body and makes me more susceptible to injuries. ls this part of the process where I need to learn to accept that my body may not be able to endure the same intensity? That may be an odd question but I would like to know that I'm not the only transwoman to go through this and ask her self that question.

Will HRT prevent this by making strong but softer and longer muscle?
Does working out / training create a much higher testosterone level?
Are there any trans specific links on this topic?

P.

Brazilian butt exercise xD

This will sound counter intuitive, but I have found weightlifting to my best feminizing workout. I have been on HRT and androgen blockers for about 6 months and as fast as my breasts are growing I need to assume my estrogen level is very high.

My workout is fairly simple. I take several sets of kettlebells and dumbbells and just use them and bodyweight exercises for 45 minutes to an hour. I don't repeat the same exercise in the workout. Lifting kettlebells burns the same number of calories as running at 6mph an hour. Running at 6mph would be a good pace for a competitive 10K athlete. My workout literally works every muscle in my body. I am deliberately trying lose muscle as well as fat. I spent decades lifting heavy weights.

My calorie and carb restricted diet will make sure I continue loosing weight. I have already lost about 30 pounds. I am also using the fact that I am middle aged and my testosterone is naturally falling to drive it even lower. Given my body size, I will likely look better as muscular woman than trying to look thin and soft.

I also do Pilates and yoga exercises to stretch my muscles so that I move with more grace. I also continue to train as a martial artist since we transwomen are in such danger of physical violence.

Cheers,

Katie-Anne 
     

I would avoid any upperbody workouts, and try to build some muscle on your butt and thighs by doing squats with plenty of weight. But be aware that any hard exercise will increase testosterone, so you may need to do this while you're taking estrogens and anti DHT pills.

It is actually as impossible to spot increase as spot reduce. !0,000 sit ups a day will not make your stomach any flatter. Concentrating on butt exercises my give the illusion of a larger behind as your muscles tone and lift the fat. If you either lose the fat or let muscles atrophy even a little, good bye shapely butt. The human body works as a synergistic whole and not a collection of body parts. Also concentrating too much on exercises that involve the rear end seriously compromises the lower back, and leg muscles. Years of dance exercises beginning before puberty and good genetics will give you J-Lo butt and very little else.   

great post people! I'm definitely adding it as a bookmark so I can study these workouts better later.

Vinyasa yoga is the best kind. It provides flexibility/strength/tone/relaxation all in one.

Don't be afraid of weight training. If you go on anti-androgens and estrogen, all of the testosterone won't count for anything because it will be blocked, making it ineffective. Like any girl, muscle mass won't come without some sort of testosterone supplement. Besides, it's good to be strong. 

If I may suggest it, "Building the Gymnastic Body" by Christopher Sommer is a great read. Gymnastics can actually build more strength than weight lifting without the bulk of weight training. If you don't believe me, try doing a front lever pullup. You won't get it on your first try; that's for sure. It requires a lot of strength and doesn't call for any weights but yourself.

As for diet, I haven't ever bought the whole low-carb, low-fat, high-fat, high-carb, etc. You don't need to exclude any food group. If you just eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full, and eat a balanced diet consistent of REAL food (not any crackers, cakes, or pretty much most things that come in a bag/box), you'll be healthy.

Quote from: Oriah on August 03, 2012, 08:39:28 PM
technically this isn't a workout, but you could naturally start increasing your breast size by using massage techniques.  They increase the blood-flow to the breasts, causing more of your body's estrogen to be carried there and to bind with the estrogen receptors.....also, it increases the production of prolactin, a naturally occurring hormone that increases breast size.


Here's a good link for breast massage technique
http://naturalremedysite.blogspot.com/2007/11/increase-cup-size-in-30-days-with.html



and to maximize this, you could eat ground flaxseed (preferably a half cup per day), which contains ligands, which are not truly estrogens, but estrogen receptor agonists, or in simple terms, bind to and activate the estrogen receptors....this would potentially start feminizing you slowly, but without medication.


Feminizing occurs faster when taken with antiandrogens......a suppliment of pygeum bark is a good natural antiandrogen, and works great when combined with spearmint, peppermint, nettle, and saw palmetto, which also are all antiandrogens.


Taking natural antiandrogens and consuming flaxseed on top of massage would be a great way to start femininzing your body without synthetic drugs, and may make it less of a shock when you get onto hrt, as the process would already have begun

Hi Oriah, did you try the massage technique and herbal suppliments? Do you think it works? I'd like to start to try and feminise my body and think this could be a good way to start but i don't want to take anything that would be bad for me.
I'm going to start yoga and do some of these exercises too!

I'll try and keep a record of my measurements to see if there are any changes.

Poppy x

I'd love to do some yoga to, for relaxation, but I'm so inflexible, I feel like something will snap, so I just can't go to max

A recent podcast/article by the "Get-Fit Guy" outlined workouts intended to increase testosterone. If you're in the process of feminization, you might want to look over this so you can avoid these exercises.

http://getfitguy.quickanddirtytips.com/6-ways-to-increase-testosterone-with-exercise.aspx

~ Lyric ~

I've been doing the lower body routines for wrestling to get my but and thighs proper. Thats mostly this:

Horse position (As long as you can)
Stutter steps
Stair running
More Horse position
Sit ups
Stutter steps
Then a cool down jog

I think I need to switch it up though my thighs and but sorta out ran my waist so I'll probably switch the first stutter step for sit ups. Its a middle school work out but it still good.

Quote from: TessaM on November 29, 2012, 05:19:59 PM
What should I do for a smaller waist and tummy? Eat less? More situps? Its so easy to gain weight so hard to lose argh!!!

Spot reduction doesn't exist. I suggest building up a strength base. Muscle helps you fight gravity. 

I don't know if this is useful or not. But, for myself, running really helped my body trim up and get defined. I noticed a tighter behind, legs, stomach and chest area.  I'm thin, by nature, but I really gained definition and lost the flab in my mid section.

Quote from: Cbergusn on August 02, 2012, 05:54:11 PM
Does anyone know of any feminizing workouts? I want to get a head start before I start my hrt lol thanks!

I've seen a lot of these targeting exercises fail. The best thing is all around muscle/joint/cardio health. The benefis of good diet and exercise will outweigh doing a million ab crunches or squats hopingn dreaming it makes your butt bigger or tummy smaller. Muscle burns fat and once you are on HRT you will have less muscle over time. The key is to keep what you can while the hormones do the work so you end up getting fat where you want to. Being a TS doesn't mean you have no active lifestyle. After you transition try some distinctively feminine things like belly dancing, or just dancing. You'd be suprised at the number of calories that burns up in an hour

I do Zumba and there are generally a few guys in there, although it's almost all women.

I've tried and love Bicram Yoga. It's a good way to stay & increase flexiblity, cleanse and give your sweat glands a good exercise.

I just joined my gym this morning. It's time to quit procrastinating and get healthy.  I will probably hire one of the trainers to keep me motivated until mine kicks in gear.

I started with Zumba two weeks ago. It is more or less a cardio workout for the whole body. The movement of legs, hips and arms are very feminine so it helps to pass better. In my course are around 20 ladies and two guys. Some of the ladies have a very feminie and sexy movement and I try to copy that.

Kind regards,

Lara

I have been both a professional dancer (fulltime career) and later a personal trainer. From both the literature and personal experience on physical activity, I have seen no evidence regarding spot weight reductions (as in losing X amount of fat from around, say, my triceps).

Recently, as part of my physique-feminizing regimen (I'm a mesomorph who can change shape quite easily), I tried doing the complete opposite of what you're supposed to do to gain muscle. It involves a bit of nuance, but basically this involves doing sets of high repetitions (70-80) with little or no weights, not eating after workouts and cutting calories (especially proteins).
To my surprise, this workout ritual didn't seem to work, which makes me question conventional wisdom regarding muscle building. It's not that I was beefing up or anything, but nor was I noticeably reducing muscle. Just toning and maintaining what I already had (perhaps I'm one of those people with weird enzymes who should have joined Special Forces or something).

My new workout is one that worked for me before, which just involves cardio workouts (bike, treadmill, etc.), stretching, and low protein. Additionally, now that I'm back on hormones I'll hopefully be able to see better results.