Updated March 9th, 2022.

When I realised I was transgender in 2018, I started bodybuilding because I wanted to sculpt a more gender-affirming physique. For nearly three years, I’ve been honoured to help dozens of clients achieve the same goal.
 
With this article, I want to help you do the same.
 
This piece is therefore going to cover:

• Which muscles to train to masculinise your appearance
• How to train them effectively
• How to eat to support your training

 
Before we start, I want to make a clarification: this guide can help you at any stage of your fitness journey, whether you’re on testosterone replacement therapy or not.
 
Anyone can build muscle with resistance training, including those who are pre-testosterone or will never take any.
 
Furthermore, the benefits of exercise go above and beyond your appearance and include improved mood, higher energy levels, and increased self-confidence, among others. What better way to grow into the person you were always meant to be?
 
For this reason, I encourage you to begin training as soon as you can. Even if you chose to never start hormones, you’d still be able to put on an euphoria-inducing amount of muscle that you wouldn’t have if you didn’t train.
 
I speak from experience, as I was determined to take my physique as far as I could before beginning my medical transition. I first started lifting in June 2018, but didn’t have access to TRT until March 2020.
 
In addition to the physical results – which I believe have been greater than if I had waited almost two years until I could start testosterone – training and nutrition have helped my mental health, relieved my dysphoria, and benefited my relationship with food.
 
But enough about me. If you want to learn more about my story, you can read this article.
 
If you’re here for the gains, let’s get started.

In the UK, research shows that 75% of females are keen on a more active lifestyle, but feel intimidated by the gym environment and limited by work and family commitments. For that reason, in 2015 Sport England launched a campaign called This Girl Can to empower females to exercise.
 
In 2017, a similar survey on 1,000 people in America suggested that almost 65% of females, compared to 36% of males, are too anxious or self-conscious to go to the gym.
 
Most of the studies done on the transgender population in relation to fitness have focused on sport. Nevertheless, there is evidence that recreational exercisers experience discrimination and other negative experiences, too.
 
That, along with the amount of articles on how to overcome dysphoria at the gym, proves how hard it can be for female-bodied individuals of any gender to engage in a more active lifestyle.
 
So it’s important to find ways to increase our self-esteem and motivation. And what better way than knowledge?
 
With resistance training, in particular, we have the potential to accomplish great things. Unfortunately, we often underestimate that potential. When confronted with some buff gym bro, we think, “Why should I bother?”
 
For cis girls, the question stops there. For trans guys, it could become, “Why should I bother until I’m on testosterone?”
 
This lack of belief in ourselves can be a hard or impossible obstacle to overcome.
 
But what can this body do for us? What can we do for ourselves?
 
A lot, it turns out.
 
In this article, I’m going to give you three reasons why you should feel more confident in the gym.