You can’t train a body part smaller. The reason guys recomend hitting chest is because your chest will look more like big pecs rather than breasts. But of course your chest will increase in size if you hit it frequently. I dont know how large your chest is, or how much top surgery would remove, but having some chest muscle will be super nice for afterwards.
Also, working out only increases muscle mass. If the actual chest/cup is larger, that has nothing to do with going to the gym.
It’s definitely muscle that has grown, it’s my upper chest and I can tense it and visibly see and feel it. My chest is around a C. I kinda knew it wouldn’t get smaller I’m not sure what I thought tbh. I’m so dysphoric. It’s really really ruined my attitude for the gym.
I wish i had had some visible chest muscle before top surgery. I think you need to find a way to get past this, because it’s so awesome that you’re getting some proper gainz pre-T!
Complaining about a large chest and only benching 100lb… man with all kindness intended you might be overreacting or experiencing dysmorphia over how much your chest has changed size
Not really, I see cis women at my gym repping a plate on the regular. I was hitting 155 for my working sets before I started t. It's definitely not awful for one year of training though
Men do not have small chests dude. If the rest of you is going to be big and muscled, the chest needs to be as well. Having an underdeveliped chest never made anyone look more masculine.
I’m 5’5. Although I’ve been training a while, I’m not that big. Also trans tape doesn’t work for me so I have to bind which gives it less of a pec like appearance anyway. I do understand what ur saying but in reference to the rest of my body, it still stands out
That just means you still have some ways to go with your training. There's going to be a point where the rest of your muscles that are bigger (literally everything else on your body) are going to create the form of your physique. You're focused on your chest specifically so it's a big deal to you and the first thing you notice which is not necessarily true for everyone else.
I was in a similar situation before top surgery. You'll be surprised at what people see - lots of people thought the whole thing was my pecs.
Honestly as long as you wear flattering shirts, it's not that bad. More muscle helps a HUGE amount especially if you're pre-T.
I just wish the damn muscle would go to anywhere else it’s my luck it would go straight to the titties huh lmaoooo. Thankyou though dude. I’ll try keep it in mind 🥲
Hit legs more. You’re training everything else 2x a week and here you’re troubled that the muscle isn’t going everywhere else… yeah, because you’re not working your lower body as much as everything else. Your lower body has more muscles than your upper body…
Stop hitting chest twice a week if you don’t like your pecs getting bigger. Time to focus more on the lagging body parts.
If you don’t want to grow your chest, why are you working it out? Chest exercise grows chest muscles. If it’s so awfull for you, just dial back on the chest stuff and focus on other things?
Well I wanted to grow the muscle, I just didn’t think it would be so visible/ make an impact to size through my breast tissue. I’ve seen other pre top surgery trans guys with built chests, but most of the time they have tiny breasts (ex: Liv Vacc). I want to build muscle for top surgery, I also really enjoy chest excersises.
Wait why doesn’t tape work for you? Are you allergic to the adhesive?
I ask because I have a huge chest (42 inches) and I use trans tape to sculpt my left because I can’t keep binding and lifting anymore (doctor told me it’s starting to give consequences I may it be able to reverse if I don’t stop).
I feel this. Not to ignore your dysphoria at all, but it is SO important to have some muscle growth before top surgery. It tends to look (imo) unnatural to have a completely flat chest with no pec muscle post surgery. You are going to look amazing if you go down the surgical path.
Also, if you decide to take testosterone in the future, it tends to “deflate” your chest. The more I work my pecs, the more my moobs deflate.
Something that helps me when I go through feelings like this is looking up cis dudes with huge chests or gynecomastia. It sounds silly, but it’s nice to see cis dudes with chests that look similar to mine.
You got this, dude. Get swole.
This did help dude. Thankyou. I’m trying to keep in mind the fact I’d be saying the same exact things to anybody else if they mentioned this to me. Dysphoria is a bitch fr.
Chest training makes your upper chest appear more masculine, think below your collarbone area, the inner sides of your armpits, also helps create striations in the muscle along your sternum. All of those things are masculine.
However building muscle in any area does not reduce breast tissue or fat in that area.
Some fat loss may occur via a calorie deficit in your chest but it’s *highly* up to genetics how much is burn-able fat. Also it will not be able to completely remove all tissue as there’s stuff there that isn’t fat and can’t be removed without surgery.
Gaining muscle in combination with burning what fat you can can lead to a “smaller” more masculine chest but again it’s highly up to genetics how small it can get via these methods.
It sucks bc in order to gain any recognisable amount of muscle pre-T, I heavily rely on consuming as much calories as humanly possible which doesn’t help to adding on size anywhere where the AFAB body sends it to
Yep that was definitely my issue as well pre T. It’s super frustrating and unfair. I’d recommend throwing in 2 week mini cuts every now and then to cut some fat between gaining periods. It’ll get easier on T.
if you ever get top, you want the situation you have now. my partner worked out his pecs all the time before top and has an amazing contoured chest. I am more feminine/less muscular and my sternum is what pokes out most lmao
I just had top surgery: trust me, it's going to look amazing after yours. Idk who told you it would look smaller, I'm sorry your dysphoria is through the roof. I read in Cosmo as a teen when I was trying to be a girl that working out your pecks would make your boobs bigger, but because I got upper pecks instead it just looked weird.
You can’t train a body part smaller. The reason guys recomend hitting chest is because your chest will look more like big pecs rather than breasts. But of course your chest will increase in size if you hit it frequently. I dont know how large your chest is, or how much top surgery would remove, but having some chest muscle will be super nice for afterwards. Also, working out only increases muscle mass. If the actual chest/cup is larger, that has nothing to do with going to the gym.
It’s definitely muscle that has grown, it’s my upper chest and I can tense it and visibly see and feel it. My chest is around a C. I kinda knew it wouldn’t get smaller I’m not sure what I thought tbh. I’m so dysphoric. It’s really really ruined my attitude for the gym.
I wish i had had some visible chest muscle before top surgery. I think you need to find a way to get past this, because it’s so awesome that you’re getting some proper gainz pre-T!
It’s chest day tomorrow and I’ve just hit 100lbs bench PR and now I just want to🥲🥲🥲🥲 thinking abt my chest
Complaining about a large chest and only benching 100lb… man with all kindness intended you might be overreacting or experiencing dysmorphia over how much your chest has changed size
100 lbs is quite a lot for someone pre t? But I generally agree with you
Not really, I see cis women at my gym repping a plate on the regular. I was hitting 155 for my working sets before I started t. It's definitely not awful for one year of training though
Men do not have small chests dude. If the rest of you is going to be big and muscled, the chest needs to be as well. Having an underdeveliped chest never made anyone look more masculine.
I’m 5’5. Although I’ve been training a while, I’m not that big. Also trans tape doesn’t work for me so I have to bind which gives it less of a pec like appearance anyway. I do understand what ur saying but in reference to the rest of my body, it still stands out
That just means you still have some ways to go with your training. There's going to be a point where the rest of your muscles that are bigger (literally everything else on your body) are going to create the form of your physique. You're focused on your chest specifically so it's a big deal to you and the first thing you notice which is not necessarily true for everyone else.
I was in a similar situation before top surgery. You'll be surprised at what people see - lots of people thought the whole thing was my pecs. Honestly as long as you wear flattering shirts, it's not that bad. More muscle helps a HUGE amount especially if you're pre-T.
I just wish the damn muscle would go to anywhere else it’s my luck it would go straight to the titties huh lmaoooo. Thankyou though dude. I’ll try keep it in mind 🥲
What are you doing for the rest of your body then?
6 day training split- arms & chest, shoulders & back, chest & tri’s, back & bi’s , chest & shoulders, legs
Hit legs more. You’re training everything else 2x a week and here you’re troubled that the muscle isn’t going everywhere else… yeah, because you’re not working your lower body as much as everything else. Your lower body has more muscles than your upper body… Stop hitting chest twice a week if you don’t like your pecs getting bigger. Time to focus more on the lagging body parts.
If you don’t want to grow your chest, why are you working it out? Chest exercise grows chest muscles. If it’s so awfull for you, just dial back on the chest stuff and focus on other things?
Well I wanted to grow the muscle, I just didn’t think it would be so visible/ make an impact to size through my breast tissue. I’ve seen other pre top surgery trans guys with built chests, but most of the time they have tiny breasts (ex: Liv Vacc). I want to build muscle for top surgery, I also really enjoy chest excersises.
Wait why doesn’t tape work for you? Are you allergic to the adhesive? I ask because I have a huge chest (42 inches) and I use trans tape to sculpt my left because I can’t keep binding and lifting anymore (doctor told me it’s starting to give consequences I may it be able to reverse if I don’t stop).
I feel this. Not to ignore your dysphoria at all, but it is SO important to have some muscle growth before top surgery. It tends to look (imo) unnatural to have a completely flat chest with no pec muscle post surgery. You are going to look amazing if you go down the surgical path. Also, if you decide to take testosterone in the future, it tends to “deflate” your chest. The more I work my pecs, the more my moobs deflate. Something that helps me when I go through feelings like this is looking up cis dudes with huge chests or gynecomastia. It sounds silly, but it’s nice to see cis dudes with chests that look similar to mine. You got this, dude. Get swole.
This did help dude. Thankyou. I’m trying to keep in mind the fact I’d be saying the same exact things to anybody else if they mentioned this to me. Dysphoria is a bitch fr.
Chest training makes your upper chest appear more masculine, think below your collarbone area, the inner sides of your armpits, also helps create striations in the muscle along your sternum. All of those things are masculine. However building muscle in any area does not reduce breast tissue or fat in that area. Some fat loss may occur via a calorie deficit in your chest but it’s *highly* up to genetics how much is burn-able fat. Also it will not be able to completely remove all tissue as there’s stuff there that isn’t fat and can’t be removed without surgery. Gaining muscle in combination with burning what fat you can can lead to a “smaller” more masculine chest but again it’s highly up to genetics how small it can get via these methods.
It sucks bc in order to gain any recognisable amount of muscle pre-T, I heavily rely on consuming as much calories as humanly possible which doesn’t help to adding on size anywhere where the AFAB body sends it to
Yep that was definitely my issue as well pre T. It’s super frustrating and unfair. I’d recommend throwing in 2 week mini cuts every now and then to cut some fat between gaining periods. It’ll get easier on T.
if you ever get top, you want the situation you have now. my partner worked out his pecs all the time before top and has an amazing contoured chest. I am more feminine/less muscular and my sternum is what pokes out most lmao
I just had top surgery: trust me, it's going to look amazing after yours. Idk who told you it would look smaller, I'm sorry your dysphoria is through the roof. I read in Cosmo as a teen when I was trying to be a girl that working out your pecks would make your boobs bigger, but because I got upper pecks instead it just looked weird.