#ftmbodybuilding

[supercodi]

Mens Physique Show Day | The Moment I've Been Waiting For

[oliverashton95]

Stronger than I was yesterday @planetfitness #lgbtq🌈 #strongernowthanever #goyourownway #thisismylife #learningjustlikeeverybodyelse #bodybuilding #ftmbodybuilding #planetfitness #muscles (at Planet Fitness) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvQWeZHFZaU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2r1h22ommbbr

[ftmfitnessworld]

Destination Atlanta: October 6, 2018

                                All the latest IATB news here!

The International Association of Trans Bodybuilders is now accepting applications for both the bodybuilding and powerlifting events to be held in Atlanta, GA, Saturday, October 6, 2018. Between FTM Fitness World and the IATB, we will be celebrating our fifth year of offering bodybuilding competitions to athletes from around the world.

We are excited to be transitioning from a for-profit to a non-profit model to get better funding to help you get the quality events you deserve. Thanks for believing in us as we do our best to show the world what we can do when we unite!

We are in the process of making sure the new president and head judge, Bucky Motter, has all the tools to take over. If you have any questions about the information below, please contact Bucky at contact@iatb.info.

Here goes, some bullet points to steer you in the direction you want to go. Whether you are a competitor, a spectator, a potential sponsor, an individual donor, or want to host an IATB event in your city, all the info is either listed below or available to you on the IATB website.

Also, please be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you can keep up to date with all the latest info.

we need judges in different cities: Read specifications on website (http://iatb.info/certification/ ) and if interested, send an email at contact@iatb.info

Competitors:

Bodybuilders who identify as Trans (belonging at any level of the Trans spectrum) are invited to compete. Get your Annual Membership here, then register for Atlanta!

The Powerlifting competition is open to all genders. Winners are judged against each other by the Wilks Formula, which focuses on the absolute strength of each lifter and compares them on an equal standing.

Spectators:

Tickets for the Bodybuilding Competition are available here and at the door, location TBA. Look for the “ Buy Now” button on the bottom right corner of the web page.

Sponsors:

Sponsorship Packages are available now. If you’d like to be a sponsor, contact Bucky Motter at contact@iatb.info. Many levels of Sponsorship are available, for example, $250 buys all the trophies needed for the competitions. Your company logo will be included on banners and print materials.

Individual Donor:

There are now two ways to donate to the IATB. Any amount, no matter how small, can help us reach our goals. You can donate to IATB here, or to the new GoFundMe campaign. Our strategy is to get lots of folks to donate small amounts, though larger amounts are certainly appreciated. Also, posting the GoFundMe link to your Facebook page is a huge help, even if you can’t donate yourself. We realize a lot of you are saving for surgery, and you may not have much disposable income. Consider $10, $20 ,or whatever you can afford. Thanks in advance for your help!

Host an IATB event:

We have all the information you need to hold an IATB event in your area. Simply contact IATB President and Head Judge Bucky Motter at contact@IATB.info, or go to the IATB website and click on Events, then Host a Competition. Bucky can walk you through the process, and he will help you find judges in your city as well as attend your event as Head Judge.

We need judges in different cities: You can read specifications on website and if interested, send an email at contact@iatb.info.

OK, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading this far. Again, thanks for believing in us as we do our best to show the world what we can do when we unite!

Hope to see you in Atlanta!

In Gratitude and Service,

The Staff at IATB

[trans-gnome]

The effect of trans male culture’s relationship with fitness over wellness on my self esteem (Why and how I’m shifting focus)

Bodybuilding comes in many forms, from huge muscles and vast sponsorships to clean eating and calisthenics. No matter the style, the method or the positive effects bodybuilding may have on self esteem and health it’s primary purpose is to attain a particular physique. Often a physique that is not attainable for many of us. 

Before folks start suggesting that I’m making excuses, bear with me on this. 

For many trans men time, money, energy (physical or mental) can be highly limited resources that need to be rationed according to immediate priority needs such as family commitments, going to work, or if you can’t work, going to the doctor. you get the idea leaving little left for fitness goals, which as I’m sure you can imagine tends to play havoc with self esteem when all about us we see images of rippling muscular trans male bodies.

For some of us who struggle with this, another way based on wellness and body positivity might work better. 

What is Health:

Now I know for many of you this will sound like excuses for not getting “healthy” but let’s look for a moment at what healthy means: 

“a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” - WHO, 1948

Ok so, by this definition “health” is really wellbeing. So why is so much of the health and fitness industry focused solely on outward physical appearance? Given the huge diversity of athletes’ bodies we can’t draw the conclusion that the perfect gym body is an accurate indicator of health or wellbeing. 

The reason I talk about the definition of health is because since the 1980s health has slowly become synonymous with fitness/physique rather than with wellness. 

The result is that rather than engaging in physical activity for the sake of feeling good, most people including and perhaps especially trans men often engage in physical activity in order to look good; spending more time examining how our bodies look in a mirror than how our bodies feel to live in. 

For a group on society that has a tendency towards low self esteem due to transphobia, toxic masculinity and gender norms, this way of looking at things can be hugely detrimental. It is hugely understandable for guys to focus on physique and muscle size in order to build a “optimal male body” to reduce dysphoria, i get it. 

Less of a trans MAN? 

This has become idealized as the ultimate transmasculine goal and jacked trans male bodies have become the ideal that is championed by the trans masculine community, putting pressure on everyone to achieve this cis passing macho body. In essence we as a community have replicated the hugely pressured and patriarchal culture of ultra masculinity that causes so many cis and trans men to hate their bodies, have unrealistic goals and generally feel shit about themselves to the point where they injure themselves or give up on sport or physical activity entirely! We need to stop doing this! 

Now, I’m not saying guys shouldn’t work out or get big/swole/ripped/whatever. Great if that’s your thing! I’m glad it works for you! My issue is that for many trans men, especially younger guys trying to figure out “how to be a trans man” this can seem like the only way to be a healthy adult man, so I just wanna go back to the definition of health for a sec. 

In 1986 the WHO held a conference where 61 states agreed on some prerequisites to  health based on the definition I quoted earlier, these were: 

peace

shelter

education

food

income

a stable eco-system

sustainable resources

social justice, and equity

As you can see, health is way more complex than hitting the gym. And extensive research has shown that a one size fits all approach to health and wellbeing rarely works in any community or population. 

Focus solely on gym fitness and muscular physique fails to recognise the many options for living a healthy lifestyle and results in feelings of dysphoria, low self-esteem and inferiority amongst trans men because you know what, not everyone enjoys or finds gym fitness enjoyable! And they shouldn’t have to feel less valid as a man, trans or otherwise for not getting on well in a gym environment. 

From Fitness to Wellness:

I believe that shifting our focus as a community from fitness to wellness is a great place to start fixing the situation we are in. 

So how is this done? Well there is no one way to do this, that’s the point wellness is holistic and works in different ways for different people. One thing that I would say is integral to shifting from fitness to wellness is to make feeling good the number one priority over achieving particular looking good. 

Here’s how this works in practice for me: 

For a long time I worked really hard doing exercise and sport that I really hate because I was trying to achieve a particular body type. I never achieved it and even if I had it wouldn’t have been enough. I wanted to be a total muscle bear with big pecs, big arms and a huge back. For me years of ultra-fit modelesque trans men on tumblr and instagram told me that hey “This is how you get people to see you as a man, this is the *right* way to be a man”. 

I was wrong. Because if you don’t enjoy something, you’re not likely to stick to it! The logical conclusion is therefore, you never achieve your goals and feel forever like a failure. 

Even doing sport that I like such as swimming, climbing, hiking or cycling didn’t make me feel good because my focus was on what I would get out of this activity, not on enjoying the activity for it’s own sake. I wasn’t getting bigger or more toned fast enough. I didn’t have veins popping everywhere. That expectation of myself made me hate the activities I used to love and hate my body. 

I stopped working out all together and did some soul searching. The conclusion I came to is that I had to stop caring about what any given sport or physical activity would have on the appearance of my body and focus only on how it makes me feel. 

For example, swimming is great for my cardio and overall strength, it makes me breathe easier, feel fresher and I feel stronger. 

Building sports/fitness activity into an overall wellbeing plan really helps me to keep the focus off my body and on my sense of wellness. I see yoga, prayer, meditation, swimming, climbing, home bodyweight strength training, hiking, spiritual pursuits, creating art and eating food that nourishes me and surrounding myself with images of diverse male bodies as activities that are essential and flow into one and other to dramatically improve my wellbeing, and funnily enough through not focusing on my body, my body has begun to change too. 

[kadecooks]

Tw: Eating disorders - I am going to be transparent with you. I have seen this topic come up quite often in our community recently, so I wanted to give you my take. The first time I restricted my food, I was 10. The first time I purged my food I was 12 years old. The first time I had a full binge eating sesson I was 13. The first I blacked out due to lack of food I was 15. Surprisingly enough it was not until after I turned 20 years old I got officially diagnosed with bulimia. Finally I went to a mental health professional for help. I had known I had it for many years. Finally being diagnosed felt like a relief. For many years my therapists knew what was going on, and I always was told it's normal. Well telling a 15 year old that hurting themselves was normal is never okay. Now I am working everyday to heal my relationship with food. I am using food as a tool to build my body. Reframing how I see food has helped me quite a bit. For the full story I will be posting a video on my channel (Link in bio, live 7pm Wednesday) - How has your relationship with food changed throughout the years? - #ftmfitness #tw #bodydysmorphia #bodydysphoria #transbodybuilding #ftmbodybuilding #transyoutuber #kadecooks (at Sandy, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9PxoWFj1wc/?igshid=129mutl151ldn

[splishsplashaler]

Nowhere near the end, but I'm gaining ground. #bodybuilding #ftmbodybuilding #thisiswhattranslookslike #vegan #growth #gains #muscle #gym #iron #fitness #eatclean #traindirty #motovation #getout #stayactive #behealthy #trans #ftm

[officialftmlifestyle-blog]

Don't forget to enter! Ftm lifestyle is back and we're coming back with a BOOM! Our first opening month we completely sold out! Now that we've had time to restock and get some new products we wanna give stuff away! Visit us at ftmlifestyleproducts.com and check out how you can win a free Prosthetic! #ftm #ftmbodybuilding #ftmtransgender #ftmfitness #ftmbottomsurgery #ftmtopsurgery #ftmprosthetics #freetom #lifestyle #ftmlifestyle

[supercodi]

When Life Keeps Throwing You Hurdles | 7 Weeks Out | Chest and Back Workout

[ftmfitnessworld]

The TRANS Community came together to make HISTORY!

We made history at the 1st annual FTM Fitness World conference! Catch up here:

http://ftmfitnessconference.com/2014-photo-album/

We're doing it AGAIN Oct.1st-3rd 2015 and you want to be there! So take advantage of the special we're running... it will only last until Nov. 15th of this year. Go here to sign up now:

http://ftmfitnessconference.com/special2015/

[ashtonjamescolby-blog]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ashton Colby (@ashtonjamescolby)

✨New video uploaded!✨ Click the link in my bio to watch the full video now. I've been really frustrated lately with what I can only describe as the toxic FTM bodybuilding culture. Before even starting testosterone I felt a pressure from the cis world to starting working out to gain muscle. I have only seen that pressure increase from members of my own community the last year or two. Those who are advocates are not doing enough to speak out against the cis ideals of a masculine body and instead obsessively post their calories consumed, weight, even down to the drops of sweat that fall on the ground at the gym. It's a body toxic message. I love fitness. I would go to the gym five days a week if I could, but when the message is not health but who can get the biggest and the leanest we are creating our very own toxic culture of comparison. I would hope some "advocates" in the community become a lot more mindful of how they contribute to this sick game that nobody wins. I would hope that everyone who is going through a Trans masculine transition really holds in their heart they do not have participate in anything other than their own person journey of happiness inside and out. (There is so much amazing positive Trans representation of different body types out there! Check out @brothers_the_series now streaming on Amazon. And thanks to @emmettisjack for the shirt. 😊 Get yours on sale now for only 10$ http://www.brothersseries.com/shop/brothers-t-shirt-third-edition) #testosterone #hrt #ftmbodybuilding #transmen #gender #ALLtransisbeautiful #transisbeautiful

[kadecooks]

A few weeks into this cut. Time to RAMP IT UP! - I hurt my back last month really bad and it took away from my training. Seeing some muscle loss for sure, but I am motivated to make sure my muscles stay while in this cut🗡 - #ftmfitness #transfitness #ftmbodybuilding #transbodybuilding #fitnessupdate (at Downtown Salt Lake City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9PNuCaDA3O/?igshid=ae5zno2b7as3

[officialftmlifestyle-blog]

We're back! And we're ready to share tom tom with the world! For more realistic graphic pics visit our Tumblr at officialftmlifestyle.tumblr.com :D coming in August! #ftmlifestyles #ftmbodybuilding #ftmprosthetics #freetom

[supercodi]

I Don't Know if This is Going to Work Out

[ftmfitnessworld]

A red carpet Trans exclusive fashion show you don't want to miss! #FTMFitCon15. Get your tickets!!

[kadecooks]

🐮That is a wrap to my bulk🐮 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ Start: 155lbs -> starting to see abs, lower on energy, excited to get stronger End: 166lbs -> Continuing to grow and get stronger, chest muscles are bigger then ever, and abs are basically gone! Originally, I was trying to bulk until I hit 170 but I am starting to feel very sluggish, even when working out. I'm putting on more I would like when it comes to stomach fat. My hip dysphoria is through the roof. So excited that this felt like a good time to start my mini cut🗡 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ #kadecooks #bulkingseason #winterbulk #minibulk #minicut #ftmfitness #ftmbodybuilding (at Salt Lake City, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8JX_5yjnGO/?igshid=txg48tpmyb22

[officialftmlifestyle-blog]

$7,000 worth in prizes that are just being given away! In honor of all our AMAZING customers we are having a CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY for our return! It was so amazing to see that we were sold our of everything within the first 2 weeks!!!! Since then, we have been making the final touches on the Tom Tom line, and now we're giving away A WHOLE LOT OF WEINERS! Please visit our website ftmlifestyleproducts.com for more information! #ftmbodybuilding #freetom #ftmlifestyle #freetomprosthetics #transman #ftm #ftmlifestyles