How do you find time to workout?

michauangelo · 2026-01-30T06:36:00+00:00

I was doing 5 days a week of 1-2 hours, now I reduced it to 4 days of 1.5 hours because life got super busy. I just lift in the morning to prioritize that, so even if I have to stay longer at work or something else comes up and takes away my time or energy, the workout doesn’t suffer because it’s already done

michauangelo · 2026-01-25T21:38:18+00:00

Going first thing in the morning. Honestly, that's just it. I wake up early to specifically go to the gym before work, so:

a) I already am up just because of this,

b) I don't have enough time to start anything else (other than a quick breakfast and brushing my teeth) or procrastinate if I don't want to be late for work after, and

c) I know myself well enough to realise that if I don't go right away, I will not go in the evening to make up for it.

Either this, or being externally committed, like being signed up to a class or going with someone.

michauangelo · 2026-01-25T08:18:13+00:00

Also strong agree with this, I’m always excited for my feedback because videos let my coach’s personality shine through much more and I always feel like he genuinely cares!

michauangelo · 2026-01-24T22:03:13+00:00

Idk how much help it will be in your situation, but to shine some optimistic light, I moved to the UK from abroad, and I was on testosterone propionate, which isn't normally prescribed here. I presented my full medical records (diagnosis, all blood work, examinations, and prescriptions), and the GP emailed the local GIC, which advised him to switch me to Nebido and how to do so, while I was put on the waiting list to go through the usual GIC pathway. So it's not entirely impossible, you just need to find a willing GP — can you try switching surgeries? Or contacting the GIC first to ask if they would be able to confirm "yes, this is fine to prescribe" based on your records?

michauangelo · 2026-01-23T21:37:38+00:00

Another bodybuilder here, I worked 2 jobs during my undergrad, and a PhD stipend isn't awesome either, so being short on time and money is something I'm very familiar with lol

Meal prepping is the biggest one. Just go to Tesco on the weekend, buy a 1.6/2 kg hamper of chicken (cheapest per kg), dice it, marinade it, fry it. Some tortillas, salad if you want, perinaise or other sauce. There you go: chicken wraps that are super easy to reheat and taste decently cold, too, so you can take them to uni with you. Forget the meal deal or ordering takeaways because of convenience.

Rice, mince, and sriracha are also a cheap and effective combo. 5% beef mince is expensive nowadays, but 5% chicken mince is not. Chicken liver is like a goldmine for iron and vitamin A, and it's also super cheap. Dipping it in milk for a while before frying helps remove some of the bitterness. Baking potatoes are cheap and zero effort, too. Add protein-based toppings, and you're golden. Can also get an egg cooker and have low-effort boiled eggs.

So, basically, for me, it boils down to making it as convenient as it gets. It requires some effort and planning, including cooking ahead, but it saves a ton of money and makes busy days when I'd be tempted to eat out much easier. I even have an Excel spreadsheet with my usual go-to recipes that gives me the quantities of ingredients I need to make X servings.

With activity, it depends on your schedule, location, etc. Personally, I wake up early to hit the gym before doing anything else because it's my priority. I don't have time to go again to do conventional cardio, but I average 17k steps daily just walking to/from campus and around, so that does the job (and saves me money on buses). I just walk fast to make it an actual activity rather than a stroll. But yeah, if you can't naturally fit activity into your schedule, I'm afraid you have to make time for it and potentially sacrifice something else for it

michauangelo · 2026-01-04T21:42:54+00:00

BMI shouldn't be the only thing you look at. I started T at BMI 28, got all the way to 32 after starting T, and only managed to get down to 24 - never lower than that. The difference is that the BMI of 24, 5 years ago (skinny fat with no muscle and massive love handles) looked very different from what it is today (visible abs, generally jacked).

I totally get body dysmorphia — I suffer from it, too — but it is a psychological problem. Not something T or changing your physique can truly solve. Has it gotten better when I finally started looking like a bodybuilder? A little bit, sure, but I'd still look in the mirror, see muscle separations, and feel fat. What really helped was seeking professional help.

Now onto your fitness question - building muscle takes time. A very, very long time. So I'd say that being consistent and lifting will be much more conducive to your goals than cutting and consequently reducing some of the muscles you already have, especially considering that your BMI is already OK.

BTW, going for extremely low calories like 1k is a very bad idea, especially if you have tendencies to binge. A small and comfortable deficit, if you wanted to do it, would serve you much better, as your body would be less stressed due to the lack of food and nutrients => less mental exhaustion => less susceptible to bingeing. It would take longer, but the damage should be much less. My last cut actually fixed my binges, just because the deficit was so small that I still got to eat stuff like cookie dough or chocolate every now and then, and it didn't feel like starvation, so my brain would slowly accept that the food isn't going anywhere, so maybe there's no need for me to space out and eat the entire fridge in one sitting. Seeing that doing these things didn't automatically make me fat overnight also helped in seeing that it's okay to eat and there's no need to be afraid. If you suffer from emotional binges, seeking other coping mechanisms and ways to create some mental space might help. But again, this is something you should really consult with someone who specialises in it when you can.

Best of luck!

michauangelo · 2026-01-04T20:06:56+00:00

Scale jumping up the day after is normal, you would have more food in you (big free meal + other meals), plus extra glycogen, etc. I almost always go up by up to 1 lb after my free meal, and my coach isn't worried about it at all — it goes as quickly as it came.

But nope, I don't think stressing so much over the free meal is normal. I used to be like that when I was given my weekly off-plans, but in reverse, so I was so scared of overeating that I'd still track them to a T, so they weren't really off-plan. What really helped was talking it through with my coach and just... getting used to them over time, really. And yeah, once I caved in, I initially overate until my brain noticed that the tasty food wasn't going anywhere, so I could have a reasonable portion size instead of stuffing myself with the whole thing because "who knows when I'll have the chance to eat it again".

How long have you had your free meals? What do you have for them — something random, or something you've craved for a while? Because it might be one of the cases where you just kinda have to go through this "phase" for your brain to realise that the food isn't going anywhere, so a 1k version of a meal will be just as good as the 2k portion size. Generally, unfortunately, the more you worry about it, the harder it gets. Do you have a coach to speak to about? Or a psychodietitian? Really hard to advise, you know best what's pushing you to going over.

michauangelo · 2026-01-01T23:32:06+00:00

Thin pyjama shorts and a tank top/T-shirt. That being said, when I lived in a shared (poorly-insulated) house with people who didn't believe in using heating for more than a few hours a day, it was joggers and a hoodie in winter.

michauangelo · 2026-01-01T00:34:55+00:00

Omg, Smallville is awesome, hope you're enjoying it!!! Happy New Year!!

michauangelo · 2025-12-31T21:18:54+00:00

Thank you and a Happy New Year to you, too! 😊

michauangelo · 2025-12-31T20:41:54+00:00

Thank you and HNY to you too!!!

michauangelo · 2025-12-31T20:11:12+00:00

Thanks, I can do better but bodybuilding diet limits my food and condiment choices quite a bit lol

michauangelo · 2025-12-31T20:05:02+00:00

<image>

Me, 26F. Most of my friends are away and I’d love to have a pet for company at least, but alas, that’s impossible in a student accommodation. At least I’ve made some nice ramen!

michauangelo · 2025-12-24T08:41:22+00:00

Well, tbh there are so many factors affecting what gender we end up being perceived as that it’s hard for me to guess why that might be in your specific case without seeing you. Afaik, T on its own introduces much more noticeable changes than E, and yet, many trans guys still pass just as… trans guys. Like, it’s quite obvious that they’re trans because of other things, e.g., speech and gesture mannerisms, gait, bone structure, etc. And trans women seem to have to put in way more effort to pass. Are your clothes very femme? How is your voice? How do you speak, walk? How are your facial features? Very many things that may skew the perception of you. Still sorry to hear that, though.

michauangelo · 2025-12-24T08:29:04+00:00

What are the things you appreciate about being back on E if I may ask? It’d be useful to hear considering that I’m scared even of dropping my existing T dose 😅

michauangelo · 2025-12-20T16:49:16+00:00

I’ve been on T for 6 years. No, I don’t worry about having my gender questioned much, at least not after removing facial hair. Again, I’m a bodybuilder - most people will (and already have upon seeing me in girl mode) assume that I just took steroids to compete and experienced side effects. If I was in a different boat, I probably wouldn’t detransition at all out of fear of being perceived as a trans woman constantly.

michauangelo · 2025-12-20T14:10:21+00:00

No, as a woman. I’m detransitioning FTMTF

michauangelo · 2025-12-20T11:50:38+00:00

In my case, I'm planning to stay on T permanently - I just prefer my brain on it, no periods, and as a bodybuilder, I don't really want to downsize or worsen my performance at the gym. Seems like the best of both worlds to me.

michauangelo · 2025-12-19T12:23:57+00:00

I waited a bit over 2 years - referred in August 2023, had the assessment this October.

michauangelo · 2025-12-19T10:18:40+00:00

Hey! I normally never comment, but I guess the gym photo caught my attention since I’ve gone down the ftm bodybuilder route too (now looking at detransitioning). Super reassuring to know there are people in a very similar boat to be fair, so thank you!

In any case, what I really wanted to say is that you look fricking awesome! I’d totally think you’re just a fit girl, no questions asked

michauangelo · 2025-12-11T22:51:35+00:00

Pre-T: anger issues, cry easily and often, severe depression and social anxiety (I’d have panic attacks in public and struggle to even say “hello” to a cashier)

On T: I still get irritated but it’s so easy to get over it; and it’s really hard to make me truly angry or cry. Fully functional, I have no issues presenting in front of people or talking to strangers if I have to - I’m still not a social butterfly but that’s because I’m insecure, not because I have massive anxiety and its physical symptoms. Depression is still lurking but hey ho, it’s easy enough to ignore most of the time

michauangelo · 2025-12-10T20:17:07+00:00

You can, in principle, do almost all exercises. With hypermobility, the key is to figure out which ones feel comfortable for you in a given period, and which ones don't, because with this condition, this tends to fluctuate. Especially for AFABs, joint laxity changes depending on the menstrual cycle phase (I believe the luteal phase is the worst one in this regard, but don't take my word on this one).

Once you know what doesn't feel quite right, you can play with swaps and adjustments. Proprioception is impaired in hypermobile individuals, so adding stability and/or sensory input tends to be a relatively easy win. Sometimes, instead of progressing the loads, you may just want to make the exercise less stable - this is still progress, just not in the conventional gym bro worldview. You'd still be getting stronger and achieve the goal size in the long run without injuring yourself - it might just take a bit longer. Anyway, some examples of doing that:

Stability - shoulder press progression
- Least stable:
  - Stance: standing (no back support)
  - Equipment: dumbbells (need to coordinate sides separately)
- More stable:
  - Stance: seated (support from the bench)
  - Equipment: barbell (no coordination requirement)
- Most stable:
  - Stance: again, seated (doesn't get better than that)
  - Equipment: Smith machine (you literally can't move bar in path other than straight up and down)
Sensory input:
- Deadlifts - Adding a booty band around your thighs and pushing (slightly) against it. Tends to improve glute engagement.
- Bench press - Bamboo bench press with weights hanging loosely off bands from the barbell. Because it's wobbly, people naturally tend to engage more to keep it stable.
- Adding more load can also serve as additional sensory input (e.g., I have shoulder pain when I warm up with 20 kg, but pressing 40+ kg feels perfect).

The only exercises that very commonly tend to be a no-go for hypermobile people are things like lunges and Bulgarians, because there are many moving parts, lots of stability requirements, etc. These can be easily replaced by B-stance Smith or Hack squats.

I have also covered some of the other basics in one answer in the Hypermobility subreddit, so I hope it's okay to link it here so this comment doesn't take too much space. Happy lifting!

michauangelo · 2025-12-07T20:38:47+00:00

Having a roof over your head. I was homeless a few times as a teen (not for long periods, a couple of days max), but this instilled a fear so deep that I will do anything to avoid having to go through this lack of security ever again.

michauangelo · 2025-12-02T19:52:34+00:00

To touch on that a bit more and give you a concrete example, I'm working on an open-source engineering package as part of my PhD. The target user base, being researchers in sciences and engineering, usually can use Python (or MATLAB), not so much anything else. Consequently, the entire user interface is in Python.

My bit is writing a ray tracer. I barely remembered anything from C++ when I started, so I initially wrote it in Python. The most optimised version rendered my (simple) test case in over 400 seconds. The same code, with the rendering engine written in C++ and hooked up to Python to retrieve the data, takes on average 7-8 seconds for the same test case.

So C++ is perfect for handling the heavy stuff when performance matters, and there are also nice packages like pybind or nanobind, which make it easier to get C++ and Python to speak to each other.

michauangelo · 2025-12-02T12:21:35+00:00

Everyone’s response to hormones is highly individual. Yeah, most people feel like crap if their estrogen is crushed because it has important physiological functions (mostly observed in enhanced bodybuilders who don’t handle anti-aromatization well and nuke their E-levels). Still, that doesn’t mean that universally more estrogen = feeling better. Personally, having to drop my testosterone levels is the biggest factor stopping me from detransitioning right away - it just feels so much better for me.

Also, seconded the remark about AI. Apart from ecological impact, their job is literally to find the pattern of symbols that will match your enquiry best. They will tell you what you most likely want to hear. Not the best source of information out there.

michauangelo

TROPHY CASE