I’m 5ft5 and was in the region of 60kg/130lbs when I first set foot in a gym and I sure as hell felt tiny. It can make the thought of going to the gym pretty intimidating. This is far from a trans-specifc problem and just knowing that helped me. However, I do think trans guys tend to feel this a bit more acutely than cis guys.
If you feel like that, you basically need to suck it up and give it a go. I don’t mean to be harsh but that really is all there is for it.
Nobody will be judging you. Well, ok, some people are dickheads so they might but they are a minority and it’s their problem, not your’s. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met are huge, strong guys who can be quite intimidating to watch lift. They are the ones in the gym with nothing to prove, they know they are big and strong, so you don't get any the pretence.
We were all noobs once upon a time and the vast majority of lifters are glad to see more people getting into it. But mostly, nobody will find you very interesting so are very unlikely to notice what you are doing at all So you’re probably building it up to be worse than it will be.
It can help to have a plan and know what to expect, for example, know you are going to go in, find a rack and use it to squat 40kg 5×5. You may well feel more self conscious if you haven’t already decided what to do and end up standing around thinking- but even then nobody will actually care what you are doing.
Or do you think you should train at home to get a ‘base’ first so you aren’t the smallest and weakest?
You might well be the smallest and weakest but you won’t be for long and there will be other beginners about. And that guy benching 100kg- it’s probably not that long ago he was struggling with 50kg and because your goals forever increase, he probably doesn’t think of himself as especially strong.
And anyway, this is flawed logic, it’s harder to make good gains at home because of the lack of equipment so you could just be setting yourself up to fail. Plus postponing going to the gym probably isn’t going to make it any easier the first time, it goes back to you needing to just suck it up and give it a go because it’s not bad at all.
If you feel like that, you basically need to suck it up and give it a go. I don’t mean to be harsh but that really is all there is for it.
Nobody will be judging you. Well, ok, some people are dickheads so they might but they are a minority and it’s their problem, not your’s. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met are huge, strong guys who can be quite intimidating to watch lift. They are the ones in the gym with nothing to prove, they know they are big and strong, so you don't get any the pretence.
We were all noobs once upon a time and the vast majority of lifters are glad to see more people getting into it. But mostly, nobody will find you very interesting so are very unlikely to notice what you are doing at all So you’re probably building it up to be worse than it will be.
It can help to have a plan and know what to expect, for example, know you are going to go in, find a rack and use it to squat 40kg 5×5. You may well feel more self conscious if you haven’t already decided what to do and end up standing around thinking- but even then nobody will actually care what you are doing.
Or do you think you should train at home to get a ‘base’ first so you aren’t the smallest and weakest?
You might well be the smallest and weakest but you won’t be for long and there will be other beginners about. And that guy benching 100kg- it’s probably not that long ago he was struggling with 50kg and because your goals forever increase, he probably doesn’t think of himself as especially strong.
And anyway, this is flawed logic, it’s harder to make good gains at home because of the lack of equipment so you could just be setting yourself up to fail. Plus postponing going to the gym probably isn’t going to make it any easier the first time, it goes back to you needing to just suck it up and give it a go because it’s not bad at all.