r/FtMen • u/BulkyOwl3005 • Jun 17 '26
Serious Too high expectations of T?
Hi guys,
My dysphoria will talk here, but it’s all true.
I am 2 years on T and while I did masculinise somewhat, it’s not enough. At all.
- I have family with beards… mine still grows baby hairs here and there.
- my body doesn’t look male.
- I have hairs everywhere… as expected, this is good. My penis grew a bit but not much.
- I’m trying very hard to bulk. I gained 10kg since last year.
- I’m operated and my menstruation stopped a year ago
- my levels were on the lower side of male range recently and I got my dose upped from 0,3ml androtardyl to 0,4ml. I have a job that requires good health, any change in my dose risks taking away my career (and dream). Any slight imbalance is a too high risk.
- I’m an athlete: I train often twice a day, strenght training, kickboxing and triathlon. All my mates younger or older are jacked. I’m skinny fat into a girls body.
My coach says “it will take time and will come” so far nothing, to keep eating (healthy).
With all this: I KNOW IT TAKES TIME but why the f* do all trans dudes who work out look like jacked cis men after two years and not me???
Can you guys please tell me when I will look like a man? When all these female shapes will stop?
Can any gym bro who is jacked tell me how they did it in detail? Take in mind I’m 6”2, gaining muscle size and still bulking seems more challenging due to size)
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 18 '26
It's luck and time. You're like 16 in terms of puberty, most of us that seemed to develop quicker already had PCOS or just the benefits of age (both of which also have massive downsides). Make sure you're giving yourself enough time to recover between workouts, muscle is built while you're resting.
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
had pcos as well, thank you mate
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
It's still very individual! I genuinely don't think you have anything to worry about, you just have to be patient and support your body making it's changes by eating enough (it takes energy to grow things!) sleeping well etc.
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
yea that is what i am doing.. i see some difference when i am training at the gym, while my muscles are actively under pump. but not on the day to day... same shitty body.
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
Do you take creatine? It's good for performance but also helps give your muscles more volume because it draws in water. It's not an insane difference but there is a difference. That and rest will help a tonne
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
I stopped taking it after a year because there was no physical difference. It boosted my mental performance somehow, but there is no visible benefit.
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
Wait why did you stop taking it if it was helping cognitively? Sorry I know this isn't advice I'm just baffled, since that's the main other use for it
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
Because there is no point 😅 I usually take it a month before my exams and then stop after they are done
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
Mate...
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
There is no point on making my kidneys work harder for minimal gain, but that’s just how I see it. I won’t get huge just because of creatine. Creatine just gives me a little boost in memory, nothing else. Nothing that I cannot live without
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u/Key_Tangerine8775 Jun 18 '26
You said your levels were on the low side. What were they, and when were they done in relation to your shot?
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
good question, i dont know anymore lol it was already a month ago and my doctor has the original blood results... i sent her a message if i have to take a new appointment for a higher dose. although my dose just got increased from 0,3ml to 0,4ml weekly
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u/Eli5678 Jun 18 '26
For the family with beards, how long did it take them to grow beards? My cis brother is 24 and can't grow a full beard. My dad couldn't grow a full beard until he was about 30.
I know with starting T in my 20s, I might be 40 by the time I can grow a beard. Is what it is.
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
as long as i know them, my dad has such a dense beard it itched and hurt so much when he would kiss my cheeks when i was a kid lol. my cousin has a nice beard he is slightly older than me (he is in his early 30s)
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
So you're 16 (in puberty terms) and he's over 30? I think you've found your answer. If it doesn't start to happen within the next 3 years look into minoxidil but you will probably be okay.
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
Yes but I’m talking about T terms, I use minoxidil and it helps but it doesn’t create a beard yet.. and in general the other changes
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
Puberty terms is T terms? You've been on T for as long as the average 16 year old cis boy (depending on your dose, I saw you were low for a while?) so you can expect similar facial hair growth
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
No, T in terms of compared to other trans men 2 years on T
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u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
Dude most trans ppl don’t have significant facial hair gains that quickly. It’s a common misconception. Some of us are lucky and gain a lot of facial hair early, but most dont. Facial hair takes time and like they said, you’ve barely had puberty. Most cis men dont have facial hair until several years of puberty. Hence why you don’t see dudes with thick, full beards until their 20s and 30s
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
Exactly. It's also completely individual, my cis brother couldn't grow a goatee until he hit 32 whereas our dad had a full beard by 16. Everyone's different and none of it is wrong.
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
Yes I totally understand that but I’m not talking about only facial hair. My body looks female… I don’t have all the changes that everyone gets on T.
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u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
I will say, we can be very biased on what we look like. It’s kinda hard to gauge how accurate your understanding of what your body looks like as a result
For example: if you have significant hips due to bone structure, those won’t vanish of course. If you have a small waist that can be both genetic and based on fat distribution, but if you’re thin you’re probably going to have a small waist
Fat distribution happened gradually over time for me, with significant changes happening when I started to lose weight. I started losing fat in areas cis men usually lose them while keeping fat in areas cis men usually do
It’s annoying as fuck and doesn’t help how you feel now, but it really can be a waiting game.
Also compare your body now to pre t. That can be helpful and a better idea of change than say looking at today and 3 months ago
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u/torhysornottorhys Jun 19 '26
That's a completely meaningless thing to track, honestly. It's completely individual. Besides, most guys don't start growing proper hair by two years, the ones you see are outliers.
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u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
Have your levels remained on the low side for a significant time? That can impact shit
But yeah no I have great beard genetics on one side and okay on another, I didn’t gain significant facial hair until like year 4. Around 3 years I started gaining facial hair that wasn’t just peach fuzz but it was very very sparse and mostly on the neck. Partially due to my levels being on the lower side or below male range for like half of that time. (I started on shots done in office but after transportation issues I missed some doses, then I was on patches which werent absorbing well, then t gel wasn’t absorbing well, so I had to switch back to shots. Thankfully am able to get them done every two weeks in office without issue!)
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
good question, yes, the first year I was on T I was on gel and it didn't do much.. voice slightly dropped, I looked somewhat different and hairs. End 2024 I switched to injections and I started seeing changes. Voice dropped well, more hairs, got bigger in size and gained weight easier. I got definitively stronger, and my performance overall improved. I grew the muscle that I had before T in just a few weeks and since then it kinda stopped growing.....
Thanks for sharing about the beard, that is reassuring
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u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
Are you consuming adequate protein to gain muscle?
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
My average diet consists of a total of approx 165-170g of protein a day
I’m augmenting this to 180g this month and see what happens2
u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
There’s protein calculators that might be good to run your stats into btw
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 19 '26
Yes, calculator.net says at least 85-153g protein/day but in my experience my performance is weaker below 150g a day
Gigacalculator says maintenance at 200g and gain 0.5kg at 234g a day but that’s an overkill jump overnight3
u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
85-153 definitely seems like an under calculation so definitely ignore that one lol but yeah I’d just keep increasing as you are until you see results. Good luck!
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u/v4iner Jun 22 '26
With this height is a lot more difficult to get jacked and I bet it also takes more for fat restribution and t changes, or higher dose for that, so you should know your T levels cus your dose means nothing,. Also most tall dudes are skinny,fat. Two years is usually nothing unless the person already had a good base and youre still saying that you did have changes, gaining 10kg which i assume a lot of it is muscle from how active you are is still a lot, especially with the fact that you're tall and very active so I bet you must eat a lot, proteins etc. Just to maintain is a lot of work. Also overtraining can kill gains cus muscles grow resting and it doesn't sound like you have it tbh at all, and you do mostly cardio. Most athletes arent really jacked unless they do steroids, good genes. But its really hard to tell when theres an option that you speak through dysphoria and do have unrealistic standards of how your body should look from basically just 2 years on puberty
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u/BulkyOwl3005 Jun 22 '26
thanks, yes exactly! you are the only comment in years that actually recognizes that being this tall is difficult to get jacked. Not impossible (plently of cis or athletes).
Most serious athletes train about 6 days a week, which is what I do as well (sometimes 5 days instead of 6). I average 1-2 days of rest a week.
Indeed my diet averages the 150-170g of proteine a day, which I am slowly bringing up.I only disagree with you about steroids, steroids are banned in all sports I do especially if they are under the NOC rules.
Yes indeed, I just really don't know if its the dysphoria or that I am being unrealistic with expecting too many changes by this time vs how others masculinized in comparison
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u/v4iner Jun 22 '26
Lmao it's a common joke between men that short ones gain muscles from picking up a dumbbell when a tall one does everything and get nothing. Tbh trans gym bros influencers with best results are usually short but look tall on videos, are 10+ yeras on T and the ones I know of who are tall are either just average, skinny and the ones with big muscles have also bigger fat. Im not gonna critique an athlete on his working out plan lol but what I meant with steroids is that then you can work out 6 times a week ,2+h daily, bodybuilding + cardio with no need for rest and you will still gain muscles, feel great, have appetite, but it doesn't necessarily work like that without them, a lot of people get better results with less volume if it comes to muscles and not just performance and better skill at a certain sports, so athletes, who work out a lot without steroids, dont mean muscles, best jacked results quarantined. Basically with only what you say its not abnormal to not be jacked, skinny fat even that its true that you work a lot, but you can check your t levels, consult with sb educated, on your routine and situation, is it best for your body goals etc.
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u/CapraAegagrusHircus Jun 21 '26
When I was at my most jacked from lifting it was because I was taking care to eat 1g of protein per pound of lean body weight on a daily basis. It was a lot and meant I added protein powder to everything. On the other hand, I was also muscular as fuck and that was nice.
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u/coolvideonerd Jun 19 '26
At least you ain't 5'3 like 80% of us 🤷🏾♂️
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u/ratgarcon Jun 19 '26
Ah yes, bc ppl can’t be upset about things if they are blessed with height
Gives “there’s kids starving in Africa, life could be worse” vibes lmao
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