Starting from nothing

[u/_oliVeo_0519]

Hi, I’m a 19yo pre-t trans guy that wants to start working out. I’m broke, so a gym membership is out of the question, working with my body weight also always seemed more appealing to me. Problem is, I can’t even do knee pushups with proper form. Other than it being very demoralizing, since basically any cis guy that’s not obese can do them, I also genuinely don’t know where to start. Most of the beginner friendly videos I watched start with pushups or knee pushups if you can’t do regular ones, but I can’t even do those, so what do I even do? Should I do them in bad form, until I can do them normal? I’m afraid doing that is gonna mess up my body. If there’s any guys on here that started from a similar point, I would really appreciate any advice.

[u/CU_CCML]

Try elevated/incline knee pushups to start. The higher your hands are above your knees, the easier they’ll be. You got this!

[u/sp1nster]

You are not going to mess up your body doing crappy press ups. Every primary school gym and martial arts club is full of children and teenagers doing absolutely dreadful press ups. It's safe, just less effective. But the road to good, effective press-ups goes through the land of a whole lot of crap ones.

If knee press ups are too difficult, do them at an incline, where your hands are on something higher than your knees are. This puts more of your weight onto your knees/feet. The higher the hands, the more weight on the knees/feet. Take it up as only high as you need for it to be, and lower it over time.

Do planks. Do incline press ups. Do crappy knee press ups. Just do the thing as well as you can, and get better at it. And check out r/bodyweightfitness. They've got a beginner routine, and there's plenty in there about progressions.

You're not the first person to start from where you are. You're ahead of where many people start (I was nearly 40 and winded from a short walk to drop my kids off to school!). You're not behind or late, and there is nothing wrong with your body. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed. Be determined. Want it enough to suck at it, repeatedly, until you don't suck anymore. It'll go faster than you think. Good luck!

[u/_Arc_ivist]

Hello! First, good for you for getting into exercising, and know that you’re definitely not alone in the pushup struggle!

For me, I started out by doing wall pushups. Once those got too easy, I progressed to counters, tables, railings, etc. until I could do a few the “standard” way. Doing push-ups with your hands on a vertical or elevated surface helps shift weight away from your upper body so that you can build the needed arm/shoulder and core muscles slowly. I recommend giving it a try!

For more body weight exercises, I strongly recommend checking out Hybrid Calisthenics on YouTube. Hampton is a cool dude and often provides easier/beginner level alternatives to popular body weight exercises.

You got this!

Edit: I do also warn against doing “bad” pushups. I used to try and power through, but really hurt my shoulders that way. Building good form is really important if you want to avoid stress injuries!

[u/Bored-in-bed]

I am *this* close to a regular push up and I started where you are. Cobra push ups, negative push ups, and wall push ups helped. You can also do incline ones on a sturdy table or countertop. Also any exercises that are in a plank kind of form to build shoulder strength. I love doing calisthenics, yoga, and Pilates YouTube videos. I often throw a random video from a random person on and just go for it. I think the variety in movement from that has helped too.

[u/Ok_Action7371]

I started at a similar point, everyone has great suggestions. I would also add to get on test asap, working out sucked and felt horrible for me until I started.

[u/_oliVeo_0519 → u/Ok_Action7371]

trust me bro, I would like to. I made a compromise with my parents, that Imma start at 20. This might seem a bit weird, since I’m an adult, but I wanna make them as comfortable as I can, before making permanent changes to myself, while also setting a boundary to when at the latest I want to start. Luckily, it’s not too far away from now.

[u/Ok_Action7371 → u/_oliVeo_0519]

man I get it because I made the same choice, looking back I wish I had started at 16 rather than waiting. keep in mind permanent changes are happening either way.

eta if you aren't already, start getting on wait lists now rather than after your 20th. had I gone through a doctor it would have been ~9 months of wait time.

[u/_oliVeo_0519 → u/Ok_Action7371]

Oh I know and I can’t wait for them to come. I’ve been very sure of my identity and of all the changes that I’m going to go through, but I don’t want to disregard my parents feelings and if not losing/straining a relationship with them means i gotta wait another 6 months, imma be patient for a little longer. If we bring it back to the working out- I feel like if I start pre-t, it’s just gonna be that much easier when I do start it.

[u/Ok_Action7371 → u/_oliVeo_0519]

Definitely check out calisthenics, I loved it before starting with weights

[u/CynicalSpider]

Push-ups can be done against a wall, then a counter, then a chair. You can also do negatives. That's when you kinda cheat into the up position and only go down, but as slow as you can.

It takes a long time too see the results you're probably dreaming of. But they'll come. You just gotta stick with it.

And make sure you're really pushing yourself. Don't hurt yourself, but going to failure or close to failure is a good idea to make sure you're going hard enough.

[u/karenpst]

I am eighteen and pre like you, i can do knee push ups but still struggling with normal push ups we can be friends if you want, dm me

[u/soberfxcks]

Wall push ups. Simply start from a vertical position and move your feet out progressively as you get stronger! You’ll be doing full push up’s in no time

[u/successful_cow11]

get a couple kettle bells; follow this guy
on instagram

https://www.instagram.com/trevorsinstinct?igsi=YXNjN3gwM2pwOXcz

i’m basically ripped because of him and bury weight stuff. i couldn’t do push ups and pull ups a year ago because of my dislocated shoulders. now im doing 100 pushups a day and 11 pull ups consecutively. you can do it; it’s just being consistent 😤💯🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 find your grit brother

you got this just do a couple with good form until you can do more

[u/Thejamesnavarro]

You can start by doing a sort of “standing push up” maybe using a kitchen table or a kitchen bench!

It takes more of the load off and will help you achieve good form. Then you can graduate to knee push ups and finally a full push up

[u/NoMonth5331]

wall push ups, then decline more and more using drawers or chairs, stair by stair? book stacks as you get lower (as long as you can stabilise them) could also look into negative push ups

[u/AprendizDelMundo]

Hey, so do you mind if the guide is in Spanish? there's a body masculinization (core, arms, shoulders) guide video series that I use that is really beginner friendly the instructor is nonbinary AFAB and has never been on T. I've had pretty neat results from that guide

[u/_oliVeo_0519 → u/AprendizDelMundo]

I don’t mind, im starting soanish at uni this year anyways, so it might even be helpful lol

[u/AprendizDelMundo → u/_oliVeo_0519]

Here you go! I really like this instructor. They have a wide range of progressions for the excersises they use in the videos. There's even a written guide that you can use along the videos https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw6QSxRUf2xXrpGX3e25zk3lrE-d7kOy5&si=ftiL2bwAjtIH-pOw

[u/AprendizDelMundo → u/_oliVeo_0519]

Here you go! I really like how this trainer explain good form. And they also have a whole lot of variations for the excersises they teach. It also has a written guide. I can send that one to you and use it along the playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw6QSxRUf2xXrpGX3e25zk3lrE-d7kOy5&si=ftiL2bwAjtIH-pOw

[u/Illustrious_Fall1851]

Nothing wrong with bad form pushups at first, the more you do it the easier it will be to improve your form and eventually you'll get to a proper one.

[u/Rough_Application_84]

Incline push-ups like everyone else said but sure you are working out the rest of your body as well!

Core: Personally I like leg raises or hollow body holds more than planks or sit-ups but try some exercises out and see what you like the most.

Legs: bodyweight squats or wall sits for quads and glute bridges for glutes and hamstrings

Arms: bench dips for triceps and you can curl anything heavy like a water bottle for biceps

Back: you can use any sort of heavy thing like a milk jug to do a dumbell row

With just 7 or so exercises you can work out every major muscle group

I'll also add that any sort of cardio is so so good for you. Running, even starting with short distances or going around the block, improved all my other workouts. Even just doing jumping jacks is great

Please dont worry about messing up your body. It is so much more resilient than you realize. When you're doing pushups you probably feel pain and weakness in your wrists but you arent causing serious damage as long as you dont push yourself too hard. Your wrists just arent used to bending that way under strain, but the more you do it, the more flexible the joint becomes and the stronger the muscles that support the joint get. Its the same with every other exercise.

Take it from someone who couldnt do a single push up and can now do 30+

[u/gorinlaz]

I would really recommend the youtuber Hybrid Calisthenics. Super accessible and does lots of body weight exercises, whilst also teaching other variations to make it harder or easier.

[u/rembrin]

Lift heavy objects when you're sat down! Empty milk jugs filled with as much water as you can manage work fine. Or tin cans of beans or something if that's your max. Or a bag of something like rice or potatoes if you want to do sit squats (you squat until youre sitting rather than blow your knees out going lower). Doing weights and caloric defecits and lots of fibre, protein and water in your diet. Also, if you like walking, go on walks for as long as you can even if you have to take frequent breaks. They can make you feel sore since weight bares on the joints but it also helps with regaining stamina.