Yeah, it can be hard to figure out just what to say when it comes to topics like this. It’s great that you’re trying to be sensitive and do better, though! I think when talking about women’s bodies especially its best to stay away from saying things like “masculine” or “skinny” or “fat”, even if youre not attaching negative meaning to it.

This is coming from a person living in the US, so keep that in mind as i give this explanation, I’m also assuming this is a good faith question: oftentimes women of color are called masculine or manly in order to strip them of their femininity and insinuate that they are ugly because they dont fit very narrow, white beauty standards. It’s considered misogynistic and racist. Also in the US “minorities” usually refers to people of color, so someone reading your comment could read it to mean “yeah, this person is puerto Rican so she has a masculine body type”. I think the way your comment is worded looks a bit strange as well, like youre objectifying her on top of all that.

You saying that English is not your first language leads me to believe that those things weren’t your intention and can even make your comment look like you are being complimentary, but if someone didnt know that it definitely looks questionable/racist

Ahhh drats. Just out of curiosity what’s special about it? Is everything just super new, or is it the touch screen tech or something?

Hi there, first I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. It’s on a much smaller level but I’ve always struggled with body dysmorphia and clothes shopping is an absolute nightmare, it doesn’t help that sizing can vary so greatly between brands and most of what is carried in stores are for “average sized” people.

Anyway, I really think you’ll probably have to just shop online AND probably go to a tailor, based on what you’ve shared about your shape. It sucks, but then you can get something that fits you perfectly and it will probably feel much better than just getting something way oversized that is super baggy in some spots and not in others.

I found this website called Johnny Bigg that carries dress shirts up to an 8X. According to their size charts, an 8x can fit a 69-71" chest, so I’m thinking that you could get away with buying shirts from there, maybe, and bringing them to get tailored. Here is a nice button down shirt from them. It is possible that you might need to buy completely custom made dress pants though. Do you wear your pants over or under your belly? Not sure your exact shape but if you are able to wear pants under it, that might not be preferable for you but can cut down on the size significantly.

Days 8-13: I went on vacation and then had to recover from vacation for a couple days so I put off my exercises…I walked a TON on vacation though, averaging 10k steps, I believe, between actually walking or moshing/pogoing at some shows for 3-4 days so I felt good about that

Day 14: Humbled the shit out of myself by further correcting my form with both exercises. It makes such a difference in what muscles are recruited when you really pay attention. I thought I was ready to move on to more advanced progressions but uh…May not lol

Wall Pushups: 3x50 (finished)

• I watched a video the other day that gives you the cue to “torque your hands into the ground”, which I forgot about and that seemed to make SUCH a difference. I think it really helped to take more pressure off of my elbows. When you place your hands on the wall/ground for the pushup, you just slightly rotate your whole hand slightly inwards as you grip the surface. I think this really helps with shoulder stabilization so helps out the entire arm. I could totally feel all of my upper body muscles working this time too: pecs, biceps, traps, shoulders, latissimus dorsi(?). Even the first set felt much more difficult than the other go-rounds, but I was able to complete everything. Good shit. Gonna do it once or twice more before moving to another progression.

Knee Raises: 2x30 (only did 1x25, then 1x15)

• I am a dirty liar, these are much harder than I thought. I’ve got some extra weight on me compared to when I used to do these regularly, so I was thinking that my abs were REALLY contracted enough for my back to stay glued to the floor but uh…It was just fat lol. So I REALLY focused on maintaining bracing my core, keeping my pelvis tilted and pushing my back down. It was kinda defeating because I had to scale back my range of motion a lot, but…I was only able to do like half of what I did before, and doing the movements to failure is a better sign of progress, so…Gonna keep working away at this.

Saaaame

Day 6: I skipped this day because I wasn’t feeling it…Oops. I did at least go for a walk on top of the work out yesterday though!

Day 7: I got jacked up on a Celsius and a 24oz cold brew so I was ready to PUMP it up. Ended up doing the sets from yesterday that I missed, and what was scheduled for today, plus some mobility stuff yay!

Mobility Stuff: Arm Circles 20xfwd/bckwd - These are actually pretty challenging if you take it slow and try to get a full range of motion out of them, really kinda pushing the stretch you get. When my arms are sore from other exercises I almost can’t manage to do these! I also did 90x90 mobility stretches, rocking from one side to the other for 10 reps. Tried to take it slow withfull range of motion to work on internal/external rotation of the hips.

Wall Pullups: 3x50 (finished)

• Actually remembered to do all reps lol. Was able to complete all sets! Second set felt very tough around 40 reps, then I switched to a different wall that I could grip from that was a bit wider, and I think that made the last set easier. Feel like my form was better too, Could definitely feel the burn a bit in my back and shoulders. Still gotta work on keeping my shoulders down and back and brace my core.

Jackknife Squats: 3x25 (finished)

• Still pretty terrible form. Recorded myself this time, and I think that’s helpful. I was probably doing much better with trying to drive my knees over toes so that I’m in more of an upright position, which I think recruits my legs much more than my back. Just gotta keep working on that form and ankle mobility. May incorporate a resistance band on my thighs to make sure I’m not collapsing inward.

Glute Bridge: 3x40 (did 50 for 2nd set)

• These felt pretty good. Idk what came over me but I was able to do 50 for the 2nd set. Probably could’ve pushed myself more for the 1st set at least, will try to do so next time. Might incorporate a resistance band around my thighs to make sure I’m not collapsing inward.

Straight leg twists: 3x60sec each side (finished)

• Did these pretty easily, tried to push my twist a bit more and play with my posture; could definitely feel better muscle contraction this time. Gonna keep workin on form

Thank you comrade

Never in my life has it been so difficult for me to will myself to exercise. Normally I would be really beating myself up for it, especially since I lost a shocking amount of strength, but I’m trying to be gentle and be proud of myself when I do decide to get up and be active

Day 3: Was hungover so I was reallllll close to just skipping, but alas, I did not! Probably didn’t put as much effort into it, but I did it and that is significant for me (thanks executive dysfunction).

Glute Bridges: 3x50 (only did 3x30, I think?)

• Pretty sure I only did 30 reps each but I do not remember. I feel like I’ve had a hard time with my mind-body connection and have never really been able to activate my glutes without thinking about it but I’m getting better. Still feel these more in my hamstrings and low back unless I’m very intentional in my form. Gonna make sure to try for 3x50 next time and see how I do.

Straight Leg Twists: 3x60 sec both sides:

• This felt really easy for me so I might need to move up to the next progression, but I think I will do the same for the next round but try to focus on sitting up straight and trying to contract and stretch the right muscles.

Day 4: I was soooo sore, so I took yesterday off. You’re supposed to do 6 days with one day off but I just needed it

Day 5: The day off made such a difference, glad that I did it!

Wall Pushups: 3x50

• Could do all 3 sets of 50 without needing to take a “break” (stopping for a breath or two) between reps when I was getting tired. Felt like I was able to focus on keeping my shoulders down and bracing my core a bit easier than last time. I did wake up with my right shoulder feeling sore, and I tweaked my back a bit, I deal with all kinds of random aches and pains most days so this wasnt anything new. My right arm felt a bit achy after, but that went away quickly

Knee Raises 2x30:

• Completed both sets; focused much more on bracing my core and keeping my back down while also extending my legs a bit more than before; it was quite a bit harder but I might just move on to straight leg raises next time.

The front page is wild lol. The founder is described as a far right conspiracy theorist and appears to be absolutely obsessed with communists… Like more than a Fox News level of obsession. Weird

Day 2: My upper body is super sore and for some reason my calves are too which makes no sense to me?! I was such an eepy guy today, it has been really cold and overcast and I struggled to get myself to do the exercises but I DID IT! Kinda…lol

Wall Pullups: 3x50 (only did 3x30)

• I screwed up my reps and sets for this, so it was pretty easy, I meant to do 3x50. It’s really interesting to pay attention to form while doing such simple exercises though, I could feel my right side working more than my left for the first set, and then it switched because I was trying to engage my left side more…I think I have to really experiment with my form next time…With the correct amount of reps

Jackknife Squats: 3x35 (only did 3x20)

• These were extremely difficult for me; I suck at squatting. I think my ankle mobility is pretty severely limited, so I’ve always had to lean forward a LOT while squatting and lose balance so I just kind of avoid doing them. I’ve been trying to work on ankle mobility in other ways, but just avoiding the movement altogether won’t help. I had to go really slow to warm up my knees and ankles at first, but I felt good doing the third set, definitely got my heart rate up. I think I will try to be easier on myself and let myself “hang” like he does in some of the modifications for this just so I can build up some strength, and also incorporate more ankle mobility and foot strength stuff during the week.

No problem! My arms are soooo sore from yesterday so it seems like it’s working

HELL YEAH GET SWOLL

thank you for your encouragement You’re definitely right. I think I’m much better about it now, but always considered myself a work horse so I would do really heavy lifting and intense yardwork and such without having a really good mind-body connection which I think is part of what ails me now in my old-ish age. Working in produce and lifting 50lb soggy boxes of celery from a shelf 3 inches off the floor day in and day out is not very kind to your spine and shoulders lol. Then I got a completely sedentary job and I just never imagined I’d lose so much strength…So now I’m really trying to be kind to myself and pay attention to my body instead of going all in and hurting/disappointing myself

Day 1:

Wall Pushups: 3x50

• These were surprisingly more challenging than I thought they were going to be. Really trying to pay attention to my form, I notice how much my shoulders want to creep up, so was trying to focus on keeping them down and back. I was able to do all 3 sets! During the second set, though, I started to struggle at 40, and for the third set I was struggling at 30 and almost gave up at 40 but I just took a breath and finished up. I know arms get strong pretty quickly so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to move to incline pushups soon

Knee Raises: 2x30

• These were really easy for me but I think my lower body is much stronger than my upper body, plus I’ve been doing leg raises already just not with such high reps. I tried knee raises for the first set, and then leg raises for the next set which felt more challenging. I think I’m going to just give leg raises a shot for both next time and really focus on keeping my core tight and my back touching the ground!

This fool is wearing a Discharge shirt??? Jim Henson rules, fuckin love Muppets

If I remember correctly, according to Hakim there isn’t one. Garlic away

Just checking out his beginners routine and he’s super thorough which I love! I can be a pretty rigid thinker so it’s helpful that he shows variations, ESPECIALLY for squats I cannot do one properly to save my life

Oh the motion is lotion guy! Lol. Thats awesome that you’ve noticed results I’ll follow his stuff more closely

Thank you