Wally's Encylopedia of Trans* Fitness: Guide to the Gym

Gendered Gear and Sports Equipment- What to Know

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Shoes, Boots, Etc

Shoes- Running, walking, gym, etc

The very fanciest sport specific shoes are shaped for hip/knee alignments more typical to one sex.
For the most part, though, as long as they fit, it doesn’t matter.
It is also worth noting that hip/knee alignment can change with HRT to some extent, due to its effects on muscles and ligaments.

Mountaineering Boots

“Mountaineering Boots” means the ones that are a step above regular hiking/backpacking boots. They’re usually in a different section.
In North America, men’s sizes will seldom go down past an 8. Ladies’ sizes will have more limited options. Children’s sizes will generally not be available, because this isn’t a thing that children really do (or generally should do).
If you do the kind of thing that necessitates these, you know that they need to fit you as perfectly as possible. This can create difficulties, especially for men with smaller feet and women with larger feet, who’ve also had HRT alter the shape of their feet. I have this problem- the men’s sizes don’t fit me, but the ladies’ sizes are not the right shape anymore. All I can say is to try on as many as possible and not give up. Personally, whenever I get to travel to Asia, I intend to ship an entire crate of boots and clothing home.

Downhill Ski Boots

For men with smaller feet and women with larger feet, the same problem discussed above also applies.
However, with ski boots, there is the added fun that the ladies’ versions are often inferior to the men’s versions of the same model and brand. And if they’re not outright inferior, they tend to be less stiff- the rationale being that they’re made for a smaller, lighter person who’s exerting less maximal force on the boot.
It speaks for itself that a lot of cis women who can fit men’s boots will wear men’s boots over ladies’ boots. If you only fit into the ladies’ boots, you are probably going to end up needing one of the more expensive pairs if you’re an aggressive skier.

Cross Country Ski Boots

These are an easier time than downhill ski boots. It’s easier to find something that fits well no matter what your feet are like, and they tend to come in fairly neutral colours.

Snowboard Boots

I’m not a snowboarder, but to my understanding, the difference is roughly the same as with ski boots.

Clothing

Socks (The fancy sport specific ones)

If they fit, they fit.

Underwear

While this is obviously another “as long as it fits, you’re good” example, I wanted to add another tip for people who pack or tuck in warmer weather/in colder weather where you want to avoid sweating. A lot of athletic brands have underwear that is designed to keep you cooler, or to retain its insulative capacity even if you get sweaty. This can be worth the money even if you don’t pack or tuck, but if you do- well, you know how it is.

Bras

Advice for Women: If you’re new to having boobs, take my word for it as a former boob-haver that sports bras will make a lot of things much easier. This goes double while they're in that sensitive developmental phase. For really high impact sports, the best bras (if you’re anything larger than a B cup) tend to be the really utilitarian ones that look almost like harnesses.
Advice for Men: If you’re needing to wear a sports bra, don’t settle for the girly ones. High performance, compressive ones are out there.

Pants

Tip for smaller guys- while we all know there’s about five missing sizes between Boys’ XL and Men's XS, athletic brands often have bigger Boys’ sizes, with more room in the thighs. Men’s XS “athletic fit” will also generally have more room in the thighs, although the waistline will still be whatever is considered “XS” by that brand.

Tops

Advice for Women: a lot of ladies’ athletic wear nowadays has extra room in the shoulders/back compared to non athletic clothing.
Advice for Men: As with pants, every brand will have a slightly different threshold for where Boys’ XL ends and Men’s XS begins.

Gloves and Mittens

The ladies’ ones are often lower quality for absolutely no reason. I’d recommend that anyone whose hands fit the men’s ones to wear the men’s ones. The unisex ones are the next best bet. If the ladies’ ones are the only ones that fit, you’re probably going to want to go with one of the more expensive brands. (Yeah, it sucks. Trust me, I know.)

Swimsuits

Women: I am not qualified to speak at length about tucking and swimsuits, but hundreds if not thousands of other people have done so on the internet already. Come to think of it, I’m also not too sure on what to say re: strategies for finding swimsuits that will fit if you have a larger frame. (Did I mention I’m hoping to find a collaborator? Donate $1 to send a message if you’re interested.)
Men: We are all familiar with strategies for dealing with swimwear if you’re pre top surgery or want to hide your scars. What I don’t see talked about much is conventional men’s swimwear itself. A lot of it has webbing/compressive material inside, meant to shape the thighs and/or support the junk. Depending on your individual situation, it may be worth shopping around until you find whatever you feel works best for your body, and for whatever you’re packing. If you don’t want to pack, regular board shorts are probably your safest bet. (But if you’re very invested in remaining stealth, you probably want to pack, using a harness or jock strap.)

Wetsuits

Form fitting garments are difficult for a lot of us, and there’s often no way around that. The bright side is, it’s easy to find wetsuits that aren’t excessively colour coded by gender. So there’s that.
If you’re not familiar with wetsuits- to put it bluntly, what's between your legs is very apparent when you’re wearing one. If this matters to you, plan accordingly.

Winter Coats

If you’re a smaller man or bigger woman, and are having trouble finding a coat that fits in a colour you can tolerate- try a workwear store instead of a sports shop. They will usually have a full range of sizes in relatively neutral colours.
Actually, if you’re on a budget, you should do this regardless. You can get the same damn thing for like half what it costs at a ski shop. The downside is that it won’t have that fancy little sleeve pocket for the stupid little fancy modern lift passes.

Hats, neck tubes, balaclavas, etc

The sizes are rarely even any different.

Helmets

It is generally possible to find helmets of all sizes in colours that are at least neutral.

Other Stuff (Bikes, Skis, Etc)

Unrelated, but I am dying to try a penny farthing bike, yet also am terrified to.

Downhill Skis

For cheaper/entry level skis, the only real difference in the ski itself is the length and the colour. It’s also pretty easy to find relatively neutral looking ones.
For high performance skis, the men’s ones will be thicker and less bendy than the ladies’ ones, to accommodate a heavier person exerting more force. However, this does not generally correspond with reduced quality in the same way that it does for ski boots.
Cis women who are both aggressive skiers and on the bigger side sometimes prefer men’s skis. Likewise, while it’s less common to see, nobody will bat an eye if an especially small man is using ladies’ skis, because it’s simply impossible to find men’s skis below a certain height in North America. (And this is another instance where the most high performance stuff often does not come in youth sizes.)
The bindings will be placed more in the center of the skis to accommodate a standard male weight distribution, and slightly back from center to accommodate a standard female weight distribution. If you buy a pair of skis secondhand, and the placement of the bindings does not fit your needs, you can ask a ski shop to move them. I have never heard of anyone ever being weird about this- cis people buy secondhand skis from people of different genders all the time.
Advice for Women: Use whatever suits your skiing needs best. If you’re seen with conspicuously masculine skis, the most likely conclusion any skier will come to is that you're just really strong. If you are too tall for the ladies' skis but feel your body has changed in such a way that your old skis are too much, going down one level of stiffness from what you previously skied will probably help. If you're unsure, demo/rent a few pairs to get a feel for what works.
Advice for Men: If you’re fit enough to need high performance skis, and too short for the men’s ones, you’re *probably* not too heavy for the ladies' model, although it's likely enough that you'll want to go up a level of stiffness from what you previously skied. If you’re unsure, demo/rent a few pairs to get a feel for what works.

Cross Country Skis

The difference is similar to downhill skis. However, it’s worth noting that unisex cross country skis are extremely common compared to downhill skis, and by all accounts the difference between the gendered ones isn’t as pronounced. Unless you are extremely advanced, it’s probably not going to be a concern.

Snowboards

Once again- I’m not a snowboarder. Per my research, it’s a similar deal as with downhill skis, with the added caveat that women’s snowboards tend to also be a bit thinner, to accommodate shorter feet.
Most advice that I can find says to look at the recommended height/weight ranges for each board, and go from there.

Snowshoes

It’s probably going to be easier to find a unisex snowshoe than a gendered one in the first place. Where you do see gendered ones, they’re typically just scaled as per the average height/weight/shoe size of the population they’re being marketed to.

Bikes

For “town bikes”, the main difference is that a ladies’ bike is shaped so that you can ride it in a dress/skirt. This has obvious utility for a lot of people.
For more specialized athletic bikes, the difference can be summed up by saying that ladies’ bikes are scaled down and built for shorter torsos and narrower shoulders. (Aka shorter stem, narrower handlebars, etc.) What’s most comfortable for you is going to be very individual- but it’s generally quite easy to swap out bike parts to put together whatever is best for you. This is another thing that is unlikely to raise any eyebrows, because cis people do it all the time.
As with ski boots and climbing harnesses, don’t underestimate how much medical transition may change your needs, even if you’re not transitioning young enough for your bone structure to be affected. Muscle and ligament thickness/shape can account for quite a lot. I started T at 25 and my natural posture on a bicycle still perceptibly changed.

Crossbows and the Like

They’re seldom specifically gendered, but most people who are running on estrogen will want to start with a smaller, lighter model.
If you’re an outlier in terms of body size/armspan vs strength (as many of us are), you’re probably going to have to shop around a bit to find one that’s just right.

Climbing Harnesses

These can be tricky, because the ideal fit has at least a little to do with your actual pelvis shape. This is not to say that any afab person is best suited to a ladies’ harness, and any amab person to a men’s harness; there are many things besides bone structure that influence body shape, and bone structure itself does not conform to a strict binary based on birth sex.
The best general advice I can give is that if you haven’t medically transitioned, you will PROBABLY be best off with either a unisex harness, or one designed for your agab. If you have medically transitioned, this may change.
Regardless- unless you’re wearing several layers of clothing, packing or tucking is likely advisable when wearing a climbing harness.

Sleeping Bags

Ladies’ sleeping bags come in smaller sizes, and some supposedly have more insulation around the feet. They’re also often rated to a higher temperature than the equivalent men’s model, under the assumption that women tend to sleep cooler.
If you’ve ever used a proper sleeping bag, you’ll know temperature ratings are pretty subjective and arbitrary. Take into account what medical transition is doing/has done to your body temperature and proceed accordingly. If you’re out in extreme cold temperatures, you are hopefully already pretty attuned to your own needs here.
(And if you’re currently in the phase where your body temperature is all over the place… godspeed.)

The "Women's Bar" at The Gym

It is narrower/shorter than the standard bar, and 35lbs instead of 45lbs. It has a lower capacity, but still holds more weight than most human beings will ever lift.
Regardless of gender, if you are on the smaller side/have small hands, you will like using it. If you're doing any compound movements, it's very advisable that you use it.
Honestly, I hate that it's called the "Women's Bar" at all, because it makes it impossible to get any of my clients who are men to use it, even if they'd probably otherwise prefer it over the standard bar.

This is an informal list of all the exercise/sporting equipment and gear that I could think of that is typically gendered. I’ll update it if I think of more/get told about more.

Sometimes, the difference is merely the size/colour of the thing, but sometimes there are differences in the way the thing is constructed that it is important to be aware of.

This list will cover the whys and hows to the best of my ability, as well as provide insight when possible.