Step into most gyms and women in tight clothes and men lifting weights abound.

Many women want to tone and get slim and some men want to sculpt their muscles, and trainers often coach to those stereotypes.

But that binary is exclusive and doesn’t describe everyone wanting to get fit. People who don’t fall into those two archetypes, like a transgender man or a woman looking to gain weight while wearing loose-fitting clothes, aren’t welcomed and are often misunderstood by fitness coaches, said transmasculine boxer Patricio “Pat” Manuel, 28, of Gardena.

Manuel wants to change that system and create an online gym that features only transgender bodies. His message is one of encouragement and body acceptance rather than motivating people through guilt or using conventional beauty norms as the end goal.

“Basically what I’m trying to do is create accessibility for people who have been left out of the fitness industry, which has been primarily people from my community, which is like trans, queer and gender nonconforming people,” Manuel said.

Such a dynamic in ordinary gyms is polarizing and leaves many people uncomfortable.

“Typical gyms are very much men and women. I have story after story of masculine-of-center people going to gyms and being identified by the trainers there as female even if they didn’t identify as a woman,” he said. “They would kind of ignore their needs just trying to put people in these two boxes.”

In May 2013, Manuel launched Buff Butch, an online fitness resource focused on strength training. He is retooling Buff Butch to be more inclusive of everyone on the nongender- conforming spectrum. He hopes to feature transgender trainers for the site’s relaunch in mid-August. Through the Internet, Manuel wants to make his gym accessible worldwide.

“It’s open to everyone,” Manuel said. “Whether you can be in a space or not, the information will be available to you.”

DISCOVERING A PASSION FOR BOXING

At 17, Manuel discovered boxing as an outlet and fell in love with the sport his first week. As he grew in his boxing prowess, he connected with his masculinity.

“At the time, I didn’t have the language to know that I was really queer. … I didn’t really know how to express myself verbally, so I think that rather than verbally I looked to changing my outward appearance and I ended up getting involved in boxing,” he said. “I wanted to present the masculinity I looked up to. I was a video game nerd and I did pen and paper role-playing games and anime and stuff like that and I thought, ‘Oh, I want to be a fighter.’ So that’s what I wanted to present, so that’s what I became.”

Manuel grew into a skilled pugilist, winning national championships in women’s boxing, but at a certain point his boxing and self-discovery were at odds. Taking hormones is banned in amateur boxing, and Manuel didn’t want to give up a sport he loved. Close friends informed him of his rights, and he began his transition to living as a man.

“I wasn’t going to compromise anymore,” he said.

He still hopes to return to the ring and fight professionally someday, but that dream was complicated by a shoulder injury that cost him a spot in the Olympics. In 2012, Manuel medically disqualified in the Olympic trials and fell into depression. He wanted to serve his community as a visible transgender athlete and felt that he did his community a disservice.

Then he realized there were other ways to reach and improve the lives of transgender people. Buff Butch emerged as a way for him to serve the community with his fitness knowledge.

“This is my safety net for after boxing,” Manuel said.

GIVING STRENGTH TO OTHERS

In the past two years, Manuel has begun volunteering with the Center Long Beach, which provides support and services for the LGBT community, and in the spring began coaching a group of non-gender conforming young adults at the No Limits gym in Signal Hill.

The Center Executive Director Porter Gilberg called Manuel a tremendous resource for Long Beach.

“Pat has been really, really awesome for the Center in that he’s our health resource,” Gilberg said. “We’re really honored to have him working with us because he’s got a great story and he’s doing really great things.”

Through Buff Butch, Manuel hopes to arm people who have been made victims with strength and confidence to defend themselves.

Although only 1 percent of the general population identifies as transgender, they face violence in staggering numbers. Transgender people are 400 times more likely to become victims of violent crimes like assault and murder than those of the general public, according to the Transgender Violence Tracking Project.

From January to April 30 of this year, 102 transgender people across the globe were slain, according to the Tracking Project. That number includes only reported cases.

“It’s, I think, really important for survival,” Manuel said, “especially for marginalized communities – being stronger. Unfortunately, it’s a really crappy world and a lot of people are victims of abuse and at the very least, if I can make my community stronger, they have a better chance of survival.”

Contact the writer: 562-243-3419 or lwilliams@lbregister.com