Losing my physical strength

[ImagineKate]

I never believed it would happen to me but a month in I have lost a good bit. Trying to get a sheet of plywood off the shelf at Home Depot is a challenge. I gave up and asked a store associate. Well at least he ma'amed me.

[Leila]

The loss of physical strength is pretty rapid. The loss of muscular bulk is surprisingly a lot slower in comparison.

[Marcellow]

Is that so? Huh. If only gaining muscle was that rapid.

[stephaniec]

I definitely struggle to start my arms moving .

[Wynternight]

Cliched as it sounds I have trouble opening jars these days.

[Hikari]

Cliched as it sounds I have trouble opening jars these days.

lol that is like the one thing I can still do, I have lots of strength in my hands and forearms somehow, but none anywhere else.

[Handy]

I remember how more than anything THAT effect stood out! A few months in nearly everything is gone (and I was pretty darn weak to begin with). Pulling muscles left and right, overestimating my physical capabilities...

Ah well, you get used to it XD best part imo is when I had to move all my male friends rushed to my aid and didn't expect me to help with the furniture.

pros and cons lol

[Dee Marshall]

Three months into HRT we had to move. Sweetie has spinal stenosis and couldn't help. I had no idea how much strength I had lost, and it's even worse now, a month later. I was in pain for weeks!

[islandgirl]

As I look to start low dosage HRT, this is one of the questions I have. I am wondering if anyone has continued their gym workouts and how the training has been affected. I am wondering about my tennis. I presently play league against the boys (at least for the present as I am not out there) and am wondering if I will be able to keep up with what I am doing. I guess I will be spending much more time in the gym. With muscle loss and possible weight gain, what is a girl to do?

[steyraug96]

Dumb question, but... 
Has anyone been strength training?

If the bulk is going to stick around, might as well make sure it's trained, and tight.

Besides, you can do strength training (High weight, low reps), and still lose the bulk, with Estrogen.
Just remember to recalibrate, of course, to GIRL strong, not GUY strong...  You'll always be a bit above "girl strong" if you maintain some strength training, because the body mechanics are different: Shoulder girdle, arm levers, etc.

But you'll lose too much strength to compete with the guys, which is probably a good thing.  ;-) Who wants to compete with a gorilla?

At the same time, don't misunderstand - I LOVE my strength, and I DESPISE losing what seems like 10% - and that's from just not making it to the gym for the last two months!
But if we can only choose column A OR column B, and we can use old skills to maintain some extra strength or "gas in the tank" - why not do it?
Just remember to NO train for hypertrophy, we want small, dense, strong, womanly muscles...  ;-)

And curves in all the right places, as well.  :-D

[ImagineKate]

I'm going to resume my strength training when I get back to work (gym is at work) but I have to figure out how to do it smart without bulking up. I'm thinking high reps and lower weight.

[islandgirl]

Cardio, and low weight/high rep exercise for muscle groups is what was recommended by my physiotherapist after my la injury (torn muscle in my right forearm from too much tennis!).

This whole topic has had me out on the road for a long power walk. Need to keep in shape going into the next phase.

[ImagineKate]

I already do lots of cardio. The incentive is to control my diabetes and so far I'm doing well.

[ErinS]

I've also lost 'turbo mode' as well. Before if i couldn't move something, i could work my self up and grunt a bit and add about 5-10% strength. Now? If it doesn't move the first time, it ain't moving lol.

[jeni]

Oddly, I kind of look forward to strength loss. Not sure why, maybe because it seems like something tangibly feminine. Mostly I'm hoping that my already fairly puny muscles become even less impressive. My upper legs are fairly defined, at least by comparison to the rest of me, but in a definitely blocky male sort of way.

[ImagineKate]

I don't mind losing muscle bulk but I lament the loss of strength. I do a lot of things requiring some strength, such as climbing radio towers and lifting pieces of electronic equipment. I guess I'll have to hit the gym and I'll have to figure out how to do things smart.

[Eva Marie]

Today I was doing a brake job on my car (i'm broke so I have to do that stuff myself). One of the more difficult tasks you have to do is to force the piston in the caliper back to its original position. I always used a large pair of pliers to squeeze the piston back and didn't think anything of it. Well TODAY was a different proposition I just did not have any strength in my hands; and i fussed with it for a long time before finally getting each piston moved back.

This kind of stuff used to be easy, but now I am weak as all get out and can't do it anymore Luckily with the loss of strength my muscular arms also shrank which is what I wanted.

[KittyKat]

One of the things I really regretted about starting HRT while still in the Army was we still had to do our pyhsical fitness exams. It lined up that I had to do 2 after I had started HRT I don't know the exact numbers, but the Army acknowledges that females aren't going to normally do as many push-ups as males I think my age group had to do less then 20, maybe even 15. I was of course still a male in the Army and I had to do the required 39 pushups for my age, I had previously been able to average over 70 push-ups no problem, my first test not even 3 months after starting HRT it was like the fight of my life to make it to 40 and then collapse to the ground exhausted and spent.

[BunnyBee]

The loss of physical strength is pretty rapid. The loss of muscular bulk is surprisingly a lot slower in comparison.

I found this to be true too.

I never really cared about being strong, but I am saddend by how I can't play basketball very well anymore.  Not a strength thing, but a physical thing for sure.  It's one of the few maleish things I liked and could do well, but now I can't anymore.

[ImagineKate]

Today I was doing a brake job on my car (i'm broke so I have to do that stuff myself). One of the more difficult tasks you have to do is to force the piston in the caliper back to its original position. I always used a large pair of pliers to squeeze the piston back and didn't think anything of it. Well TODAY was a different proposition I just did not have any strength in my hands; and i fussed with it for a long time before finally getting each piston moved back.

This kind of stuff used to be easy, but now I am weak as all get out and can't do it anymore Luckily with the loss of strength my muscular arms also shrank which is what I wanted.

I use a vise. Makes it a lot easier. Don't worry, I do my own brake work too.