Susan's Place Transgender Resources

After ive seen the physc at the hospital I would hope that it wont be much longer before I will be on hormones,a couple of questions if anyone has any answers. I run every night and love it,if im on hormones will it effect my running,stamina etc and will the muscles shrink in my legs and one more thing how long is it before your breasts start developing any help would be great x

I have zero expertise with e and whatever else you might take, but for me I had to learn to take anything that comes with hormones once I really needed them. I'm stupid re emotions and I will probably die of heart disease before 70 but it's cool if I don't have to live as a woman.

I'm going to assume that your stamina will be reduced and your muscles will shrink.

It's very likely your stamina will decrease on anti androgens and estrogens - probably quite noticeably at first until you regain an equilibrium of sorts. A number of sporty types here have had some to little effect - some of it depends on how much HRT you are on. As for breats, these usually start developing within 4-8 weeks and may be quite painful to run with initially so a sports bra would be recommended even if it is only small.

Before HRT I was running 25 miles a week.  Once I started HRT, the following things happened:

1) I lost strength almost immediately, but retained the same muscle mass so my times became a lot slower.
2) Because I lost strength, I learned that there were small things wrong with my form that I was using my strength to compensate for.  As a result, different parts of my body started to hurt and I had to correct my form.
3) I lost stamina while my body got used to using estrogen for energy instead of testosterone.  I had to drop down to 20 miles a week for a couple of weeks.
4) My muscles recovered a lot slower due to the lack of testosterone.
5) Due to all of these, I overtrained my body and had to take a week off.

Thankfully, all those were taken care of in less than a month and everything is normal now, with my times and distance about the same as pre-HRT.  Also, my breasts started developing almost immediately, and I needed a sports bra after the first week.  After the third week, it became apparent that I needed a better sports bra with much more support, since it was getting painful to run.  As always with HRT, things may go very differently for you.  Happy running!

I have been told by a couple of doctors that some of the meds can affect blood pressure in some people. I used to run a lot, marathons and half marathons, and used a heart monitor in training. I could that not only did I do better in my races, but was able to stay in my target range on training runs. I don't know if you use one, but you may want to check them out. As already suggested, a loss in stamina, at least initially, can be expected.   

Thanks for all your info I will have to just take ever day as it comes I was sort of expecting a loss somewhere just wasnt sure by how much,i hope I will be ok cos I love my running and it also keeps the weight in check so its win win,i cant wait till im at the point where im starting hrt cant wait x

I do not run, but I do take nature walks of 2 to 10+ miles and the HRT has made me go somewhat slower. I attribute the slower speed to the emotional effects of the HRT (such as being less stressed and more patient) as well as the physical effects (weight gain and muscle loss). The legs were the one place I did have substantial muscle mass pre-HRT that is much harder to maintain now, so it stands to reason I would be slower. I love the feminization, though, and I totally accept needing to slow my speed and cut my distances in order to accommodate a more feminine body. :)

The one thing I am not so happy about is the weight gain. Exercise helped me maintain my weight, and since I now burn fewer calories due to shorter distances and smaller muscles, I am gaining weight and its distribution is rather poor. Cold winter weather, which keeps me inside and triggers my binge eating, does not help either. :(

To qualify for the Boston Marathon a man aged 18-34 must run a 3:05.  A woman in the same age group has to run a 3:35 or better.   That should give you a rough idea of the difference T makes.