Susan's Place Transgender Resources

'm brand new here, and hoping to get some help with what seems like a rather unique conundrum in my transition. In fact, Im trying to do the opposite of what many transitioning mtf individuals are trying to accomplish. Im a strength athlete...a powerlifter. Im trying to preserve my strength and muscle as much as possible during my partial transition, as my ho0e is to acheive a female bodybuilder physique. This will require me to keep my testosterone higher than what seems desirable to most transitioning mtf. I have just started on estrodial and progesterone and finesteride. Here is my question. If I took medically approved testosterone hrt along with estrogen to help preserve muscle, would estrogen still d9 its job effectively to promote feminine physical and emotional changes? Would it be entirely counterproductive? I can't really find any research on this, so Id appreciate any educated input. Thanks!

LilliannaG,

I can give you my personal history on how HRT has affected me so far. I am now into my tenth month of HRT, E and Spiro. My doctor initially started me out on low dosage of both, two months ago my dosage was increased, basically doubled, to get my blood levels closer to a normal cis-gender woman. I am not a power lifter like you but am very conscious of taking care of myself. I power walk 3 miles a day, five days a week. When finished with that I do two sets of  35 push ups, and two sets of 45 sit ups. I have not noticed any loss of strength or endurance since starting treatment, and that was a concern of mine prior to starting. I am thinking that as long as you maintain your daily workouts that you should be able to achieve good results without the use of T, but that is just my personal observation.

my guess is you would be asking for trouble.

there are intersex people whose intersex status is based not on ambiguous genitalia but on having normal to high levels of both male and female sex hormones.  from what i've read this condition is often associated with some pretty major health issues.

Thanks Denni for your sharing your experience. I do believe for some general strength and fitness like you are doing, it is totally possible to maintain. Unfortunately, in my experience so far, even with training like a beast, and having my diet dialed in, muscle is melting off of me...and strength has dropped 10% in just 5 weeks of estrogen, progesterone and finestiride. Id really like to see if anyone knows if adding low dose of testosterone will help counteract muscle atrophy without inhibiting my female transition

I would think it depends on your body's sensitivity to testosterone and your levels. Naturally I had low but normal male levels and had no muscular development. Some of the FTMs even at low levels become well muscled. Testosterone was sufficient to affect me as I had a very low voice, a little beard but no body hair and no strength. If your body is sensitive, testosterone may help you maintain your strength however if you are in competition, you may not pass the blood tests unless your testosterone levels are in the feminine range.

I think if you try to do both, you'll have less than desired results. Competitive cis women body builders take t to get the results and t is a stronger hormone than e. A male (or trans woman) that produces t naturally often takes a t suppressor for e to be more effective. This has consequences as it's another drug in your system. I suppose if you got an orchiectomy that might be an advantage if you want to do both, but unless you know what you're doing and do it under the guidance of a physician with regular blood tests, you're asking for problems. Even cis women body builders that take t have problems. This is adding risk. JMO. I think you should talk to an endocrinologist, especially one that knows sports. They would give you detailed pros and cons. Good luck.


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Progesterone is catabolic and can make one feel pretty tired and drained due to its sedative effects. Not quite the optimal hormone if you are looking for strength, endurance and stamina.

Quote from: Gertrude on June 14, 2017, 06:50:12 PM
I think if you try to do both, you'll have less than desired results. Competitive cis women body builders take t to get the results and t is a stronger hormone than e. A male (or trans woman) that produces t naturally often takes a t suppressor for e to be more effective. This has consequences as it's another drug in your system. I suppose if you got an orchiectomy that might be an advantage if you want to do both, but unless you know what you're doing and do it under the guidance of a physician with regular blood tests, you're asking for problems. Even cis women body builders that take t have problems. This is adding risk. JMO. I think you should talk to an endocrinologist, especially one that knows sports. They would give you detailed pros and cons. Good luck.


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I hear what u are saying, and Ive had the same concerns. However, I cant find research to back up what difficulties I may have to help me calculate the risks involved. I saw a worthless endo a year ago. No help at all. The physician who prescribes my estrodial and progesterone is a urologist, and a sort of live extension guy. He used to prescribe testosterone for me in the past, for low T, and says he is happy to offer me a low dose T to help avoid muscle atrophy, but admits there is very little literature to determine what long term problems I may have, or how it would slow down my feminization. Unfortunately, there is not a sports related endo within 100 miles of where I live. I was hoping to find some others with experience with this...but I suppose Im a very rare breed.

You should contact Chris Tina Bruce for advice.  She is a professional bodybuilder and personal trainer who operates a gym in San Diego.

Chris Tina would be good. Monica Mollica is another person. Will Brink would probably know, but might not commit to an answer, but he has a forum on Brinkzone , so check there.


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