I was clearing some deadfall back in the woods today.  I swear that my chainsaw has put on at least 20 lbs since I last used it!  Damn, that thing is heavy!

Anyone else have interesting stories about reduced upper body strength?

i noticed the same thing i lost nearly all my muscle mass in like 2 months in my opinion totally worth it!


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My upper body strength went out the door after my implants and maybe being on HRT but definitely  with the bags


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Oh yes. Not just upper body but the whole body. Last winter going into spring I was barely able to fit a hydraulic wheel motor back onto a sprayer. They are heavy like 120lbs but in the past I could do it. That day I tried five times before I got it into place. Each attempt I was totally exhausted. Sweat pouring, muscles quivering, breathing like I ran a race.

There was a time in my life that I could bench press 225 lbs for reps.  Not so long before HRT (when I was old) I could press 170 for reps before I stopped working out.  Now, I'm down to 105 lbs and improvement is coming very slowly.

Lower body is a different story.  It's as strong as it ever was.  Actually, it's stronger than it was most of the time before; the exception being the one time I focused on lower body strength for a few months in the gym.


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Not for me, Ive just been putting uo a garden shed. After two weeks clearing out three tree stumps in order to put a fence around my back garden.

Im still stronger then my dad. My on moans for about  a year I would, maybe a little bit less.
I think its about me as a person to be honest. I like to do a good job, at everything I do, and garden "graft" for lack of a better word is something I've always enjoyed.,

The loss of some male privilege made it a bit more difficult for me to be accepted into the garden in a way other then a "tea's made" But I sure showed my dad and his friend I knew better :p.

But I suppose with this kind of work, Im going to maintain my upper body strength, rather then sit back and watch it go poof. lol

Always been weak due to heart defect. But now having problems carrying a gallon of milk after a year on HRT.

One will lose strength  if they stop working out/doing work and if testosterone goes down or away, even more so. It's amazing how strength goes away.


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My husband works with steel every day, and insists I am stronger than he is. This is because I have adjusted to the ways in which I do things. As far as dead lifting, he is probably 5 times stronger than I am.

Although it probably doesn't count as interesting I don't feel I've lost any. That said, the heaviest thing I've had to lift and carry lately was only about 120 kg so I can't say for sure. I can also still move things that weigh around 250-300 kg alone—as long as I don't have to lift them outright—but I never was that strong or muscular anyway so perhaps I've just learnt to compensate for any loss with better balance and leverage.

I was trying to remove a harmonic balancer pulley with a 3' breaker bar, then added a 1' cheater bar and still couldn't loosen it. So in my infinite wisdom I stood on the breaker bar and jumped. It came loose, but I also fell off the car. That was odd... stuck bolt. Meh...

A week later doing an oil change on my beetle. I was literally doing pull ups to break the oil drain plug loose. That was a wake-up call! WTH!

The real kicker was changing tires on my friend's VW. It felt like I bruised my palms pushing down on the torque wrench to tighten the lugs. Hurt for days! And that was my sign.... when 80 lb-ft is nearly unobtainable without personal injury.

I still get asked to do manual labor. I have the bulk, just not the juice! My legs are strong as ever... I can still rip 5'+ scotch broom out by the roots; as well as 3/8 blackberry vines. With ease actually. Where all the cuts are coming from is still a mystery. LOL.

I have noticed that I am loosing strength because at work I lift people turn people for a living I work in a nursing home and I am having a hard time doing this myself i never need my partner to help with lifts and transfers and know I do. As well as I can not take the hot whether as well as I used to I know get hot and moody.

I was never very strong anyway but hrt has definitely made me weaker. Bags of sugar and gallons of milk seem like pretty heavy now. I have trouble trying to get the vacuum upstairs and the glass top on the living room table is hard for me to flip to clean the underside. It's ridiculous how much stronger my dad, brother and boyfriend are than me. But if I have to choose between my boobs and being stronger my boobs are always going to win.
Julia

I DJ sometimes.
About a year into HRT I got a subwoofer. It weighs about 99 pounds. I used to be able to lift it and be able to get it into the back of my car with a few inches clearance.
Now, about 2 1/2 years into HRT, I'm a few inches short of getting it in.

Quote from: Harley Quinn on August 21, 2017, 08:26:19 AM
The real kicker was changing tires on my friend's VW. It felt like I bruised my palms pushing down on the torque wrench to tighten the lugs. Hurt for days!

That is something I've seen as well. While I don't think I'm any weaker, it does seem that I get bruised more easily.

I believe in exercise for health and know that I need to keep up the strength exercises. I knew I would lose muscle mass but with a weight loss from 148 to 130 lbs, I still have strength, especially to body weight ratio. I am an athletic female tg. 

I recommend females tgs that you continue exercises, you will lose your muscle mass but to keep healthy work those muscles.

There is another benefit to working out besides just health.  That is encouraging the body towards better proportion while it's under the influence of HRT.  Comparing myself to a year ago I'm about the five lbs heavier but with five lbs less body fat and an inch growth on hips and thighs.  That inch actually has come just in the past several months from using heavy barbells that I added on top of running.  The upper body, while better defined, is not really getting any bigger.


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I am approaching my one year anniversary of being on HRT September first. I have continued my exercise regime that I have been on years prior to starting. As of now there has been no loss of strength or endurance that I can detect. I agree with Deborah, if we can continue to maintain our physical work outs it not only counters the loss of strength but is so beneficial for our overall health and outlook.

I've always been a bit bulky when it comes to upper body. I'm hoping that with the combination of my current weight loss program and future HRT that my overall upper body size and strength will diminish. Fingers crossed.

I've never worried about doing exercises for anything but burning up calories from what I eat. My gym rat dad and brother have been telling me I should include strength training like with those tiny handweights and my dad even got me some. But I'm totally afraid if I use them I might start to get muscles or something. My dad and brother both keep saying I won't get like noticible muscles because I don't have very much testosterone now. But I haven't wanted to risk it. Some of you guys do that and it didn't give you muscles? ?
Julia