• penguin_von_doom [she/her]
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    4 years ago

    Do you have any sources on this? Why would their biological advantages completely disappear?

    Because these advantages are driven basically 99% by testosterone and the strength advantage it gives. The olympics require one to have been several years on HRT and have their testosterone in female ranges before they would allow them to compete officially. Other sports have similar requirements.

    And I can tell you that T changes a lot. Before transition I was average strength. After transition, even though I'm in the best shape I've ever been, and train a-fucking-lot I still have guys that are half my weight being completely able to pin me down. According to my fitbit device, my Vo2Max is within the top 25% of users, which might seem like a lot, but I also train 10-15 hours a week, sometimes more. The more advanced girls at my poledancing studios are usually much stronger and have more endurance than I do. In the martial arts that I participate, my advantage comes from being taller than a lot of the other girls, which gives me some extra range, but when I fight someone my own size its all down to skill and luck.