TY - JOUR
T1 - Strength, power and aerobic capacity of transgender athletes
T2 - A cross-sectional study
AU - Hamilton, Blair
AU - Brown, Andrew
AU - Montagner-Moraes, Stephanie
AU - Comeras-Chueca, Cristina
AU - Bush, Peter G.
AU - Guppy, Fergus M.
AU - Pitsiladis, Yannis P
N1 - Funding information:
The study has been funded by a research grant awarded by the International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024
PY - 2024/6
Y1 - 2024/6
N2 - Objective: The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to compare standard laboratory performance metrics of transgender athletes to cisgender athletes.Methods: 19 cisgender men (CM) (mean±SD, age: 37±9 years), 12 transgender men (TM) (age: 34±7 years), 23 transgender women (TW) (age: 34±10 years) and 21 cisgender women (CW) (age: 30±9 years) underwent a series of standard laboratory performance tests, including body composition, lung function, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, strength and lower body power. Haemoglobin concentration in capillary blood and testosterone and oestradiol in serum were also measured.Results: In this cohort of athletes, TW had similar testosterone concentration (TW 0.7±0.5 nmol/L, CW 0.9±0.4 nmol/), higher oestrogen (TW 742.4±801.9 pmol/L, CW 336.0±266.3 pmol/L, p=0.045), higher absolute handgrip strength (TW 40.7±6.8 kg, CW 34.2±3.7 kg, p=0.01), lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s:forced vital capacity ratio (TW 0.83±0.07, CW 0.88±0.04, p=0.04), lower relative jump height (TW 0.7±0.2 cm/kg; CW 1.0±0.2 cm/kg, p<0.001) and lower relative V˙O 2 max (TW 45.1±13.3 mL/kg/min/, CW 54.1±6.0 mL/kg/min, p<0.001) compared with CW athletes. TM had similar testosterone concentration (TM 20.5±5.8 nmol/L, CM 24.8±12.3 nmol/L), lower absolute hand grip strength (TM 38.8±7.5 kg, CM 45.7±6.9 kg, p=0.03) and lower absolute V˙O 2 max (TM 3635±644 mL/min, CM 4467±641 mL/min p=0.002) than CM.Conclusion: While longitudinal transitioning studies of transgender athletes are urgently needed, these results should caution against precautionary bans and sport eligibility exclusions that are not based on sport-specific (or sport-relevant) research.
AB - Objective: The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to compare standard laboratory performance metrics of transgender athletes to cisgender athletes.Methods: 19 cisgender men (CM) (mean±SD, age: 37±9 years), 12 transgender men (TM) (age: 34±7 years), 23 transgender women (TW) (age: 34±10 years) and 21 cisgender women (CW) (age: 30±9 years) underwent a series of standard laboratory performance tests, including body composition, lung function, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, strength and lower body power. Haemoglobin concentration in capillary blood and testosterone and oestradiol in serum were also measured.Results: In this cohort of athletes, TW had similar testosterone concentration (TW 0.7±0.5 nmol/L, CW 0.9±0.4 nmol/), higher oestrogen (TW 742.4±801.9 pmol/L, CW 336.0±266.3 pmol/L, p=0.045), higher absolute handgrip strength (TW 40.7±6.8 kg, CW 34.2±3.7 kg, p=0.01), lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s:forced vital capacity ratio (TW 0.83±0.07, CW 0.88±0.04, p=0.04), lower relative jump height (TW 0.7±0.2 cm/kg; CW 1.0±0.2 cm/kg, p<0.001) and lower relative V˙O 2 max (TW 45.1±13.3 mL/kg/min/, CW 54.1±6.0 mL/kg/min, p<0.001) compared with CW athletes. TM had similar testosterone concentration (TM 20.5±5.8 nmol/L, CM 24.8±12.3 nmol/L), lower absolute hand grip strength (TM 38.8±7.5 kg, CM 45.7±6.9 kg, p=0.03) and lower absolute V˙O 2 max (TM 3635±644 mL/min, CM 4467±641 mL/min p=0.002) than CM.Conclusion: While longitudinal transitioning studies of transgender athletes are urgently needed, these results should caution against precautionary bans and sport eligibility exclusions that are not based on sport-specific (or sport-relevant) research.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85190383951&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bjsports-2023-108029
DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2023-108029
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38599680
AN - SCOPUS:85190383951
SN - 0306-3674
VL - 58
SP - 586
EP - 597
JO - British Journal of Sports Medicine
JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine
IS - 11
ER -