So I'm transgendered (male to female) and I do parkour. How does that work? I'm on hormones that physically change some of the morphilogical features of my body to match my gender. Some of these changes include shrinking muscles and body fat redistribution.
I'm very early in on my transition, only 2 months on hormones but a lot has changed socially and physically for me. I was incredibly worried about not being able to train the way I did before. I thought that I would just get weaker and so it wasn't worth an ounce of my strength to take hormones even if it meant that my body would change into what I'd always needed it to be. I also needed to be strong and capable, wouldn't I lose all of that? Since I'm already 2 months in here, I've already come to the conclusion that I'm gonna be okay. Working with a doctor who has had several trans patients gave me a lot of confidence and I found myself dispelling a lot of myths about taking hormones that kept me too afraid to get on the path.
Yes it's true that my muscles will get smaller due to my lowering levels of testosterone. However, this means that my overall bodyweight will drop due to the muscle being heavier than fat. As a parkour practitioner I'm really only concerned about my relative strength/power to weight ratio. It does not really benefit us to be extremely heavy with muscle or fat in this discipline. That's the theory anyway, but there are plenty of real world examples of female gymnasts, one arm pull-up rock climber chicks, and super skinny parkour dudes to show that it's quite possible to thrive with smaller muscles. Aaaand of course don't forget about all the other female parkour athletes out there breaking down all the stereotypes. I draw so much motivation and inspiration from them.
It's about motor control and neurological training which doesn't just go away with muscle loss. It reminds me of Pavel's work. In one of his books he shared a story about a woman lifting a car off of her husband or something because she was recruiting a higher percentage of her muscle fibers. So there you go, estrogen will allow me to lift cars now. There's your non sequitur of the day. In all seriousness though I'm writing about this stuff because I don't want being a serious parkour practitioner to bar trans women from getting the treatment that they need. Let's see if my theories hold true throughout my transition. I'll do some progress report posts on things as they unfold . Also if there are any other trans parkour athletes out there, feel free to connect with me, we're a rare cross section of people.
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