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Abstract

Transgender individuals have always existed and social acceptance of them continues to improve. However, there has been controversy on whether transgender athletes should play on sports teams that align with their gender identity. PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to compile a more comprehensive profile of cisgender and transgender individuals. The central hypothesis was that transgender men (TM) and women (TW) using gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) would be more similar to cisgender men (CM) and women (CW). METHODS: This study recruited moderately active cisgender and transgender men and women from around the greater New York area to be assessed for: body composition and anthropometrics, isometric handgrip strength, and one-repetition maximum for bench press and leg press. Transgender participants were required to have been on GAHT consistently for at least 12 months prior to taking part in the study. A Multivariate ANOVA was performed on the strength parameters among the four groups, with follow-up univariate ANOVAs with post-hoc tests using a Bonferroni correction. RESULTS: A total of 40 participants have completed this study. The omnibus test showed significant differences in strength parameters among the groups (Λ=0.18, F 15,88.7 =5.2, p<0.01). In the follow-up univariate tests, CM showed significantly greater grip strength compared to all other groups (F=19.6, p<0.01). For bench and leg press, CM significantly outperformed both CW and TW (F=17.0, p<0.01; F=8.5, p<0.01 respectively). There were also significant differences in body compositions (F=8.7, p<0.01), with CM having significantly lower body fat than CW and TM (p<0.01 and p=0.02 respectively). A secondary finding was that strength parameters significantly correlated with GAHT duration and physical activity among TM, but this correlation was not present in TW. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that while some anthropometric traits remain static, performance parameters can vary and may be influenced by GAHT. Ultimately, transgender individuals develop distinct physiological profiles that are not exactly represented by their cisgender counterparts which suggests a need for nuanced, group- specific data in sports and clinical settings.

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