This is incredible work. I have one question that confused me, the article says that trans and cisgender women have the same bone density, which is linked to muscle strength. Then it says that bone density "is not indicative of athletic prowess".

If bone density and muscle strength are positively correlated, then it should be an indication of athleticism, no? Do I have a misunderstanding of what they consider "athletic prowess"?

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I believe the diference between the two claims may be due to controlling for height in one of the findings that they don't correlate to athleticism and not in the other

Reading some more scientific literature, I think they probably read that it was associated with muscle mass (due being associated with height which wasn't controled for). Controling for height makes the association go away

They are basing it off of different reports between those claims

[–] kyle@lemm.ee 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Thank you. Certainly sounds like more research needs to take place, but this is awesome and will hopefully encourage more studies.

I also thought it was interesting that discrepancies between trans and cisgender women in strength could be attributed to trans women being forced to use men's training facilities, equipment and resources, which get more funding and are better equipped. It's amazing what you learn when you control certain variables.