Testosterone and progesterone, but not estradiol, stimulate muscle protein synthesis in postmenopausal women.
2014The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism
Smith GI, Yoshino J, Reeds DN, Bradley D, Burrows RE +3 more
Plain English
Researchers compared muscle-building processes in younger women versus older women after menopause, then gave the older women different hormones to see which ones helped build muscle. Testosterone and progesterone both increased muscle growth by about 50% in postmenopausal women, but estradiol had no effect.
This matters because it shows which hormones actually help prevent the muscle loss that naturally happens as women age, which could inform better treatments for maintaining strength and mobility in older women.