Women beat men on muscle endurance
16 October 2000
When performing certain isometric exercises, the endurance of women is almost twice that of men performing the same exercise, according to results presented at a meeting of international scientists. Both sexes performed the exercises at the same percentage of their maximum strength.
The study, conducted at the University of Colorado in the US, confirmed that women outlasted men by an average of 75 per cent and, importantly, showed that the reason women had longer endurance times was not due to differences in the motivation levels between men and women, or within the nervous system, but due to differences within muscle.
Researchers found that because the weaker subjects had longer endurance times, and women were generally weaker than men, the specific reason for the gender difference in endurance time may be an interaction between muscle strength and blood flow within the muscle.
However, the researchers said that other possible reasons for the difference may include the type of muscle fibres of men and women or even the differences in hormones such as oestrogen, between men and women.
Last Reviewed: 16 October 2000
