Researcher: Then women are stronger than men

Men, on average, have more muscle mass, more hemoglobin in the blood and bigger heart and lungs and thus higher oxygenation of the muscles. Therefore, they usually outperform women in terms of physical challenges, but there are exceptions, and Sandra Hunter, professor of sports science at Marquette University in Milwaukee, USA, is interested.

"When I discovered how much longer women can handle a static contraction, I was really surprised," she says. I didn't expect the difference to be that big. That's when I started to look more closely at how and when women and men respond differently to effort and exercise.

Static contraction, which was the moment she studied, involves keeping a muscle tense in the same position for a shorter or longer time - as when carrying heavy food bags, for example. In Hunter's study, the arm muscle would be stretched to 20 percent of its ability for as long as possible and the women managed an average of 30 minutes while the men quit after 14 minutes.

That's because men's and women's muscles look a little different. Both sexes have both slow muscle fibers that are durable and thicker more explosive fibers that provide power - but the explosives are coarser in men. In addition, men's muscles are larger and this causes the oxygen supply to decrease in them more quickly when the blood supply is cut and the muscle is stretched for a long time.

Sandra Hunter and her co-workers have published a number of research articles, in which they have examined in detail similar gender differences. Among other things, they have seen that women recover faster after a physical challenge. A lot of time has also been spent on punching myths and preconceived notions about women who sport. A classic is that women lack a winning skull.

- It is sometimes argued that women do not really want to win as much as men, says Sandra Hunter. They point out that there is less difference between winning time and second, third and fourth in races where men run compared to women's race, where there is greater distance to the winner.

The figures are true; the differences are on average larger in women's race. But when Sandra Hunter adjusted for how many people started in the races they compared, that is, weighed in on how tough the competition was, that difference disappeared. The competition was fiercer among men because more people participated in the competitions, but when the best ladies start in the same race, the distance to one is not greater.

One statement, however, is correct that, on average, men in marathon races go out harder than women. They maintain a higher tempo in the first half of the race and slow down in the second, while women generally have the opposite pattern, according to Hunter's research. This is true for exercisers, not elite runners who are better at planning their races.

- We believe that this is both because women can utilize fuel as glycogen more easily during the race and actually cope better at the end and that men take greater risks and overestimate their ability.

Do such results matter then? Yes, it does, says Hunter Hunter, because much of the research done so far is based on men's performance, we risk drawing conclusions that apply only to one gender.

- When researchers talk about how a muscle works, they usually mean how a man's muscle works. We must study both genders. Not for everyone to become a top athlete, but for strain injuries and the like to look different in women and men. For example, some of the exercises we currently prescribe at physiotherapy may not be optimally adapted to women's conditions, says Sandra Hunter.

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