Therefore they have a definite disadvantage for transporting oxygen to skeletal muscles during exercise. The fact that women have a lower cardiovascular capacity than men does not mean that they are less able to adapt to endurance training. Research shows that males and females adapt on similar levels. Skeletal Muscle Structure and function There is limited data that compares the muscle fibre types of males and females. The only data that is available is of elite athletes. Research has shown that women tend to have a smaller amount of slow twitch fibers in the gastrocnemius than men. Despite the difference, there is no evidence of gender difference in lactate thresholds.
Maximal and Submaximal O2 consumption VO2 Max is very different between equally trained men and women. It is higher in male athletes and after adjusting for fat free mass and training status there is a 15% difference. In real terms, in a 10,000 meters race this amounts to a time difference of 4 Minutes and 42 Seconds, OR A 13% performance advantage for men. Muscular Strength and Power The males greater lean body mass is a major determinant of their greater muscular strength. However these differences are removed when either measure is expressed relative to lean body mass. It has been widely accepted that women show less response to strength training than men, although research does not support this claim.
Research has shown that there is Very little difference seen in the response to different modes of progressive resistance strength training. Men and women experience similar relative strength gains when training under the same programme. The evidence on body composition changes that occur with strength training is equivocal at this point. Researchers, however, suggest that there appears to be less muscle hypertrophy with strength improvement in women when compared to men.
The data suggest that there are no differences between genders in central or peripheral cardiovascular adaptations to aerobic training. However, women in general have a reduced O2 carrying capacity. Another factor that may be responsible for the sex differences seen in the metabolic responses to exercise may be the greater, essential sex specific fat of women. Sparling and Cureton (1983) have shown that differences in similarly trained male and female distance runners are due largely to percentage body fat, less to cardiorespiratory fitness and least to running economy.
Pate et al. (1985) determined that men and women who are capable of similar performances, in this case a 15 mile race, do not differ in body composition, cardiorespiratory response or metabolic response. There appear to be no differences in relative increases in VO2max for men and women when they are trained under the same intensity, frequency and duration. Mode of training also appears to elicit no sex difference.
Males generally possess a greater muscle mass than females, probably due to the effect of the male hormone, testosterone. Weight training programmes can result in roughly similar percentage strength gains in males and females, although the absolute gains are greater in males than females as a result of the initial superior male muscle mass due to the testosterone hormone levels. Body Composition Females have a larger percentage of body fat (approximately 27%) compared to males (approximately 15%), which is a disadvantage in virtually all weight bearing events.
Fat is dead weight’, in that, although it provides an energy reserve store, it requires energy to transport it during sporting events. As a result, females tend to have smaller maximal oxygen uptake values than males, and the greater subcutaneous fat stores tend to reduce the efficiency of the body’s temperature regulatory system