The mythical phrase of women in gyms is “but won’t I get muscular like a guy with that? And the answer that coaches never tire of giving is “NO”, in capital letters, italics and underlined. It is something simple, since muscle hypertrophy depends largely on hormonal secretion, and testosterone levels are one of the keys. But in addition to this difference between men and women, basic and reiterative, there are others that we will see below.

BASIC DIFFERENCES

• Women are less strong than men, mainly due to their smaller amount of muscle and smaller cross-fiber areas. However, for the same amount of muscle there are no differences in strength between the sexes.

• Women have lower peak oxygen consumption values. It is 70-75% of that of men.

• At peak levels of exercise, women have higher heart rates than men

• Women have lower stroke volumes, due to their smaller hearts, which means less blood volume.

• Women have a lower capacity to increase the arterio-venous oxygen difference, probably due to the lower hemoglobin content. This means that there is less oxygen supply for active muscles.

• Differences in respiratory responses between men and women are mainly due to differences in body size.

• The anaerobic threshold shows little or no difference.

• Strength gains due to resistance strength training are similar in men and women. But in women these gains are due more to neural factors than to muscle hypertrophy.
• Lower body strength, expressed in terms of body weight or lean mass, is similar between men and women.

DIFFERENCES IN WEIGHT LOSS

One of the most obvious issues for coaches is the difference when it comes to weight loss. Men tend to lose weight more quickly and easily. However, a 2015 review indicated that “men appear to lose more weight than women during weight loss attempts, although this may be due to men’s higher baseline weight plus specific lifestyle interventions. Despite the fact that in most studies men show greater weight loss than women, women also obtained significant weight losses, which means that lifestyle interventions that include diet and exercise prescription seem effective for both men and women ”(Williams et al., 2015).

DIFFERENCES IN THE HEART

It appears that in women there is greater exercise-induced left ventricular hypertrophy. This may be due to the fact that in women there is greater lipolytic activity in response to exercise, which results in higher levels of free fatty acids in plasma (Foryst-Ludwig and Kintscher, 2013). This hypertrophy, if it becomes severe, in the long run can make it difficult for the heart to fill and can decrease the force it uses to pump.

DIFFERENCES IN THE AUTOIMMUNE SYSTEM

In general, physiological levels of estrogen stimulate humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, but a large increase in estrogen can suppress cell-mediated immunity. Women of reproductive age have a more active immune system than men of the same age. This could account for females having a lower incidence of certain types of infections and lower rates of atherosclerosis. Similarly, this could also explain the increased incidence of autoimmune diseases.

But when it comes to exercise, the differences between the sexes in changes in immune cells, in cytokine alterations, together with morbidity and mortality are evident after the stressors of submaximal and maximal aerobic exercise (Gillum et al. ., 2011).

DIFFERENCES IN FATIGUE

Women fatigue less than men at the muscle level under controlled conditions during isometric contractions. The magnitude of the difference between the sexes in terms of muscle fatigue is specific to the task performed, the muscle group involved, and the age of the individual evaluated. The difference between sexes influenced by the specificity of the task is due to differences related to sex within the neuromuscular system (Hunter, 2009).

DIFFERENCES IN PULMONARY FUNCTION

Women have a reduced lung size, with lower peak expiratory flow rates, a reduced airway diameter, and a small diffusion surface area than men of the same age and height. Additionally, ovarian hormones, namely progesterone and estrogens, are known to modify and influence the pulmonary system. These differences can have effects on the responsiveness of the airways, ventilation, the work of the respiratory muscles, and lung gas exchange during exercise. Women also demonstrate greater airway hyperresponsiveness and expiratory flow limitation, as well as increased work of breathing, and greater exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia compared to men.

DIFFERENCES IN THE METABOLISM OF CARBOHYDRATES

During submaximal resistance exercise, women oxidize more lipids and fewer carbohydrates than men. This is reflected in lower skeletal muscle glycogen utilization and lower hepatic glucose production by women compared to men (Tarnopolsky and Ruby, 2001).

After all these differences, it becomes clear that training for men and women cannot be the same. For this, leave it in the hands of your FAST coach, who will be the one who will plan and schedule the best sessions for you.

References:

Figueroa. Sports women. Physiological Considerations. Unit 36. Notes on Exercise Physiology. Course 2009-2010. CCAFYDE. UAX.

Foryst-Ludwig and Kintscher. Sex differences in exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Pflugers Arch. 2013 May; 465 (5): 731-7.

Gillum et al. A review of sex differences in immune function after aerobic exercise. Exerc Immunol Rev. 2011; 17: 104-21.

Harms and Rosenkranz. Sex differences in pulmonary function during exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Apr; 40 (4): 664-8.

Hunter. Sex differences and mechanisms of task-specific muscle fatigue. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2009 Jul; 37 (3): 113-22.

Tarnopolsky and Ruby. Sex differences in carbohydrate metabolism. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2001 Nov; 4 (6): 521-6.

Williams et al. Effectiveness of weight loss interventions – is there a difference between men and women: a systematic review. Obes Rev. 2015 Feb; 16 (2): 171-86.