Exercise for Different Sexes (Nope, Not the Dirty Kind)

The question about male and female equality may never well be answered, well at least when it comes to physical fitness. This is one of the points presented in a study conducted at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. According to Danielle Day, one of the researchers involved in the study, said that female may never had the chance to catch up with men when it comes to physical strength and capabilities.

This is because men are bigger and have more muscle and higher levels of that powerhouse hormone testosterone than women. But as researchers have begun to unravel the differences between the sexes with regard to physical activity, they're learning that there's more to the story. Men and women also differ in energy metabolism, lung function and other factors during exercise.


But this study was not conducted to undermine the female population. This is done in an effort to pave the way to sex-specific training regimens for athletes and recreational exercisers as well.

"We're not the same. Our physiological systems are not identical," says Earl Noble, director of the school of kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. He likens exercise to a drug "that needs to be given in the appropriate dose and intensity and should be varied for sex differences."

One real-world application of such research may be the development of workouts that optimize weight-loss for women and men. That is after several researches confirm what frustrated women have long known to be true — that females have a harder time losing weight through exercise than men, says Day. Men's bodies respond more favorably to exercise, whereas women's bodies go into survival mode, slowing metabolism and hanging onto fat. She and other experts say that's an evolutionary response intended to keep a woman healthy for child-bearing.

This is actually good news to everyone, both male and female, as there will be specific exercise, not only to target their needs with different body parts but also needs as a man or women.