SIB# 415- Strength and Fatigue: Men VS. Women
The Study: Comparison of Elbow Flexor Isokinetic Peak Torque and Fatigue Index Between Men and Women of Different Training Levels
The Facts:
a. The current literature notes differences “in muscle strength and fatigue tolerance between men and women.”
b. “One important point is that most of these studies utilized prolonged or intermittent isometric actions in their comparisons.”
c. “… we are not aware of any comparison involving different training levels using dynamic muscle contractions.”
d. The study had 68 subjects divided into 4 groups. Resistance and non-resistance trained men and resistance and non-resistance trained women. All subjects were aged 25 plus or minus 5.13 years.
e. They used a Isokinetic Dynamometer (Biodex Medical, Inc., Shirley, NY, USA) to test Elbow flexion.
f. The authors found that women produced less peak torque but that they had “a higher fatigue tolerance than men of similar training status.”
g. “Considering that women showed to be more resistant to fatigue than men, women can manipulate training variables differently from men, such as, including more repetitions at the same relative load or using higher relative loads at the same number of repetitions.”
Take Home:
On average, women may not be able to produce as much peak torque as men, but they are more resistant to fatigue. This information may be useful in designing better training programs for women.
Reviewer's Comments: So why did I include this article? I could say that the reason is that there are lots of really great female athletes and I wanted to provide them more information. Or I could say that we should be doing more studies concerning women in this field. Well, both of those are true but they’re not really the reason I included this article. A few episodes ago (#413) I noted that my wife was always telling me to hurry up when we lifted weights together. So now I have a reason (read excuse). See it’s not my fault. Women have superior fatigue resistance. What do you want from me, I’m just a guy.
Reviewer: Roger Coleman DC
Editor: Mark R. Payne DC
Reference: Paulo Gentil, Mario Hebling Campos et. al. Comparison of Elbow Flexor Isokinetic Peak Torque and Fatigue Index Between Men and Women of Different Training Level. Eur J Transl Myol. 2017 Dec 5;27(4):7070.doi: 10.4081/ejtm.2017.7070.
Link to Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29299219/
Link to Full Text Article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5745383/pdf/ejtm-27-4-7070.pdf
Link to Video: https://youtu.be/QnyzHK0ngHU