Sport Physiology

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Gender

Hormone Differences

• Testosterone causes increased protein deposition, especially in muscles, which causes men to have more muscle then women due to increased testosterone levels¹
• Estrogen

Strength

Strength per CSA

• There is virtually no difference in gender when measured in terms of strength (peak force duriing maximal contraction) per square centimeter of cross-sectional area¹
  • 3 and 4 Kg/cm²¹
• Thus, the majority of differences in absolute muscle performance is due to the increased muscle to BW ratio of men than women¹

Overall Muscle strength

• Compared to BW?
• Females are typically \(\frac{2}{3} \textrm{to} \frac{3}{4}\) the value of men¹

Pulmonary Function

Pulmonary Ventilation

• Females are typically \(\frac{2}{3} \textrm{to} \frac{3}{4}\) the value of men¹

Cardiac Function

Cardiac Output

• Females are typically \(\frac{2}{3} \textrm{to} \frac{3}{4}\) the cardiac output of men¹

Sport Differences

Better male performance

• In marathons, the top female performer ran 11% slower than the top male performer¹.

Better Female Performance

• For other events, however, women have at times held records faster than men—for example, for the two-way swim across the English Channel, for which the availability of extra fat seems to be an advantage for heat insulation, buoyancy, and extra long-term energy.”¹

Age

1.

Hall JE, Hall ME, Guyton AC. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology. 14th edition. Elsevier; 2021.