Fitness Friday

Are Women Genetically More Fit Than Men?

New research shows that women may be genetically predisposed to be more fit that men.

When we think of fitness, we typically think of who can run the fastest or throw an object the farthest. This is a common misconception, however, when it comes to judging how fit a person is. The fitness of a person is defined as the quality or state of being fit, meaning that the fitness of a person is defined by the capacity and efficiency that their body can perform at task at. Researchers at the University of Waterloo, with this definition of fitness in mind, decided to research whether or not their is a genetic predisposition for either gender in regards to who is more physically fit. 

Quick oxygen uptake by a person's body allows for less strain to be placed on the body. Researchers at the University of Waterloo studied a person's fitness by measuring and comparing the oxygen uptake and muscle oxygen extraction for 18 young men and women who had a similar BMI and age. Various aerobic tests were conducted on the participants, and results consistently showed that women's muscle extract oxygen from the blood at a 30% faster rate than men. By processing the oxygen faster women are less likely to fatigue as fast as men who are exercising at the same rate. More research on the subject is warranted, however, to confirm what resulted and was presented in the research.