Researchers want to draw attention to the gender gap in exercise studies and the need for a more complete understanding of gender-specific physiology, the role of sex-related hormones, metabolic differences and more, in a research topic editorial in Frontiers in Physiology (2022; doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.988839).
In particular, women are underrepresented.
For example, during incremental physical exercise, women experience a greater cost of breathing reflected by greater deoxygenation of respiratory muscles, whereas men have a higher peripheral load, indicating greater deoxygenation of locomotor muscles. Other studies reveal that in long-term endurance exercise, women perform similarly or slightly better than men; however, in quick bursts with great power they do not, suggesting gender differences in metabolism.
More investigation is essential to understand the gender-based mechanisms that explain these differences.
See also: Gender Equity in Fitness: Are We There Yet?
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