Women Can Make Faster Progress in Upper-Body Strength Development Than Men on Average, a Study Reveals.
Understanding sex differences in resistance training.
This study titled "Sex Differences in Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" by Roberts et al. (2020) investigates how young to middle-aged males and females respond to resistance training (RT) in terms of strength and hypertrophy. The research aims to clarify whether there are significant differences in adaptations between sexes when subjected to the same training protocols (PMID: 32218059).
Key Findings
Hypertrophy: The analysis included 12 outcomes from 10 studies, showing no significant difference in muscle hypertrophy between males and females. The effect size (ES) was 0.07, indicating negligible differences (P = 0.31).
Upper-Body Strength: The analysis of upper-body strength involved 19 outcomes from 17 studies and revealed a significant advantage for females, with an ES of -0.60 (P = 0.002). This suggests that females may have a greater relative capacity for increasing upper-body strength compared to males.
Lower-Body Strength: In contrast, the analysis of lower-body strength, which included 23 outcomes from 23 studies, showed no significant differences between the sexes (ES = -0.21; P = 0.20).
Related
Practical Takeaways
Similar Hypertrophy Responses: Both sexes can achieve similar increases in muscle size through resistance training, which is important for informing training programs that aim for hypertrophy regardless of sex.
Upper-Body Strength Gains: Females may experience more significant relative gains in upper-body strength compared to males when starting from a similar baseline, suggesting that untrained females might benefit more from upper-body training initially.
No Significant Lower-Body Differences: There are no notable differences in lower-body strength adaptations between sexes, indicating that training protocols can be standardised across genders for lower-body exercises.
Additional Insights
The study emphasises the need for further research to explore the underlying reasons for the observed differences in upper-body strength adaptations, including factors such as neural activation, muscle fiber composition, and hormonal influences. It also highlights that many studies were conducted on untrained individuals, which may limit the generalizability of findings to trained populations. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into sex-specific responses to resistance training, underscoring that while both males and females can achieve similar hypertrophic results, females may have an edge in relative upper-body strength gains during initial training phases.
Reference
Roberts BM, Nuckols G, Krieger JW. Sex Differences in Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2020 May;34(5):1448-1460. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003521. PMID: 32218059.