Males Vs. Females and Fatigue Sensation During Muscular Contraction
Most of us know already that females cannot build nearly the same amount of muscle volume as males are able to build, nor can they build muscle as quickly. This is due to the different hormonal profile in a male’s body in comparison with that of a male - primarily the difference in testosterone, growth hormone, and then the female sex hormones.
Typically females will build muscle at about half the rate a male will (given proper training and diet conditions are in place, of course), with males generally able to synthesize one pound of dry muscle mass a month and females about half a pound.
Recently though researchers looked into another difference between males and females, that of the sensation of fatigue when muscular contraction was taken place.
The study included 12 males and 15 females with no history of neuromuscular disorders. They were to perform sustained static gripping, in which the demand was gradually increased over time. They started out with 10 seconds of 20% maximal voluntary contraction, then 20 seconds for the values of 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70% max voluntary contraction.
The study demonstrated that the forces exerted during the demand values of 70-80% of maximal voluntary contraction were significantly lower in males than in females and that there was a gender difference between the subjective muscular fatigue sensation between the male and female subjects at the demand values of 40-60% max voluntary contraction.
Therefore, we can conclude from this study, that males may experience a greater sensation of fatigue at any given workload in comparison with females.
So, while males may have the advantage of being able to build more muscle quicker, females appear to have the advantage over feelings of fatigue during various muscular tension levels.
Reference:
Demura, S. et al. (2008) Gender difference in subjective muscle-fatigue sensation during sustained muscle force exertion. Tohoku J Med. Jul; 215(3): 287-94.
