I mean, aside from body composition (body fat %). Or is body composition the primary explanatory difference?
I mean, aside from body composition (body fat %). Or is body composition the primary explanatory difference?
gulpy gulper wrote:
I mean, aside from body composition (body fat %). Or is body composition the primary explanatory difference?
testosterone
smaller hearts, less muscle mass
An Eastern Bloc country (pretty sure the USSR, might have been DDR though) did a comprehensive study on this question, maybe 30 years ago.
There were, as you might guess, multiple factors that affected women's lesser performances in track and field. However, in every event--including distance running--the most important was not size or body composition or blood factors, etc., but strength.
granet wrote:
smaller hearts, less muscle mass
No.
Laziness
"On average"? Physical structure (hips) and muscle mass and power.
Well if I had asked "Why are women slower runners than men?" some contrarian like you would have written "I know plenty of women that are faster than men such as Paula Radcliffe."
Define "average" any logical way you want and my statement will be correct. You can start with average Olympic times in every running event, if you want. Or go the NCAA results. Or find the results of every fun run 5k in America and crunch those numbers.
OP wrote:
Well if I had asked "Why are women slower runners than men?" some contrarian like you would have written "I know plenty of women that are faster than men such as Paula Radcliffe."
Paula Radcliffe isn't a man.
u6u6 wrote:
--the most important was not size or body composition or blood factors, etc., but strength.
This^... men's muscles are stronger. No other factor makes as much of a difference as this one.
Because if women were not slower than men the human species would have gone extinct thousands of years ago.
ABC 123 wrote:
Because if women were not slower than men the human species would have gone extinct thousands of years ago.
You've figured it out!
Maybe women started faster but only the fastest men, and the slowest women, reproduced.
Evolution.
Roughly 10-11 % less muscle composition.
Hematocrit
Some lunatic wrote:
Laziness
Brilliant!
The ironic thing is that faster women put out more.
asdgfh wrote:
testosterone
ever wonder why large numbers of pre-puberity middle school girls slow down in high school yet the young guys always improve? asdgfh has that answer
It's really more the effects of testosterone vs the effects of estrogen.
That is, women don't just have lower levels of testosterone than men - they also have higher levels of estrogen. When people change during puberty, testosterone and estrogen have different physical effects on men and women that differentiate them and cause women "on average" to be slower
It related to several factors
1) testosterone This is the chemical that among other things stimulates muscle growth and strength. While men and women both produce testosterone men produce far more on the order of 10 times more. The effects of testosterone levels and athletic performance can also be seen when comparing men. Men who are good athletes almost always produce more testosterone than those who are not.
2) Body factors The human male has more surface area in his lungs on average than the female. Also our bones, muscles, ligaments and joints are stronger and more dense than women. This extra strength also allows us to train harder and put in more miles than women on average which translates to faster times.
3) body composition. As you stated women have on average more fat and less muscle, probably due to the child bearing process. This however translates to the fact that they have to carry more unneeded weight (at least as far as running) all the way around the track.
All of these factors make men faster and stronger in most athletic events. However interestingly enough there is now some research that states the gap between men and women decreases as the length of the competition increases. This can be seen in the equivalent times of different race distances. i.e.
1:58 800m= decent male HS runner= world champs final female runner
4:00 1500m= decent male college frosh runner= world leading female runner
30:38 10,000m=Good male college runner= world leading female runner
2:19 marathon=pro marathon male runner=world leading female runner
Some people would argue that in extreme long distance events like swimming say 8-12 hour etc. women are even better than men.
The simple answer is that God made women to be submissive to man. That's why she is not faster. It is God's will.
The Lord says: Be submissive, woman. You are to be submissive to your man.
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http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/07/06/261363/bachmann-women-submissive-to-husbands/