Are women as strong as men - muscle mass vs. muscle mass?

[StevenNevets]

^title.


I'm a guy, just wondering. Don't know where else to post it.

[sweetgirl87]

We weren't made to be as strong as men.

[Vadim Beliaev]

^title.


I'm a guy, just wondering. Don't know where else to post it.

lower body - on par

upper body no due to bone structure.

[guest89]

lower body - on par

upper body no due to bone structure.

So theoretically women can squat as much as men?

[Tiffany_P]

I've heard that pound for pound, women's muscles are just as strong. Of course, we have fewer muscle fibers (especially in the upper body), so it's difficult for us to achieve the muscle mass of even an untrained man.

[uxoriouswidow]

So theoretically women can squat as much as men?

The squat involves a lot more than just the lower body! That said, I was once very impressed by the sight of a woman squatting 80kgs for reps with decent form.

[Emoore]

At the cellular level there's no difference between female muscle and male muscle. So, theoretically a woman with X pounds of muscle mass will be as strong as a male with X pounds of muscle mass. Women are designed to carry more muscle in the lower body, so she will probably have stronger legs and glutes and he will have stronger arms/back/chest.

[TheGr8S1]

lower body - on par

upper body no due to bone structure.

So women can jump as high and run as fast as men? Because of their hormones men have stronger muscles all over. It's commonly perceived that women may have up to par or stronger lower bodies, but the lower body sports and records say otherwise. There's a reason why men and women rarely compete in sports for physical prowess (and why some sports have weight classes), because of the strength advantage.

[dungeonmistress]

pound for pound i think some of us are stronger than the average male. for instance, i am an ex powerlifter. my best 1 rep maxes are: 200 lbs for bench, 250 lbs for squat, and 350 lbs for deadlift.

[WannaBeAthlete]

So women can jump as high and run as fast as men? Because of their hormones men have stronger muscles all over. It's commonly perceived that women may have up to par or stronger lower bodies, but the lower body sports and records say otherwise. There's a reason why men and women rarely compete in sports for physical prowess (and why some sports have weight classes), because of the strength advantage.

The wider hips are actually a disadvantage when it comes to some of explosive motor movements including running and jumping.

Also - I think a lot of people confuse size of legs with muscular strength. Lots of women have bigger lower bodies in proportion to their upper, but how many of them are squatting deep-heavy in relation to males? Most are still far behind in "relative" lower body strength.

Males typically have a stronger ham/quad ratio.

Haven't read it in a while but I believe glute activation is a real issue with female athletes. Biomechanically males hips will fire and activate while in females this doesn't happen as often and the knees buckle in.

All increases ACL stress and potential injury as well...it isn't just hormonal advantages.

[exacto]

We weren't made to be as strong as men.

yup, you were designed like that so you can work in a cramped are ( ie a Kitchen)

[WannaBeAthlete]

At the cellular level there's no difference between female muscle and male muscle.

Yeah, that is in my NSCA book "Essentials of Strength and Conditioning" somewhere...I can't remember exactly but it states that there is no difference in force potential assuming identical cross-sectional area/fiber type with respect to muscle between males and females. I can't find it in the book though...and haven't read it in sometime so I might be off slightly.

[Vadim Beliaev]

So theoretically women can squat as much as men?

If we could isolate lower body and upper body, then yes lower body of women would be on par.

as for squatting as much as men - how many men do you know that can do this at 150 lbs?



and hormones isnt the most important part

again, there is no sport that uses just the lower body. In the upper body, a woman is disadvantaged due to her bone structure. This is why overall, women are weaker and cannot compete with men equally.

[TheGr8S1]

again, there is no sport that uses just the lower body. In the upper body, a woman is disadvantaged due to her bone structure. This is why overall, women are weaker and cannot compete with men equally.

Lower body dominant sports (like 90% lower body) then (i.e. sprinting and jumping). I also forgot to add you have to account bone structures like wannabeathlete said (adding to what i missed)

[julzy]

I think that men have more potential for muscle gain than women, overall, but that doesn't mean that women can't be stronger than men. If you compare a woman who works hard to develop more than what she has, to a man who is just a couch potato, the woman is usually going to be the stronger one. This does not mean that the man does not have the potential to become stronger, but at that moment he is weaker than her.

[Vadim Beliaev]

right

i know girls who would make 90% of this board question their manhood

[spartan09]

The wider hips are actually a disadvantage when it comes to some of explosive motor movements including running and jumping.

Also - I think a lot of people confuse size of legs with muscular strength. Lots of women have bigger lower bodies in proportion to their upper, but how many of them are squatting deep-heavy in relation to males? Most are still far behind in "relative" lower body strength.

Males typically have a stronger ham/quad ratio.

Haven't read it in a while but I believe glute activation is a real issue with female athletes. Biomechanically males hips will fire and activate while in females this doesn't happen as often and the knees buckle in.

All increases ACL stress and potential injury as well...it isn't just hormonal advantages.

Yep I learned that the wider hips on females cause them to be at a mechanical disadvantage when it comes to jumping and sprinting. Also men tend to have more fast twitch muscle fibers which also helps them produce more power pound for pound.

[drew101]

Nope.

Men are typically stronger in every aspect when it comes to muscles; legs, arms, chest, etc.

[superman11978]

This is a third grade question asked by girls who are taller and stronger than all the boys in their class and believe that women are stronger than men. By 8th grade their opinions have changed. Watch the WNBA and get back to me.

Women can approach men's strength in the lower body, but they have to work a lot harder to get that strength. And we're not talking explosive athletic strength here, just general brute strength. But obviously a man who works just as hard will surpass that woman (assuming no drugs, no freakish genetics). As for upper body, it's not even close.

Women have a lot of great things to offer that men don't, and without women the world would be a crappy place before we went extinct, but let's not go crazy here.

[Elit3Keraed]

Seems to me like women gain lower body strength a hell of a lot easier than men. I remember back in high school. There was this girl who never worked out in her life, stereotypical blonde. big boobs nice legs etc. She showed up half the guys in our ROTC unit. She wound up doing 275 leg press about 5 times.

Upper body wise she couldnt curl 25 pounds with a barbell

[myosinner]

At the cellular level there's no difference between female muscle and male muscle. So, theoretically a woman with X pounds of muscle mass will be as strong as a male with X pounds of muscle mass. Women are designed to carry more muscle in the lower body, so she will probably have stronger legs and glutes and he will have stronger arms/back/chest.

This. At the cellular level muscle is muscle. Its density and thickness of tissue that make all the difference. Mens muscle tissue is much more dense and generally even untrained men have more of it..

[nesse]

^title.


I'm a guy, just wondering. Don't know where else to post it.

isnt it

women have 40% overall strength of a man's
women have 55% upperbody strength of a man's
and 75% lowerbody strength of a man's

something like that......

[reboot42]

Pound for pound-according to this research....YES, woman are as strong as men.

In fact, our studies show that females develop muscle strength at the same rate as males, and on a pound-for pound basis are equally strong

In one of our largest studies, with over 900 male and female participants, we tested the leg strength of both genders. In terms of actual weight lifted, the men were 50 percent stronger than the women. However, the men also were, on average, 50 pounds heavier than the women. We therefore decided to compare leg strength relative to the individual's lean body weight. On a muscle-for-muscle basis we found essentially no difference in male and female leg strength. Both genders performed 10 computer-monitored leg
extensions with 75 percent of their lean body weight. Other researchers have attained similar results, and no scientist can distinguish between male and female muscle tissue under the microscope, because there is no physiological difference.

http://www.phytkidz.com/pdf/8-9%20Ci...or%20Women.pdf

[Kelei]

Pound for pound female and male muscle tissue displays the same amount of strength, the reasons why males in general have greater strength is due to having a greater total number of muscle fibers, greater hypertrophy potential, greater CNS strength potential (testosterone acts on the CNS to allow greater MU recruitment), and also testosterone influences fast twitch fiber expression, so basically it means that men;

- have more total muscle fibers
- have greater hypertrophy potential
- have access to a higher percentage of thier total MU pool
- have a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers

I've met some very strong women before who are considerably stronger than an average man, but a 150 pound man is going to be much stronger than a 150 pound woman provided equal training experience.

It's great to see so many women training to get strong these days, just because you'll never be as strong as a man is no reason to get discouraged, I have a great deal of respect for women who train hard, in fact I know many women who train harder than a lot of guys that I know.

[janise1990]

If you compare one pound of muscle mass from a woman's body and one pound from a guy it'd be exactly the same. However, guys naturally have more muscle mass overall because one of the main hormones in building muscle is testosterone and men have a lot more of that than women.

[Emoore]

I've met some very strong women before who are considerably stronger than an average man, but a 150 pound man is going to be much stronger than a 150 pound woman provided equal training experience.

Obviously, because women have higher essential body fat than men. An interesting question would be what if you had a man and a woman, both 150lb, both, say 15% body fat, both the same height, same limb length etc. Who would be stronger?

[KyleAaron]

It would depend on their training, Emoore. One who trains for strength will have it, one who does not will not. Maybe one is a runner and the other a powerlifter.

A strength-trained man will tend to be stronger than a strength-trained woman, and an untrained man stronger than an untrained woman.

But... a strength-trained woman will be stronger than an untrained man, generally speaking. This is why untrained pudgy and skinny men so often say, "women shouldn't lift heavy."

And in any case these are trends only, they don't affect individuals. What an individual achieves depends on their consistent effort over time much more than their gender or anything else. As women like Emoore know very well.

Consistent effort over time gets results. This is the truth of many things, but especially physical training. Many are reluctant to accept this simple but difficult truth.

[JAWS22]

^title.


I'm a guy, just wondering. Don't know where else to post it.

Ok, if a man and a woman both have 15 inch arms, the male will have testosterone pumping through his body, while the woman has estrogen. Testosterone gives you strength plain and simple, the more you got, the more natural strength you have. Women have a fraction of the test that we have. So no mass for mass pound for pound they arent.... in general...

[KyleAaron]

Testosterone helps you lift heavier, oestrogen makes you weak? So we could just test people's testosterone levels at the Olympics, then nobody would have to bother lifting weights or throwing hammers, awesome.

Strong broscience.

[JAWS22]

Testosterone helps you lift heavier, oestrogen makes you weak? So we could just test people's testosterone levels at the Olympics, then nobody would have to bother lifting weights or throwing hammers, awesome.

Strong broscience.

Natural strength means what you get without training. 2 Guys who never trained before, the one who has higher test, is more than likely gonna be stronger. Common bodybuilding knowledge.