Women are fitter than men, says study

Women are more athletic than men with 30% faster oxygen processing than men.

Women and athlete

Though men are generally considered to be remarkably fit for all sorts of exercise, a new study has revealed that women have a natural capacity to process oxygen far quickly than men while doing exercises,which make them more athletic.

The findings revealed that the quick processing of oxygen helps the body cells to undergo less strain in women. Especially during aerobic exercise, the body needs sufficient amount of oxygen. Some of the common aerobic exercises include cardio; spinning, running; swimming, walking, hiking etc require sufficient supply of oxygen.

"The findings are contrary to the popular assumption that men's bodies are more naturally athletic," said lead author Thomas Beltrame, Professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

"We found that women's muscles extract oxygen from the blood faster, which scientifically speaking indicates a superior aerobic system," said Richard Hughson.

To compare the oxygen uptake and muscle oxygen extraction, the study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism took some healthy and active young men and women of the same age and they were weight during a treadmill exercise.

The study discovered that that women were relatively more athletic than men with 30% quicker oxygen processing throughout the body during the exercise.

Women were also found to accumulate lesser molecules associated with muscle fatigue, poor performance and effort perception.

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