Women really DO get more exhausted during exercise than men - and electrics in the chest muscles are to blame.

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A new study revealed that women have 'greater electrical activation' of the chest muscles that control breathing, making it harder for them to breathe during exercise

It has long been known that men can outrun women on the sports field and now researchers think they have discovered one of the reasons for this.
A new study revealed that women have ‘greater electrical activation’ of the chest muscles that control breathing, making it harder for them to breathe during exercise.
It means women struggle to catch their breath as quickly as men of a similar age.
The difference is seen in younger and older adults, as well as people with chronic heart and lung diseases.
Human movement expert, Dr Dennis Jensen, said: ‘Our study uniquely showed that sex differences in activity-related breathlessness could be explained by the awareness of greater electrical activation of the respiratory muscles - specifically the diaphragm - needed to achieve any given ventilation during exercise in healthy young women compared to men.
‘Our findings indicated that greater electrical activation of the respiratory muscles during exercise in women is needed to compensate for their biologically smaller lungs, airways and breathing muscles.’
Dr Jensen and his team carried out the experiments at McGill University in Canada and the findings were published in the journal Experimental Physiology.
He said: ‘Fifty healthy, non-smoking men and women aged 20 to 40 years completed a maximum exercise test on a stationary bicycle.

 

‘During exercise, we monitored the participants cardiovascular, metabolic and ventilatory responses to exercise using computerised equipment.
‘At regular intervals during exercise, participants rated the intensity of their breathlessness using a 10-point scale.

Greater electrical activation of the respiratory muscles during exercise in women is needed to compensate for their biologically smaller lungs, airways and breathing muscles

‘Using a multipair electrode catheter placed in the participants' oesophagus, we also recorded the electromyogram of the diaphragm - an index of the drive to breathe that presumably originates in the central nervous system - throughout exercise.
‘These measurements were then analysed and compared between men and women.’
Dr Jensen said the team’s discovery could help researchers and doctors to find new treatments for breathlessness and improve exercise ability in the elderly, or those with chronic heart and lung conditions.

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