Ep. 105: Should Women Approach Exercise Differently from Men?

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Lots of studies have been done on the effects of exercise on men. But when it comes to exercise and women’s health, the scientific research falls short. Dr. Michaela Devries-Aboud (pictured above) is an exercise physiologist at the University of Waterloo. She’s one of a growing number of scientists examining how exercise affects the female body. Here, she and Medcan’s Clinical and Product Director of Sports Medicine, Therapy, Rehabilitation and Fitness, Dr. Andrew Miners, investigate what we know, and what we don’t, about sex differences and exercise.

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The way exercise affects the female physiology has been understudied. An analysis co-authored by Dr. Michaela Devries-Aboud showed that only 10 percent of papers ever published in the journal, Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, focussed exclusively on women. “And interestingly, 15 percent of papers didn’t even say what sex of people they used,” says Devries-Aboud. And if you think women are understudied, then people who identify as gender non-binary or transgender have been REALLY under-researched. Fortunately, an agency within the Canadian Institute for Health Research is focusing on sex and gender work to ensure that we know enough about everyone’s response to exercise to optimize the health of all Canadians. [3:31][6:29]

Nutritional strategies to prevent loss of muscle mass may be different for older women compared to older men. That’s because research indicates that older men and women synthesize muscle protein at different rates. The research indicates that older women are better able to sythesize muscle protein overall. However, male protein synthesis increases after they consume the macronutrient, while women’s protein synthesis doesn’t seem to. The difference may have implications for the optimal strategy for women to ward off sarcopenia, or the muscle-wasting effects of age. [9:47]

Research indicates carb-loading does not work for women the way it does for men, to the extent that Prof. Devries-Aboud believes that women shouldn't pursue it as a performance-enhancing strategy for sports where one's body weight is a factor in overall performance. "There may be better strategies for women to use," she says. [11:51]

Prof. Devries-Aboud's own research shows that for women, insulin sensitivity doesn't improve to the extent that it does for men who undergo exercise interventions. (Insulin sensitivity is a factor in Type-2 Diabetes, and overall health.) But that shouldn’t discourage you from working out! Prof. Devries-Aboud says, "We're not saying exercise doesn't work—we know it does. We just don't know why women are either taking longer to respond, or they're not responding as readily—we just don't know yet. And part of that might be because women are inherently more insulin sensitive than men to begin with." [23:06]

In studies that put their subjects into caloric deficits—meaning, they’re eating fewer calories than their metabolism burns—research indicates men lose more weight than women do—and the kind of weight they lose also is different. Men tend to lose fat when they’re in an energy deficit, while women tend to lose muscle mass. “The men had a greater energy deficit, yet, they lost less muscle mass than the women did. And they actually lost more body fat,” says Devries-Aboud. So in situations when they’re trying to lose weight, but hang onto their muscle mass, women may want to pay more attention to consuming adequate levels of protein. [25:27]


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