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Angelo Z · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:22 am Post subject: Males vs. Females

Before you get any sexist impressions from the title, keep reading. Ok so we all know that men will never be slower than women in sprinting. That's just the way men are built-more hormones, strength, etc. But I've seen and heard that women may in fact catch up one day to men in endurance races. Before I say anything else here's the problem: women have a wider pelvis and naturally have more bodyfat due to labor in the future. They are also more prone to osteoporosis than men therefore, they have more fragile bones. But from all those negative facts, there's one fact and that's that they are naturally more flexible. I've read that women have more mitochondria in their cells but who knows if that's what makes the difference. Anyways, another reason could be that scientisis made a poor assumption. They took the world record marathon for men, and compared it to the women and said "It's only 11 minutes slower." But in fact, let's think a moment as to why women are slower in the 10K for example. What could be the difference between Bekele's and Junxia Wang's 10K personal bests? Maybe men also have better endurance, or it could just be that they have more strength which allows for longer strides which adds up to the 3 minute difference. No one knows.
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Dan · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:37 am Post subject:

Elite women have a longer stride on average, relative to their height, then elite men. That may be due to flexibility. Men, however, have greater muscle density and are usually taller, negating the relative stride length...

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:23 am Post subject:

With those benefits, they should beat men in sprinting/endurance events. So ok, that's a benefit, but how can we relate that to the times of men in sprinting and longer events? How does that relate to a sub 10 second 100m and a 3:50 mile? I'm thinking two things: muscle cell makeup in long events and general, mechanic, strength in running.
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Dan · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:31 am Post subject:

Definitely not in sprinting. Raw power is much more important.

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:06 pm Post subject:

Yes, but it could it also be the ability to build more fast twitch fibers for men? It depends how you define power: moving weight as fast as possible, or greater ground impact allowing for more time in the air. Although I belive it gets more biologic than mechanical in endurance events. Like I mentioned before, the reason scientists stated that women would one day catch up to men is because they either don't know how much a 3 minute difference is, or women just came out of nowhere (like they already have) and set decent times. How many women did run during the 1900s?
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

Indeurr · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:46 am Post subject:

Angelo Z · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:25 am Post subject:

The energy from lactic acid must overlap with the other energy types. At about 2 laps into the mile is when this happens.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

Eddd the Sailor · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:50 am Post subject:

From what I've heard, women have the advantage over men in ultramarathons somewhere around 80 miles and longer.
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Dan · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:31 am Post subject:

Advantages doesn't necessarily mean faster times, though. Just that the gap closes considerably.

Dan
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Angelo Z · Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:04 pm Post subject:

Many believe that women are getting faster for the pure reason that the society is changing. The men came to their limits, now they are coming to their limits. In the end, the men's limit will be higher than the women's limit. That's why we see men struggling for seconds, and women shaving off minutes. Now that I am considerably faster in the mile than the women's record at a young age, doesn't that say anything? I have friends in highschool that run faster than the women's world record mile. I was wondering if women have to work harder meaning that their gains are slower than men though. Since we have German who ran a 4:22 mile as a HS freshman it might be correct. Although there are other reasons too. Most females don't take up running as much as males do that early on. And it even depends on the ages for both genders. I was told by my teacher in 7th grade that I was unique because not many other guys liked to run at that age. The fact is that running in general, is a gruelling event with some really hardcore training programmes. I wouldn't be surprised from what the statistics show.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

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