10 Reasons Why Your Husband Will Always Be Faster & Stronger Than You
By admin
Doesn’t that headline just irk you? I certainly does me.
I was born in a lucky generation… where girls and boys were treated some what equal. My mom used to tell me all the time, you can do whatever your brother does. Just as well.
Oh yea? Then why can my smoking, 33 year old brother, smoke me in a 100 meter sprint?
Why is it that no matter how hard I work to get stronger, Dan makes strength gains so much faster than I can even dream? Here I am happy that I was able to add 20 extra pounds to my deadlift, I look over and he’s adding 50?
Really?
What gives!?
Sadly ladies here’s the truth…
Men will always be faster, stronger, and progress faster with exercise progression than women.
That sucks. Let me clarify something… this is comparing men and women who train equally. Of course, if your husband is out of shape, you’ll likely out perform him. This is why I love running distance, I know I can out run Dan any day of the week (he’s okay with that).
While I knew this to be true, I never really thought about the “whys” until reading The Sports Gene by David Epstein.
To be honest, learning the whys have made me feel better. I’m a-okay somewhat fine with Dan beating when we do 40 m sprints, knowing that it’s not me… it’s him.
10 Reasons Why Men Will Always Be Faster And Stronger
1. Men have 2x as much muscle as women.
You would think that this would make them twice as strong, right? Kind of. Men are twice as strong in their upper bodies, and about two-thirds stronger in their lower bodies.
2. Men have naturally 50% less fat than women.
15% of a man’s physique is composed of fat while a woman is 27%. Leaner bodies make for faster individuals. However, women burn fat vs carbs differently than men, and evidence suggest we may hold the upper hand at ultra-endurance sports!
3. Men have larger hearts.
They are able to pump out about 16% more liters of blood per heart beat… which means more oxygen to the muscles beneficial for cardio and strength training.
4. Men have larger lungs.
Like their hearts, this means more oxygen throughout their bodies with each breath. Number wise, they have a 25-30% high oxygen consumption than women.
5. Women have less red blood cells moving throughout their bodies.
Red blood cells carry oxygenated blood to muscles and other tissue. Helping not only during exercise, but also allows for men to recover faster from training.
6. Lack of hips.
We all know women are blessed with hips to handle pregnancy, but seriously, we’re fine giving those up! The wideness of the hips cause our femurs (the large leg bones that go from the hip to the knee) to be placed at a different angle than a mans. This angle difference allows them to run faster and more efficiently.
7. Men are hormonal.
This one shouldn’t come as a surprise, men produce large amounts of testosterone while women produce estrogen. We all know that testosterone helps to build muscle but what I find interesting is that it’s also linked to competitiveness… making men potentially more competitive than women. They have that edge that encourages them to win, failure isn’t an option.
8. Longer legs = long strides.
The average US man is just a bit taller than 5 Ft 9 In, while the average woman is 5 Ft 4 In… the longer legs of men yield to a longer stride, which means they go faster.
Dan is about 6’1, my 5’5 frame doesn’t stand a chance in a speed race.
9. Men are more efficient at cooling off.
Men sweat, while women glisten, right? What that really means is that men are able to cool themselves off more efficiently than women. Us ladies, on the other hand, tend to flush during physical exertion which actually hurts us due to it’s inefficiency for maintaining energy.
10. It’s all mental.
From the time a baby boy begins to crawl, his parents are filling him with dreams of sports and athletics. They are picturing college scholarships and urging him to be competitive. Girls on the other hand aren’t bred this way. Being competitive is something many women are timid about, they hold back. Part of it may be the testosterone, as mentioned above, but the other part is simply how boys and girls are raised.
I saw my older brother excelling in sports at a young age and I think that was enough to fuel my own competitiveness.
Is your husband/significant other a natural athlete?
Do you get mad that your guy is better at physical activities?
I don’t get mad that Dan is better, I get upset that he gets better faster. I can work my ass off for improvements, while he seems to get better at something in the blink of an eye. Right now he’s working on running a 5K and his goal is a time that took me years to accomplish. Not. Cool.
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