Response to Exercise

The physiologic responses of young women to moderate exercise do not differ sufficiently from those of men to necessitate wide differentiation of physical performance standards. The only difference in the response to moderate exercise is a more rapid and a greater increase of the pulse rate in women. When the work is strenuous, more significant differences in response appear. The endurance in running of women is only half that of men. The maximum pulmonary ventilation, oxygen intake and respiratory quotient arc higher in men. In general, the sex differences are similar to those found between men of low and high fitness for exercise. There is considerable overlapping between the groups and the performance of the best women is comparable to that of the poorest men. In another study, Ceylonese girls gave consistently lower mean fitness indices at all ages in both moderate and severe exercise.

The difference in performance ability between the two sexes is not apparent until after puberty. At puberty, development of performance ability stops or even declines in females, while it continues to advance at a slightly retarded rate in males. At puberty, boys begin to excel in strength and endurance. Maximum endurance declines rapidly in girls after 14 years of age.

Male and female are equally efficient at all ages in skilled work of mild intensity. No significant sex differences in work decrement are found when women and men work together at routine tasks. Women, in general, tend to drop in the level of production sooner, and men have a slightly higher level of performance except in small manipulative operations such as handwriting. Out of nineteen hundred different operations in twenty-one industries, only 331 are unfit for women.