OBS: Do You Know That Women Have To Work HARDER Than Men To Lose Weight And Get Fit

It’s bad news for women who work out with their partners.

Scientists have discovered that when it comes to the benefits of exercise, the odds appear to be firmly stacked against the fairer sex.

New research suggests that women have to do a lot more exercise to get the same health benefits as men, in terms of both diet and fitness.

Scientists at the University of Missouri who put obese men and women on the same fitness programme found men reaped significantly more benefits.

And experts are now warning that while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women must also address their diet to get the same results.

During the study, Professor Jill Kanaley and her colleagues looked at the heart rate and blood pressure of nearly 75 obese men and women with Type 2 diabetes.

They all followed a programme of aerobic (i.e. cardiovascular) exercise for 16 weeks. They all worked at an effort of 65 per cent, which was worked out based on each individual’s ability.

Despite everyone exercising at relatively the same speed, the researchers found that men got far more benefit from the exercise than women.

Over the 16 weeks, women’s recovery time did not improve, whereas men’s did, indicating their fitness had improved. They also lost more weight.

Commenting on the study, Dr Chris Easton, a lecturer in clinical exercise psychology at the University of West Scotland, told MailOnline: ‘This adds to a growing body of evidence that men and women respond to exercise in different ways.

‘One main reason for this is body composition – men have a higher proportion of of muscle of women – and muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat.

‘This is crucially important as it means that even when they are resting, men burn more calories than women. This indicates that women really have to look at their diet as well as exercise, whereas men may be able to get by on exercise alone.’

He said that go get the same effect as a man working at 65 per cent effort, a woman would effectively need to work at around 85 per cent effort – or work out for longer.

He added that men naturally have an advantage when it comes to fitness as they have larger hearts and lungs and a higher proportion of haemoglobin – that part of the blood that carries oxygen around the body, which is vital during exercise.

Study leader Professor Kanaley said: ‘This research highlights that the advantages we think exercise is going to give individuals may not be the same across genders, particularly for those who have Type 2 diabetes. This is a concern because there are high mortality rates with Type 2 diabetes, especially for women.’

‘We keep assuming that exercise will do the trick—we think when we tell people to “go train,” regardless of gender, everyone will get the same results. Our research indicates certain exercises may not be enough for women. These findings could help health providers and researchers develop targeted exercise interventions for obese women.

The study was published in the journal Metabolism.

The latest figures from Health Survey for England show that 62.8 per cent of  adults in the UK are overweight or obese.

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