Phys Ed: What Exercise Science Doesn't Know About Women

Larissa Vasconcelos

Reading Reaction Journal #3

Reference

Reynolds, G. (2010, June 30). Phys Ed: What Exercise Science Doesn't Know About Women. New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2011, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/phys-ed-what-exercise-science-doesnt-know-about-women/

Summary

This article shows a study on the role of protein in recovery from hard exercise. A study indicates that the protein is thought to aid in the repair of muscle damage after hard exercise. It also discusses how women's bodies respond differently compared to men's bodies when they are submitted to certain exercises. Why women respond differently seems obvious, because of the hormones. However the big surprise in the search results was the women, differently from men, showed no clear benefit from protein during recovery.

Reaction

The research shown in this article is very interesting, specially for female athletes. Usually scientists rely on male subjects exclusively, particularly in the exercise-science realm, where, numerically, fewer female athletes exist to be studied. Thus usually the female athletes tend to follow the same "recipe" given to male athletes. However, according to results found in the research, women often react quite differently. Women have the hormone estrogen, which, according to some new science, has greater effects on metabolism and muscle health.

Based on the difference shown by the survey, it is clear that there must be continuity in the studies presented in order to improve the performance of female athletes. The findings need to be replicated and the female athletes should view with skepticism the results from exercise studies that use only male subjects.