The relative power output and relative lean body mass of World and Olympic male and female champions with implications for gender equity

Abstract

A uniform measure of the gender-related differential performance of female and male Olympic and World champions is proposed: relative power output applied to the environment. Laws of physics are employed to derive equations for estimating relative power output. In previous controlled laboratory studies, equally trained male and female athletes were shown to have a relative power output not significantly different from relative lean body mass. As to the estimated power output for 32 Olympic and World championship events contested between 1976 and 2004, eight in running, four in speed skating, three in jumping, twelve in swimming and five in rowing: 100% of the 32 event mean percentage differences in power output and 96% of the 411 event percentage differences in power output are within one standard deviation of the appropriate lean body mass percentage difference, consistent with equality of training. For 1952-1972, significantly higher percentage differences in power output are estimated in running and swimming compared with 1976-2004, consistent with women being less well trained than men during that earlier period. It is noted that efforts in recent years to provide equality of opportunity for female athletes coincide with equalization of estimated relative power output in competition with the relative lean body mass.

To what extent does sexual dimorphism exist in competitive powerlifters?

“…Within the general population, sexual dimorphism is readily observed in a range of gross (absolute) anthropometric variables, with males typically being taller and heavier as well as possessing more muscle but less fat mass than females (Lee et al, 2000;Sierra-Johnson, Johnson, Bailey, & Turner, 2004). Similar degrees of sexual dimorphism have also been observed in elite female and male divers (Carter & Ackland, 1998), volleyball players (Gualdi-Russo & Zaccagni, 2001), middle-distance runners (De Ridder, Smith, Wilders, & Underhay, 2003), swimmers (Coetzee, 2007), and mixed athletic populations (Drabik, 1988;Stefani, 2006). In addition, Carter and Ackland (1998) and Gualdi-Russo and Zaccagni (2001) reported inter-gender differences in body fat distribution patterns and found that females were less mesomorphic and more endomorphic than their male counterparts.…”

“…Overall, these results suggest that successful female and male athletes in the same sport have relatively similar proportional characteristics and that the inter-gender differences in absolute performance reflect differences in their absolute anthropometry (Stefani, 2006). Such findings suggest that if females are to perform at the same absolute standard as males, they may need to develop the same absolute anthropometric characteristics as their male counterparts.…”

“…Such comparisons may add to our understanding of the determinants of muscular strength in female and male lifters (Vanderburgh & Batterham, 1999;Vanderburgh & Dooman, 2000) and how inter-gender differences in anthropometry may contribute to these differences (Stefani, 2006). This type of research could be described as an examination of anthropometric sexual dimorphism, where sexual dimorphism refers to the existence of two different forms (of some characteristic) in a human population (Carter & Ackland, 1998).…”

Performance Characteristics of Long-Track Speed Skaters: A Literature Review

“…In contrast to relatively sedentary age-matched controls, talented female speed skaters showed no gradual fat increase in their adolescence [23]. The delivered external power per kilogram lean body weight did not differ between female and male skaters, despite the higher power outputs of male skaters [12,24]. Although most anthropometrical studies were conducted in the previous century, the more recent studies [16,21] suggest that anthropometry has not changed over time.…”

Physiological Correlates of Skating Performance in Women's and Men's Ice Hockey

“…This difference in body composition affects performance when the body is lifted against gravity, or when physiological values are related to body weight (18). Therefore, women have a lower power-to-total-weight ratio since power output is related to lean body mass (21).…”