Experiences about training differences between men and women

[MrJean]

I read some time ago on T-Nation that fascinating article of Mark Rippetoe about the differences in training between men and women; that men have more mucle stength but that women have more muscle endurance.

This is the link:

Strength Training for Women | T Nation

I want to ask if men and women who train in the gym have noticed such differences?

For example couples who train together so as husband and wife, girl and boyfriend, etc. So if men and women who train together noticed or experienced such differences. And I mean especially weight strength training.

I wonder if there was in the past maybe a test where a man and a woman lift both the same weight during a time period to find out who could make the most reps.

I'm looking forward and I'm really curious about the experiences of man but for most women.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Our version of the article is here: Training Female Lifters: Neuromuscular Efficiency | Mark Rippetoe

Where in the article does it say that women have more endurance?

[MrJean]

I guess it was in that other article about that women and men can't train together of Chris Shugart. Maybe you know him.

[MrJean]

This is the sentence you used in the article you mentioned here.

This isn't because a woman possesses the fictional quality known as "strength endurance."

And I read this in the article of Chris Shugart.

Women generally recover faster between sets. As coach Charles Staley has written, women have better endurance-capacity than men.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The fact that women generally recover faster between sets has nothing to do with increased endurance capacity. It is a function of the fact that women are less efficient at motor unit recruitment, and as a result are using less total muscle mass during a set and creating less fatigue. If the set isn't as hard, you can do the next set with less rest. I suppose if you want to ascribe less time between sets as endurance, fine, but I think that confuses the issue.

[Ivan Stepic]

Men in general have a higher percentage of type II fibers which are more powerful and more fatigable. Is that correct? Maybe that could partially explain the differences.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Partially. But my explanation is pretty good.