Sports

4 ways women are physically stronger than men

Published

6 months ago

June 1, 2025

4 ways women are physically stronger than men

In September, Tara Dower became the fastest person ever to complete the Appalachian Trail. Her record – 40 days, 18 hours and 6 minutes – was 13 hours faster than the previous record holder, a man. That same year, 18-year-old Audrey Jimenez made history in Arizona as the first girl to win a Division 1 high school state wrestling title – competing against boys.

Across a variety of sports, women are not just catching up after generations of exclusion from athletics – they’re setting the pace. In ultramarathons, women regularly outperform men, especially as distances stretch toward the extreme. Jasmin Paris, who in 2024 became one of only 20 people ever to finish the brutal 100-mile Barkley Marathons race in under 60 hours – while pumping breast milk.

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In long-distance swimming, female athletes now so routinely excel that within the community, their records are just part of the sport. In climbing last year, Barbara “Babsi” Zangerl became the first person, man or woman, ever to “flash” – climb without prior practice and sans falls – the towering Yosemite rock formation El Capitan in under three days.

These aren’t just athletic feats. They’re cultural resets. Experts say we’re finally waking up to what women’s bodies are capable of.

And it’s not just young women blazing new physical trails.

“In the Masters 70-plus, they just set a record for the women’s deadlift,” says exercise physiologist Stacy Sims, who teaches at Stanford University and the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. “Older women are demonstrating that ‘I am strong and I can do this.’”

– – –

Built to endure

Generally, discussions of “strength” have meant brute force and speed over short distances – qualities historically associated with male physiology. But stamina, recovery, resilience and adaptability are as essential to athletic performance. And in those areas, female physiology holds real advantages, experts in sports science, human physiology, and biological anthropology have found.

The myth of female fragility is relatively modern. For most of human history, women were hauling gear, tracking prey, and walking eight to 10 miles a day – often while pregnant, menstruating, nursing or carrying children (one estimate found that hunter-gatherer women covered more than 3,000 miles in a child’s first four years of life).

That evolutionary foundation undergirds today’s feats, experts say. “Female bodies have superior fatigue resistance,” says Sophia Nimphius, pro-vice-chancellor of sport at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.

In test after test, female muscles outlast men’s when doing repetitive, if lower-weight, work, according to the pioneering research of Sandra Hunter, an exercise physiologist at the University of Michigan. Hunter’s research – and others since – has shown that women’s muscles fatigue more slowly than men’s, so they can knock out more reps, more consistently. Men might start strong with heavier lifts, but when the workout gets long? Women can keep going, sometimes twice as long, or longer, outlasting even the most jacked guys.

That endurance capacity is likely due to female bodies preferentially using slow-burning fat over quickly exhausted carbohydrates, in both athletes and less sporty people, studies have shown.

In addition to using fat for staying power, fatigue-resistant slow-twitch muscle fibers are generally more common in women’s bodies (though all bodies vary in their proportion of muscle fibers according to individual genetics). This muscle type is also more efficient than fast-twitch, which are generally higher in men’s muscles. “Our muscles do more with less,” Nimphius says.

– – –

Recovery and resilience

Beyond endurance, several small studies on sprinting and heavy weightlifting have shown that women also recover from hard workouts more quickly. Slow-twitch muscles inherently have a higher capacity to recover, but the female advantage may also be explained by faster healing: A study shows two times faster muscle repair rates for female mice (though mice studies don’t always translate to humans). The reason? There’s strong evidence that estrogen reduces inflammation and supports muscle repair (one reason that Sims recommends postmenopausal women get targeted training support and recovery time).

However, some studies show that women are more prone to other kinds of sports injuries, especially certain kinds of knee and ACL injuries, but it’s not yet known whether that’s explained by biomechanical differences in bodies, hormones, or poor training. Some researchers say the greater injury rates in women are because existing research is based on men’s bodies: “Female bodies are different – I tell [women] the protocols you’re applying aren’t meant for your body,” says Sims.

Feats of bodily strength – in both ordinary women and trained athletes – are more than just purely physical. Many experts on competitive strength remark on this mental aspect of female endurance: “I do think that there is a mental grit, a resilience factor that helps women go to a place in their mind – a state that allows them to continue to push to the limit,” says Emily Kraus, director of the Female Athlete Science and Translational Research (FASTR) Program at Stanford University.

– – –

A changing future

Men have usually defined strength by what their bodies tend to be good at, but max bench presses or fastest sprint times, both of which men tend to excel at, are just a few ways to test the human body. If we instead focused on endurance, resilience, longevity and recovery, the narrative of who is “strong” would probably have a female form, many experts say.

Currently, young female athletes still don’t receive the same level of encouragement, training, and scientific attention as boys, Nimphius says. Research into girl’s and women’s health, while slowly improving, still lags – just 6 percent of sports and exercise research has looked exclusively at female bodies, according to a 2021 study.

Considering all the wins for women already, what would the landscape look like if we designed sports science around female physiology – rather than downsizing routines created for men? The current generation of women athletes is challenging the very architecture of athleticism. Soon, experts say, they will have better information to help female athletes understand and train, and that will be true for weekend warriors and 5k racing types as well. Ongoing and anticipated sports science studies will be “a game changer for girls and women – not just now, but in five, ten, fifteen years from now,” Kraus says. “And that’s really exciting.”

– – –

Four things women’s bodies do exceptionally well

– Pain tolerance

Human bodies endure all kinds of pain – from menstrual cramps and childbirth to back injuries and broken bones. Pain is subjective, so difficult to measure, but most research agrees with your grandma – women seem to handle pain better. Athletes are pain experts, and numerous studies show that they have higher pain tolerance than non-athletes – and when you break it down by sex, the limited research shows that female athletes don’t differ from their male counterparts’ pain tolerance despite higher pain sensitivity and that women are more likely to play through injuries. This is probably due to both biology and experience, says Sophia Nimphius, pro-vice-chancellor of sport at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. A 1981 study put it plainly: “Female athletes had the highest pain tolerance and threshold.”

– Immunity

Among mammals, including humans, it is widely accepted that females have stronger immune systems than males. That’s due to the power of estrogen, and also of the XX chromosome carried by women but not men, which provides more variability in immune function. As the University of Minnesota evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk wrote in a 2009 article, “There is no contest about the identity of the sicker sex – it is males, almost every time. Everyone knows that old age homes have more widows than widowers, but the disparity extends far beyond the elderly.” (There is a downside though; the majority of autoimmune disease patients are female. It’s the cost that women bear for an aggressive immune system.)

– Resilience

Women’s bodies seem better built for the long haul – less wear and tear, more staying power, according to the limited research. The data on long-term exercise suggests women may also pay a lower price for physical strain. For instance, the British Heart Foundation studied the vascular condition of 300 Masters’ athletes (meaning over age 40), that included a mix of long-distance runners, cyclists, rowers and swimmers. In men, vascular aging increased among the athletes – by some markers up to 10 years, increasing their risk of cardiovascular issues. Among the female athletes, the reverse was true, they had biologically younger vascular systems, lowering their risk of heart problems.

– Longevity

Arguably, the truest test of any body is longevity. And with rare exceptions, no matter the species or culture, women live longer. That’s partly behavioral – men tend to take more risks that can kill them – but it’s also biological. Women tend to survive disease, starvation and injury at higher rates than men do. Studies have shown that the Y chromosome, which is unique to men, can degrade over time – a phenomenon known as mosaic loss of Y. This degradation has been linked to a range of health issues in men, including increased risks of heart disease and cancer.

Sports

Spartan Digest – Winter Break 2025-26

Published

52 minutes ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

A preview of the Case Western Reserve University varsity athletic events for the period of winter break (December 8-January 3) and a recap of the events from the previous week of competition (December 1-7). Schedule is subject to change with updates posted on athletics.case.edu when they are known.

Last Week’s Recap

Women’s Basketball (0-2)

Dropped a pair of close contests last week, falling to Marietta 67-66 at home on Wednesday and Denison 74-61 on Saturday on the road

Junior guard Mya Hartjes led all Spartans with 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game

Wrestling (1-2)

Went 1-2 at the Yellow Jacket Duals on Friday night on the campus of Baldwin Wallace University

Lost to Division II UNC Pembroke 35-12 and #20 BW 31-15 before defeating Wilmington 45-7

Senior Art Martinez was named the University Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week after he won all three of his matches, including two by pin

Men’s and Women’s Track & Field

Opened the 2025-26 indoor season by hosting the Spartan Alumni Holiday Classic in the Veale Center on Saturday

Broke school records in the women’s 200-meter dash and 4×400-meter relay and matched the program record in the 60-meter dash

Combined to win seven events with 11 finishes in the top three

Wednesday, December 10

Schedule

CWRU Men’s Basketball (4-3) at Hiram (3-4)

Hiram, Ohio · Price Gymnasium

7:30 PM

Live Stats | Video

Saturday, December 13

Schedule

CWRU Men’s Basketball (4-3) at Allegheny (2-4)

Meadville, Pa. · David V. Wise Center

1:00 PM

Live Stats | Video

Saturday, December 20

Schedule

CWRU Wrestling (2-2) at Chocolate Duals

Grantham, Pa. · Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena

10:00 AM vs. #17 Ithaca (0-0)

12:00 PM at Messiah (3-1)

2:00 PM vs. #12 Arcadia (1-3)

Live Results | Video

Monday, December 29

Schedule

CWRU Women’s Basketball (5-3) vs. Oberlin (3-4)

BW Invitational

Berea, Ohio · Ursprung Gymnasium

3:00 PM

Live Stats | Video | Tickets

Tuesday, December 30

Schedule

CWRU Men’s Basketball (4-3) vs. Kalamazoo (2-5)

Cleveland, Ohio · Horsburgh Gymnasium

2:00 PM

Live Stats | Video | Digital Program

CWRU Women’s Basketball (5-3) at #21 Baldwin Wallace (5-2)

BW Invitational

Berea, Ohio · Ursprung Gymnasium

3:00 PM

Live Stats | Video | Tickets

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Schedule

CWRU Wrestling (2-2) at 2026 UAA Challenge

Manhattan, N.Y. · John A. Paulson Center

10:00 AM vs. Muhlenberg (1-0)

11:45 AM vs. Johns Hopkins (0-1)

1:30 PM vs. Gettysburg (1-1)

Live Results | Video

CWRU Women’s Basketball (5-3) vs. Geneva (1-5*)

Cleveland, Ohio · Horsburgh Gymnasium

1:00 PM

Live Stats | Video | Digital Program

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Sports

Catherwood & Irving Selected As UMass Student-Athletes Of The Week

Published

1 hour ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts track and field junior Collin Catherwood and hockey junior Jackson Irving have been named the UMass Student-Athletes of the Week, it was announced on Tuesday. The duo will be honored at the UMass Sports Luncheon this Wednesday at the Berkshire Dining Commons from Noon to 1 p.m.

Guest speakers will be football video coordinator Bill Sisler and Fall Male Scholar Athlete Award winner Keegan Andrews of Football.

At the Harvard Classic on Saturday, Catherwood took the top spot in the men’s 5K with a time of 13:58.38. The Central Valley, N.Y. native also broke the men’s 5K indoor program record.

Irving made 37 saves to backstop hockey to a 2-0 win at No. 12/11 Northeastern on Sunday in a non-conference matchup at Matthews Arena, recording his second shutout of the season. The Newbury, Massachusetts native currently holds a .934 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA on the year.

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Sports

WEEK ONE CIAA INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Published

1 hour ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Charlotte, NC (December 9, 2025) – Week One of CIAA Indoor Track and Field showcased both returning standouts and emerging talent as programs opened the season with competitive early meets. The conference saw strong sprint performances, record breaking throws, and athletes establishing early momentum. The CIAA recognizes four student athletes for their standout performances during the week of November 30 through December 6.

WOMEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Olivia Cosby, Winston Salem State

Junior sprinter Olivia Cosby opened her season with an impressive performance at the Visit Winston Salem College Kickoff at JDL. Cosby placed third in the 400m seeded with a time of 56.83 and later anchored the 4x400m relay to a total time of 3:58.54, closing her leg with a strong 58.72 split. Her effort set an early tone for the Rams as they launched their indoor campaign.

WOMEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Breanna Reid, Bowie State

Freshman thrower Breanna Reid made a memorable collegiate debut at the Fastrack Season Opener, breaking the Bowie State school record in the weight throw with a mark of 14.32m. Reid’s second place finish introduced her as an immediate contender in the CIAA and showcased significant promise for the Bulldogs’ throws unit.

MEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Dareon Faircloth, Bowie State

Sophomore sprinter Dareon Faircloth began his season in commanding fashion, winning the 60m dash in 6.74 to set a new Bowie State school record. He added a runner up finish in the 200m with a time of 21.89, demonstrating elite range and establishing himself as one of the conference’s top early season sprinters.

MEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Darius Brown, Bluefield State

Senior jumper Darius Brown delivered a strong showing in a competitive meet that included Division I opponents, placing third in the triple jump with a mark of 14.55m. His performance provided a solid start to his final indoor season and highlighted his experience and consistency.

Media Contact
Anna M. Butzlaff
Associate Commissioner, Strategic Communications
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)
abutzlaff@theciaa.com

About the CIAA

Founded in 1912, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is the first, and longest running, African American athletic conference in the United States and one of the most recognized conferences in Division II. The CIAA conducts 14 championships attended by more than 150000 fans from around the country. The Basketball Tournament has been honored as a 2019 Champion of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism by Sports Destination Management for both 2018 and 2019.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the CIAA is governed by the Presidents and Chancellors of its 12 member institutions: Bowie State University, Bluefield State University, Claflin University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Livingstone College, Shaw University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and Winston Salem State University. For more information on the CIAA, visit theciaa.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

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Sports

MIAC Athletes of the Week – December 9, 2025

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners for swimming & diving and indoor track & field on Tuesday. Student-athletes from Carleton, Macalester, Saint Benedict, Saint John’s, and St. Olaf claimed the Conference’s weekly honors.

The MIAC Athlete of the Week awards are nominated by the Conference’s sports information directors and selected by MIAC staff. Throughout the winter season, team sports (basketball and hockey) Athletes of the Week will be recognized on Monday afternoons, with individual sports (swimming & diving and indoor track & field) announced on Tuesday afternoons. The winners of the latest Athlete of the Week awards are listed below, along with details on their outstanding performances.

The MIAC Athlete of the Week archive has complete details on each week’s selections and winners.

MIAC Men’s Swimming Athlete of the Week
Brayden Slavik
Saint John’s University
Sr.
Green Isle, Minn. / Chaska

Brayden Slavik won two events with NCAA B-cut times and finished second in one more event at the Rochester Invitational on 12/4-6. Slavik won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:30.15, which surpassed the NCAA B-cut time of 4:31.24. He added his second B-cut time of the weekend in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:43.14 to win the event. Slavik beat that cut time by nearly seven seconds. Slavik also finished second in the 400-yard individual medley (4:04.88) and was a member of three SJU freestyle relay teams at the meet.

MIAC Men’s Diving Athlete of the Week
Hans Anderson
Carleton College
Sr.
Watertown, Minn. / Watertown-Mayer

Hans Anderson was the top NCAA Division III diver in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions at the Rochester Invitational on 12/4-5. Anderson scored 440.30 points on the 1-meter board to place second overall on 12/4 before totaling 458.45 points off the 3-meter board on 12/5 for another runner-up performance overall.

MIAC Women’s Swimming Athlete of the Week
Haley Zelen
College of Saint Benedict
Jr.
Shakopee, Minn. / Shakopee

Haley Zelen rewrote the CSB record book at the Rochester Invitational on 12/4-6, breaking three individual program records and contributing to a relay record while earning three NCAA Division III B-cut times. Zelen set new marks in the 50 free (23.07), 100 fly (54.72), and 100 free (50.79), and helped the 200 CSB medley relay team post a new record time of 1:46.69. Zelen’s time of 1:05.77 in the 100 breast ranks second in Saint Benedict history.

MIAC Women’s Diving Athlete of the Week
Nina Schwab
Carleton College
So.
Piedmont, Calif. / Piedmont

Nina Schwab won the 1-meter diving competition by nearly 80 points with a score of 486.00 at the Rochester Invitational on 12/5. That point total eclipsed her own program record set last season and also established a new MIAC overall standard, besting the previous mark of 485.40 that had stood since 2013. Schwab also won the 3-meter diving competition on 12/4 with a score of 427.90. She totaled 438.85 points during the preliminary round.

MIAC Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Lance Nemecek
St. Olaf College
Sr.
Minnetrista, Minn. / Mound-Westonka

Lance Nemecek ran the second-fastest 800-meter time in NCAA Division III this season with a meet record time of 1:54.02 at the M City Classic on 12/5. Nemecek’s time ranks third on both St. Olaf’s all-time performers’ and performances lists. He also led off the first-place 4×400-meter relay that won the event in a meet-record time of 3:21.77, which ranks fifth nationally and second on both St. Olaf lists.

MIAC Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Soren Kaster
Carleton College
Jr.
Horace, N.D. / West Fargo Sheyenne

Soren Kaster placed third overall and second among NCAA Division III competitors in the heptathlon with 4,606 points at the M City Classic on 12/5-6. Kaster’s score was the third-best in program history and ranks third in D-III this season. He clocked times of 7.44 in the 60-meter dash, 9.03 in the 60-meter hurdles, and 2:53.49 in the 1000-meter run; measured 10.09 meters in the shot put and a personal-best 6.31 meters in the long jump; and cleared 1.70 meters in the high jump and a MIAC-best 4.35 meters in the pole vault.

MIAC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Ariella Rogahn-Press
Macalester College
So.
Albuquerque, N.M / Bosque School

Ariella Rogahn-Press won the 400 meters by more than five seconds at the M City Classic in Minneapolis on 12/5 with a time of 57.43. Her converted time ranks third in NCAA Division III this season.

MIAC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Svea Frantzich
St. Olaf College
Fy.
Stillwater, Minn. / Breck

Svea Frantzich recorded the fifth-highest pentathlon score in NCAA Division III this season with 3,005 points in her collegiate debut at the M City Classic on 12/5. Frantzich posted top-10 all-time performances on St. Olaf’s indoor list in the 60-meter hurdles (9.47) and long jump (5.44m) on her way to compiling the No. 8 pentathlon score on the Oles’ all-time performers’ list.

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Sports

Track & Field Release Indoor Schedule

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison track & field unveiled its indoor slate for the 2025-26 season on Tuesday afternoon, as announced by Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Delethea Quarles.

The Dukes began the season at VMI’s Colonel Bev Read Opener on Dec. 6, and will return to action in 2026, starting with the Virginia Tech Invitational (Jan. 16-17). JMU will remain in the Commonwealth for another trip to Lexington for the VMI Invitational (Jan. 23-24).

From there, JMU will close January at the Penn State National Open (Jan. 30-31) before turning its attention to the ECAC Championship, taking place at Boston University’s Track & Tennis Center, Feb. 7-8.

The Dukes return to Virginia for Liberty’s Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational (Feb. 13-14). James Madison then turns its attention to the Sun Belt Championship in Birmingham, Ala. at the Birmingham CrossPlex, Feb. 23-24.

JMU will look to qualify individuals for the NCAA Championships (March 13-14), which will be held at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

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Sports

Tong Garners Weekly Ivy League Honors

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

PRINCETON, N.J. – After a record breaking showing in Boston over the weekend, sophomore Harlow Tong earned Ivy League Men’s Athlete of the Week status, becoming the first Crimson to receive the honor this season.

Racing in the opening heat of the men’s 300m at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Tong made an instant impact. Tong finished in first place with a time of 33.07, as his mark represents a new school record in the men’s 300m, surpassing the former record of 33.67 set by Oliver Murcko ’25 at the 2021 HBCU & Ivy Challenge. Tong’s time is also a new facility record at the renowned Boston University Track & Tennis Center.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Tong is looking to build off a stellar first-year season as he begins his second campaign with the Crimson. Last year saw Tong breakout in the outdoor portion of the season, winning an Ivy League title as a member of Harvard’s men’s 4x100m relay team. Tong is also the school record holder the outdoor men’s 400m, running a 46.55 at the Tiger Track Classic.

The Crimson return to action on Saturday, Jan. 17, as Harvard hosts the Beantown Challenge at Gordon Indoor Track.

For complete coverage of Harvard Softball, follow the team on Twitter (@HarvardSB) and Instagram (@harvardsb).

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