Female Athlete Series: Part 1: Physiological differences between male and female triathletes

Women are not small men.

We know that women are physiologically different to men. But how do they differ? And what does that mean when it comes to training for triathlon, coaching females and providing nutrition support?

We’re kicking off Part 1 of a new Female Athlete Series on the podcast with the physiological differences between male and female athletes:

1. Body Fat levels
2. Muscle mass and strength
3. Vo2max
4. Lactate Threshold
5. Thermoregulation
6. Fat Oxidation
7. Hormones

As you can see, there are lots of differences that we need to take into consideration.

There is no one size fits all. When we understand female physiology, we can do better and be better. Athletes, coaches and sports dietitians.

LINKS

Check how well you’re doing when it comes to your nutrition with our 50 step checklist to Triathlon Nutrition Mastery: dietitianapproved.com/checklist

Start working on your nutrition now with my Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course: dietitianapproved.com/kickstart

It’s for you if you’re a triathlete and you feel like you’ve got your training under control and you’re ready to layer in your nutrition. It's your warmup on the path to becoming a SUPERCHARGED triathlete – woohoo!

Join the waitlist for our next opening of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy www.dietitianapproved.com/academy

Website: www.dietitianapproved.com

Instagram: @Dietitian.Approved @triathlonnutritionacademy

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DietitianApproved

References:

Carter, S. L., Rennie, C., and Tarnopolsky, M. A. (2001). Substrate utilization during endurance exercise in men and women after endurance training. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metabolism. 280, 898–907.

Heydenreich, J., Kayser, B., Schutz, Y., and Melzer, K. (2017). Total energy expenditure, energy intake, and body composition in endurance athletes across the training season: a systematic review. Sports Medicine. Open 3:8. doi: 10.1186/ s40798- 017- 0076- 1

Lepers R. Sex Difference in Triathlon Performance. Frontiers Physiology. 2019 Jul 24;10:973. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00973. PMID: 31396109; PMCID: PMC6668549.

Lepers, R. (2008). Analysis of Hawaii ironman performances in elite triathletes from 1981 to 2007. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 40, 1828–1834. doi: 10.1249/MSS. 0b013e31817e91a4

Marino, F. E., Mbambo, Z., Kortekaas, E., Wilson, G., Lambert, M. I., Noakes, T. D., et al. (2000). Advantages of smaller body mass during distance running in warm, humid environments. Pflugers. Arch. 441, 359–367. doi: 10.1007/ s004240000432

Millet, G. P., and Bentley, D. J. (2004). The physiological responses to running after cycling in elite junior and senior triathletes. Int. J. Sports Med. 25, 191–197. doi: 10.1055/s-2003-45259

Rüst, C. A., Knechtle, B., Rosemann, T., and Lepers, R. (2012b). Sex difference in race performance and age of peak performance in the ironman triathlon world championship from 1983 to 2012. Extrem. Physiol. Med. 14:15. doi: 10.1186/ 2046- 7648- 1- 15

The Triathlon Nutrition Academy is a podcast by Dietitian Approved. All rights reserved. www.dietitianapproved.com/academy

Dietitian Approved acknowledges the Traditional custodians of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, The Turrbal and Jagera peoples. We pay our respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

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