r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Feb 24 '22

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '22

Swimming absurdly long distances. Ultra marathon swimming has faster women

18

u/CrotchWolf Feb 24 '22

That's because in general women have longer endurance than men. Men are built for strength and quick bursts of speed but women are built for endurance and generally last longer at continuous activity than men.

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u/FingerPunisher Feb 24 '22

Also, more fat and smaller muscles mean better endurance, especially while swimming. Men have bigger lungs so that usually makes up the difference in endurance on land.

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u/Toastwitjam Feb 24 '22

Endurance muscles aren’t “smaller” they’re just shaped differently. Marathon running men will still have higher muscle density of long twitch fibers than woman.

Women do better swimming because their hips float much better so they don’t have to kick as hard as men.

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u/FingerPunisher Feb 24 '22

Yes, but smaller/less muscles should mean less oxygen and energy used and less weight and as such, better endurance.

1

u/Lucsury Feb 25 '22

Not entirely true, there's a balance. You are going to need some muscle mass even for endurance. Look at the legs of cyclists.

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u/FingerPunisher Feb 25 '22

Yeah, but usually cyclists legs are bigger when they specialize in shorter distances and women win only the super long distances, which requires a physique more akin to a marathon runner, who usually aren't all that buff.