Health
Women get more benefit from exercise than men, study finds: ‘More to gain’
When it comes to reaping the rewards of exercise, women may have a leg up.
A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that females may get more benefits than men when doing the same amount of physical activity.
Researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles analyzed the physical activity data of 412,413 U.S. adults.
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The participants all responded to the National Health Interview Survey database between 1997 and 2019, providing details about the frequency, duration, intensity and type of physical activity, according to a press release from the hospital.
In terms of cardiovascular exercise, the researchers found that men gained their maximum “survival benefit” from doing “moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity” for about five hours per week.
Females may get more benefits than men when doing the same amount of physical activity, says a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. (iStock)
For women, that same level of benefit was achieved after just 2½ hours of that exercise intensity per week.
Women continued to gain more benefits after that time, however.
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Examples of “moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity” include brisk walking or cycling, the study detailed.
For strength training exercises, men hit their maximum benefit from three weekly sessions, while women achieved the same outcome with just one session per week.
“We found not only that progressively greater amounts of physical activity reduced mortality risk, but also that the amount of regular exercise needed to achieve the same degree of risk reduction was different in females versus males,” said senior author Susan Cheng, M.D., MPH, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute.
For strength training exercises, men hit their maximum benefit from three weekly sessions, while women achieved the same outcome with just one session per week. (iStock)
“In effect, women did not need to exercise for as much time as men to achieve the same benefit,” she told Fox News Digital.
“Put another way, for a given amount of time and effort put into exercise, women had more to gain than men.”
Co-lead author Martha Gulati, M.D., director of preventive cardiology in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, noted in the release that women have historically and statistically lagged behind men in engaging in exercise.
“Exercise doesn’t discriminate, no matter your gender. You have to put the work in to be healthy.”
“The beauty of this study is learning that women can get more out of each minute of moderate to vigorous activity than men do,” Gulati said.
“It’s an incentivizing notion that we hope women will take to heart.”
While mortality risk decreased for all adults, it was reduced by 24% for women and 15% for men, according to Cheng.
In terms of cardiovascular exercise, the researchers found that men gained their maximum “survival benefit” from doing “moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity” for about five hours per week. (iStock)
“We hope that the results of this study will help to motivate females who are not currently engaged in regular physical activity to understand that they are in a position to gain substantial benefit, technically even more than their counterpart males, for each increment of regular exercise they are able to invest in their longer-term health,” Cheng told Fox News Digital.
“Part of what makes females and males different is that when it comes to living longer and living healthier, different types of investments are linked to different types of gains.”
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The researchers hope that these findings will help women who may feel too busy or too intimidated to take on a new exercise routine without feeling that they have to compare themselves to men.
“They can be on their own path to success and every bit of progress will count,” Cheng said.
While mortality risk decreased for all adults, it was reduced by 24% for women and 15% for men, according to the researchers. (iStock)
Chris Pruitt, a certified personal trainer with the American Sports and Fitness Association (ASFA) who is based in Maryland, was not involved in the study but said it aligns with observations that women and men may require different approaches to achieve similar health outcomes.
“In my experience, individual responses to exercise can vary widely, and it’s fascinating to see this backed by research,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Biological differences between genders, including hormonal variations and body composition, likely play a significant role in these observed differences,” Pruitt went on.
“Women may use energy or recover from exercise differently than men, leading to these distinct benefits from less exercise.”
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This research illustrates the importance of personalized fitness programs that consider gender differences, he said.
“It suggests that fitness advice should be more tailored to the individual’s goals and abilities and their gender-specific physiological responses to exercise.”
Potential limitations
The chief limitation of the study is that all physical activity data was self-reported — which creates the possibility for inaccuracies.
“In the future, direct measures of exercise could be analyzed using wearable devices,” Cheng said.
The researchers hope that these findings will help women who may feel too busy or too intimidated to take on a new exercise routine without feeling that they have to compare themselves to men. (iStock)
“A very large study of people whose exercise is digitally tracked and measured could one day give us even more detailed information on differences not only between women and men, but also within women and within men.”
“There is still a lot more work we need to do to figure out how to best tailor exercise recommendations to each individual person to best meet their individual needs.”
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Josh York, founder and CEO of the New York-based fitness training company GYMGUYZ, reviewed the study and said he does not think the findings should influence people’s fitness routines.
“There are a lot of things you need for good health and fitness, including proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle,” he told Fox News Digital.
“There are a lot of different variables at play when it comes to assessing a person’s exercise needs and requirements.”
As each individual is different, a fitness expert said that “sweeping assumptions” about each gender’s exercise needs and outcomes don’t take into account variations in individuals’ circumstances. (iStock)
While the study looked at maximal survival benefit, York noted that some people might be motivated by other goals, such as looking a certain way.
“At the end of the day, exercise doesn’t discriminate, no matter your gender,” he said. “You have to put the work in to be healthy. If someone puts more work in, has a healthy diet and lives in a safe environment, they are going to get better results, because physical health is influenced by your habits and mental well-being.”
As each individual is different, York said that “sweeping assumptions” about each gender’s exercise needs and outcomes don’t take into account variations in individuals’ circumstances.
“I don’t think people should use this as guidance to reduce their exercise regimens,” he said.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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