The influence of gender on skeletal muscle endurance capacity

Skeletal muscle function and its role in providing joint stability has been the focus of considerable interest over the last few years. A proven relationship between spinal pain and sub-optimal muscle function, including endurance capacity, affirms the importance of functional stability re-training in the management of patients with neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction. Clinical protocols, based upon the use of the same target forces, repetitions, and contraction times for both genders are currently used as a basis for evaluating changes in spinal muscle endurance capacity. However these protocols do not account for the gender-related differences in endurance capacity that have been shown to exist in some of the literature, where women have recorded higher values for endurance capacity compared with men. This paper reviews the literature that has sought to evaluate the influence of gender on endurance capacity, discusses the physiological mechanisms that may account for observed differences, and considers the possible clinical implications for physiotherapists.