Strength, Muscular Endurance, and Cardiorespiratory Endurance Changes in College Males and Females as a Function of Training

Abstract

The strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory trainability of men and women were investigated. The subjects, twelve male and ten females, engaged in a six week training program in which they were required to perform progressive resistance exercises using DeLorme's technique in order to increase their strength and muscular endurance. In addition, the subjects took part in a six week interval running program for the purpose of developing cardiorespiratory endurance. Prior to training each subject was tested for elbow flexion strength with Clarke's cable tensiometer. Muscular endurance was measured using Shaver's arm-lever ergometer method, and cardiorespiratory endurance according to the Astrand-Rhyming bicycle ergometer technique. Following the training program the subjects were re-tested in a manner patterned after the initial test. While both men and women increased significantly in strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance following the six weeks of training there were no significant differences between the sexes in terms of their strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory trainability. However, absolute strength gains were found to be significantly greater in men than women. This difference was attributed to the predominantly male hormone testosterone which enables men to develop greater amounts of muscle mass and achieve greater strength levels than women.