Movement in Human Life and Health

Abstract

As long as their level of physical activity is similar, there are few differences in body size, body composition, strength, aerobic abilities or anaerobic abilities of boys and girls before puberty. However, due to the hormonal changes that occur with puberty, there are differences between the two sexes in terms of body size and body composition. As a result, there are quantitative differences in the acute responses to exercise and the chronic adaptations to training, i.e., men and women differ because of differences in body size and/or body composition. However, there are little or no qualitative differences in the way they respond to exercise or adapt to training.