why is it easier for men to build muscle mass compared to woman?
In: Biology
[Sexual Dimorphism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism)
Follow down to ‘mammals’ then further to ‘primates’, although the whole of it is pretty interesting! This goes over hormonal, and therefore growth, changes that can usually be the reason why one sex of a species can be larger than another.
Edit: whoops! Didn’t see what sub iwas on before answering. Okay, so men tend to convert more of their food intake into muscle mass than females, who deposit it to fat deposits usually. In tandem with that, testosterone in males encourages greater muscle growth. However! There is very little difference between the actual strength of the muscles fibers in either case. Males just tend to have more or larger masses of them so they generally are stronger.
[removed]
Men have a male hormone called testosterone. A hormone is a chemical that makes us feel a certain way as well as effecting our body in different ways. Think of hormones as little chemicals that make our mood and effect what happens to our body. One of the effects it has is it makes muscles grow more.
Chemically and biologically speaking, it is because of the testosterone. But it might be interesting to explore why we evolved that way.
When humans were hunters and gatherers, much of the childcare was left to the women, as babies need to be breast fed. Babies make a lot of noise, which would scare away prey if they were trying to hunt. So women often did the gathering while the men hunted. Strength helps a lot for hunting, so the men that could build strength easier tended to eat better and survive, while the men who could not build muscle couldn’t provide and died.
Later on, when humans organized into nomadic tribes, they often went to war over territory. Again, the women were left to care for children, while the men went out and fought and killed each other. The weaker men tended to die quicker.
Only in recent times did it stop mattering how strong men are. We can survive without building muscle now.
Latest Answers