Words Laura Potter. Photograph Masterfile
Forget the lazy stereotypes you’ve been fed all your life, and those tired arguments about whether women deserve equal pay in sport, because Canadian research has shown women are fitter than men. A study that directly compared the sexes found that women process oxygen more quickly than men when they exercise, and speedy oxygen uptake places less strain on the body’s cells, boosting aerobic fitness. Female runners consistently outperformed their male peers, with their systems extracting oxygen from blood around 30 per cent faster. This means that their muscles are less likely to fatigue, resulting in lower perceived effort and greater athletic performance. So that’s that issue settled then.