The New York Times blog recently included a write-up of a very small (17 women) study that looked at whether or not women could do pull-ups.
We were curious, so we contacted Hope Choplin, exercise physiologist with WakeMed Healthworks to determine if there was any truth to the study. Here is her response…
“The short answer is, yes. Women can do anything they want to do. However, they may have to train a little harder to be able to perform at the same level as their male counterparts.
Women have a different muscle structure, their body fat is distributed differently than men, and it is proven that men innately have more upper body strength.
The women in the study focused on strength training two main muscle groups. There are many more muscle groups involved in doing a pull up than just these two. Additionally, pull ups require muscle memory, and the ladies in the study did not do any pull ups as part of their training.
Most fitness levels – men or women – can be trained to do a pull up through the right combination of exercises.
So, ladies you CAN do anything you put your minds to! Let’s get to training.”
WakeMed Healthworks is WakeMed’s medically directed fitness facility.
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