Can Girls Really Do Calisthenics?
Men have been at the forefront of calisthenics since the beginning, but you usually don’t see women performing calisthenic movements such as muscle ups or pull-ups like it was nothing. This may be the cause of how society portrays muscular women, or could it be something else?
Men vs Women Strength Comparison
Men are reported to be on average 30–40% stronger than women when it comes to absolute strength. For those of you who don’t know what absolute strength is, it is the ability to expel forces onto an object but since this video is a bodyweight focused will have to look at the research pertaining to relative strength. When it comes to relative strength(the ability to expel force onto one’s own body) the differences weren’t as significant because men tend to have bigger bodies so they're going to be able to lift heavier than women but in the realm of relative strength that rule doesn’t apply.
There are other factors that can affect a women's muscle mass such as body fat and muscle fiber count.
Women tend to have higher body fat the men. Of the ages of 18–22 a women will have a body fat of 22–26%, while men will be between 12–16%. This means that women have less room for lean body mass than men do.
The amount of muscle fibers also plays a role in strength difference. Because men have more muscle fibers(which equals greater muscle size), meaning their strength is higher.
There is also the hormone estrogen. Women produce more estrogen than men but less testosterone. Meaning that they will have a harder time building muscle, but an easier time recovering from a workout.
Advance Skill Training
Typically on the internet, you will see advanced exercises such as the planche, front lever, and one-arm pull-up done by mostly men. Or when you look at gymnastics, the men are seen performing strength events such as the still rings, while women tend to be better at the flexibility and balance parts of the sport as seen in the balance beam or uneven bars events. It can give the impression that these skills are harder for women to learn than men or that it’s just more popular for men to do them.
But there are certain attributes of a woman’s body that can make calisthenics skills harder or easier to learn.
Due to women having smaller bodies and on average more flexibility than men, exercises such as the straddle planche and human flag can be easier to learn if certain conditions are met such as fitness level.
But it is rare to ever see women perform full planche and that is because women have wider hips making their center of gravity lower than that of men. Their shoulder joint is going to have to work harder in order to planche. Women’s short arm’s length will also make it harder because there will be more of an angle between the shoulder joint and torso. The longer your muscles are extended the weaker they are.
But there is an advantage to this. When it comes to bent arm skills short arms have the advantage because of less range of motion.
Women also hold most of their weight in their legs, which can make it harder to perform upper-body movements.
So Should Women Do Calisthenics?
Due to the factor discussed the average woman’s upper body tends to lack the amount of strength needed in order to perform basic calisthenic skills, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do it. There are plenty of female calisthenics athletes out that can do some superhuman movements. All it takes is determination and effort.
Conclusion
That being said calisthenics should be enjoyed by anyone no matter their gender because it’s a great way to get into shape. Calisthenic can be done with little to no equipment absolute anywhere. At your house, on your lunch break, or before you go to bed no gym membership is needed. So if you are like me, someone who was born without a gym membership you should give it a try.
