How strong physically are men compared to women?

[StormMistress]

I know on average men have around 40% more upper body strength or so I’ve read years ago. But is this really accurate? And are we more equal when it comes to lower body strength?

Are men a lot stronger on average or only marginally? And what about if both guys and girls are of similar height and weight? Do men have a small or large advantage?

What about if I’m taller than the guy could I overpower him based on height alone or is his strength superior enough to make the height difference moot?

[ChrisMaster69]

Link to a study below.

http://archive.sciendo.com/SSR/ssr.2012.xxi.issue-3-4/v10237-012-0015-5/v10237-012-0015-5.pdf

it’s really down to individuals and also skills experience.

with your example above, it’s not just height, it’s body mass, muscles mass in certain areas.

A properly trained woman can take on an untrained guy, for example a women MMA, KickBoxing etc, against a guy who is not trained and not really muscled, then yes i would say 9 times out of 10 she will kick his ass.

The closer this gets with muscle mass, mass, height etc the more it moves to 5/10 and then when it’s say another MMA or kickboxer, it’s down to 1/10.

https://www.livescience.com/52998-women-combat-gender-differences.html

This is fairly decent.

https://femuscleblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/do-women-have-stronger-legs-and-more-lower-body-strength-than-men/

[gonegirl16]

It can differ between individuals, but men are still generally (on average) significantly stronger in the upper and lower body.

[AvaOneLasTime]

From my own myTake - Muscles - the average adult woman can pull off only 51% of the strength of an average adult man, of similar size (a little bigger than the woman actually, this is how it is written in this medical book i am reading it from), In the upper body!
In short, Upper body, adult men and women, with similar size - women can pull off only 51% of the men's strength. Don't believe me? Don't want to? There is a similar article in Quora. See it for yourself, don't take my word for it!
However, average adult women can pull off 67% of average adult men's strength in LOWER body. Which means our (women's) legs' strength is closer to that of men's legs, compared to our arms versus their arms. So girls, if you are choosing to wrestle a guy, by only using your arms, you are signing your own defeat. With your arms.
Unfortunately, the gap gets bigger as men and women train their muscles.
When a man and woman workout in the gym, its evidently that the man receives better results.

[HighValue]

Yeah, you pretty much explained what I would have said. The only thing I would add is that genetics can make a significant difference too, even between men of the same size. And yes, working out/lifting weights does increase muscle mass of men more in the same amount of time.

[AvaOneLasTime]

@HighValue
Yes, i spoke about average people though. In short, there is reason why men compete vs men and women compete vs women. And that's how it should be.

[mstbooblover]

The strenght of a woman should not be compared to that of a man. They both have strenght, the purpose of which is nevertheless different for both. Back in time our ancestors needed men to be strong hunters and defenders, implicating direct use of force. The male hormone, called testosterone, seems to make the muscles more powerful.

Women on the other hand need being able to feed during 9 months a foetus, meaning their body must be able to find the resources and nutriments for themselves and their baby in gestation. After the baby is born, women must be able to feed the new born long enough till it can eat other food than milk from its mother.

If there was no difference in physical strenght, the people practicing some high level sport would not have competions organised for them separately according their gender. All this doesn't mean there are no exceptions, neither that some men may have lower levels of testosterone, while some women may have levels above normal. .

[Кураж]

It's not just muscle mass but also muscle fiber composition.
Women's muscles aren't the same, they contain less fast twitch fibers, which means that at equal mass they would still be quite a bit weaker.

Women only outperform men at endurance, men get tired quicker because of those different muscle fibers.

[Кураж]

To put it to perspective, the world record female Olympic athlete Tatiana Kashirina at 102kg has only ever beat the weakest male Olympic athletes at snatch, men who are nearly half her size at 56kg.
The 62 kg athlete Kim Un-guk in the second lowest category has beat her lifetime record.

Meanwhile Zhou Lulu, the 140kg female Olympic record holder at clean & jerk just barely beats 62kg men, while the men in 69 kg category easily beat her lifetime records.

[Berethor]

Trans easily beat natural born women for a reason, and it's not only because of height.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_people_in_sports#Testosterone,_athletic_ability_and_injury_risks

[AviatorTom]

The average Male has more muscle mass than the average Female. Males also are taller and heavier than Females, on average, which gives an average Man an advantage over an average Eoman in physical strength. Of course, individual exceptions exist... a taller, more athletic woman could take down a shorter, non-athletic man.

[bolverk]

It is not just the strength that men have, but how it is applied. men have had the whole of their lives growing up learning how to use it with control and how to use it with focus, men's lower body can be much stronger a that is where the power for lifting comes from, and height has little effect and even if you are a foot taller than than the man.

[motownplayer2000]

Depends on the guy or girl. Yes on average girls are less strong then men. Because of a hormone called testosterone. However, I’ve seen some women that would kick All average, and most of the above average (meaning guys that workout) guys asses. So I would say it depends on how focused the guy is on strength and powerlifting.

[BarryLiverstone]

Not sure it’s a matter of percentage, just the average man is stronger than the average woman. Some cases the woman is almost as strong as a man. Personally I’ve been able to pick girls up and carry them places when I wanted to but have yet had a girl do the same to me. But as I said there are women who can do that.

[TsAubreyKate]

Okay the first part : no we are just stronger in general
second part: yes we are stronger on average women a greatly disadvantaged
third part: I don't know how many guys you’ve fought but shorter guys are usually tougher and stronger it will make the height difference moot most women can’t take a punch or throw one for that matter

[StormMistress]

Well I’ve never actually fought a guy so I’m just assuming. Since height and weight make a difference.

[TsAubreyKate]

Not really I’ve seen guys under 5’7 clap guys over 6’3 a lot of guys would rather look strong than actually be strong women feel safer with a taller guy because they look strong “he is big nobody will mess with me” guess again hun

[TallAnon]

I practiced martial arts for years and fought female world championship competitors while sparring. To be perfectly honest, it's no contest. I might as well be fighting a kid.
That said, I'm super heavy weight and 6'7(2m).
Even was I was underaged, I would still easily win, can't even be proud of it.

[GingerGuy]

It varies of course, but I've been quite impressed with some women's strength. And these were pretty petite women also. I think generally, guys are stronger to some degree, but I'm not sure about 40%. I don't think height really matters either.

[TheMajesticKing777]

No it's not, because everyone has different body types and heights and size, for example the chances of the percentage of my strength compared to yours being 40% are slim.

Which means this is unaccurate

[Anonymous]

Men are significantly stronger than women and their strength is different in nature than women's. Nothing marginal about it.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8477683/

[Guanfei]

Depends on how you mean it. An untrained man is probably weaker than a trained woman. Depends on genetics too, some are naturally bigger, stronger.
But at the same level of training, a man will overpower greatly a woman if he wants.

[DamnSam]

Comparison is always from a specific point

And it depends on training and age

It's always funny to me when muscle guys get to test a menstruation cramp simulator and brake down on 4, while every woman stands straight at 10

[AvaOneLasTime]

Not accurate.

[Andres77]

"when men don't hold back against women".
Go to youtube and search for this video.

Your best bet is a gun.
It's the great equalizer.
I know your gun laws are shit so good luck.
I hope you never need to use it.

[grega239]

Brutal honesty ahead.

Women are as strong as a child.
40% is a lot.

Lower body strength difference is lesser, but upper. uuuufff... no contest whatsoever

[grega239]

No , you being taller males no difference

[vald9inches]

Just watch this girl fight this transgirl in a "fair" fight. The girl is definitely a skilled fighter unlike him but...

[vald9inches]

https://youtu.be/3tFUEXDHIz8

[In_Trance]

So you research the answer to your question... and still question it.
What is anyone possibly going to say to influence your thought process now?

[BeachLuvR97]

I would say that a guy is twice or thrice as strong as a girl.

[pizzalovershouse]

It depends on if a guy works out

[Iron_Man]

Like three times Stronger or more