Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance.

ABSTRACT: Elite athletic competitions have separate male and female events due to men's physical advantages in strength, speed, and endurance so that a protected female category with objective entry criteria is required. Prior to puberty, there is no sex difference in circulating testosterone concentrations or athletic performance, but from puberty onward a clear sex difference in athletic performance emerges as circulating testosterone concentrations rise in men because testes produce 30 times more testosterone than before puberty with circulating testosterone exceeding 15-fold that of women at any age. There is a wide sex difference in circulating testosterone concentrations and a reproducible dose-response relationship between circulating testosterone and muscle mass and strength as well as circu

SUBMITTER: Handelsman DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6391653 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature