According to New York Magazine, only one-third of participants in exercise research are women. We all know that there are plenty of ladies out there working it at the gym, but they are not properly represented in medical journals such as the American Journal of Sports Medicine and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. When British exercise physiologist Joe Costello analyzed 1,382 articles in the journals mentioned above, only 39% of the total participants were women.

Exercise

Gif courtesy of thegameswelove.tumblr.com

Costello goes on to say that these numbers are not accurate because the ratio of men to women who exercise non-competitively is 50:50. Americans in general have started exercising more, but even more so for women. According to the Daily Mail, from 2001 to 2009 the percentage of women who sufficiently exercise increased from 46.7% to 51.3%. As opposed to just being really skinny, the new body image that women strive for is more muscular than it used to be. This change in body image could be one of the reasons for the increase in exercise.

Exercise

Photo courtesy of hercampus.com

Bethany Brookshire did some research of her own on the 2015 versions of the American Journal of Sports Medicine and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. She discovered that only 42% of participants were women. On the studies specifically about running, only 3% of participants were female, while in real life women make up 43% of marathon finishers.

Women also make up 58% of 5K finishers. After these women finish these races, if they are injured or sore they have to rely on information that is mostly about men. They also have to rely on this skewed information when trying to figure out training plans. If a woman uses a training plan designed for a man, she may not see the same results.