Is there a difference between mens and womens breathing?
Even when the smaller physical size of women is taken into account, their lungs are still smaller than men’s. Women also have narrower airways (breathing tubes), which means its harder to move air in and out of the lungs. At rest we breathe around 8-10 litres of air per minute, but during strenuous exercise a woman can raise this to around 120 litres per minute. Compare this to an elite male athlete who can breathe as much as 240 litres per minute! Because women are unable to ‘heavy breathe’ as well as men in response to strenuous exercise, research has shown that many women may experience a drop in the amount of oxygen in their blood and a corresponding increase in their breathlessness.
