Women want proof

WHEN it comes to assessing one’s physique after exercise, men are likely to look in the mirror and say, “Darn, I look good!” Women are more likely to say, “Show me the numbers!” That’s the finding from a study published in the December issue of the journal Body Image.

A team led by Kathleen Martin Ginis of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, put 44 adults through a 12-week weight-training course. The five-day-a-week, one-hour sessions included leg extensions and presses, chest presses and bicep curls.

Participants were measured for muscle mass and body fat and assessed for how good they felt about their bodies -- and how strong, muscular or fat they felt they were. Martin Ginis found that the body images of men and women improved significantly. But while the men were more likely to be happy just based on looking better or feeling more fit, the women’s improvement in body image tracked with how much weight they could lift.

Martin Ginis sees this as good news. “I think women are socialized to think of their bodies in terms of appearance,” she says. Yet her study suggests they want more. “Here we have women going in and experiencing objective improvements in the amount of weight they can lift and getting a boost in their body image.”