Scientific Programme
Physiology & Nutrition
IS-PN04 - Fact or Fiction: Sex Differences in Metabolic Responses to Exercise
Date: 08.07.2026, Time: 15:00 - 16:15, Session Room: Auditorium C (STCC)
Description
Despite decades of research, female participants have been historically underrepresented in the fields of exercise and sport science. As a result, much of what we know about exercise responses is based on male-only or mixed cohorts. However, biological sex influences anatomy, physiology, and hormone profiles, and our understanding of its impact on exercise responses is constrained by a lack of research. This knowledge gap compromises the validity and accuracy of training recommendations and limits our understanding of disease outcomes in females, particularly in relation to skeletal muscle metabolism. Advances in high-throughput 'omics' technologies and stable isotope methodologies, when combined with integrative physiology, provide unprecedented opportunities to explore sex-specific responses to exercise to investigate the relationship between sex, metabolism, performance, and overall health. One emerging area of interest is sex-specific differences in skeletal muscle mitochondria, key regulators of metabolism and cellular health. This symposium will highlight recent and emerging advances on sex differences in metabolism, covering health and performance outcomes, exercise responses, mitochondrial biology, protein homeostasis across the female reproductive lifespan. As a result, this topic will resonate with ECSS delegates across disciplines, including sport scientists, sociologists, and public health experts.
Chair(s)
Graham Holloway
University of Guelph, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences
Canada
Speaker A
Kirstin MacGregor
Karolinska Institute, Integrative Physiology
Sweden
Read CVECSS Lausanne 2026: IS-PN04 [41452]
Sex differences in skeletal muscle metabolism and metabolic health in exercise
Although female participation in exercise science research has increased, parity between sexes remains elusive. As a consequence of the ongoing sex imbalance in the research field, the role of biological sex in regulating skeletal muscle metabolism remains incompletely understood. Exercise is a cornerstone for maintaining skeletal muscle function and overall metabolic health, with important benefits for both the prevention and management of metabolic diseases, such as Type 2 Diabetes. Understanding sex-specific responses to exercise is therefore critical for optimizing its impact on health across populations. In this talk, we will first discuss fundamental sex differences in hormones, physiology, and metabolism, and review current literature on how these differences shape skeletal muscle metabolism and metabolic health in men and women. We will then focus on recent advances in multi-omic analyses, which provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying sex-dependent metabolic responses at rest and in response to exercise. Finally, this talk will discuss emerging data on sex differences in the metabolic response to exercise in T2D, underscoring the interaction between sex and metabolic health in exercise. These discussions will highlight critical research gaps in the field and outline future directions as we move towards inclusive, sex balanced research in exercise science.
Speaker B
Chris McGlory
Queen's University, Medicine
Canada
Read CVECSS Lausanne 2026: IS-PN04 [33620]
Biological sex as a modulator of skeletal muscle protein turnover and phospholipid metabolism in humans.
Despite increasing recognition of female underrepresentation in research, potential sex-specific differences in responses to exercise and nutrition remain poorly understood. This talk will synthesize emerging evidence investigating the role of biological sex in modulating skeletal muscle protein turnover and phospholipid metabolism in response to exercise, unloading, and nutrition in humans. Specifically, it will present novel data on how resistance exercise and immobilization alter both bulk and individual skeletal muscle protein synthesis and breakdown rates in females using stable isotopic tracers and dynamic proteome profiling techniques, providing new insights into the mechanistic drivers of adaptation. We will also examine how biological sex influences skeletal muscle and blood phospholipid composition in response to omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid feeding and washout, as well as potential interactions between phospholipid metabolism and skeletal muscle protein turnover. The talk will conclude by highlighting key knowledge gaps in the field and outlining priorities for future research that will have implications for both athletic and clinical populations alike.
Speaker C
Graham Holloway
University of Guelph, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences
Canada
Read CVECSS Lausanne 2026: IS-PN04 [27762]
Metabolic Health Beyond Menopause: Exercise and Estrogen
Menopause, characterized by the cessation of ovarian function, marks a stage within the natural female lifespan that is associated with a shift in the hormonal milieu from regular, cyclic fluctuations in 17?-estradiol (E2; the primary biologically active estrogen) to chronically low levels. This marked decline in circulating E2 could contribute to changes in metabolism and adverse impairments in systemic insulin sensitivity, ultimately elevating cardiometabolic disease risk in the post-menopausal population. Despite the fact that globally over 1 billion women are post-menopausal, the impact of menopause on metabolism and beneficial responses to exercise remains incompletely understood. Mechanistically, recent evidence supports the idea that E2 deficiency disproportionately affects mitochondrial function through estrogen receptor-mediated signalling pathways, emphasizing mitochondria as a potential target for exercise interventions. This talk will focus on presenting contemporary research related to mitochondrial bioenergetics in older women, as well as the effect of E2 deficiency on mitochondrial bioenergetics, cardiometabolic health and exercise training responses.