Matteo Campagna
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After a hundred arrows the shoulder muscles of men and women respond in the same way

1 study · 20 archers measured

ForContextAgainst202420262024, for, n = 202024, against, n = 202024, context, n = 20
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

The answer comes from a single study, and that study says two different things. Twenty trained archers, fourteen men and six women, were measured with electromyography of six shoulder muscles at rest, after a hundred arrows and after a session of manual therapy, and the authors conclude that fatigue and therapy act in a similar way in both sexes, with a single difference that concerns the therapy and not the arrows. Their own analyses, however, find an interaction between time and sex precisely after the hundred arrows: the peak of the middle trapezius goes from 320 to 982 microvolts in the women and from 406 to 464 in the men. With six women, a single difference among many comparisons and a text that does not match the results, today it cannot be said either that the response is the same or that it differs.

Also phrased as: "fatigue in women and men archers"; "sex differences in shooting fatigue"; "shoulder fatigue does not depend on sex"

In practice

It is taken for granted that the fatigue of a long session is the same for everyone, and that after the same number of arrows a woman and a man reach the end with their shoulders in the same state.

Evidence

  • 2024
    For Archers Published later

    20 trained archers (14 men and 6 women), electromyography of the middle and posterior deltoid, the upper, middle and lower trapezius and the infraspinatus at rest, after 100 arrows and after manual therapy to the shoulder, with no control group: in the abstract the authors report a single difference between the sexes, the median frequency of the upper trapezius after therapy (83.2 Hz in the women against 71.5 in the men, F=5.096, p=0.037), and conclude that fatigue and therapy act in the same way in both sexes. Among the comparisons at rest and after the 100 arrows, none of the direct tests between men and women falls below p=0.05.

    Effects of shoulder manipulation on electromyography measures in archery athletes during recovery from fatigue: a comparison between sexes · Rafał Studnicki, Weronika Naderza, Bartłomiej Niespodziński, Rita Hansdorfer-Korzon, Adam Kawczyński

  • 2024
    Against Archers Published later

    In Table 2 of the same study, after the 100 arrows the peak of the middle trapezius goes from 319.7 to 982.4 microvolts in the women and from 405.8 to 464.4 in the men, with a significant interaction between time and sex (F=4.364, p=0.043, partial eta squared 0.195). In the discussion, by contrast, the authors write that the only interaction with sex was in the infraspinatus, where their results report none.

    Effects of shoulder manipulation on electromyography measures in archery athletes during recovery from fatigue: a comparison between sexes · Rafał Studnicki, Weronika Naderza, Bartłomiej Niespodziński, Rita Hansdorfer-Korzon, Adam Kawczyński

  • 2024
    Context Archers Published later

    In Table 1, the median frequency of the posterior deltoid in the men rises from 63.3 Hz at rest to 67.5 after the 100 arrows and falls to 59.2 after therapy; in the women it stays at 60.1, 61.2 and 61.9 Hz. The pattern looks different, but the interaction between time and sex is not significant (F=2.343, p=0.132), and with six women it cannot be read as a difference between the sexes.

    Effects of shoulder manipulation on electromyography measures in archery athletes during recovery from fatigue: a comparison between sexes · Rafał Studnicki, Weronika Naderza, Bartłomiej Niespodziński, Rita Hansdorfer-Korzon, Adam Kawczyński

Status history

  1. 2024 Contested The only study comparing the sexes in shooting fatigue goes both ways at once. The authors write that the response is essentially the same, with a single difference between the sexes, the median frequency of the upper trapezius after therapy, which is higher in the women. Their own analyses, however, find an interaction between time and sex precisely after the hundred arrows: the peak of the middle trapezius triples in the women and barely moves in the men. Fourteen men and six women, with a text that does not match the results: the study counts once in favour and once against, and the question stays disputed.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). After a hundred arrows the shoulder muscles of men and women respond in the same way (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/shoulder-fatigue-men-and-women

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_faticadifferenzesessi,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {After a hundred arrows the shoulder muscles of men and women respond in the same way},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/shoulder-fatigue-men-and-women},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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