This is interesting....
I hate how most women in today's superhero movies are nearly helpless and the hero almost always saves them.
Although, if you do think about what YOU would do in the same situation....... ?
it would be natural that you would be panicking at first. Fear has a big hold on people, especially if it is fear of something that is real and not fictional.
I think it would be cool if there was a mentor beside the 'wimpy' character if they found out they were important(like King Arthur for example. He wasn't always very wise or very strong) and then instructing them to grow stronger as troubles arise.
It reminds me how God never puts more before us than we can handle. Everything he tells us to do is something that can be done(with his help).
I don't have any problem with a guy saving a girl in books or movies. But some of the time, there isn't much character tension or awkwardness(like a guy carrying a girl when he's never done so before).
Think for instance of a guy you know. And think of a situation in which he would save a girl you know. Think of the awkwardness there might be if she was unconscious and he had to carry her. And then compare it with the movies you see in which that happens. It makes the characters in a lot of movies feel flat within those situations(not that they are flat characters throughout the movie) compared to people in real life.
Then think of a normal girl in sports, and then think of a boy who wears glasses and is picked on in school a lot. Imagine her standing up to bullies who were picking on the boy.
That to me would be normal, something you might see in school, if the girl was angry enough. But you wouldn't expect the two to get married when they grew up just because of her saving him.
Sometimes a girl-saves-boy scene is unrealistic, but it depends.

Or the hero gets stuck in a situation where the heroine has to use her brain and other tactics to rescue him without having to use too much physical force.

To be completely honest, I'd be the damsel in distress back in the day, because if you saw how skinny my arms are you'd know why I wouldn't be able to wield a sword well. (Part of the reason why I want to start working out.) I lack endurance as well.

Not always. Sometime endurance, both mental and physical are more important.

Interesting comments everyone. I'll have to do another character fractal for my FMC now, so she is her own person.

Both can be developed.

Thanks. I'll have to finish the MMC's first, then do her's.

Just a couple thoughts on this...while I don't regularly employ this method, it may be good to put characters in situations where they are completely helpless, regardless of gender. Situations of helplessness that require salvation that's out of their control can serve as an indirect allegory to our own spiritual state when we were saved by Christ. When our fate was completely out of our control and we were spiraling deeper and deeper into our own impurities, we were saved. Showing characters in situations of at least mild helplessness can help to make them appear more human as well.

However, in the case of the guy saving the girl, I generally try to avoid scenarios that resemble idyllic fairy tales exclusively. One obvious example of this is in the case of a helpless maiden being saved by her knight in shining armor. Relationships are meant to be mutual, where both sides can contribute. While in many cases this may result in having a smart girl and a muscular guy, I think that having that in our stories may just serve to promote the overwhelming stereotypes of stupid men and wimpy girls.

I think that our characters have to be deeper than this...for example, find ways to give women strength, whether it be physically or mentally. One aspect is to make them good socially. For example, I have a character whose sweet demeanor and lulling voice help her get whatever she wants, in comparison to her best friend who also manages to get caught up into awkward conversations and misunderstood. Or, if you want to have a woman who's strong physically, have her be strong in different ways. For example, let her have gymnast-like qualities of intense flexibility or incredible upper arm power. Maybe she can crawl up the sides of mountains with agility and speed, don't just limit her to brain power.

So basically, if you do resort to using some sort of guy saving girl scenario (which I still tend to lean towards in my utter love of fairy tale like stories) just make sure your characters are well developed enough that it's not demeaning to either character. For one of my characters, he rushes in to save the girl he loves but he does it in a rash manner so it's not as fairy tale-ish as it could have been.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the guy saving the girl. I kind of like to mirror fairy tales by using similar scenarios and twisting them in completely different ways. If your characters are well developed, you can do about anything and it won't demean either character.