The effects of biological sex on fatigue during and recovery from resistance exercise.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized comparative cohort study evaluating sex-based differences across a standardized exercise and recovery protocol.
PubMed 41527566 · doi:10.7717/peerj.20542
What was done
Forty-two resistance-trained adults (21 males and 21 females with at least one year of bench press experience) completed a fatigue protocol consisting of barbell bench press sets of 5 repetitions at 75% 1RM with 90-second rest intervals until concentric failure. Muscle soreness (pectoralis, triceps, anterior deltoids) and strength recovery via load-velocity profile-estimated 1RM were monitored over the following 72 hours.
What was found
Female participants completed significantly more repetitions during the fatigue protocol than male participants (58.3 ± 27.3 vs. 29.6 ± 10.6 repetitions; p = 0.0001). Despite the higher total work completed by females, post-exercise muscle soreness and 72-hour recovery of estimated 1RM strength did not differ significantly between sexes (p > 0.05).
Why it matters
These results suggest females have greater resistance to fatigue and faster inter-set recovery during moderate-load upper-body resistance exercise, without experiencing delayed post-workout recovery. Training prescription guidelines may benefit from accounting for biological sex differences in volume tolerance.
Limits
The study had a relatively small sample size (42 participants) and evaluated only a single dynamic upper-body exercise (barbell bench press). The abstract does not report control for menstrual cycle phase or hormonal contraception, and recovery tracking relied on subjective soreness and velocity-derived 1RM estimates rather than direct physiological or histological markers.
Cited by
- supports Scientific research on sex differences in recovery from resistance training shows mixed findings.