Sex Influences the Load-Velocity Relationship More Than the Relative Strength

To analyze how sex and relative strength (RS, 1-repetition maximum [1RM] divided by body mass) affect the relative load (%1RM)-velocity relationship in the bench-press exercise.

One hundred twenty young healthy men and women were assigned to 4 groups based on their RS in bench press: men with an RS greater than 1.1 kg·kg-1 (MRS > 1.1), men with an RS between 0.7 and 1.0 kg·kg-1 (MRS = 1.0-0.7), women with an RS between 0.7 and 1.0 kg·kg-1 (WRS = 1.0-0.7), and women with an RS lower than 0.6 kg·kg-1 (WRS < 0.6). All participants performed a progressive loading test in bench press.

A strong %1RM-velocity relationship was observed across all groups (R2 = .97-.95). Moreover, even though RS was matched between the MRS = 1.0 to 0.7 and WRS = 1.0 to 0.7 groups, significant differences (P < .05) were found in the velocity values achieved at each %1RM from 20% to 95% 1RM. However, no significant differences (P > .05) within sex were observed at any intensity among individuals with varying RS levels.

These findings suggest that sex-based differences in the %1RM-velocity relationship persist across comparable ranges of RS, indicating that these disparities are likely driven by sex-related factors rather than differences in strength levels per se.