Research

Mixed

Women may benefit from shorter rest intervals (e.g., 1 minute or less) than men to maintain performance and strength gains during resistance training.

If you are a woman, try resting 60 seconds or less between sets. You might find you can maintain your performance better than if you rested longer, and you'll finish your workout faster. However, be cautious with very short rests (20s) for strength goals, as they may hinder gains.

LimitedQualifiesLOW confidence
Due to the sex differences in fatigability, it can be speculated that men need a longer duration rest interval than women to maintain high levels of performance.
Jozo Grgić et al. · Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) · 2019

Why this rating

The paper explicitly states there are no published longitudinal studies directly comparing rest interval effects on adaptations between sexes; evidence is speculative.

Source

A case for considering age and sex when prescribing rest intervals in resistance training

Jozo Grgić et al. · Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) · 2019

narrative_reviewCited 3×
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