Females recover quicker

Here is a study PMID: 38347629 showing that women have a greater inter-set recovery capacity compared to men. Men and women performed 4 sets of biceps-curls, but the women were able to maintain a greater number of their initial repetition values on subsequent sets.

This study suggests women may be able to perform shorter rest periods between sets without leaving hypertrophy gains on the table.

The authors of this study note, women tend to have a greater type I fibre area vs men, which may result in better muscular endurance. Women tend to rely less on glycolysis (the breakdown of glucose) during exercise and have a greater capacity to buffer metabolites (i.e. the burn) allowing for more rapid recovery compared to men.

Another possibility is that women generally, from my experience in my own practice with clients, tend to (not always) use lower loads in their training than men. Possibly the use of lower absolute loads may be less taxing overall on bodily systems and thus allow quicker recovery.

Perhaps this information can be helpful for women to reconsider their rest periods for a more time-efficient workout and perhaps increase volume (sets or exercises).

It is important to note that the study used 50% of 1 rep max (RM), which is relatively light. Perhaps there would be a difference in results of the study if more traditional body building style loads were used (75% 1RM)?