Sex Differences in Bench Press Muscle Activation With and Without Pre-Exhaustion of Triceps Brachii.
- 1Department of Environmental and Biosciences, School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.
- 2Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.
- 3Department of Sport Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate possible sex-differences in upper-body relative strength and the magnitude of muscle activity during the bench press exercise with and without pre-exhaustion (PreEx) of triceps brachii (TB) before the bench press. Resistance trained women (n = 15) and men (n = 15) were assigned to a crossover design where the order of PreEx was block randomized. Each participant completed two 10RM bench press, one without PreEx and one which followed immediately after PreEx to failure with 5 minutes rest in between. Before bench press electromyography electrodes were attached to muscles pectoralis major (PM), TB and deltoideus anterior (DA) and data were normalized to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). For data analyses, a mixed model ANOVA was used. Results showed that both women and men performed a similar number of repetitions in the bench press after PreEx (p = 0.55). A sex-difference was found in TB muscle activation where PreEx before bench press increased TB activation in women (post-hoc p = 0.02) but not in men (post-hoc p = 0.36). Moreover, PM activation increased similarly in women and men (post-hoc p < 0.01 for both) following PreEx, while no changes in DA activation were detected in either sex. During the bench press without PreEx, no sex-differences in muscle activation (%MVIC) were found in any of the three muscles examined. In conclusion, in resistance-trained women, PreEx of the TB enhances activation of both the TB and PM during the bench press, whereas in men, PreEx increases activation only in the PM.
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BibTeX
@article{olsson2026differences,
title = {{Sex Differences in Bench Press Muscle Activation With and Without Pre-Exhaustion of Triceps Brachii.}},
author = {M Charlotte Olsson and Jenny Fälth and August Ahlebrand and Sofia Ryman Augustsson},
journal = {European journal of sport science},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1002/ejsc.70290},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42998306},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sex Differences in Bench Press Muscle Activation With and Without Pre-Exhaustion of Triceps Brachii.
AU - M Charlotte Olsson
AU - Jenny Fälth
AU - August Ahlebrand
AU - Sofia Ryman Augustsson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/09
JO - European journal of sport science
DO - 10.1002/ejsc.70290
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42998306
AB - The aim of this study was to investigate possible sex-differences in upper-body relative strength and the magnitude of muscle activity during the bench press exercise with and without pre-exhaustion (PreEx) of triceps brachii (TB) before the bench press. Resistance trained women (n = 15) and men (n = 15) were assigned to a crossover design where the order of PreEx was block randomized. Each participant completed two 10RM bench press, one without PreEx and one which followed immediately after PreEx to failure with 5 minutes rest in between. Before bench press electromyography electrodes were attached to muscles pectoralis major (PM), TB and deltoideus anterior (DA) and data were normalized to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). For data analyses, a mixed model ANOVA was used. Results showed that both women and men performed a similar number of repetitions in the bench press after PreEx (p = 0.55). A sex-difference was found in TB muscle activation where PreEx before bench press increased TB activation in women (post-hoc p = 0.02) but not in men (post-hoc p = 0.36). Moreover, PM activation increased similarly in women and men (post-hoc p < 0.01 for both) following PreEx, while no changes in DA activation were detected in either sex. During the bench press without PreEx, no sex-differences in muscle activation (%MVIC) were found in any of the three muscles examined. In conclusion, in resistance-trained women, PreEx of the TB enhances activation of both the TB and PM during the bench press, whereas in men, PreEx increases activation only in the PM.
SN - 1746-1391
SN - 1536-7290
ER -