Estimating Repetitions in Reserve During the Bench Press Exercise: Should We Consider Sex and the Exercise Equipment?

Estimating repetitions in reserve (RIR) has been established as a valid and practical method for monitoring set configuration concerning proximity to failure in resistance training. However, factors such as sex and exercise equipment could interfere with the estimation process. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the influence of sex (female vs male) and exercise equipment (free-weight vs Smith machine) on the RIR estimation at different relative loads during the bench press exercise.