Discussion of the influence of body type on the potential to gain strength from resistance training (RT) is a relatively new field of investigation. What has not been explored is the degree to which body type might impact the potential difference between men and women to make strength gains from RT. PURPOSE: To determine the influence of sex and body type on changes in upper-body strength resulting from free-weight RT in college men and women. METHODS: College men and women (n = 903) were measured for fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) as determined from gender-specific skinfold equations. Body type was determined by regressing FFM/Ht² on FM/Ht2 and partitioning into thirds for each sex as slender (SL), average (AV), and solid (SO). Sexes were matched within the 3 body types for SL (men = 47, women = 23), AV (men = 43, women = 18), and SO (men = 44, women = 16). Each participant was measure for 1RM bench press before and after 12 weeks of linear periodization RT in 3 sets of 6 exercises. RESULTS: Sex x body type ANOVA on absolute strength gain revealed no significant difference between sexes (M = 6.3 ± 5.7 kg; W = 4.5 ± 5.0 kg) or across body types (SL = 4.9 ± 5.8, AV = 6.0 ± 5.7, SO = 6.5 ± 4.9 kg). The sex x body type interaction was not significant. SO (36.6 ± 8.3 kg), SL (35.8 ± 8.0 kg), and AV (35.1 ± 8.4 kg) differed by <2% in initial 1RM. Absolute strength gains had low correlations with initial strength in both men (r = -0.16) and women (r = 0.12) as well with body type (r<0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Untrained men and women of comparable body types appear to make similar gains in upper-body strength when following the same periodized free-weight RT program. The level of initial strength seems to have little bearing on the amount of strength that can be gained during training.