ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 July;60(7):992-8

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.10612-1

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Does rest interval between sets affect resistance training volume, density, and rating of perceived exertion when adopting the crescent pyramid system in young women?

Witalo KASSIANO ¹ ✉, Alexandre I. MEDEIROS ², Bruna D. de VASCONCELOS COSTA ¹, Ana D. ANDRADE ³, Mário A. MOURA SIMIM ², Leonardo de SOUSA FORTES ³, Edilson S. CYRINO ¹, Cláudio de OLIVEIRA ASSUMPÇÃO ²

¹ Metabolism, Nutrition and Exercise Laboratory, Physical Education and Sport Center, Londrina State University, Londrina, Brazil; ² Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil; ³ Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB), João Pessoa, Brazil

BACKGROUND: The rest interval between sets can affect the responses to resistance training. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different rest intervals (RI) on volume, density, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) when adopting a crescent pyramid (CP) system.
METHODS: Twenty young women (21.1±2.6 years, 1.59±0.06 m, 58.5±9.3 kg) participated in this study. All participants performed three experimental sessions of the leg press exercise in 5 sets until voluntary muscular failure at 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, and 80% of one-repetition maximum (1RM). A randomized and crossover design was used so that in each session one of three RI (RI-1 = 1 min, RI-2 = 2 min, and RI-3 = 3 min) was tested.
RESULTS: The participants performed a significantly larger volume in the RI-3 (12820±3134 kg) when compared to RI-1 (10367±3053 kg) condition (P<0.05). The volume did not differ between RI-2 and RI-3 (P>0.05). The density was higher (P<0.05) in RI-1 (43.1±12.7 kg/s) when compared RI-2 (25.6±5.8 kg/s) and RI-3 (17.7±4.3 kg/s). The RI-2 presented higher density compared to RI-3 condition (P<0.05). The RPE was not different between the three conditions (P>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The use of 2 minutes of rest between sets allowed the performance of a high volume-load and density of the session in young women. In addition, the three experimental sessions provided a high perception of effort.

KEY WORDS: Resistance training; Muscle strength; Rest; Athletic performance; Women