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. 2019 Feb 27;29(1):8052.
doi: 10.4081/ejtm.2019.8052. eCollection 2019 Jan 11.

Comparison of single- and multi-joint lower body resistance training upon strength increases in recreationally active males and females: a within-participant unilateral training study

Alexander Goncalves  1 , Paulo Gentil  2 , James Steele  1   3 , Jürgen Giessing  4 , Antonio Paoli  5 , James P Fisher  1
Affiliations

Comparison of single- and multi-joint lower body resistance training upon strength increases in recreationally active males and females: a within-participant unilateral training study

Alexander Goncalves et al. Eur J Transl Myol. .

Abstract

The present study compared strength increases resulting from either single-joint (SJ) or multi-joint (MJ) lower body resistance exercise. A within-participants design was utilised. Ten recreationally active participants (males; n=5, and females; n=5) had their lower limbs randomly allocated to perform both unilateral MJ (leg press; LP) and unilateral SJ (knee extension; KE, and seated knee flexion; KF) exercises. Participants trained 2 d.week-1 for 6 weeks. Pre- and post-intervention maximal strength (1-repetition maximum; 1RM) was measured for leg press, knee extension, and seated knee flexion exercises. Statistically significant strength increases occurred for both SJ and MJ groups, with significantly greater increases in 1RM for the MJ compared to the SJ group (p < 0.001 for all exercises). This study supports the use of MJ exercise for strength increases across lower body MJ and SJ movements, suggesting a time-efficient, and simple approach to resistance training may be efficacious. This might serve to promote greater adherence in the lay population as well as serving useful for rehabilitation professionals and strength and conditioning coaches in managing resistance exercise around skill/sport specific training.

Keywords: compound exercise; exercise selection; isolation exercise.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest The authors declare they have no financial, personal, or other conflicts of interest..We confirm that we have read the Journal’s position on issues involved in ethical publication and affirm that this report is consistent with those guidelines.

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
CONSORT diagram showing enrolment, allocation, continuance and analysis.
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Paired comparison estimation plots for each exercise for the changes in 1RM.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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