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. 2024 Apr 15;91(Spec Issue):61-76.
doi: 10.5114/jhk/185524. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Fatigue and Metabolic Responses during Repeated Sets of Bench Press Exercise to Exhaustion at Different Ranges of Motion

Athanasios Tsoukos  1 , Michał Krzysztofik  2 , Michal Wilk  2 , Adam Zajac  2 , Michail G Panagiotopoulos  1 , Ilias-Iason Psarras  1 , Despina P Petraki  1 , Gerasimos Terzis  1 , Gregory C Bogdanis  1
Affiliations

Fatigue and Metabolic Responses during Repeated Sets of Bench Press Exercise to Exhaustion at Different Ranges of Motion

Athanasios Tsoukos et al. J Hum Kinet. .

Abstract

This study compared the acute effects of different ranges of motion (ROM) on fatigue and metabolic responses during repeated sets of bench press exercise. Ten resistance trained men performed three sets to momentary failure with two-min rest intervals at three different ROM: full ROM (FULL), and partial ROM in which the barbell was moved either at the bottom half (BOTTOM) or the top half (TOP) of the full barbell vertical displacement. In TOP, a higher load was lifted, and a higher total number of repetitions was performed compared to FULL and BOTTOM (130 ± 17.6 vs. 102.5 ± 15.9 vs. 98.8 ± 17.5 kg; 55.2 ± 9.8, 32.2 ± 6.5 vs. 49.1 ± 16.5 kg, respectively p < 0.01). Work per repetition was higher in FULL than TOP and BOTTOM (283 ± 43 vs. 205 ± 32 vs. 164 ± 31 J/repetition, p < 0.01). Mean barbell velocity at the start of set 1 was 21.7% and 12.8% higher in FULL compared to TOP and BOTTOM, respectively. The rate of decline in mean barbell velocity was doubled from set 1 to set 3 (p < 0.01) and was higher in FULL than both TOP and BOTTOM (p < 0.001). Also, the rate of mean barbell velocity decline was higher in BOTTOM compared to TOP (p = 0.045). Blood lactate concentration was similarly increased in all ROM (p < 0.001). Training at TOP ROM allowed not only to lift a higher load, but also to perform more repetitions with a lower rate of decline in mean barbell velocity. Despite the lower absolute load and work per repetition, fatigue was higher in BOTTOM than TOP and this may be attributed to differences in muscle length.

Keywords: blood lactate; muscle length; velocity-based training.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean barbell velocity during the different ROM conditions in the three sets. *: p < 0.01 from the initial repetitions under all ROM conditions; ‡: p < 0.01 from the initial repetitions of the 2nd and the 3rd set in the corresponding ROM; †: p < 0.01 from the initial repetitions of the 3rd set in the corresponding ROM; §: p < 0.01 from TOP and BOTTOM ROM in the corresponding SET and repetitions; #: p < 0.01 from TOP ROM in the corresponding SET and repetitions
Figure 2
Figure 2
Peak barbell velocity during the different ROM conditions in the three sets. *: p < 0.01 from the initial repetitions under all ROM conditions; ‡: p < 0.01 from the initial repetitions of the 2nd and the 3rd set in the corresponding ROM; †: p < 0.01 from the initial repetitions of the 3rd set in the corresponding ROM; §: p < 0.01 from the TOP and BOTTOM ROM in the corresponding SET and repetitions; #: p < 0.01 from the TOP ROM in the corresponding SET and repetitions
Figure 3
Figure 3
The rate of decline (slope) during the three different ROM conditions, irrespective of the set (all sets considered together). *: p < 0.01 from TOP and BOTTOM ROM; #: p < 0.05 from TOP ROM
Figure 4
Figure 4
The rate of decline in mean barbell velocity (slope) during the three sets. *: p < 0.01 from SET 1; #: p < 0.05 from SET 1 and SET 2
Figure 5
Figure 5
Blood lactate concentration under the three experimental conditions. *: p < 0.01 from the warm-up; #: p < 0.01 from immediately post exercise
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