Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of training at different ranges of motion during the squat exercise on joint-angle specific strength adaptations. Methods. Twenty eight men were randomly assigned to one of three training groups, differing only in the depth of squats (quarter squat, half squat, and full squat) performed in 16-week training intervention. Strength measures were conducted in the back squat pre-, mid-, and post-training at all three depths. Vertical jump and 40-yard sprint time were also measured. Results. Individuals in the quarter and full squat training groups improved significantly more at the specific depth at which they trained when compared to the other two groups (p < 0.05). Jump height and sprint speed improved in all groups (p < 0.05); however, the quarter squat had the greatest transfer to both outcomes. Conclusions. Consistently including quarter squats in workouts aimed at maximizing speed and jumping power can result in greater improvements.

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Introdução: No envelhecimento são observadas alterações funcionais, bioquímicas e morfológicas. Objetivo: verificar os efeitos de um período de treinamento de força (TF) nos níveis de força e desempenho funcional em mulheres idosas. Materiais e Métodos: Foram recrutadas 20 mulheres idosas (68,6 ± 6,6; anos; 69,7 ± 10,9 kg; 160,0 ± 0,10 cm) sem experiência prévia em TF. O protocolo de TF aplicado foi no formato de circuito com três séries, intervalo de 30 segundos entre cada exercício, faixa de repetições entre oito a dez com carga correspondente a percepção de esforço de cada participante. Os testes funcionais aplicados foram baseados no sênior fitness teste. Resultados: Após o período de intervenção foi observado diferença para o peso corporal, testes funcionais e níveis de força muscular (p

OBJECTIVE: Verify the influence of different exercise orders on the performance of the number of maximal repetitions in older women. METHODS: Twelve older women (65.7 ± 5.6 years, 66.9 ± 9.5 kg, 1.56 ± 0.67 m, 27.4 ± 3.6 kg/m 2 ) underwent four nonconsecutive visits and two different orders of Resistance Training. At the first visit, the volunteers were submitted to anamnesis, anthropometric evaluation and a 10RM test. On the second visit, a re-test of 10RM was performed. On the third and fourth visits, the volunteers performed two exercise sequences: sequence A: bench press, latissimus pulldown close grip, biceps curl, triceps extension; for sequence B the order was inverted. Performance was measured by the number of repetitions in each exercise. To determine differences in performance for sequence A vs. sequence B, repeated measures were performed by two-way ANOVA followed by the Tuckey post-hoc test. RESULTS: The number of repetitions of each exercise varied significantly for the bench press, biceps curl and triceps extension between the exercise sequences. CONCLUSIONS: The order of the exercises performed in a resistance training session can affect the performance in the number of repetitions in older women.

Background: Currently the resistance training (RT), is considered a contributor to improved mental health, however, is not reported in the literature an frequency ideal of training. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the practice of RT on the psychological health of employees participating in a corporate wellness program, in different numbers of weekly sessions (2, 3 and 4 times), for a total of 12 weeks. Methods: 77 individuals were selected; 33 women and 44 men, between the ages of 30 and 45, employees participating in a corporate wellness program. The individuals were randomly divided and classified as control group (n=10) and three more groups (G2,G3, and G4), according to weekly training frequency. The groups followed RT programs made up of eight exercises with medium intensity of 10RM for 12 weeks. The General Health Questionnaire with 12 items (GHQ-12) was applied before and after the intervention period. The GHQ-12 results were calculated using the Likert scale format. Results: Significant statistical differences were noted between pre and post-intervention periods in all groups, indicating improvement in psychological health, most noted in G4. Conclusions: The data revealed that RT is capable of improving mental state in its practitioners after three months of training and that weekly frequency has little influence in this improvement, even though the group that trained with more frequency presented slightly higher levels of improvement in psychological wellbeing.