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With the purpose of manipulating training stimuli, several techniques have been employed to resistance training. Two of the most popular techniques are the pre-exhaustion (PRE) and priority system (PS). PRE involves exercising the same muscle or muscle group to the point of muscular failure using a single-joint exercise immediately before a multi-joint exercise (e.g., peck-deck followed by chest press). On the other hand, it is often recommended that the complex exercises should be performed first in a training session (i.e., chest press before peck-deck), a technique known as PS. The purpose of the present study was to compare upper-body muscle activation, total repetitions (TR), and total work (TW) during PRE and PS. Thirteen men (age 25.08 +/- 2.58 years) with recreational weight-training experience performed 1 set of PRE and 1 set of PS in a balanced crossover design. The exercises were performed at the load obtained in a 10 repetition maximum (10RM) test. Therefore, chest press and peck-deck were performed with the same load during PRE and PS. Electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the triceps brachii (TB), anterior deltoids, and pectoralis major during both exercises. According to the results, TW and TR were not significantly different (p > 0.05) between PRE and PS. Likewise, during the peck-deck exercise, no significant (p > 0.05) EMG change was observed between PRE and PS order. However, TB activity was significantly (p < 0.05) higher when chest press was performed after the peck-deck exercise (PRE). Our findings suggest that performing pre-exhaustion exercise is no more effective in increasing the activation of the prefatigued muscles during the multi-joint exercise. Also, independent of the exercise order (PRE vs. PS), TW is similar when performing exercises for the same muscle group. In summary, if the coach wants to maximize the athlete performance in 1 specific resistance exercise, this exercise should be placed at the beginning of the training session.

The identification of the characteristics of each movement and its adjustment to the training goals are tasks that demand the interaction of many knowledge areas. These tasks are essential to the success in sports activities and training programs designed with athletic, aesthetic or healthy purposes. The objective of the present study was to compare the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the pectoralis major (PM), anterior deltoids (DA) and triceps brachii (TB) muscles during the barbell bench press (SP) and the peck deck (PD) exercises. EMG activity of TB, PM and DA were assessed during 10 maximum repetitions performed in SP and PD in 13 trained men. The results did not show any differences between exercises for PM and DA activity; however, TB activity was higher for SP than PD exercise. During SP, the PM muscle activity was higher than TB. There were no differences between PM and DA, or between DA and TB. During the PD exercise, the PM and DA muscle activities were higher than TB. There were no differences between PM and DA. It was concluded that the prime movers of both exercise are DA and PM, and there are no differences between them. Therefore, both PD and SP could be performed with the purpose to stimulate DA and PM muscles, depending on the availability of the equipments and/or the specificity of the motor tasks.

Introduction: In the study of human biomechanics, it is often desirable to evaluate fatigue in the muscles that are involved in performing a particular task. Identifying the phenomena responsible for this condition is a problem that in most cases is complex and requires appropriate research mechanisms. Isokinetic dynamometry (ID) and surface electromyography (SEMG) are two techniques widely used in studies on strength and muscle fatigue. Their effectiveness is conditioned upon a good understanding of their limitations and the adoption of procedures to fully exploit the potential of each one. The main goal of the present study is to verify whether the electromyographic parameters, especially the conduction velocity (CV), are sensitive to the fatigue instauration process within sets of maximal isokinetic contractions. CV is a basic physiological parameter directly related to muscle activity and still little explored in experiments combining ID and SEMG. Methods: Instrumentation architecture that combines ID and SEMG was used to estimate electromyographic and biomechanical parameters in protocols of maximum intensity isokinetic knee extension exercises. This architecture allows for limiting the parameter estimates to a specifi c region of isokinetic exercise, called the isokinetic load range (ILR), where one can consider that the angular velocity is constant and the SEMG signals are cyclo-stationary. Electromyographic signals were acquired using an array of electrodes. Conclusion: The results suggest that CV and the other SEMG parameters, including amplitude and frequency descriptors, are sensitive to detect a fatigue process only in protocols that restrict the analysis to ILR and that also bring the subject to a state of fatigue quickly.

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