Effect of Rest Interval Length Between Sets on Total Load Lifted and Blood Lactate Response During Total-Body Resistance Exercise Session

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of different rest interval durations between sets during full-body resistance exercise sessions on total load lifted and blood lactate concentrations in resistance-trained individuals.Methods: Ten healthy young men (age: 23 ± 6.5 years; total body mass: 82.8 ± 10.6 kg, height: 177.3 ± 0.1 cm) randomly performed 3 resistance exercise sessions with different rest intervals between sets (30 seconds, 60 seconds and 120 seconds). The resistance exercise sessions consisted of 6 full-body exercises (bench press; seated low row; shoulder press; back squat; leg press 45°and seated calf raise) performed with 4 sets of 10 repetitions maximum (RM). Total load lifted (sets × repetitions × load (kg)) and lactate blood concentration were determined for each exercise session. One way, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni's post-hoc test were used for multiple comparisons. Results:The total load lifted was significantly (P < 0.001) lower for 30 seconds (26382.0 ± 4100.3 kg) rest interval compared with 60 seconds (28864.5 ± 4139.7 kg) and 120 seconds (30064.4 ± 3966.4 kg). The blood lactate response was not different among the 3 rest interval conditions investigated, with mean peak values of 7.05 ± 1.69, 7.26 ± 2.77 and 6.90 ± 3.79 mMoles for 30 seconds, 60 seconds and 120 seconds, respectively. Conclusions: In conclusion, rest interval durations of 60 seconds and 120 seconds between sets favored a higher total load lifted in the exercise session when compared to the 30 seconds rest interval. The rest protocols implemented in the present study promoted a similar metabolic response (e.g. blood lactate concentration) to a full-body resistance exercise session in trained subjects.

Effect of rest duration between sets on fatigue and recovery after short intense plyometric exercise

“…Tredrea 33 , based on a literature review, found that in intense strength training (> 80% of 1RM), only intervals of 4–8 min allowed the next set of plyometric exercises to be performed at a similar power level. Furthermore, Lopes et al 34 showed that doubling the duration of the interval between sets (from 30 to 60 s) allowed participants to perform significantly more repetitions in a set but increasing the interval from 60 to 120 s no longer increased the number of repetitions.…”

Aerobic Adaptations to Resistance Training: The Role of Time under Tension

“…Lactate, an anaerobic by-product that is formed when pyruvate binds to two hydrogen ions after glycolysis [92,96], is often used as a proxy measure of metabolic stress during various styles of RT [89,90]. Rogatzki et al [67] demonstrated that endurance-style RT (2 sets, 20 reps, 50 % of 1-RM) elicited greater blood lactate response than hypertrophy (3 sets, 10 reps, 70 % of 1-RM) and strength (5 sets, 5 reps, 85 % of 1-RM) RT during back squat exercise.…”