The Chronic Effects of Low- and High-Intensity Resistance Training on Muscular Fitness in Adolescents

Abstract

To compare the effects of high-load, low-repetition maximum (LRM) and low-load, high-repetition maximum (HRM) resistance training regimens on muscular fitness in untrained adolescents. Forty-five untrained adolescents of both sexes (13.7±0.8 years; 161.3±7.5 cm, 56.8±13.4 kg) were randomly assigned into one of three groups: 1) LRM (n = 17): volunteers performed three sets of 4-6-repetition maximum (RM); 2) HRM (n = 16): volunteers performed three sets of 12–15 RM; and 3) control (CON, n = 12). Training was performed two times a week for 9 weeks. After training, there were significant increases in 1 RM chest press (LRM = 14.8% and HRM = 14.2%, p<0.05) and squat (LRM = 26.4% and HRM = 25.7%, p<0.05), with no differences between the LRM and HRM groups (p>0.05). Additionally, muscular endurance increased significantly for the chest press (LRM = 14.5% and HRM = 21.8%, p<0.05) and squat test (LRM = 31.4% and HRM = 32.4%, p<0.05) following resistance training, with no difference between the LRM and HRM groups (p>0.05). These results suggest that both high-load, low-repetition and moderate-load, high-repetition resistance training can be prescribed to improve muscular fitness in untrained adolescents.

A Meta-Analysis of Resistance Training in Female Youth: Its Effect on Muscular Strength, and Shortcomings in the Literature

“…A widespread flaw in the literature relating to RT in female youth is the pooling of performance data of both females and males for analysis within the same studies [8,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84]. In isolation, this is never an acceptable practice in research as it only determines whether a training method is effective independent of any population-specific effects.…”

Resistance Training with Single vs. Multi-joint Exercises at Equal Total Load Volume: Effects on Body Composition, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Muscle Strength

“…It is important to note that, in order to equate volume, the SJ group had to train with a higher number of repetitions in the present study. Whilst many studies have found similar strength gains when training at different repetition ranges (Morton et al, 2011 ; Assunção et al, 2016 ; Fisher et al, 2017 ), there are studies reporting higher strength gains in groups that trained with higher loads and low number of repetitions (Campos et al, 2002 ). According to previous studies, this could be explained by the specificity of the test, since training with a low number of repetitions is closer to what was performed in the 1 RM test (Buckner et al, 2017 ; Gentil, 2017 ).…”

The Effects of 6 Months of Progressive High Effort Resistance Training Methods upon Strength, Body Composition, Function, and Wellbeing of Elderly Adults

“…Adaptations to heavier- or lighter-loads seem similar when repetitions are performed to MF in older adults [40] similarly to findings in both adolescent [41] and young adult populations [42]. However, though supervised high effort RT is effective, Van Roie et al [43] have reported that long term adherence after the initial supervised intervention, whether using heavier- or lighter-loads, is poor.…”