Marin, D. P., Ribeiro Fonseca, C. E., & Aylton Jr., A. J. (2008). Comparison of different rest intervals among sets on bench press and leg press performance. ACSM 55th Annual Meeting Indianapolis, Presentation Number, 1609.

This study evaluated differences among three different rest interval conditions on bench press and leg press performance over four consecutive sets in female handball players (N = 7). Ss performed three sessions of tests with 48-hour intervals between the sessions. Four sets of bench presses with a load of 75% of 1 RM were performed until exhaustion. The rest interval among session sets was one minute; three minutes, and five minutes. The total repetitions completed and the sustainability of repetitions (number of repetitions in each set within a session) were compared between the rest conditions and exercises.

Ss were unable to sustain the number of repetitions for the bench press when rest intervals were one or three minutes. Sustainability was achieved with a five-minute rest interval. For the leg press, sustainability was evidenced across all sets for all rest intervals.

Implication. Female athletes fatigue much more when performing resistance exercises with the arms than with the legs. With females, rest intervals should be different between arm and leg work.

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