Mitchell, J. B., Herron, R. L., Carter, S. J., Hornsby, J. H., & Bishop, P. A. (2014). Upper- and lower-body strength training recovery in male adolescent athletes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 46(5), Supplement abstract number 1457.

This study evaluated recovery time between workouts of the same muscle groups in male adolescent athletes (N = 18). Ss performed to failure three sets of bench press and back squat exercises with training recovery periods of 24, 48, and 72 hours in a counterbalanced order. Full recovery was defined as meeting or exceeding the number of repetitions during baseline.

For the bench press, Ss were unable to repeat baseline performance. However, there were no differences at 48 and 72 hours into recovery. Recovery was achieved in the back squat at 24, 48, and at 72 hours. For the bench press 39% (at 24 hours), 56% (at 48 hours), and 44 % (at 72 hours) of Ss had recovered, whereas 56% (at 24 hours), 89% (at 48 hours), and 83% (at 72 hours) of Ss had recovered from the back squat.

Implication. Bench press may need additional recovery time (>48 hours) to achieve optimal performance in young males participating in strength training. For the back-squat exercise, it appears that 24 hours is sufficient time for recovery. It is erroneous to assume that all resistance exercises recover in the same amount of time in male high-school athletes.

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