Comparison of muscle activity and tissue oxygenation during strength training protocols that differ by their organisation, rest interval between sets, and volume

Abstract

The results indicate that brief rest interval between sets and incremental number of repetitions in successive sets induced greater muscle activity and metabolic changes compared with method of constant repetitions per set and longer rest interval.

Acute Effects of the New Method Sarcoplasma Stimulating Training Versus Traditional Resistance Training on Total Training Volume, Lactate and Muscle Thickness

“…For example, Penzer et al (2016) utilized an elbow flexion movement and compared a 3/7 method consisting of 1 set of 3 repetitions, 1 set of 4 repetitions, 1 set of 5 repetitions, 1 set of 6 repetitions, and 1 set of 7 repetitions with 15 s rest interval between sets with traditional approaches of 4 × 6 and 8 × 6 repetitions with 70% of 1-RM and 150 s rest between sets. The 3/7 method was accompanied by greater muscle activity and tissue oxygenation deficits; thus, very brief rest intervals between sets during elbow curl resulted in greater metabolic demand.…”

Efficacy of a new strength training design: the 3/7 method

“…Even if a more intense muscle activation during the 3/7 method than the 8 × 6 method can be expected, especially during the first 5 sessions, our results support metabolic stress as an additive factor of the greater hypertrophy after the 3/7 method. This argument is reinforced by the greater deficit in tissue oxygenation recorded by NIRS during the 3/7 method (Penzer et al 2016) and data from other studies reporting that the metabolic stress induced during the training exercise or the entire session can initiate anabolic signalling for muscle hypertrophy (Rooney et al 1994;Schott et al 1995;Goto et al 2005;Nalbandian and Takeda 2016;Ozaki et al 2016;de Freitas et al 2017). Nevertheless, future investigations need to demonstrate whether metabolites produced during strength training have either a direct effect on the mechanisms associated with muscle hypertrophy or an indirect action through the intensification of muscle activation (Dankel et al 2017).…”

“…in the involved muscles by limiting their removal compared with longer rest period. Furthermore, the incremental organisation of the repetitions within each set may have also played a role by inducing a greater level of metabolite accumulation at the end of the 5th and 10th set of the 3/7 method (Penzer et al 2016). Even if a more intense muscle activation during the 3/7 method than the 8 × 6 method can be expected, especially during the first 5 sessions, our results support metabolic stress as an additive factor of the greater hypertrophy after the 3/7 method.…”

“…To reach a substantial amount of repetitions (~ 50) per session, the 3/7 method was repeated two times with a 150 s rest in between and compared to a method consisting of 8 sets of 6 repetitions (8 × 6 method) with 150 s of rest between sets. As the 3/7 method promotes greater metabolic changes (deoxygenation) than the 8 × 6 method (Penzer et al 2016), we also assessed changes in neuromuscular fatigability after the two training programs. We hypothesized that the 3/7 method would induce greater strength gain and muscle hypertrophy, and improve muscle endurance to a greater extent than the 8 × 6 method.…”

Electrode Size and Placement for Surface EMG Bipolar Detection from the Brachioradialis Muscle: A Scoping Review

“…The term crosstalk appears in 29 of the 134 studies included in this review. In eleven cases it was just cited either in the introduction or in the study's limitations as a possible confounding factor [8,53,61,78,84,101,122,124,133,143,145]. Two authors assumed that their electrode placement would minimize crosstalk from the biceps brachii [124] and from the forearm muscles [69], and no further explanation was given.…”