(20) THE EFFECTS OF MAXIMAL AND SUPRAMAXIMAL ACCENTUATED ECCENTRIC LOADING ON THE BARBELL BENCH PRESS

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a range of eccentric and concentric loading prescriptions to elicit improvements in the bench press exercise using accentuated eccentric loading (AEL).

Methods: Resistance-trained men (n=14) participated in this study (age: 23.8 ± 4.0 years; height: 180.2 ± 5.7 cm; body mass: 95.8 ± 6.6 kg, training age: 2 ± 14 years; one repetition maximum (1RM) bench press (BP). Subjects completed four testing sessions consisting of an initial strength assessment and familiarization session, one maximal AEL session (AEL100), one supramaximal AEL session (AEL110), and one session with traditional iso-inertial loading (TRAD). During each testing session, subjects performed three repetitions with concentric loads of 40%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80% 1RM. During the TRAD condition, subjects were prescribed equivalent loading during eccentric and concentric phases. During AEL conditions, subjects completed the first repetition of each set with either AEL100 or AEL110 while subsequent repetitions were completed with iso-inertial loading. and the next two repetitions using TRAD loading. Bench press repetitions were performed with a GymAware linear position transducer and were analyzed using the manufacturer’s proprietary analysis software. Dependent variables included barbell mean velocity (MV), mean power (MP), peak velocity (PV), and peak power (PP). Subjects were instructed to perform the concentric portion of each repetition with maximal intent and verbal encouragement was provided during exercise. A series of repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc comparisons were used to compare the average of each variable across three repetitions for all experimental conditions.

Results: Descriptive and comparison data can be found in Table 1. Multiple statistically significant interaction effects were obtained for loads from 40-80% for MV and PV (p < 0.05), and MP (p=0.009) only at 80%

Conclusions: The mean and peak barbell velocities produced during TRAD and AEL100 conditions were similar across the loading spectrum. In contrast, there was a drop in MV and PV across loads in the AEL110 condition. Finally, PP was not impacted by the loading parameters in this study. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: AEL100 was similar to TRAD in concentric outcomes related to barbell velocity and power. The loading during the AEL110 condition may be too heavy to improve concentric performance in examined population. AEL may be implemented to train the eccentric portion of the bench press while maintaining concentric performance with AEL100 but not AEL110. Further research should examine AEL with different set structures and loading parameters to determine the optimal prescription for improving bench press performance.

 

Acknowledgements: None