THE EFFECT OF REST INTERVAL LENGTH ON MULTI AND SINGLE-JOINT EXERCISE PERFORMANCE AND PERCEIVED EXERTION

Senna, G, Willardson, JM, de Salles, BF, Scudese, E, Carneiro, F, Palma, A, and Simao, R. The effect of rest interval length on multi and single-joint exercise performance and perceived exertion. J Strength Cond Res 25(11): 3157-3162, 2011-The purpose of this study was to compare repetition performance and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) with 1-, 3-, or 5-minute rest intervals between sets of multi and single-joint resistance exercises. Fifteen resistance trained men (23.6 +/- 2.64 years, 76.46 +/- 7.53 kg, 177 +/- 6.98 cm, bench press [BP] relative strength: 1.53 +/- 0.25 kg.kg(-1) body mass) completed 12 sessions (4 exercises 3 3 rest intervals), with each session involving 5 sets with 10 repetition maximum loads for the free weight BP, machine leg press (LP), machine chest fly (MCF), and machine leg extension (LE) exercises with 1-, 3-, 5-minute rest intervals between sets. The results indicated significantly greater BP repetitions with 3 or 5 minutes vs. 1 minute between sets (p <= 0.05); no significant difference was evident between the 3- and 5-minute rest conditions. For the other exercises (i. e., LP, MCF, and LE), significant differences were evident between all rest conditions (1, 3, 5; p <= 0.05). For all exercises, consistent declines in repetition performance (relative to the first set) were observed for all rest conditions, starting with the second set for the 1-minute condition and the third set for the 3- and 5-minute conditions. Furthermore, significant increases in RPE were evident over successive sets for both the multi and single-joint exercises, with significantly greater values for the 1-minute condition. In conclusion, both multi and single-joint exercises exhibited similar repetition performance patterns and RPE, independent of the rest interval length between sets.