The fatigue of a full body resistance exercise session in trained men

Objectives: We examined the fatigue and recovery for 48 h following a full-body resistance exercise session in trained men. Design: Experimental cross-sectional study. Methods: Eight resistance trained men volunteered to participate (mean +/- SD; age 27.0 +/- 6.0 years, height 1.79 +/- 0.05 m, weight 81.8 +/- 6.8 kg, training experience 7.8 +/- 5.0 years). Fatigue and pain was measured before, after, 1 h post, 24 h and 48 h post the full-body resistance exercise session, which was based on in season models used in contact team sports (e.g. AFL, NRL). Other measures included maximal torque and rate of torque development, central motor output (quadriceps muscle activation, voluntary activation, H-reflexes), and muscle contractility (evoked twitch responses). Linear mixed-model ANOVA procedures were used for data analysis. Results: Fatigue, soreness, and muscle pain did not return to pre-exercise levels until after 48 h rest. Quadriceps maximal torque and muscle contractility were reduced from pre-exercise (p < 0.01), and did not return to pre-exercise levels until 24 h. Early rates of torque development and muscle activation were unchanged. The amplitude and slope of the normalized quadriceps H-reflex was higher immediately after exercise (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Full-body resistance exercise including multiple lower limb movements immediately reduced maximal torque, muscle contractility, and increased pain. While recovery of voluntary and evoked torque was complete within a day, 48 h rest was required for fatigue and pain to return to baseline. Maximal voluntary effort may be compromised for lower-limb training (i.e. sprinting, jumping) prescribed in the 48 h after the session. (C) 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.