Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise:
May 2006 - Volume 38 - Issue 5 - p S291
Wednesday Afternoon Poster presentations Posters displayed from 1:00-6:00 pm. One-hour author presentation times are staggered from 2:00-3:00 pm., 3:00-4:00 pm., and 4:00-5:00 pm.: B-31 Free Communication/Poster - Strength Testing and Training: WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2006 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM: ROOM: Hall B
PURPOSE: To examine the influence of resistance training with a personal trainer versus unsupervised resistance training on the self-selected resistances used by women during resistance training.
METHODS: Sixteen resistance-trained women [2.9 ± 2.0 years of experience; age = 26.1 ±4.6 years; height = 164.9 ± 5.6; body mass = 68.9 ± 15.2) who either trained individually (N = 8; No PT) or with a personal trainer (N = 8; PT) volunteered to participate in this study. The women were carefully instructed to select a weight they used in their own strength training workouts that enabled completion of 10 repetitions. Four exercises were chosen (i.e., that each participant was familiar with) and each participant subsequently performed 10 repetitions and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) on a 0 to 10 scale was recorded. The exercises selected were the chest press (CP), leg press (LP), seated row (SR), and leg extension (LE). Each participant was subsequently tested for one repetition-maximum (1RM) strength on each exercise and the self-selected intensity was calculated based on a percent of each 1RM value.
RESULTS: The following self-selected intensities were observed for the LP, CP, LE, and SR exercises for the No PT versus PT groups, respectively: 47 ±17 vs. 36 ±17%;54± 11 vs. 46 ±10%; 43 ±10 vs. 37 ± 11%; and 56 ± 11 vs. 42 ± 12%. In addition, the corresponding RPE values were also significantly different (P <0.05) between conditions. RPE for the LP, CP, LE, and SR for the PT versus No PT groups, respectively, were: 4.7 ±2.4 vs. 2.4 ± 1.5; 6.3 ± 2.0 vs. 3.9 ± 1.5; 6.3 ± 1.6 vs. 3.9 ± 1.5; and 6.4 ±2.1 vs. 3.3 ±2.0.
CONCLUSIONS These preliminary results indicated that resistance training with a personal trainer led to higher self-selected relative intensities chosen. In addition, women using a personal trainer reported higher levels of perceived exertion during resistance training. Therefore, having a personal trainer significantly benefits women's resistance training as the majority of the women in our sample who trained unsupervised failed to reach a threshold intensity necessary for progression.