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ABSTRACT
Benton, MJ, Swan, PD, and Peterson, MD. Evaluation of multiple 1RM strength trials in untrained women. J Strength Cond Res 23(5): 1503-1507, 2009-Resistance training for health is increasingly popular, yet limited research exists regarding the most appropriate and reliable methods to evaluate outcomes among nonathletic populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences between multiple trials of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) strength in healthy previously untrained women (35.5 ± 2.1 years). Nineteen participants completed 3 trials of 1RM chest and leg press with at least 24 hours rest between trials. Familiarization was incorporated into trial 1 for both tests. All trials were highly reliable (intraclass correlation = 0.95). For 1RM chest press, nonsignificant strength changes between trials 1-2 and 2-3 were 1.2 ± 0.3 kg (p = 0.13) and 1.3 ± 0.4 kg (p = 0.18), respectively, while the overall increase between trials 1-3 was 2.5 ± 0.7 kg (p = 0.06). For 1RM leg press, strength changes between trials 1-2 and 2-3 were 6.9 ± 0.6 kg (p = 0.05) and 7.3 ± 0.4 kg (p = 0.01), respectively, while the overall difference between trials 1-3 was 14.2 ± 1.0 kg (p < 0.01). In this study of untrained women, evaluation of maximal strength was significantly different between multiple repeated trials of lower-body strength but not upper-body strength. Thus, it was determined that a series of 3 1RM tests was sufficient to obtain a consistent measurement of maximal upper-body strength (chest press) but not lower-body strength (leg press). These findings may be of assistance for efficient reliable field testing of untrained women.
KEY WORDS maximal strength testing, resistance exercise, rating of perceived exertion
INTRODUCTION
Resistance training has historically been used as a means to augment muscular hypertrophy, strength, and power for athletic performance. Recently, however, resistance training has become increasingly popular among nonathlete populations for its health benefits, including the prevention and management of osteoporosis (7,15), heart disease (2,4,11), diabetes (3,16), and overall well-being (5). Currently, the use of resistance exercise for health maintenance or improvement remains a novel area of research and one that has direct implication to untrained individuals.
Inevitably, as the benefits of resistance exercise are increasingly recognized, it is becoming more common for researchers and practitioners...