The prescription of weight training programs for muscle hypertrophy are usually based on the values recommended by the literature for determining the training load. The prescription of the pause duration ranges from one to three minutes and comparisons between these two durations leads to differences in hormonal and metabolic adaptations and performance. There is a lack of studies investigating if is it possible the realization of the training program for hypertrophy with different pauses, and the significance of the addition of 30 seconds for recovery. The purpose of the present study was to analyze two different trainings for muscle hypertrophy with the same volume and intensity, but different rest periods between sets, at the bench press exercise. Twenty-six trained male volunteers took part in the training sessions. After the familiarization procedure and the 1 maximum repetition (1RM) test, the group took a four set exercise with 70% of 1 RM on the bench press, aiming to accomplish 12 repetition for each set, with a constant rest period of 90 and 120 seconds. No significant difference was found on the number of repetitions throughout the sets when comparing the results of the 90 and 120 second group. Despite the rest duration (90 or 120 sec) the performance lowered during the sets, registered by significant reduction in the number of repetitions. The results indicated that, even for trained individuals, there is a limitation to apply the reference values presented in the literature for muscle hypertrophy training. Moreover, the performance may be not different despite changing the rest interval from 90 to 120 seconds between sets.
Weight training; Fatigue; Pause; Strength
