Assessment of the load-velocity profile in the free-weight prone bench pull exercise through different velocity variables and regression models

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212085
• Publication Date: 2019-02-27T18:49:09Z
• Authors: Amador García-Ramos; David Ulloa-Díaz; Paola Barboza-Gon...; Ángela Rodríguez-...; Darío Martínez-Ga...; Mauricio Quidel-C...; Francisco Guede-R...; Jesualdo Cuevas-A...; Danica Janicijevic; Jonathon Weakley
• Keywords: velocity; exercise; Weight Lifting; polynomials; Science; Q; R; Resistance Training; measurement equipment; 796; Weight-Bearing; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; chin; statistics; linear regression analysis; strength training; Medicine; Regression Analysis; Research Article

This aims of this study were (I) to determine the velocity variable and regression model which best fit the load-velocity relationship during the free-weight prone bench pull exercise, (II) to compare the reliability of the velocity attained at each percentage of the one-repetition maximum (1RM) between different velocity variables and regression models, and (III) to compare the within- and between-subject variability of the velocity attained at each %1RM. Eighteen men (14 rowers and four weightlifters) performed an incremental test during the free-weight prone bench pull exercise in two different sessions. General and individual load-velocity relationships were modelled through three velocity variables (mean velocity [MV], mean propulsive velocity [MPV] and peak velocity [PV]) and two regression models (linear and second-order polynomial). The main findings revealed that (I) the general (Pearson's correlation coefficient [r] range = 0.964-0.973) and individual (median r = 0.986 for MV, 0.989 for MPV, and 0.984 for PV) load-velocity relationships were highly linear, (II) the reliability of the velocity attained at each %1RM did not meaningfully differ between the velocity variables (coefficient of variation [CV] range = 2.55-7.61% for MV, 2.84-7.72% for MPV and 3.50-6.03% for PV) neither between the regression models (CV range = 2.55-7.72% and 2.73-5.25% for the linear and polynomial regressions, respectively), and (III) the within-subject variability of the velocity attained at each %1RM was lower than the between-subject variability for the light-moderate loads. No meaningful differences between the within- and between-subject CVs were observed for the MV of the 1RM trial (6.02% vs. 6.60%; CVratio = 1.10), while the within-subject CV was lower for PV (6.36% vs. 7.56%; CVratio = 1.19). These results suggest that the individual load-MV relationship should be determined with a linear regression model to obtain the most accurate prescription of the relative load during the free-weight prone bench pull exercise.