Parasympathetic Nervous Activity Responses to Different Resistance Training Systems

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Autonomic Nervous System Function
• Sports Science

Background:

• Resistance training methods vary in their physiological demands.
• Assessing parasympathetic nervous activity and psychophysiological responses is crucial for understanding training stress.
• Different set configurations may impact autonomic recovery and perceived exertion differently.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effects of different resistance training set configurations on heart rate variability (HRV) indices.
• To evaluate the impact of various training protocols on internal training load.
• To determine which set configuration minimizes autonomic and psychophysiological stress.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-nine resistance-trained adults participated in four conditions: traditional sets without failure, traditional sets with muscle failure, inter-repetition rest, and rest-pause.
• All conditions involved a similar training volume (~60 repetitions) in the parallel squat exercise.
• Heart rate variability (time-domain indices) and session-rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) were measured before and after each session.

Main Results:

• All conditions except inter-repetition rest led to significant reductions in HRV indices post-session (P<0.05).
• The rest-pause configuration induced the most substantial decrease in HRV (≤-46.7%) and the highest internal training load (≤68.9%).
• Inter-repetition rest resulted in lower autonomic stress and psychophysiological load compared to other methods.

Conclusions:

• Rest-pause training imposes greater disruption on parasympathetic nervous activity and results in a higher internal training load in trained adults.
• Inter-repetition rest appears to be a more favorable strategy for minimizing autonomic and psychophysiological stress during resistance training.
• These findings have implications for optimizing training prescription to manage recovery and performance.