Stability of experienced female lifters? heart rates across days during and after pyramid exercises of bench press and parallel squat

Abstract

This investigation compared female weight lifters' heart rates (HR) across days for free weight pyramid lifting cycles. HRs during and after bench press and parallel squat free weight pyramid weight lifting cycles of 10, 8, 6, 4, 6, 8, and 10 repetitions at 50, 65, 75, 85, 75, 65, and 50 % of 1-RM respectively, were obtained on 25 experienced female weight lifters. HRs were determined using Polar Vantage XL Heart Watch monitors programmed to record HRs at 5 sec intervals, beginning with the initial lift and ending when the HR decreased during the mcavery period after the final lift of the pyramid cycle. The exact time for each lift was determined. The HR during the last 5 sec was used to represent the HR during that lift. HRs obtained immediately after the lift represented the initial recovery HR. Peak recovery HR was the highest rate obtained during the recovery period, There were no significant (p a .01) differences in HRs reported during, immediately after, or at peak recovery between test days at the respective percentages for either bench or squat cycle. HRs for squats among the various repetitions were significantly (p <.01) higher than corresponding bench HRs. There were no significant (p > .O1) differences between days in the total time to complete either bench or squat cycles. The total time to complete the squat cycle was significantly (p 6.001) longer than the bench cycle. Self-reported resting HRs were not significantly different (p >.01) between days. HRs measured during, immediately after, and at peak recovery for pyramid lifting cycles remained stable across days in experienced female weight lifters.