• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Creatine
    • Equipment
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Power Production and Endurance Put to the Test

In a new study, researchers analyzed power output during long sets of back squats.

Doug Dupont

Written by Doug Dupont Last updated on May 22, 2014

The ability to exert power repeatedly is important for most sports. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, investigators examined exactly what happens to power output when repeated efforts are demanded.

The researchers in the Journal study wanted to find out what happens to explosive power when it needs to be expressed repeatedly with only short rests. Nineteen trained men performed explosive back squats using only forty percent of their max. They repeated for five sets of sixteen reps. Only two minutes of rest were allowed in between each set. For every rep, power was measured in watts to see what trends might emerge.

The researchers found two statistically significant findings. The first is exactly what you would expect. There was a decline in power within any given set. In other words, from first rep to last, the athlete’s power output waned.

The second critical finding was the opposite of what you may expect. There was no statistical decline in the peak power for each set. Bear in mind here that the rests were relatively short, at only two minutes, and still the peak power didn’t change radically, despite there being five long sets.

There are other interesting results that the researchers didn’t dwell on. If you look at the trends of the peak power, which occurs in the first few reps of each set, there definitely seems to be a decline. Although this result wasn’t statistically significant, it would indicate that extending this protocol even further would likely begin to result in significant peak power losses.

Another interesting aspect of the results that I’m a little surprised the researchers didn’t mention was the different power profile of the first set when compared to the rest. As expected, the shortest decline in performance occurred from first rep of the first set to the first rep of the last set (a 17.9% drop in power versus a 22.3% drop for the final set). Oddly, however, the average power of the first few reps of each set after the first was substantially higher.

In fact, there seemed to be a potentiating effect after the first set. Only the first rep of the first set broke 2,000 watts on average. Then the performance level dropped like a stone for the second and all subsequent reps. The first several reps of the next few sets were also much higher in power output compared to the first set.

The researchers acknowledged that power production peaks in the first few reps of long sets like these, but repeated high performance is possible. Because of this, they recommend this type of training for developing anaerobic endurance for sports involving a lot of repeated lower body power efforts, such as soccer and football.

References:

1. Garrett Hester, et. al., “Power Output during a High-Volume Power-Oriented Back Squat Protocol,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000484

Photo provided by Miguel Tapia Images and CrossFit LA.

Doug Dupont

About Doug Dupont

Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club.

Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued ­­­to develop his business into today.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

strength and conditioning, lifting, ptp, power
A Proven Method for Building Full-Body Power (Plus a 6-Week Plan)
shutterstock70347787
How to Increase Power Output With Better Programming
RAIL, mobility, transverse plane, planes of motion
How to Own the Transverse Plane With the Tall Kneeling Press
StrongFirst Versus CrossFit: The Dilemma of Power Optimization

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

9 Best Adjustable Dumbbells for Home Gyms of 2023

10-Year-Old Rory van Ulft Reaches New Milestone Squatting Triple Her Body Weight

Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares His Recent Killer Arm and Shoulder Workout 

11 Best Creatine Supplements For Building Muscle, Cutting, and More

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About