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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1483972
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Human Performance through Preconditioning and Post-Exercise Recovery Strategies View all 3 articles

Effects of static stretching and walking during inter-set intervals of resistance training on muscle fatigue of the quadriceps

Provisionally accepted
Kosuke Takeuchi Kosuke Takeuchi 1*Hiroaki Inoue Hiroaki Inoue 1Motoka Fujiwara Motoka Fujiwara 1Taiki Shimizu Taiki Shimizu 1Chiharu Nagai Chiharu Nagai 1Kosei Mizuno Kosei Mizuno 1Masatoshi Nakamura Masatoshi Nakamura 2
  • 1 Kobe International University, Kobe, Japan
  • 2 Nishi Kyushu, Saga, Saga, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Inter-set rest intervals are essential to reduce muscle fatigue and increase the total amount of volume of resistance training. Static stretching and walking may increase muscle blood flow and promote recovery during inter-set rest intervals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 20 seconds of static stretching and walking during inter-set rest intervals of leg extension exercises on the number of repetitions to exhaustion, total amount of volume, and flexibility of the quadriceps (joint range of motion and muscle hardness) in untrained healthy males. Fourteen healthy, untrained men performed three different interventions (passive rest, static stretching, and walking) during inter-set rest intervals of a leg extension exercise with a 70% load of maximum muscle strength, in random order. The range of motion and muscle hardness of the quadriceps were measured before and immediately after all interventions using a goniometer and a portable muscle hardness meter. The number of repetitions to exhaustion and total amount of volume load (load × repetitions) of the leg extension exercise were assessed. Repeated two-way ANOVA and a Friedman test were used to analyze the variables. Range of motion and muscle hardness were increased after all interventions (both p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of repetitions to exhaustion (p = 0.651) or total amount of volume load (p = 0.206) between interventions. These results indicated that static stretching and walking during inter-set rest intervals did not influence the change in flexibility and muscle fatigue of the leg extension exercise.

    Keywords: Resistance Training, total amount of volume load, exhaustion, Recovery, Active rest

    Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 31 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Takeuchi, Inoue, Fujiwara, Shimizu, Nagai, Mizuno and Nakamura. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kosuke Takeuchi, Kobe International University, Kobe, Japan

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