Rest period effect on peak torque in female collegiate and recreational athletes

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of rest period on peak torque in females. Thirty college-aged females (n = 15 collegiate athletes and n = 15 recreational athletes) performed three practice sessions and four experimental sessions using a knee flexion/extension protocol on a CYBEX NORM isokinetic dynamometer. Each session began with a five minute warmup on a cycle ergometer after which the subjects performed four maximal repetitions of knee extension at five isokinetic velocities, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300°·sec -1 with randomly assigned rest periods of 15, 60, 180, or 300 seconds between velocity sets while knee flexion was held constant at 300°·sec -1 . Peak torque was recorded for each trial. Data were analyzed using a 4 (rest) x 5 (velocity) repeated measures ANOVA (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in peak torque between any of the rest periods. It was concluded that in females a 60 second rest is adequate for muscle recovery when executing four maximal repetitions.