Impact of Duration of Eccentric Movement in the One-Repetition Maximum Test Result in the Bench Press among Women

Scientific studies related to resistance training have considered many variables; however, the tempo of movement of particular repetitions is often neglected or not reported in resistance training practice and research. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of different duration of the eccentric (ECC) phase of movement on one-repetition maximum test (1RM) results during the bench press exercise (BP). Twenty-one strength trained females (age = 23.4 +/- 2.2 years, body mass = 52.3 +/- 6.7 kg), with a minimum one year of strength training experience took part in the study. The experiment was conducted following a randomized crossover design, where each participant completed the 1RM test in the BP with three different duration times of the ECC movement: 2/0/X, 4/0/X, 6/0/X. Concentric (CON) movement was performed with maximal velocity (X). The ANOVA with repeated measures were used to compare the differences between the analyzed variables. The results of the study indicated the maximal load in the 1RM test was significantly higher during the BP with the 2/0/X tempo compared to 6/0/X (p < 0.01) and 4/0/X tempos (p < 0.01). Therefore, the results indicated that the longer the duration of the ECC phase of movement, the greater the decrease in the result of the 1RM test. The 1RM test procedure should include information about the movement tempo used during the test protocol.