INFLUENCE OF A CLUSTER SET CONFIGURATION ON THE ADAPTATIONS TO SHORT-TERM POWER TRAINING

This study investigated the effects of a traditional (TT) vs. cluster (CT) resistance training on the lower-body force, velocity, and power output. Nineteen males were allocated to a CT or a TT group and took part of a 3-week resistance training (2 weekly sessions). CT involved 6 sets of 3 3 2 repetitions (30 seconds rest every 2 repetitions and 4 minutes 30 seconds between sets). TT comprised 6 sets of 6 continuous repetitions (5 minutes rest between sets). Before and after the training period, force (F-25, F-50, F-75), velocity (V-25, V-50, V-75), and power (P-25, P-50, P-75) were obtained during the countermovement jump (CMJ) exercise at 3 external loading conditions (25, 50, and 75% of body mass). Individual linear regressions were used to determine the force-velocity profile including the Slope, estimated maximal theoretical force (F-0), velocity (V-0), and power (P-0). After CT, very-likely moderate increments in P-25 were observed compared with TT (p = 0.011, ES = 0.55) because of a very-likely moderate rise in V-25 (p = 0.001, ES = 0.71). No significant differences were observed in any of the F-v profile variables between the TT and CT groups (p >= 0.207, ES <= 0.31). Our results suggest that 3 weeks of muscle power training including cluster set configurations are more efficient at inducing velocity and power adaptations specific to the training load.