PURPOSE: To examine the influence of three distinct training phases on isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) measures in well-trained weightlifters. METHODS: Pre- and post-block IMTP data from 11 collegiate weightlifters was used for analysis. The mean of the best two attempts from each athlete for measures of PF and RFD from 0-50ms, 0-100ms, 0-150ms, 0-200ms, and 0-250ms were used for comparison. In total, results from five timepoints for each of the 11 athletes were examined in order to compare the effects of the three training phases. RESULTS: A repeated measures ANOVA revealed no statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05) effects of training on any of the variables measured. When comparing post block values from each phase to pre-training cycle values, the largest increase in RFD200 (d = 0.22) and RFD250 (d=0.22) occurred post strength-power (SP) phase, while the peak in RFD50 (d = 0.32), RFD100 (d = 0.31), and RFD150 (d = 0.22) occurred after the peak/taper (PT) phase. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the study, it is possible that changes in IMTP RFD may reflect the expected adaptations of block periodization. Rather than examining RFD changes at only one time-band, it may be valuable to monitor RFD across multiple time bands as changes in early and late RFD may not occur proportionally during a peak/taper phase.

Recent studies have demonstrated that increases in dynamic strength after weight-training in healthy subjects were associated with reductions in heart rate (HR) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) during formal lifting of identical absolute loads (McCartney et al., 1989; Sale et al., 1990). This study investigated whether the effect could be transferred to strength-related activities of daily living in healthy older men. The effects of 10 weeks (30 sessions) of progressive dynamic weightlifting training on HR and ABP in 10 weight-trained (wttrain) subjects were compared with 5 control subjects. Before and after training intra-brachial artery pressure and HR were monitored continuously during: 10 repetitions of single-arm curl (SAC) and single-arm military press (SAMP) at 70 % of initial 1 repetition maximum (1 RM); 12 repetitions of single- (SLP) and double-leg press (DLP) exercise at 80% of initial 1 RM; 10 mins treadmill walking at 2.5 mph, carrying 20 and 30 pound loads between mins 4-6 and 8-10 respectively (T-10); 4 mins of treadmill walking at 3.0 mph up an incline of 8% (T-4); 12 flights of stairclimbing at 60 steps/min on a Stairmaster 6000 Ergometer (STR). In the wttrain group the 1 RM in SAC, SAMP, SLP and DLP increased overall by 61 (p < 0.007), 30 (p < 0.001), 27 (p<0.001) and 27 per cent (p < 0.001), respectively. After training the mean maximal systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and rate-pressure product (RPP; 10^3) values in all 4 weightlifting exercises were lower. The decreases were only significant however, for the DBP in the SAC (144.0 ± 14.9 to 110.0 ± 5.2 Torr; p < 0.001), SAMP (151.0 ± 5.9 to 144.0 ± 5.4 Torr; p < 0.007), the MAP for the DLP ( 154.0 ± 5.0 to 147.0 ±5.0 Torr; p < 0.021) and RPP for the SAC (22.7 ± 2.2 to 19.1 ± 1.4; p < 0.041). The same respective measurements in the control group were either unchanged or higher. After training, there were overall reductions in the SBP (p < 0.05, mins 8-10), DBP , MAP and RPP (P < 0.05, mins 1-4) responses during T-10 with consistently higher values found in the control group. Similar, but nonsignificant patterns emerged for T-4. In contrast, there was little or no reduction in any of the measured parameters during stairclimbing. It was concluded that improved strength in older subjects results in an attenuated HR and ABP response during weightlifting, and there is a modest transfer of this effect to certain activities of daily living which involve the trained muscles. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)