ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The bench press prime mover muscles firing frequency changes according to sticking region during maximal and submaximal effort

Authors

Dusan Blazek 1 Anna Pisz 1 ✉ Vladimir Hojka 1 Petr Uhlir 2 Dominik Kolinger 1 Adam Zajac 3 Petr Stastny 1

Affiliations

  1. 1 Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
  2. 2 Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, Department of Physiotherapy
  3. 3 Institute of Sport Sciences, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland
Phys Act Rev. 2024;12(1):150-160.DOI: 10.16926/par.2024.12.14

Abstract

The bench press (BP) is a widely used exercise in strength training. Despite numerous studies on muscle activation during BP, little is known about individual muscle frequency changes during the sticking region (SR). This study aimed to evaluate muscle activation during 1 repetition maximum (RM) and 4RM BP in 24 male participants experienced with BP exercise. Electromyography was used to measure muscle activity in various muscles during pre-sticking, sticking, and post-sticking phases, with kinematic data aiding in phase differentiation. Our findings revealed a significant decrease in muscle activation frequency as participants moved from the pre-sticking to the sticking and then to the post-sticking phases (p<0.01). This decline was evident in both 1RM and 4RM conditions, indicating muscle exhaustion that persisted even after the SR. The SR of the BP is the most challenging part of the exercise, resulting in a decrease in muscle frequency during this phase in both 1RM and 4RM repetitions. It indicates exhaustion of the muscles which persisted even in the post-sticking phase, highlighting the challenging nature of the exercise. This study presents insights into muscle activity during the BP, which can help understanding the impact of each exercise phase on muscle frequency.

Keywords

  • bench press EMG
  • sticking region muscle activation
  • firing frequency bench press

References

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Article information

Published

2024-01-26

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2024)

Article type

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

License

Copyright (c) 2024 The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Phys Act Rev. 2024;12(1):150-160.DOI: 10.16926/par.2024.12.14

How to Cite

Blazek, D., Pisz, A., Hojka, V., Uhlir, P., Kolinger, D., Zajac, A., & Stastny, P. (2024). The bench press prime mover muscles firing frequency changes according to sticking region during maximal and submaximal effort. Physical Activity Review, 12(1), 150-160. https://doi.org/10.16926/par.2024.12.14