Preprint / Version 1

Are we lifting heavy enough? Self-selected loads in resistance exercise

A scoping review and exploratory meta-analysis

##article.authors##

  • James Steele Solent University
  • Tomer Malleron
  • Itai Har-Nir
  • Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis
  • Milo Wolf
  • James Fisher https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6013-8402
  • Israel Halperin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.109

Keywords:

weight, load, strength, effort, autonomy

Abstract

Background: Traditionally, the loads in resistance training are prescribed as a percentage of the heaviest load that can be lifted once (i.e., 1 Repetitions Maximum [1RM]). An alternative approach is to allow trainees to self-select training loads. The latter approach has benefits, such as allowing trainees to exercise according to their preferences and negating the need for periodic 1RM tests. However, in order to better understand the utility of the self-selected load prescription approach, there is a need to examine what loads trainees select when given the option to do so. Objective: Examine what loads trainees select in resistance training sessions as a percentage of their 1RM. Design: Scoping review and exploratory meta-analysis. Search and Inclusion: We conducted a systematic literature search with PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar in September 2021. We included studies that 1) were published in English in a peer-reviewed journal or as a MSc or PhD thesis; 2) had trainees complete at least one resistance-training session composed of at least one set of one exercise in which they selected the loads; 3) trainees completed a 1RM test for the exercises that they selected the loads for. Eighteen studies were included in our main meta-analysis model with 359 participants. Results: Our main model indicated that on average participants select loads equal to 53% of their 1RM (95% Credible Interval [CI]: 49% to 58%). There was little moderating effect of training experience, age, sex, timing of the 1RM test (before or after the self-selected load RT session), number of sets, number of repetitions, and lower vs. upper body exercises. Participants did tend to select heavier loads when prescribed lower repetitions, and vice versa (logit(yi) = -0.12 [95%CI: -0.21 to -0.04]). Conclusions: Participants selected loads equal to an average of 53% of 1RM across exercises. Such loads are suitable for hypertrophic gains assuming that trainees approach or reach the point of task-failure, but may be too light for optimal strength development (as measured with 1RM). The self-selected loads prescribing approach shows promise given that it bypasses certain limitations of the traditional load prescription approach, but requires thought and further research regarding how and with whom it should be implemented.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Abad CCC, Prado ML, Ugrinowitsch C, Tricoli V, Barroso R. Combination of general and specific warm-ups improves leg-press one repetition maximum compared with specific warm-up in trained individuals. J Strength Cond Res 2011; 25: 2242–2245

Alves RC, Prestes J, Souza-Junior TP, Follador L, Lopes WA, Silva SG. Acute effect of weight training at a self-selected intensity on affective responses in obese adolescents. J Exerc Physiol Online 2014; 17: 66–73

American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Ex-erc 2009; 41: 687–708

Buckner SL, Jessee MB, Mattocks KT, Mouser JG, Counts BR, Dankel SJ, Loenneke JP. Deter-mining strength: A case for multiple methods of measurement. Sports Med 2017; 47: 193–195

Bürkner P-C. brms: an R package for bayesian multilevel models using stan. J Stat Softw 2017; 80

Colquhoun RJ, Gai CM, Walters J, Brannon AR, Kilpatrick MW, DʼAgostino DP, Campbell BI. Comparison of powerlifting performance in trained men using traditional and flexible daily undulating periodization. J Strength Cond Res 2017; 31: 283–291

de Oliveira Segundo VH, Rebouças GM, Renee T, de Medeiros HJ, Knackfuss MI. Self-Selected Intensity by Controlled Hypertensive Older Women During a Weight Training Session. IOSR-JSPE 2016; 3: 09–13

Dello Iacono A, Beato M, Halperin I. Self-Selecting the Number of Repetitions in Potentia-tion Protocols: Enhancement Effects on Jumping Performance. Int J Sports Physiol Per-form 2020; 16: 353–359

Dias MRC, Simão R, Saavedra FJF, Buzzachera CF, Fleck S. Self-Selected Training Load and RPE During Resistance and Aerobic Training Among Recreational Exercisers. Percept Mot Skills 2018; 125: 769–787

Dias MRC, Simão RF, Saavedra FJF, Ratamess NA. Influence of a Personal Trainer on Self-selected Loading During Resistance Exercise. J Strength Cond Res 2017; 31: 1925–1930

Douma JC, Weedon JT. Analysing continuous proportions in ecology and evolution: A practical introduction to beta and Dirichlet regression. Methods Ecol Evol 2019;

Elsangedy HM, Krause MP, Krinski K, Alves RC, Hsin Nery Chao C, da Silva SG. Is the self-selected resistance exercise intensity by older women consistent with the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines to improve muscular fitness? J Strength Cond Res 2013; 27: 1877–1884

Elsangedy HM, Krinski K, Machado DG da S, Agrícola PMD, Okano AH, Gregório da Silva S. Self-selected intensity, ratings of perceived exertion, and affective responses in seden-tary male subjects during resistance training. J Phys Ther Sci 2016; 28: 1795–1800

Elsangedy HM, Machado DGDS, Krinski K, Duarte DO Nascimento PH, DE Amorim Oliveira GT, Santos TM, Hargreaves EA, Parfitt G. Let the pleasure guide your resistance training intensity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2018; 50: 1472–1479

Elsangedy HM, Oliveira GTA, Machado DG da S, Tavares MPM, Araújo A de O, Krinski K, Browne RAV, Gregório da Silva S. Effects of Self-selected Resistance Training on Physical Fitness and Psychophysiological Responses in Physically Inactive Older Women: A Ran-domized Controlled Study. Percept Mot Skills 2021; 128: 467–491

Emanuel A, Rozen Smukas II, Halperin I. An analysis of the perceived causes leading to task-failure in resistance-exercises. PeerJ 2020; 8: e9611

Faries MD, Lutz R. Self-Selected Intensity and Adherence in a Campus Recreation Center with Novice, Female Weight Lifters: A Preliminary Investigation. RSJ 2016; 40: 56–68

Fisher J, Steele J, Smith D. High- and Low-Load Resistance Training: Interpretation and Practical Application of Current Research Findings. Sports Med 2017; 47: 393–400

Fisher JP, Steele J. Heavier and lighter load resistance training to momentary failure pro-duce similar increases in strength with differing degrees of discomfort. Muscle Nerve 2017; 56: 797–803

Focht BC, Garver MJ, Cotter JA, Devor ST, Lucas AR, Fairman CM. Affective Responses to Acute Resistance Exercise Performed at Self-Selected and Imposed Loads in Trained Women. J Strength Cond Res 2015; 29: 3067–3074

Focht BC. Perceived exertion and training load during self-selected and imposed-intensity resistance exercise in untrained women. J Strength Cond Res 2007; 21: 183–187

Garber CE, Blissmer B, Deschenes MR, Franklin BA, Lamonte MJ, Lee I-M, Nieman DC, Swain DP, American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardi-orespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2011; 43: 1334–1359

Gardner MJ, Altman DG. Confidence intervals rather than P values: estimation rather than hypothesis testing. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986; 292: 746–750

Glass SC, Ahmad S, Gabler T. Effectiveness of a 2-Week Strength Training Learning Inter-vention on Self-selected Weight-Training Intensity. J Strength Cond Res 2020; 34: 2443–2448

Glass SC, Stanton DR. Self-selected resistance training intensity in novice weightlifters. J Strength Cond Res 2004; 18: 324–327

Glass SC. Effect of a learning trial on self-selected resistance training load. J Strength Cond Res 2008; 22: 1025–1029

Graham T, Cleather DJ. Autoregulation by “Repetitions in Reserve” Leads to Greater Im-provements in Strength Over a 12-Week Training Program Than Fixed Loading. J Strength Cond Res 2021; 35: 2451–2456

Grgic J, Lazinica B, Schoenfeld BJ, Pedisic Z. Test-Retest Reliability of the One-Repetition Maximum (1RM) Strength Assessment: a Systematic Review. Sports Med Open 2020; 6: 31

Halperin I, Chapman DW, Martin DT, Lewthwaite R, Wulf G. Choices enhance punching performance of competitive kickboxers. Psychol Res 2017; 81: 1051–1058

Helms ER, Byrnes RK, Cooke DM, Haischer MH, Carzoli JP, Johnson TK, Cross MR, Cronin JB, Storey AG, Zourdos MC. RPE vs. percentage 1RM loading in periodized programs matched for sets and repetitions. Front Physiol 2018; 9: 247–257

Helms ER, Cross MR, Brown SR, Storey A, Cronin J, Zourdos MC. Rating of perceived exer-tion as a method of volume autoregulation within a periodized program. J Strength Cond Res 2018; 32: 1627–1636

Kay M. tidybayes: Tidy data and geoms for Bayesian models. R package version 3.0. 0. 2021;

Kraemer WJ, Ratamess NA. Fundamentals of resistance training: progression and exer-cise prescription. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2004; 36: 674–688

Kruschke JK, Liddell TM. The Bayesian New Statistics: Hypothesis testing, estimation, me-ta-analysis, and power analysis from a Bayesian perspective. Psychon Bull Rev 2018; 25: 178–206

Lin L, Xu C. Arcsine-based transformations for meta-analysis of proportions: Pros, cons, and alternatives. Health Sci Rep 2020; 3: e178

Mattocks KT, Buckner SL, Jessee MB, Dankel SJ, Mouser JG, Loenneke JP. Practicing the test produces strength equivalent to higher volume training. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2017; 49: 1945–1954

McNamara JM, Stearne DJ. Flexible nonlinear periodization in a beginner college weight training class. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 24: 17–22

McShane BB, Gal D, Gelman A, Robert C, Tackett JL. Abandon Statistical Significance. Am Stat 2019; 73: 235–245

Morton RW, Oikawa SY, Wavell CG, Mazara N, McGlory C, Quadrilatero J, Baechler BL, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance train-ing-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men. J Appl Physiol 2016; 121: 129–138

Niewiadomski W, Laskowska D, Gąsiorowska A, Cybulski G, Strasz A, Langfort J. Determina-tion and prediction of one repetition maximum (1RM): safety considerations. J Hum Kinet 2008; 19: 109–120

Pedersen TL. The Composer of Plots [R package patchwork version 1.1.1]. 2020;

Portugal EMM, Lattari E, Santos TM, Deslandes AC. Affective responses to prescribed and self-selected strength training intensities. Percept Mot Skills 2015; 121: 465–481

Ratamess NA, Faigenbaum AD, Hoffman JR, Kang J. Self-selected resistance training in-tensity in healthy women: the influence of a personal trainer. J Strength Cond Res 2008; 22: 103–111

Rauch JT, Ugrinowitsch C, Barakat CI, Alvarez MR, Brummert DL, Aube DW, Barsuhn AS, Hayes D, Tricoli V, De Souza EO. Auto-Regulated Exercise Selection Training Regimen Produces Small Increases in Lean Body Mass and Maximal Strength Adaptations in Strength-trained Individuals. J Strength Cond Res 2020; 34: 1133–1140

Rhea MR, Landers DM, Alvar BA, Arent SM. The effects of competition and the presence of an audience on weight lifting performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 2003; 17: 303–306

Sands WA, Wurth JJ, Hewit JK. Basics of strength and conditioning manual. Colorado Springs, CO: National Strength and Conditioning Association 2012;

Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Con-tinuum. Sports (Basel) 2021; 9

Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Be-tween Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res 2017; 31: 3508–3523

Singh H, Hockwald A, Drake N, Avedesian J, Lee S-P, Wulf G. Maximal force production requires OPTIMAL conditions. Hum Mov Sci 2020; 73: 102661

Stuart C, Steele J, Gentil P, Giessing J, Fisher JP. Fatigue and perceptual responses of heav-ier- and lighter-load isolated lumbar extension resistance exercise in males and fe-males. PeerJ 2018; 6: e4523

Szabo A. Acute psychological benefits of exercise performed at self-selected workloads: implications for theory and practice. J Sports Sci Med 2003; 2: 77–87

Teixeira PJ, Carraça EV, Markland D, Silva MN, Ryan RM. Exercise, physical activity, and self-determination theory: a systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2012; 9: 78–108

Tiggemann CL, Pietta-Dias C, Schoenell MCW, Noll M, Alberton CL, Pinto RS, Kruel LFM. Rating of perceived exertion as a method to determine training loads in strength train-ing in elderly women: A randomized controlled study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18

Vale AF, Carneiro JA, Jardim PCV, Jardim TV, Steele J, Fisher JP, Gentil P. Acute effects of different resistance training loads on cardiac autonomic modulation in hypertensive postmenopausal women. J Transl Med 2018; 16: 240

Viechtbauer W. Conducting Meta-Analyses in R with the metafor Package. J Stat Softw 2010; 36

Wallace BC, Small K, Brodley CE, Lau J, Trikalinos TA. Deploying an interactive machine learning system in an evidence-based practice center: Abstrackr. In: Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGHIT symposium on International health informatics - IHI' ' ’12. New York, New York, USA: ACM Press, 2012: 819

Warton DI, Hui FKC. The arcsine is asinine: the analysis of proportions in ecology. Ecolo-gy 2011; 92: 3–10

Watson K, Halperin I, Aguilera-Castells J, Dello Iacono A. A comparison between prede-termined and self-selected approaches in resistance training: effects on power perfor-mance and psychological outcomes among elite youth athletes. PeerJ 2020; 8: e10361

Wickham H, Chang W. An implementation of the grammar of graphics. WWW: http://ggplot2 org 2016;

Posted

2022-01-24