Does the Length of Inter-Set Rest Periods Impact the Volume of Bench Pull Repetitions Completed before Surpassing Various Cut-Off Velocities?

This study aimed to determine the optimal inter-set rest periods that would maximize the number of repetitions completed before surpassing various cut-off velocities (COVs) during the prone bench pull exercise. Twenty-three physically active individuals, 15 men and 8 women, participated in six random testing sessions. Each session included four sets of the prone bench pull exercise performed with maximum intent on a Smith machine at 75% of the one-repetition maximum (1RM). The length of the inter-set rest interval (1 [R1], 3 [R3], and 5 [R5] min) and COV used (0.65 m•s [COV] and 0.55 m•s [COV]) varied between sessions. Longer inter-set rest periods led to a higher volume of repetitions (R5 > R3 > R1), whereas the differences between the rest protocols were larger for COV (R1: 28.4 ± 6.0 repetitions; R3: 36.4 ± 9.4 repetitions; R5: 41.1 ± 11.4 repetitions) compared to COV (R1: 24.2 ± 7.3 repetitions; R3: 25.4 ± 10.1 repetitions; R5: 28.3 ± 9.7 repetitions). Increasing the number of sets negatively impacted the number of completed repetitions for R1 using both COV and COV, as well as for R3 using COV. The fastest velocity of the set (MV) did not differ between the inter-set rest protocols for COV, while for COV, R3 and R5 provided a greater MV than R1 for sets 2-4. These findings suggest that the duration of inter-set rest periods is an important factor to consider when aiming to maximize mechanical performance across multiple sets of the prone bench pull exercise.