ORIGINAL PAPER
Triceps brachii muscle architecture, upper-body rate of force development, and bench press maximum strength of strong and weak trained participants
 
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1
Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Life and Health Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
 
2
Sports Performance Laboratory, School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
 
 
Submission date: 2021-04-29
 
 
Acceptance date: 2022-02-08
 
 
Publication date: 2022-04-13
 
 
Hum Mov. 2023;24(1):121-129
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Purpose:
The study aim was: (a) to investigate the relationship between triceps brachii muscle architecture and upperbody isometric rate of force development (RFD), isometric peak force (IPF), and maximum strength (one-repetition maximum, 1-RM) in bench press and (b) to explore whether triceps brachii architecture might determine RFD, IPF, and 1-RM strength in stronger and weaker participants.

Methods:
The study involved 21 males (age: 22.6 ± 4.7 years, weight: 76.6 ± 10.2 kg, height: 1.79 ± 0.07 m) with 3.4 ± 2.1 years of experience in resistance training. They were divided into a strong and weak group depending on their relative 1-RM strength in bench press. Measurements included triceps brachii muscle architecture, upper-body isometric RFD, IPF, and 1-RM strength in bench press.

Results:
Moderate to large correlations were found for triceps brachii thickness and fascicle angle with upper-body RFD (r: 0.379–0.627), IPF (r: 0.582 and 0.564, respectively), and 1-RM strength in bench press (r: 0.530 and 0.412, respectively). Maximum strength in bench press was largely correlated with IPF (r = 0.816); moderate to very large correlations were observed with RFD (r: 0.499–0.725). The strong group presented significantly higher 1-RM relative strength, RFD, and IPF (p < 0.05) than the weak group, but no significant between-group difference was found for triceps brachii architecture (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:
Triceps brachii architecture correlates with 1-RM strength, upper-body RFD, and IPF in trained participants. However, triceps brachii architecture may not distinguish upper-body strength and RFD between stronger and weaker male participants.

 
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