Relationship of Barbell and Dumbbell Repetitions With One Repetition Maximum Bench Press in College Football Players

ABSTRACT

Heinecke, ML, Mauldin, ML, Hunter, ML, Mann, JB, and Mayhew, JL. Relationship of barbell and dumbbell repetitions with one repetition maximum bench press in college football players. J Strength Cond Res 35(2S): S66-S71, 2021-Dumbbell training to augment barbell training is gaining popularity. However, information is lacking that details the compatibility of strength and endurance between dumbbell and barbell performances in the same exercise. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to compare the similarity of muscular endurance performance between dumbbell and barbell exercises and to assess the accuracy of predicting one repetition maximum (1RM) barbell bench press from barbell and dumbbell repetitions to fatigue (RTF). College football players (n = 40) performed 1RM barbell bench press and RTF with a 90.9-kg barbell. On separate days, unilateral (45.5 kg) and bilateral dumbbell (90.9 kg) RTF were performed. Barbell RTF (13.8 ± 9.2) were significantly greater (effect size [ES] = 0.14) than bilateral dumbbell RTF (12.5 ± 9.5) but highly correlated (r = 0.96). Unilateral dumbbell RTF were significantly greater (ES = 0.13) for dominant hand (10.8 ± 10.1) than nondominant hand (9.5 ± 9.7) but highly correlated (r = 0.97). Prediction of 1RM barbell bench press was equally effective using a constant weight barbell (r = 0.90) or equivalent weight bilateral dumbbells (r = 0.87) with total errors of 7.3 and 8.2%, respectively. Barbell and dumbbell repetitions with equivalent weights place a similar demand on the upper-body musculature for training and testing purposes in football athletes.

Performance Differences between National Football League and High School American Football Combine Participants

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to determine magnitudes of differences for anthropometric and athletic performance scores between high school and elite college-level American football players.

METHOD

Participants included high school-age (n = 3,666) athletes who participated in American football combines, as well as elite college-level (n = 5,537) athletes who participated in the National Football League (NFL) scouting combine. Combine data included position; height; weight; 10-, 20-, and 40-yard dash; pro-agility (PA); L-cone drill (LC); vertical jump (VJ); and broad jump (BJ). Athletes were separated into their respective position group, defensive back (DB), wide receiver (WR), linebacker (LB), quarterback (QB), running back (RB), tight end (TE), defensive line (DL), and offensive line (OL) for analysis of performance differences. Percent differences for each dependent variable were calculated to quantify magnitudes of differences.

RESULTS

NFL combine participants scored 3% to 25% better on all measurements, with the largest differences between weight and VJ (14%-25%).

CONCLUSION

The largest measurement-specific differences between high school-age and elite college-level American football players were body size and power. Although it may seem intuitive that elite college-level players would perform better, these data provide a unique perspective to high school players, parents, and coaches, giving new information to use when designing measurement-specific athletic development programs. Thus, strength and conditioning professionals may benefit from emphasizing increases in muscle mass and power output in strength and conditioning programs.

Reliability and Sensitivity of the Power Push-up Test for Upper-Body Strength and Power in 6-15-Year-Old Male Athletes

Gillen, ZM, Miramonti, AA, McKay, BD, Jenkins, NDM, Leutzinger, TJ, and Cramer, JT. Reliability and sensitivity of the power push-up test for upper-body strength and power in 6-15-year-old male athletes. J Strength Cond Res 32(1): 83-96, 2018-The power push-up (PPU) test is an explosive upper-body test performed on a force plate and is currently being used in high school football combines throughout the United States. The purpose of this study was to quantify the reliability of the PPU test based on age and starting position (knees vs. toes) in young athletes. Sixty-eight boys (mean ± SD; age = 10.8 ± 2.0 years) were tested twice over 5 days. Boys were separated by age as 6-9 years (n = 16), 10-11 years (n = 26), and 12-15 years (n = 26). The PPU test was performed on a force plate while rotating from the knees vs. the toes. Measurements were peak force (PF, N), peak rate of force development (pRFD, N·s), average power (AP, W), and peak power (PP, W). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC2,1), SEMs, coefficients of variation (CVs), and minimum detectable changes (MDCs) were calculated to quantify reliability and sensitivity. Peak force from the knees in 10-15-year-olds, PF from the toes in 12-15-year-olds, and pRFD from the knees and toes in 12-15-year-olds were comparably reliable (ICC ≥ 0.84). Neither power measurements (AP or PP) for any age group, nor any measurements (PF, pRFD, AP, or PP) for the 6-9-year-olds were comparably reliable (ICC ≤ 0.74). When considering the reliable variables, PF was greater in the 12-15-year-olds than in 10-11-year-olds (p ≤ 0.05). In addition, in 12-15-year-olds, PF and pRFD were greater from the knees than from the toes (p ≤ 0.05). For reasons largely attributable to growth and development, the PPU test may be a reliable (ICC ≥ 0.80) and sensitive (CV ≤ 19%) measure of upper-body strength (PF), whereas pRFD was also reliable (ICC ≥ 0.80), but less sensitive (CV = 30-38%) in 10-15-year-old male athletes.

The National Football League-225 Bench Press Test and the Size-Weight Illusion

The purpose of this study was to test reports that size and arrangement manipulations of weight plates (i.e., inducing a size-weight illusion [SWI]) effect athletic weightlifting performance. The participants were 72 experienced, weight-trained collegiate American football players. Across three weeks, each athlete performed three different repetitions-to-fatigue bench press tests (NFL-225, SWI-225, and SWI-215). A multiple regression revealed a positive association between participants' strength relative to the test load and repetitions for NFL-225 and SWI-215, but no association with SWI-225. To explore these results, players were ranked into quartiles based on their one-repetition maximum relative to 102.27 kg (225 lb), and a 3 × 4 repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted. The primary finding was a significant Test Condition × Quartile interaction ( p = .004). Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons revealed that Quartile 4 (those with lowest strength relative to test load) completed more repetitions for SWI-225 compared with NFL-225 ( p = .049). These results suggest that alternate weight plate arrangements may be beneficial for those whose bench press load is near the lifter's one-repetition maximum. However, variations of the SWI do not appear to affect the performance of repetitions-to-fatigue bench press tests for the majority of collegiate American football players.