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^-1 [COV_0.65] and 0.55 m•s^-1 [COV_0.55]) 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_0.55 (R1: 28.4 ± 6.0 repetitions; R3: 36.4 ± 9.4 repetitions; R5: 41.1 ± 11.4 repetitions) compared to COV_0.65 (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_0.65 and COV_0.55, as well as for R3 using COV_0.55. The fastest velocity of the set (MV_fastest) did not differ between the inter-set rest protocols for COV_0.65, while for COV_0.55, R3 and R5 provided a greater MV_fastest 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.