UH-57 Battle Rope Compared to Rope Climbing Ergometer High Intensity Interval Training on Neuromuscular Control and Peak Force Production

Battle Rope Compared to Rope Climbing Ergometer High Intensity Interval Training on Neuromuscular Control and Peak Force Production Ximena Gonzalez Sanchez 1, Patrick G. Saracino 1, Cecilia D. Salas 1, Matthew A. Yeomans 1 1 University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, SC. PURPOSE: To assess battle rope (BR) compared to rope climbing ergometer (RC) high intensity interval training (HIIT) on vertical force during medicine ball slams and electromyography (EMG) activations during a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Thirteen recreationally active participants (9F/4M, 21 ± 1 yrs, 165.5 ± 6.4 cm, 74.6 ± 9.7 kg, 28.0 ± 11.5 % body fat) were randomized to either BR (n=7) or RC (n=6). HIIT consisted of 10 maximal effort rounds using 30:60 second work:rest ratios thrice weekly for 4 weeks. Participants arrived at the laboratory from an overnight fast for body composition measurement pre- and post-training. A sports beverage (80 kcal, 22 g CHO) was provided prior to force plate medicine ball slams and EMG MVC measurements of the right/left pectoralis major during an isometric bench press. Mixed ANOVAs were utilized to detect differences between groups with Bonferroni corrections for pairwise comparisons. RESULTS: Average and peak heart rate during training were similar between groups. No differences between groups existed for performance measures at baseline. No significant differences were observed for force plate medicine ball slams. Right side EMG was shown to be larger in the RC group compared to the BR group post-training (p=0.031). Males were also shown to produce larger EMG MVC compared to females (p=0.025). The same results were found for EMG on the left side (p=0.019 and p=0.003, respectively). There was a group x sex interaction showing the RC improvements for the left side mainly existed in males (p=0.026). There was a trend showing that post EMG MVC was higher post assessment than pre for the left side (p=0.05). There was also a trend for time x sex interaction showing that the improvements observed during post assessment on the left side were mainly found in males (p=0.092). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary data suggest that RC-HIIT was more effective for improving EMG MVC in males. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This research was partially funded by the USC Upstate Office of Sponsored Awards and Research Support.