Effect of Acute Complex Training on Upper Body Force and Power in Collegiate Wrestlers.

To determine if chain bench press (BP) exercise would enhance acute upper body force and power, 13 collegiate male wrestlers (mean ± SD; 20.5 ± 1 years; 174.3 ± 4.2 cm; 76.5 ± 8.3 kg) with ≥ 1 year of strength training participated. Session 1 included body composition ((BodPod) 8.5 ± 2.6 %body fat)), 3 repetition maximum (RM) BP, and familiarization with the plyometric push-up (PPU) on a force plate. Athletes were matched for 3RM BP and randomly assigned to one of two groups: Chain BP or Plate BP. One week after Session 1, athletes performed the experimental protocol which consisted of: Baseline PPU, Chain/Plate BP Set 1 (6 reps @ 60%), 30 sec rest, PPU, 3 min rest, Chain/Plate BP Set 2 (6 reps @60%), 30 sec rest, and PPU. Independent samples t-tests analyzed physical characteristics (p<0.05). Standardized magnitude-based inferences were used to define outcomes. Aside from age (Plate BP 21.4 ± 0.8, Chain BP 19.9 ±0.7 years), no physical differences were observed. Performance of Chain BP and Plate BP resulted in a likely (likelihoods of benefit/trivial/harm relative to the threshold for a smallest worthwhile benefit of 89 W: 0.5/9.2/90.3) and very likely (0.1/0.8/99.1) negative effect on peak power output in the PPU following Set 1. Chain BP resulted in a likely positive effect on peak force in the PPU following Set 1 (smallest worthwhile benefit 13 N: 82.8/16.9/0.3) and Set 2 (94.7/5.2/0.1). Chain BP did not result in higher upper body power over traditional plate loaded resistances.