Effects of Pre-Exhaustion

[O-Train]

I've heard guys talk about pre-exhaustion in the gym before so I figured at least a few people here would be interested. Post-whoring it up today.

Discuss.

Effect of pre-exhaustion exercise on lower-extremity muscle activation during a leg press exercise.Augustsson J, Thomeé R, Hörnstedt P, Lindblom J, Karlsson J, Grimby G.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden 41345. jesper.augustsson@rehab.gu.se

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-exhaustion exercise on lower-extremity muscle activation during a leg press exercise. Pre-exhaustion exercise, a technique frequently used by weight trainers, involves combining a single-joint exercise immediately followed by a related multijoint exercise (e.g., a knee extension exercise followed by a leg press exercise). Seventeen healthy male subjects performed 1 set of a leg press exercise with and without pre-exhaustion exercise, which consisted of 1 set of a knee extension exercise. Both exercises were performed at a load of 10 repetitions maximum (10 RM). Electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and gluteus maximus muscles simultaneously during the leg press exercise. The number of repetitions of the leg press exercise performed by subjects with and without pre-exhaustion exercise was also documented. The activation of the rectus femoris and the vastus lateralis muscles during the leg press exercise was significantly less when subjects were pre-exhausted (p < 0.05). No significant EMG change was observed for the gluteus maximus muscle. When in a pre-exhausted state, subjects performed significantly (p < 0.001) less repetitions of the leg press exercise. Our findings do not support the popular belief of weight trainers that performing pre-exhaustion exercise is more effective in order to enhance muscle activity compared with regular weight training. Conversely, pre-exhaustion exercise may have disadvantageous effects on performance, such as decreased muscle activity and reduction in strength, during multijoint exercise.

PMID: 12741886 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[L3]

great post bro.

im a fan of doing multi joint exercises first, then isolation.

ie. squats followed by leg raises

[Shortdave]

Now I may be wrong, but I always looked at pre-exhaustion training as fatiguing a muscle group so that you could better focus on a different muscle group ie: pre-exhaust your triceps so that your pecs do more of the work on bench press.
From what I gather in this study they basically just trained quads, and then moved on to a second exercise which also focuses on quads, so they didn't really pre-exhaust... they just moved on to their next quad exercise.

[O-Train]

Now I may be wrong, but I always looked at pre-exhaustion training as fatiguing a muscle group so that you could better focus on a different muscle group ie: pre-exhaust your triceps so that your pecs do more of the work on bench press.
From what I gather in this study they basically just trained quads, and then moved on to a second exercise which also focuses on quads, so they didn't really pre-exhaust... they just moved on to their next quad exercise.

Actually yeah I think you're right. I have heard of some people working isolation and then compound. One guy in my gym does extensions, leg press than squats so for him this article applies better. Basically all they're saying is that if you can get better muscle stimulation from heavier, multi-joint exercises than you should do them first.

If you had really strong triceps and a weaker chest than pre-fatiguing triceps before bench press (or a similar chest exercise) would work I'd imagine. Or maybe pre-fatiguing chest before doing close grip benchpress so that you are forced to incorporate more triceps.

[sneakyfingers]

If you had really strong triceps and a weaker chest than pre-fatiguing triceps before bench press (or a similar chest exercise) would work I'd imagine. Or maybe pre-fatiguing chest before doing close grip benchpress so that you are forced to incorporate more triceps.[/QUOTE]


I would do a set of flyes to pre-fatigue the chest first. That way your chest will give out before your triceps, putting more emphasis on your chest. If trying to bring up your chest you wouldnt want your tris giving out before your chest feels anything.

[Ritch]

I can say I`ve had good success with pre exhaust type training. I find that article a little strange in the end saying it`s not effective. But who knows what other important factors they may have left out. I think if you`re in a hurry it can get you in and out of the gym quickly. It`s not my favorite type of training, just something I use once in a while.

[Bowlcut]

Pre-fatigue is good for individuals who have a hard time recruiting the correct muscles during an exercise. Eg, if an athlete uses too much arm doing pull downs one can have him do a set f curls beforehand, rest 10 secs, then get them to do pull downs.

Pre-fatigue has more use for younger athletes too who shouldn't develop bad habits and need to learn the correct muscle recruitment.