Triceps brachii muscle architecture, upper-body rate of force development, and bench press maximum strength of strong and weak trained participants

Abstract

Purpose. the study aim was: (a) to investigate the relationship between triceps brachii muscle architecture and upper-body isometric rate of force development (rFD), isometric peak force (IPF), and maximum strength (one-repetition maximum, 1-rM) in bench press and (b) to explore whether triceps brachii architecture might determine rFD, IPF, and 1-rM strength in stronger and weaker participants. Methods. the study involved 21 males (age: 22.6 ± 4.7 years, weight: 76.6 ± 10.2 kg, height: 1.79 ± 0.07 m) with 3.4 ± 2.1 years of experience in resistance training. they were divided into a strong and weak group depending on their relative 1-rM strength in bench press. Measurements included triceps brachii muscle architecture, upper-body isometric rFD, IPF, and 1-rM strength in bench press. Results. Moderate to large correlations were found for triceps brachii thickness and fascicle angle with upper-body rFD ( r : 0.379–0.627), IPF ( r : 0.582 and 0.564, respectively), and 1-rM strength in bench press ( r : 0.530 and 0.412, respectively). Maximum strength in bench press was largely correlated with IPF ( r = 0.816); moderate to very large correlations were observed with rFD ( r : 0.499–0.725). the strong group presented significantly higher 1-rM relative strength, rFD, and IPF ( p < 0.05) than the weak group, but no significant between-group difference was found for triceps brachii architecture ( p > 0.05). Conclusions. triceps brachii architecture correlates with 1-rM strength, upper-body rFD, and IPF in trained participants. However, triceps brachii architecture may not distinguish upper-body strength and rFD between stronger and weaker male participants.