Relationship between perceptual and mechanical markers of fatigue during bench press and bench pull exercises: impact of inter-set rest period length Janicijevic, Danica Miras Moreno, Sergio Morenas Aguilar, María Dolores Jiménez Martínez, Pablo Alix Fages, Carlos García Ramos, Amador Fatigue Resistance training RPE This study aimed to explore whether the relationship between perceptual (rating of perceived exertion; RPE) and mechanical (maximal number of repetitions completed [MNR], fastest set velocity, and mean velocity decline) variables is affected by the length of inter-set rest periods during resistance training sets not leading to failure. Twenty-three physically active individuals (15 men and eight women) randomly completed 12 testing sessions resulting from the combination of two exercises (bench press and bench pull), three inter-set rest protocols (1, 3, and 5 min), and two minimal velocity thresholds (farther from muscular failure [MVT0.45 for bench press and MVT0.65 for bench pull] and closer to muscular failure [MVT0.35 for bench press and MVT0.55 for bench pull]). The duration of inter-set rest periods did not have a significant impact on RPE values (p ranged from 0.061 to 0.951). Higher proximities to failure, indicated by lower MVTs, were associated with increased RPE values (p < 0.05 in 19 out of 24 comparisons). Moreover, as the number of sets increased, an upward trend in RPE values was observed (p < 0.05 in seven out of 12 comparisons). Finally, while acknowledging some inconsistencies, it was generally observed that higher magnitudes of the mechanical variables, especially MNR (rs < −0.55 in three out of four comparisons), were associated with lower RPE values. These results, which were comparable for the bench press and bench pull exercises, suggest that post-set RPE values are affected by the fatigue experienced at both the beginning and end of the set. 2024-05-16T10:29:06Z 2024-05-16T10:29:06Z 2024-01-17 journal article Janicijevic D, Miras-Moreno S, Morenas-Aguilar MD, Jiménez-Martínez P, Alix-Fages C, García-Ramos A. 2024. Relationship between perceptual and mechanical markers of fatigue during bench press and bench pull exercises: impact of inter-set rest period length. PeerJ 12:e16754 DOI 10.7717/peerj.16754 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/91869 10.7717/peerj.16754 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional PeerJ