PHYSIOLOGICAL AREA 

Medicina dello Sport 2011 December;64(4):367-77

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Angiotensin-converting enzyme genotype and rest interval length between sets in resistance training: a pilot study

Machado M. ^{1, 2}, Pereira R. ³, Da Silva D. P. ¹, Zovico V. C. ¹, Cardoso B. S. ¹, Curty V. M. ¹, Finotti Machado R. J. ¹, Hackney A. C. ⁴

¹ Laboratory of Physiology and Biokinetic, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Health, UNIG Campus V at Itaperuna, Brazil 2 Laboratory of Human Movements Studies, Universitary Foundation of Itaperuna (Funita), Itaperuna, RJ, Brazil 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Sudoeste da Bahia State University 4 Applied Physiology Laboratory, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Aim. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between ACE genotype and rest interval length between sets on the performance of a resistance training (RT) session.
Methods. Twenty seven healthy subjects were separated according to the allele frequency of the ACE gene (DD, ID or II) and the their performance (defined as a volume completed for a resistance training session consisted for 4 sets with 85% of 1RM of bench press [BP], lat pulldown [LP], shoulder press [SP], triceps pulldown [TP], and biceps curl [BC]) with 1 and 3 min rest interval between sets and exercises was calculated.
Results. The subjects carrying at least one D allele (DD and ID) had greater (P<0.05) strength than the homozygous II genotype in LP, TP and BC. The ACE II homozygotes showed fewer repetitions than the DD and ID in the RT session with a 3 min rest interval length. The same result was found for volume completed. Interestingly, there was no difference in performance among ACE polymorphisms when the session was carried out with 1 min rest intervals.
Conclusion. The principle finding was II homozygotes showed a lower performance (total volume and total repetitions) than the D allele, homo- or heterozygous, when training with a longer rest interval between sets of RT. These findings may have implications for resistance exercise prescription in that genetic constitution may influence adaptation to such training programs.